India rockets 1

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Stamps of King George V Silver Jubilee - Indian Rocket Mail Detail</B></div> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="King George V Silver Jubilee"><U><B>Home</B></U></A><B>               </B><A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Information"><U><B>General Information</B></U></A><B>               </B><A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stamps"><U><B>Stamps</B></U></A><B>              </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#33FFFF" FACE="Verdana" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Verdana" ><A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Postal History"><U><B>Postal History</B></U></A></FONT><B>               </B><A HREF="id298.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Location"><U><B>Variety Locator</B></U></A><B>         </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Information"><U><B>Help/Site Information</B></U></A><B>                              </B><A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Search"><U><B>Search</B></U></A><B>                               </B><A HREF="mailto:philatel2@yahoo.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:philatel2@yahoo.com"><U><B>Contact Me</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="137" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div> <B>POSTAL HISTORY</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id325.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PH Stamp Issue Dates"><U>Dates of Issues of Stamps</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id311.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Issue Design History"><U>Issues Design History</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div> <A HREF="id296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Postal Rates"><U>Postal Rates</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div> <A HREF="id14.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Postal Covers"><U>Postal Covers</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div> <A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Collectors Covers"><U>Commemoratives</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div> <A HREF="id269.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rocket Mail"><U>Rocket Mail</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div>    - <A HREF="id308.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Australian Rocket Mail"><U>Australia</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div>    - <A HREF="id309.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Indian Rocket Mail"><U>India</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div>      - <A HREF="id313.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stephen Smith"><U>Stephen Smith</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF HEIGHT= 14 ><NOBR><div>      - <A HREF="id314.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 1"><U>Rocket mail details</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 ><NOBR><div>        -<A HREF="id316.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 2"><U> March 23 to April 9</U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div>        - <A HREF="id315.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 3"><U>April 10, 13</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div>        -<A HREF="id317.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 4"><U> June 6,  29</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div>        - <A HREF="id437.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India Labels"><U>Labels</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div> <A HREF="id528.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Slogans"><U>Slogans</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 14 WIDTH="131"><div> <A HREF="id13.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Other Postal Items"><U>Other Postal Items</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="045fa583.png"> <div> <I><B>Details of the Indian Rocket Mail flights</B></I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="552" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 391 WIDTH="546"><div> Sixteen Silver Jubilee related rocket mail flights took place in India between March 23, 1935 (Diamond Head) and June 29, 1935 (Burnpur). All were conducted by Stephen Smith.</div> <bR> <div> All of the rockets were supplied free to Smith by the Oriental Fireworks Company of Calcutta who were also responsible for their design. The rockets were apparently fairly crude, resembling larger versions of fireworks. They were approximately 6 feet in length with the body  (which carried the mail) 2 feet long. They were launched by lighting a touchpaper from a sloping stand aimed in the general direction of the intended target.</div> <bR> <div> The Silver Jubilee related flights involved launches number 27 to 66. The below table details these flights with links to pictures relating to the rocket mail flights. The mail usually included covers with no contents and unused Silver Jubilee labels. Following the flight the labels were attached to the covers. The labels varied in colour with each flight.</div> <bR> <div> Virtually all of the scans were provided per kind courtesy of <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><A HREF="http://www.superiorsc.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.superiorsc.com/"><U>Superior Galleries</U></A></FONT> of Beverly Hills, California. The pictures were taken from their May 5/6 2001 Space Memorabilia Auction.</div> <bR> <div> Bibiographic source: Nick Levinge. Indian Silver Jubilee Rocket Mail. The Flagstaff 10:37-49. Autumn 1991 (based on book produced by DN Jatia for the Philatelic Congress of India 1980. 'From the Diary of Stephen Smith')</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Click on the blue links to see pictures. Links are provided to return to this page.