Today in Postal History

Netherlands Indies to Netherlands
November 14, 1934

This cover has an unusual history.
On the east-bound leg of this flight it competed in the MacRobertson Air Race
from England to Australia sponsored by a Melbourne candy manufacturer.
The $150,000 prize attracted many competitors and twenty starters.
This airplane, a KLM DC-2 named Uiver, was second in the speed race.
It also took first in the Handicap Section.

The plane was in regular service and not specially built for the race as were the other competitors.
The pilots were Parmentier and Moll.

On the return flight it carried covers from some of the KLM stops
along the way including this one posted in Batavia (now Jakarta).
Batavia was in the center of the northwest side of Java.
There are two BATAVIA CENTRAL (?) CDS and two special UIVER BATAVIA CDS
The destination of this cover was Den Haag, Netherlands.
Den Haag, also known as 's-Gravenhage, is about 50 km southwest of Amsterdam on the North Sea coast.
The addressee indicated by the red arrow is A.  Plesman, probably
Albert Plesman, an aviation pioneer and co-founder of KLM.*

The cover was made from lightweight paper similar to onionskin used for airmail.
The cover had a preprinted airmail etiquette.

The stamps appear to be the Netherlands Indies 2½c light red of 1922,
10c carmine rose of 1914, and the Netherlands 30c dark green airmail triangle
of 1933 (Scott 106, 117, and C10).

The picture at the bottom shows, I believe, the return of the airplane to the Netherlands.

*Thanks to Maarten Willems for explaining the relationship of
Den Haag and 's-Gravenhage and the significance of the addressee.

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