COVER N.66 - South Africa

Postmark: No postmark on stamps. Letter sent registred (label - Reg. Airmail letter small, 15/12/2021) from Gallomanor 
Posted on the 15th December; received on the 31st January
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The end of the year was drawing close when I got a message from the land of Cape of Good Hope (probably the cape in the world with the most beautiful name, me thinks). A fellow collector wanted to swap covers and I immediately said yes. Sadly it was just about the time Omicron was making its entrance into the daily vocabulary across the world and new restrictions to travel and mail were coming into being, especially affecting transit to and fro that particular area of the globe. 

But as George Harrison once said "All things must pass" and luckily it seems that Omicron might be a contribution for the end of it all, so regular transit is slowly coming back and with it Kyle's beautiful cover finally made it to my letter box. Thanks a lot Kyle; another country to my list!

Kyle used the 5 auto-adhesive stamps issued in souvenir sheet form on 05FEB2015 to celebrate the centenary of the South African Aviation Corps. all stamps have no face value being the correct tariff for "airmail postcard".

Pressured by the German expansion operations in austral Africa ever since the beginning of the First World War, the Union Defence Force of what was still a dominion of the UK, quickly understood the manyfold advantages of  the airplane in warfare and swiftly established the South African Aviation Corps, on the 29th January 2015, the forerunner of the South African Air Force that in its turn would be established on the 1st February 1920. 

The first stamps has showcases the image of an Henry Farman Biplane. The Henry Farman F-27, a reconnaissance airplane,  was sthe first aircraft operated by the SAAC.

The second stamp is illustrated by an image of the 14-15 Star. Quoting directly from Wikipedia, "the 1914–15 Star is a campaign medal of the British Empire which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces who served in any theatre of the First World War against the Central European Powers during 1914 and 1915. The medal was never awarded singly and recipients also received the British War Medal and Victory Medal."

The third stamp according to its kegend, depicts a SAAC tunic detail.

the fourth stamps is dedicated to the embroidered  pilot's wings used by pilots of the SAAC.

the fith and final stamp illustrates the shoulder badge of the tunics of SAAC members.