Telegram

[Schroedinger]

Occasionally in the pursuit of one of my philately hobby, I am successful in stamp auctions. Frequently ephemera (read:junk) accompanies the material. I have come across a telegram which appears to be from Aden, hand stamped dated 9 May 1954 and to an address in Uxbridge. The message, probably from a husband, says he will be arriving on the 15th, at 0905 on BA Flight 116. Can anyone tell me if such a flight did either originate in Aden, or was it a refueling stop, or? If possible, I would like to know what type of aircraft it was. I collect Aden, and it might be a useful addition to the local history. Thanks.

[Lordflasheart]

I suggest this would have been a split journey. The BA 116 was not scheduled to go through Aden so the reference would have been to the arrival flight into London. It was the BA115 return service from South Africa via Khartoum and Cairo. Flown by Comet 1s til they were grounded the previous month, replaced by whatever was available - Argonauts or Connies perhaps. Suggest the Aden to Cairo would have been whatever he could have hopped onto - Aden Airways DC-3 or RAF transport perhaps. (Might have scheduled himself some "Decompression" in Cairo ) All IMHO. LFH

[Schroedinger]

LFH, appreciate the reply. Are there any areas of reference (i.e., aircraft departures from Aden from say 9-14 May 1954, and the BA 116 arrival at London on 15 May 1954) that I can go to? What would the person in question be doing in Aden in 1954? Military? If so, why is he arriving on a commercial flight? If he was British Government (or military), is there a list I can consult for his name?

Schrodinger

[Warmtoast]

BP opened a new refinery at Little Aden in 1954. Plenty of civilian Brits and Europeans connected with the refinery would have been be flying around in those days I expect.


1954 Aden Airways timetable here: Index of /ttimages/ad/ad54


This shows a direct Aden Airways Argonaut flight (AD. 470) Aden - Cairo and vice-versa on Fridays and stopping flights on some other days.

[Lordflasheart]

Shot my bolt I'm afraid. However as WT says, there was a new BP refinery. It is the CofG of the BP Aden Kids website. Seems to be well active including subscribers right from the beginning. It might hold some answers for you. BP Aden Kids
Good luck. LFH

[The SSK]

According to the infallible Wiki P, Aden Airways did not have its own Argonauts until 1960. That Argonaut service, which appears almost as a footnote in the otherwise all-Dakota timetable, looks very much like a BOAC through service carrying an AD code.

[WHBM]

This is correct, the BOAC Argonaut routed London-Rome-Cairo-Aden, with a BA flight number out to Cairo, and a (completely different) AD flight number on to Aden. It appears to be the only service of the week from London to Aden - which was still a major port for British liners coming through Suez to Asia and Australia, and thus most of its connection was by sea. Aden Airways were wholly owned by BOAC, and leased their Dakotas from the parent company.

115/116 were indeed the BOAC flights to/from Johannesburg, also stopping at Rome and Cairo. The Comets operating this and other services had been grounded four weeks previously, timetables would have been in a flux and the printed documents probably in no way reflected reality - that Aden Airways timetable dated 1 May had probably been in circulation since before the grounding, and in those days likely went to print a couple of months before that. Reservations for those travelling from London to Rome and Cairo were also doubtless in a mess, which would upset the Aden flight.