60th AUCTION - day 2

China: 1934, the "Emeraude" disaster: total $1.73 frank tied "SHANGHAI 21.12.33"

China

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1934, the "Emeraude" disaster: total $1.73 frank tied "SHANGHAI 21.12.33" to air mail cover to Nizza/France. On reverse transits of Saigon 5 Jan., Marseilles Avion 14 Jan. and arrival "NICE 16 JANV 1934". Two line "Par Avion Saigon-Marseille et au dela / de Marseille". Also pasted a cut-out of french newspaper report on letters by "Emeraude" bound for Nizza.
- Letter was aboard the "Emeraude", a record breaking new type of airplane, a Dewoitine D.332. On the final leg of the flight Indochina-France, Lyons-Paris, it came into a severe winter storm and crashed near Corbigny (Burgundy), burning for two hours with a loss of all on board. Including "Pierre Pasquier, Governor General of French Indochina; Emanuel Chaumie, Director of Civil Aviation oft he Air Ministry and his wife; M. Balazue, Director of General Technical Service of the Air Ministry; M. Nogues, one of the chief figures in the French Air industry. (…) some of France's greatest and most qualified air engineers were killed." (Haine, Disaster in the air, 2000 p. 283).
- The extant cover survived as beeing addressed to Nizza/Nice and unloaded already at Marseilles.

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Condition: Air mail

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Catalog number(s): 204, 243 etc.