Why in 1941 did FAM 22 (Miami to west africa) end in the belgian congo?
FAM 22 began early in December, 1941, just as we entered WWII. Specially prepared first flight covers exist in some abundance for the various legs. And while there are nuances even with the first flight covers, the difficulty for the postal historian is to determine when the flights began regularly to carry normal commercial, civilian mail (especially to Europe and Scandinavia). The initial planning for the landed-based route was more in anticipation of resupplying, especially, Free French troops in central Africa. A second issue associated with the problem is whether mail was carried both E-W and W-E. The assumption is that early W-E flights carried war material, but return E-W flights could carry civilian mail, especially from Central and South Africa as well as mail from the middle East and beyond.
