Airmail
The first scheduled airmail service was launched in 1911. Our collection reflects the history and development of this service.
The collection of airmail material is not vast. The archives in POST 13 and POST 50, however, cover some of the most important developments in airmail history.
POST 13 covers the inland airmail service. It includes details of the experimental helicopter service. POST 50 deals with the overseas airmail service. This includes the inauguration of the Empire Air Mail service in 1938.
Examples from our Collection
Here are some examples of records relating to airmail in our collection:
Report on Army Postal Service during the Great War, 20th century
The preliminary proposals for setting up an aeroplane postal service.
Front page of the Empire Air Service Brochure, 1938
Marking the inauguration of the Empire Air Mail Programme on 28 July 1938.
Copy of first Airgraph message, 1941
Letter written by HM The Queen, sent as the first piece of mail by airgraph.
Helicopter mail route map, 1948
This map is part of a file on the helicopter mail service trialled in East Anglia in 1948.
You may also be interested in...
Air Mail leaflet
A reproduction of a 1930s GPO promotional leaflet
This leaflet, designed by Theyre Lee Elliott, explained the new Air Mail service to General Post Office customers.
Empire Mail postcards
Featuring items from the Empire Mail exhibition
Postcards featuring artwork for posters, stamps and greetings telegrams, as seen in Empire Mail: George V and the GPO.
The First Aerial Post
A tribute to the pioneering spirit of the early airmail flyers
This online exhibition looks at the world's first-ever regularly scheduled air mail service, and its legacy.
