Lot 5
1913 (Aug. 31st) Kimberley - Bulawayo crash cover ‡

The Moody Tidwell Collection of South Africa, with Important Pioneer Airmails | S26032
Auction: 17 December 2026, 10:00 GMT
Description
1913 (Aug. 31st) AEROGRAM flown by Compton-Paterson on an attempted flight from Kimberley to Bulawayo. The envelope roughly opened with the front rebacked and part of the backflap missing. Addressed to Alex Fraser, the Mayor of Bulawayo. The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff and the mail was delivered by rail. This is the first South African Crash cover, and the first recorded use of the word ‘aerogram’
Footnote
This envelope was 'lost' for many years and was only known from a photocopy. Ex Polakov

