Post by daniel on Jul 7, 2022 1:41:53 GMT
This cover honours World War I Belgian fighter ace Edmond Thieffry. He graduated as lawyer in 1914 and was immediately called up for service. Within a week he was a prisoner but escaped and then joined the air force. He was involved in many dog-fights shooting down several enemy aircraft but was also shot down himself on multiple occasions.
After the war he became a solicitor but returned to aviation in 1925. The stamp honours Thieffry for the first flight from Brussels to Kinshasa in that year. He died in an accident in the Belgian Congo in 1929 while delivering an aircraft to Prince Eugene de Ligne.
The cover is signed by Prince Eugene 's son Prince Antoine de Ligne and who was also a 2nd Lieutenant in the Belgian Air Force but during the Second World War. It is also signed by Major J Huybens commander of the 2nd Escadrilles who flew the Mirage in which this cover was carried.
After the war he became a solicitor but returned to aviation in 1925. The stamp honours Thieffry for the first flight from Brussels to Kinshasa in that year. He died in an accident in the Belgian Congo in 1929 while delivering an aircraft to Prince Eugene de Ligne.
The cover is signed by Prince Eugene 's son Prince Antoine de Ligne and who was also a 2nd Lieutenant in the Belgian Air Force but during the Second World War. It is also signed by Major J Huybens commander of the 2nd Escadrilles who flew the Mirage in which this cover was carried.