In Australia the Silver Jubilee rocket flights were the 4th and 5th rocket flights respectively sponsored by the Queensland Airmail Society of Brisbane. The first of these flights, using the rocket "Zodiac", occurred on October 28, 1935. Unfortunately it exploded, but the enclosed mail packages, containing covers and postcards, apparently suffered minimal damage. As a result the second flight, by the "Orion", was postponed to February 24, 1936. This flight was equally unsuccessful as the rocket crashed into the Brisbane River with mail being damaged by water.

Each rocket carried 400 letters and 100 postcards. Each envelope was numbered, had special jubilee labels and contained a thin reproduction (flimsy) of the front page of the Brisbane Telegraph. Both sets of mail were cancelled October 28, 1935 with a superimposed postponement cancellation on the covers flown during the second flight. A number of the covers or individual rocket stamps were signed by Alan H. Young, the President of the Queensland Airmail Society of Brisbane, who also built the rockets.


These are souvenirs sheet issued by the Australia Rocket Society in honour of the Silver Jubilee. Each sheet was numbered. The Blue sheets were attached to mail flown by the Zodiac, the red by the Orion.

Each cover contained a flimsy. These were printed on different tissue paper for each flight. The cancellations were identical.

Rocket "Zodiac" - Pale Blue paper

(October 28, 1935)

Both scans provided per kind courtesy of

Barry Jacques, Higham Ferrers, United Kingdom. Barry is a keen collector of the Silver Jubilee issue.

Rocket "Orion" - Yellow paper

(February 24, 1936)

Note signature of Alan Young on cover.

The beautiful flimsy scan was provided to me by Mark Yarry (Oxfordblues), an eBay seller.