Page 410 - Sierra Leone to 1961 - The Collection
P. 410
Air Mail Services
Elders Colonial Airways Service to Bathurst to connect with German Service to Europe
Final Flight of G-AENX
13 July 1939 - Freetown to Manchester, United Kingdom.
Flown by ECA FB56 (14 Jul) and DLH L470 from Bathurst (22 Jul) to Frankfurt (23 Jul). Rate 1s 4d per ½ oz.
The Elders Colonial Airways service between Freetown and Bathurst was operated by one flying boat, the
Short Scion G-AENX. Unfortunately this suffered damage in Bathurst harbour on 16 July 1939 and sank. As
the service had been running at a loss, Elders did not replace the plane and Sierra Leone lost its only direct
air mail connection at the time.
Between June 1938 and July 1939, a total of 56 weekly flights were scheduled from Freetown to Bathurst;
these were numbered FB1 to FB56. Of these, FB20 to FB28 inclusive and FB39 did not take place due to
service requirements, leaving 46 flights northbound and 45 southbound.