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="563" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <B>Date/Location</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> <B>Details</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 65 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id316_23_3_35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 2"><U>March 23, 1935</U></A> <A NAME="23_5_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Diamond Head</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> Diamond Head is west of Calcutta. The first two flights #27 & #28 were ship to shore flights. They each carried 100 special covers and 750 Jubilee commemorative labels (blue and yellow).</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 115 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id316_7_4_35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 2"><U>April 7, 1935</U></A> <A NAME="7_4_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Sikkim</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> Sikkim was a mountain state east of Nepal. Most of the Silver Jubilee rocket mail flights occurred here. Flights #42 & #43 were from the Post Office at Gantok to the Durbar High School. These and subsequent labels (blue and yellow) were overprinted "Rocket mail experiments by sanction Sikkim Durbar." A total of 200 covers and 1800 unused labels were flown on these two flights.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 131 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id316_8_3_35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 2"><U>April 8, 1935</U></A> <A NAME="8_4_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Sikkim</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> Four launches (#44, 45, 47 & 48) from the Sir Tashi Namgyat Field (the current Maharaj of Sikkim) to the Gantok Post Office. A total of 6 covers and 410 rocket cards were flown. The latter are all marked "Tashi Namgyat Field 8/4/35" and are the commonest of the Indian Siler Jubilee rocket mail items. </div> <div> Flight #49 was the first vertical rocket firing East of Europe. The rocket carried 388 rocket cards.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 65 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id316_9_4_35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 2"><U>April 9, 1935</U></A>  <A NAME="9_4_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Sikkim</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> A single flight (#50) carried 175 covers from the Dak Bungalow towards the Gantok Post Office. 1869 labels, coloured green and 6 pairs without black overprints, were also carried.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 180 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id315_10_4_35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 3"><U>April 10, 1935</U></A>  <A NAME="10_4_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Sikkim</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> Launch #51 from Surumsa to Ray was the first successful rocket flight over a river, the Ranakhali. It carried 158 covers and 1842 labels (coloured red).</div> <div> Launch #52 over the same route was the world's first rocket parcel mail experiment. It carried some very interesting items including cigarettes, a toothbrush and medicines. The fifty covers inside the parcel have the word 'mail' deleted and replaced by 'parcel' on the affixed green labels.</div> <div> Later the same day some 186 covers and 2000 blue labels (#53) were transported in the opposite direction to the morning flights.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 114 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id315_13_4_35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 3"><U>April 13, 1935</U></A>  <A NAME="13_4_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Sikkim</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> One hundred and eighteen covers were fired over the river Singtam in Western Sikkim (#56). Blue and yellow Silver Jubilee labels were used. Later the same day another 100 covers were launched over the Rungpo river (#58).</div> <bR> <div> A <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Verdana" ><A HREF="id437_labels.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India Labels"><U>summary</U></A></FONT> of the labels and colours used is provided.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 115 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id317_kholaghat.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 4"><U>June 6, 1935</U></A> <A NAME="6_6_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Kholaghat</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> Launches #60 and 61 were over the Roopnarain river. Both were in aid of the Quetta Earthquake Relief Fund and carried covers (150 and 110 respectively) including in the parcels. These flights are of interest as they are the first rocket mail flights with 935 Silver Jubilee stamps on their covers. These covers also included special Quetta Earthquake Relief and Red Cross labels.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 131 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id317_29_6_35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="India rockets 4"><U>June 29, 1935</U></A>  <A NAME="29_6_35"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>Burnpur</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="436"><div> The first flight (#65) was The first flight transporting living animals (365) took place at Burnpur, north-west of Calcutta. A chicken and a hen (Adam and Eve) together with 189 covers were fired across the Damoodar river. Both fowls survived the flight. Special parcel labels were printed for the occasion (Red  with black overprint on orange paper).</div> <div> The final flight (#66) carried 160 covers and 400 labels (Red with a black overprint on blue paper). </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://count.carrierzone.com/app/count_server/count.js'></script> <script type='text/javascript'> </script>  </body>