Official and military correspondence was sent free of charge.   All such letters posted in Cracow or Lemberg received the following handstamp:  "K. u K. Fliegerkurierlinie Wien-Kyiv Flugstation Krakau [or Lemberg]" (K. u K.= Imperial and Royal; Air Courier Route Vienna-Kyiv Flight Station Cracow [or Lemberg]).   These postmarks also served as receiving markings at these two cities and were in use from 20 March to the end of October 1918.   Letters with these official markings are quite scarce and valuable (Figure 5).

Figure 5.  Official military letter from Cracow to Lemberg dated 23 March 1918.

Figure 6. Examples of the various types of cancellations that appeared on letters to and from
Vienna, Cracow, or Lemberg.

"Post and Telegraph Order No. 15" designated Vienna, Cracow, and Lemberg as arrival delivery sites; only the main post offices—Wien 1, Krakau 1, and Lemberg 1 respectively—were authorized to accept mail for air delivery. The stamps were canceled with ordinary round handstamps of the post office of origin. Additionally, a special round "Flugpost" postmark had to appear on the front of the cover, usually next to the canceled postage stamps, to indicate that air delivery was required. These postmarks were also used to back stamp incoming airmail (Figure 6).

Next Page

This page was updated on August 20, 2004