The First Aircraft To Fly From England To India, 2 Newspaper Prints 1919
Two pages from two different old newspapers. One of the pages is from the Illustrated London News of Feb 22, 1919, and the other is from The Statesman, Feb 7, 1920. The newspapers offer rare glimpses of early aviation in India. The aircraft shown is the Handley Page V/1500 Biplane. In December 1918, this Handley Page V/1500 was the first to fly from England to India; its pilots flew via Rome, Malta, Cairo, and Baghdad, finally reaching Karachi (then in undivided India) nearly a month later.
Amid thunderous applause and cheers from a large crowd gathered, numbering well over ten thousand. One of the images shows the then Viceroy Lord Chelmsford with his daughter and granddaughter during their visit to the RAF in India. Getting ready for a likely joy ride on the Handley Page biplane. The other firsts in India were the First train from Bombay to Thane in 1853; The world’s first airmail flight at Allahabad; the first non-stop flight from England to India; the First Viceroy To Arrive In India By Air in 1943, etc.
Read more on this first flight – Handley Page V/1500, Photograph of Handley Page V/1500 British Bomber, and, Handley Page V/1500 in Wikipedia.
Did you know – the Handley Page V/1500 was originally a bomber in WWI. It was used again for the same purpose, this time to bomb Kabul in May 1919.
