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Umberto Nobile Italian Explorer

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Daniel View Drop Down
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    Posted: 29 October 2021 at 14:30
Spedizione Artica Soccorso Aereo (Arctic Air Rescue Expedition) Cinderella Mystery Solved

I came across this miniature sheet on ebay a while ago. It's rather odd-looking, for sure, with 2 stamps diagonally tĂȘte-bĂȘche (if that's even a thing) and 2 blank stamps with offset printing. In fact, those 2 'blank stamps' are printed on the reverse! Further wording states Sesto Calende (a town in Italy)-Kingsbay. Then there is a date printed in thick ink making it unreadable other than Giugne (June). A very strange looking aircraft is depicted.

Scan_20201116 by Daniel, on Flickr

However, one of the great rescue missions in the Arctic was the search for General Umberto Nobile's downed airship, the Italia, in 1928. Having reached the North Pole on 24th May, the Italia encountered a storm and the gondola smashed onto the ice throwing 10 men out while the airship flew upwards and away with 6 men who were never seen again. Of the 10, one died from his injuries and several others, including Nobile, were injured.

There were multiple rescue missions (including one by Amundsen which would cost him and his crew their lives) but they were not co-ordinated or well organised and it wasn't until the survivors were spotted by Lieutenant Colonel Umberto Maddalena in his Savola-Marchetti S.55 aircraft, depicted on the stamp, on 20th June 1928, therefore, the date on the stamp, that the evacuation could begin in earnest. Nobile was rescued by Einar Lundborg and the remaining survivors by the Soviet icebreaker, the Krasin. More details in a later post.


This is a picture of the plane depicted on the stamps:


Incoming mail to the Italian rescue mission was cacheted Sesto Calende, which had a seaplane base on Lake Maggiore

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Daniel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 October 2021 at 14:37
In my 'Spedizione Artica Soccorso Aereo (Arctic Air Rescue Expedition) Cinderella Mystery Solved' post above, I wrote about Umberto Nobile's expedition to the North Pole using his airship, the Italia. Although he reached the North Pole, it would ultimately result in tragedy. Here are various commemorative and remembrance items issued at the time and on various anniversaries.

These first two Italian Cinderella stamps were issued in 1928 to commemorate the flight, other colours were available. Alongside is a commemorative poster stamp for his previous expedition to the North Pole with Amundsen and Ellsworth in 1926.


This sheet, I assume that it is a reprint, was issued for a polar postal history exhibition "The Conquest of the Poles" from 4th to 19th March 1978 in Cremona, Italy. It depicts one of above stamp in a double pane sheet overprinted for the exhibition.


Nobile was rescued by Swedish Air Force Lieutenant (later Captain) Einar Lundborg. Nobile was the best known explorer and was seen as the 'main prize' in the various rescue attempts. In fairness to Lundborg, he did return to attempt a further rescue but his plane crashed and he was stranded until his co-pilot rescued him (accounts vary but I believe this to be correct). Lundborg became  a celebrity and this cover with a hand stamped cachet marks a tour of the US, in this case Seattle, Washington. He died during a test flight in 1931.


Finally, a British postcard issued on the 50th anniversary, honoring all those who died in the crash of the Italia, subsequently and those that died in the various rescue attempts, including Roald Amundsen. The monument at Tromso, Norway is also shown naming all those who died.


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