Page 116 - CONGOLATRES-AOUT-2021

Les Congolâtres

Notes:
1. Proud shows departures based initially on a timetable showing departures on alternate Tuesdays. The
only genuine departure on a Tuesday was that of 10 October 1944 which makes Proud correct on this
occasion by accident. His departures on 3 December and 17 December are Sundays which do not
correspond to either timetables or actual flights.

1. Proud affiche les départs initialement sur la base d'un horaire indiquant les départs un mardi sur deux.
Le seul vrai départ un mardi fut celui du 10 octobre 1944 qui fait que Proud rectifie cette occasion par
hasard. Ses départs les 3 décembre et 17 décembre sont des dimanches qui ne correspondent ni aux
horaires ni aux vols réels.

2. Note that Proud shows the first flight arriving in Miami on 10 October and leaving Miami on the same
day. This is simply not possible, given engineering maintenance requirements.

2. Notez que Proud montre le premier vol arrivant à Miami le 10 octobre et partant de Miami le même
jour. Ce n'est tout simplement pas possible, compte tenu des exigences de maintenance technique.

3. Proud shows the last (crash) flight departing Miami on 31 December but states in his own table that the
aircraft crashed at Trinidad over one week later on 8 January 1945. This is nonsense.

3. Proud montre le dernier (crash) vol au départ de Miami le 31 décembre, mais déclare dans son propre
tableau que l'avion s'est écrasé à Trinidad plus d'une semaine plus tard, le 8 janvier 1945. C'est un non-
sens.

Since the Pan American records do not show arrival or departure times for Leopoldville it is necessary to
make an estimate of these. The trips took between eleven and twelve days to complete, and the one day
difference may be accounted for by arrivals just before or just after midnight. If one assumes that the
outward and return trips took the same time it is reasonable to place the aircraft in Leopoldville some six
days after departure from Miami, and this can help when trying to establish whether or not a cover could
have been carried on a particular flight. It seems equally reasonable, since the aircraft was returning to
Miami that an incoming cover to the United States carrying either a Miami transit cancel or a Miami
censor re-sealing strip would have been carried on “China Clipper”.

Étant donné que les registres pan American n'indiquent pas les heures d'arrivée ou de départ de
Léopoldville, il est nécessaire d'en faire une estimation. Les voyages ont duré entre onze et douze jours, et
la différence d'un jour peut s'expliquer par des arrivées juste avant ou juste après minuit. Si l'on suppose
que les voyages aller et retour ont pris le même temps, il est raisonnable de placer l'avion à Léopoldville
environ six jours après le départ de Miami, et cela peut aider à essayer d'établir si une lettre aurait pu ou
non être transportée sur un vol. Il semble tout aussi raisonnable, étant donné que l'avion retournait à
Miami, qu'une lettre entrante aux États-Unis portant soit un cachet de transit de Miami soit une bande de
fermeture de la censure de Miami aurait été transportée sur « China Clipper ».

However, there are covers from Leopoldville in the correct date range September to December that do not
show Miami transit and have been opened and re-sealed in New York. Although not conclusive,
examination of a range of such covers shows that ONLY covers addressed to New York are re-sealed
there, whilst covers to all other US addresses are re-sealed in Miami. It seems unlikely that mail to New
York was sent by a different route which must mean that covers to New York were separated from those
to other addresses and bagged exclusively for examination in New York. Study of records of incoming
airmails to the US
suggests that covers carried by the Pan American “Special Mission” flights from or via West Africa were
opened and re-sealed in Trinidad or Miami, having been off-loaded at Trinidad, but when these flights
ended in mid 1943, any covers thereafter addressed to New York were examined in New York and not at
Miami. The “China Clipper” covers reinforce this view.
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