Page 103 - 148 Years of the Royal Philatelic Society London

In 1968: Tet offensive and My lai massacre in Vietnam; Russia invades Czechoslovakia;

Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinated; 2001; A Space Odyssey and Hair open.

At the RPSL: Provincial meeting in Glasgow attracts ten members and 156 visitors from

twenty-two Scottish Societies. The Royal Philatelic Society London Medal is inaugurated.

RPSL President was W. A. Townsend. Patron H.M. Queen Elizabeth II.

Membership 987 - 1215.

HEATHROW CRASH COVER

From the collection of Matthew Healey.

Member since 2015. Lives in the United States of America.

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Not many Machin crash covers exist as modern aviation is relatively safe. The 4d Machin and one

shilling Wilding (largely burnt away) paid the 1 ounce, 2nd-class airmail rate to Zone C; 2nd-class

airmail ceased upon decimalization in 1971. The 8th April 1968 BOAC flight to Australia crash-landed

shortly after take-off when one of the plane's engines caught fire. Most passengers and crew

evacuated, though sadly five died. One stewardess, Barbara Jane Harrison, was posthumously

awarded the George Cross for her heroism.