HC Deb 25 February 1943 vol 387 c319W
Mr. Hewlett

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether aeroplanes carrying airgraph letters for the troops abroad are civil machines, or partly military and partly civil; how many machines are solely devoted to carrying airgraphs; and how many airgraphs can each machine carry?

Captain Balfour

Airgraph films are carried on Service or civil aircraft from this country to the Middle East whichever may be the quickest at any particular time. From the Middle East to India and South Africa they are normally carried on civil aircraft only. No aircraft are used solely for this purpose as the films take up a very small fraction of the pay-load of any one aircraft. One pound of airgraph films contains about 4,000 letters.