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Auction: CSS33 - The Philatelic Collectors' Series Sale
Lot: 1110

China
Covers and Cancellations
Republic of China
1942 (5 May) Annotated cover carried privately from Rangoon to Myitkyina in Burma and by C.N.A.C. via Sadiya to Dinyan. Delivered personally to Stephen Hector Smith famed for his Indian Rocket mail experiments in the 1930s. Annotated “fourteen carried” on reverse beside the route map signed by Smith. Blue C.N.A.C. cachet. On May 8, 1942 the Japanese seized Myitkyina and this, coupled with the loss of Rangoon, effectively cut Allied access to the Burma Road. To maintain the uninterrupted supply to China, U.S. and other allied leaders agreed to organize a continual aerial re-supply effort directly between Assam and Kunming. Transcript:- “Brought by me from Rangoon during the great trek to Myitkyina via Prome and Mandalay across rivers, through treacherous quicksand, harassed by Japanese Bombers. From Myitkyina (Burma) to Dinyan (Assam) by C.N.A.C. Aeroplane. While in flight, forced down by Japanese fighters at Sadiya. Flight continued after an hour to find Dinjan Aerodrome bombed, and huts blazing.”

Sold for
HK$24,000