Sussex Postal History Society​

Our speaker for the July meeting Josh Spoor gave a most informative and eclectic presentation on Shoreham airport and the early years of Sussex aviation.

Shoreham airport, founded in 1910, is the oldest airport in the United Kingdom.

The rich historical heritage of the airport, the characters who were associated with the early days.

Cecil Pashley who had a long association particularly teaching many future pilots. His flying hours in excess of twenty thousand over decades but usually of say ten to fifteen minutes duration only per flight.

Josh provided a selection of postcards, brochures, promotional items to reflect the variety of the story of Shoreham airport.

The early period from the start of the Second World War, Shoreham became an important centre for aviation and the transition of the mails with the closure of Croydon Airport taken over by the Royal Air Force.

KLM were the dominant airline in Europe operating Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 aircraft.  Examples of postal history with mail carried by KLM, Sabena and DDL (Danish Air Lines) were shown and explained in detail. The need for censorship created issues with KLM who were not keen for all mails carried to be subject to censorship by the British Authorities.  

A cover dated 15th September 1939 transited Malmo- Schiphol- Shoreham was shown.

Although official records indicate the earliest date of operations from Shoreham 30th October 1939… (Ed-I hope this is a correct chronology). The Shoreham to Lisbon service being of importance (KLM) and a base for the Americans, to operate across the North Atlantic from Lisbon.

The presentation concluded with a miscellaneous selection of flight covers and notable events of the aircraft associated with Shoreham.

Our grateful thanks to Josh for providing our afternoon with such an interesting glimpse of Sussex aviation history complemented by postal history.

 

David Start 10th July 2025  

Members may wish to read:  

The Dawn of Aviation by Josh Spoor, Pen and Sword Books, 2021