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This page - Royal Events :
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Headlines -
Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Luxembourg, France.... Dunkirk evacuation.... Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania occupied by Soviets.... Battle of Britain....
The Blitz begins....
Italy invades Greece.... Coventry
hit by Luftwaffe, 568 killed.... RAF bombs Hamburg....
Hungary, Romania, Slovakia join the Axis Powers.
Royal Events
Britain in crisis and under threat of invasion. King George states that he will
not leave Britain, though plans are drawn up for the evacuation of the
Princesses to Canada, and for re-location of the King within Britain in the case
of invasion.
10 May - George receives Chamberlain's resignation, and sends for Winston
Churchill to be next Prime Minster.
9 September - Buckingham Palace first bombed. The King and Queen are resident at
Windsor Castle during the nights and return to London during the day.
16 November - George visits Coventry and is dismayed by the devastation, he
later has to visit many other bombed sites.
Philatelic Events
Commemoratives : Booklets
: Airmail :
Other :
Postmarks
1 May - Change of
postage rates for letters, postcards, printed
papers, commercial samples, Empire rate surface letters, Foreign rate surface
letters and postcards
1 July - Change of
postage rates for newspapers, parcels
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| 30 April 1940 - Out with the old rate |
1 May 1940 - In with the new |
Commemoratives -
6 May - Issue of
Centenary of First Postage Stamps set.
Booklets -
June -
6d (series 6C) booklet issued
8 July -
2/6
(series 7) dated June 1940, booklet issued
17 July -
5/- (series 8) booklet issued
4 September -
2/6 (series 7) booklet issued
October -
2/6 (series 7) booklet issued
Airmail -
1 January - Isle of Man Air Services re-start the Liverpool /
Isle of Man service.
March - Pan American flights to Bermuda are suspended over a disagreement
concerning censorship (censor station on the island). The service to the island
does not resume until November.
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1 April - British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) formed
from merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways.
The planned resumption of summer flights by Pan American on its northern route
to Foynes does not go ahead. The southern route to Lisbon continues and later
increases to three times a week - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
BOAC unable to recommence the summer trans-Atlantic service as suitable
long-range aircraft are not available - Caribou and Cabot
were destroyed by enemy aircraft at Bodo harbour (Norway) in May 1940. It
was considered to be very important for morale, and propaganda in the US, that a
service from the UK must be resumed. Two flying boats, Clare and
Clyde are adapted to carry extra fuel to allow trans-Atlantic flights.
4 June - regular twice weekly BOAC flights from London (Heston) via
Bordeaux to Lisbon using DH91 landplanes
is started. This was principally in order to connect with the Pan American
'Southern' route from Lisbon to the US. There was a temporary interruption from
19 June to
the BOAC flights after the fall of France. Only a few flights occurred to Lisbon
(no longer via Bordeaux) until 10 July when a twice weekly service was started
using flying-boats.
First flight piloted by Captain O.P. Jones in the De Havilland Frobisher class
plane, 'Fingal' >
14/15 June - first mail sent by 'horseshoe route' to avoid axis / occupied
countries.
3 July - mail for Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the Philippines
is allowed to be carried by the 'northern' trans-Atlantic route then across the
US and trans-Pacific route.
2 August - regular service to Lisbon now goes via Oporto.
Many of these flights were operated on KLM aircraft (Douglas
DC3) with KLM crews which had escaped the German invasion of the Netherlands.
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3 August - BOAC flying-boat Clare (G-AFCZ, piloted by Captain
Kelly-Rogers), on northern route from
Poole, via Foynes (where it was refuelled), Botwood (4 August), Montreal and on
to New York (La Guardia - marine terminal) - official mail carried. Clare
was an adapted Short C class S30 with long range fuel tanks so that in flight refuelling was not
required. Return flight started on 8
August, arriving 10 August. Further flights by Clare and carrying official
mail from Poole start on 14 August and 30 August. Civil and official mail is
carried on the flight starting on 15 September.
August - flights start from the UK via Lisbon, Bathurst, Freetown, and Lagos.
23 September - flights to Lisbon changed from London (Heston) to Bristol (Whitchurch).
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4 October - Flying-boat Clyde (G-AFCX, adapted with long range fuel
tanks) makes the final return BOAC
trans-Atlantic flight for 1940 to arrive New York on 5 October, then from New
York on 9 October, arriving 11 October.
9 October - Lisbon service temporarily suspended, to restart 17 December.
10 November - In order to secure and speed up the delivery of US aircraft to the
UK, an 'Atlantic Bridge' air route is started. Aircraft delivered to Canada are
then to be flown rather than shipped to the UK. The first flight is from Gander
airfield to Aldergrove airport in Northern Ireland.
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Other -
10 January - series of covers issued by Robson Lowe to
celebrate the introduction of Uniform Penny Postage throughout the UK - 10
January, 1840.
January -
shortly after the visit of King George to France, (December 1939), Sir
Winston Churchill gave a speech proposing a Federal Union between France and
Britain. Suggestions were then raised in France, and in letters to The
Times, that an Anglo-French postage stamp should mark the close
relationship between the countries.
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