Mt. Everest Expedition Mail

In 1938 the British launched their last pre-WWII expedition to Mt. Everest from the Tibetan side. Once again, the team followed the 1935 & 1936 route and used Gangtok as the postal collection point.

Unlike the previous expeditions, this was a much smaller team of 7 climbers on a budget of £300 each. They had hopes of moving much faster up the peak and were able to establish Camp VI at 27,200 feet (8,300 m) but beyond that snow conditions made climbing impossible. Also unlike the previous 4 expeditions, no expedition marking was used. There is only four documented covers from the expedition so little is known about the mail arrangements.

UNDER CERTIFICATE OF POSTING - After the mail theft during the 1936 British Mt. Everest expedition, the 1938 expedition employed the Indian postal service called "Certificate of Posting". For a small fee, the service provided a certificate that an item brought to the post office by a courier had been posted. Since the expedition was only concerned with the courier and mailing post office, this provided an ideal service to ensure the mail would not be stolen at the mailing end. This was a low-cost alternative to registered mail that would also provide a receipt that the item was delivered. The expedition did not have a concern with the postal service in England.

In the end the team was defeated by weather conditions and the expedition retreated. The British would not return to the Chinese/Tibetan side of Mt. Everest again for another 44 years.

Table B1 - 1938 Mt. Everest - TBD

	Identifying Information

ID	Mailed To	Mailed From	Notes	Image
EV38_001	Mrs. Warren Abbotts Ann Crowthorne, Berkshire England	Charles Warren Gangtok, Sikkim Dated: 1 June 1938
EV38_002	Mrs. Warren Abbotts Ann Crowthorne, Berkshire England	Charles Warren Gangtok, Sikkim Dated: 5 May 1938
EV38_003	Robert Lawrie Esq. 8J Southwick St London W2 England	Charles Warren Gangtok, Sikkim Dated: 1 June 1938	Possible label on reverse reads, "From Dr Warren 1938 Everest Expedition, Base Camp"
EV38_004	The Editor Science Progress Messers Trnold & Co. Ltd. Maddox Street London, W1, England	Noel E. Odell Gangtok, Sikkim Dated: 5 May 1938

NOTE: Due to the small number of covers with this marking combination, I have combined the Appendix B and Appendix C data on one page.

Appendix C

Details of Covers

EV38_001 Cover to Mrs. Warren, wife of Charles Warren, Crowthorn, England, bearing a pair of KVG 1a3p stamps tied by Gangtok cancel (Type ?) dated 1 JUN 1933. Cover is also marked with two straight line dates identifying the date the cover was received by the post office and the date it was mailed. The cover is also marked with a straight line UNDER CERTIFICATE OF POSTING marking. Courtesy of the Bard Collection, www.himalayana.com
EV38_002 Cover to Mrs. Warren, wife of Charles Warren, Crowthorn, England, bearing a pair of KVG 1a3p stamps tied by Gangtok cancel (Type ?) dated 5 MAY 1933. Cover is also marked with two straight line dates identifying the date the cover was received by the post office and the date it was mailed. The cover is also marked with a straight line UNDER CERTIFICATE OF POSTING marking. Courtesy of the Hackstaff Collection. Ex Shambhala collection Spink Auction, The Shambhala collection of Tibet, January 14, 2022, Lot: 613 Realized: HK$4,000 (US $510)
EV38_003 Cover to London, England, bearing a pair of KVG 1a3p stamps tied by Gangtok cancel (Type ?) dated 1 JUN 1933. Cover is also marked with two straight line dates identifying the date the cover was received by the post office and the date it was mailed. The cover is also marked with a straight line UNDER CERTIFICATE OF POSTING marking. The cover may also have a label affixed to the reverse that reads, "From Dr Warren 1938 Everest Expedition, Base Camp". Ex Shambhala collection Spink Auction, The Shambhala collection of Tibet, January 14, 2022, Lot: 614 Realized: HK$8,000 (US $1,020)
EV38_004 Cover to London, Crowthorn, England, bearing a pair of KVG 1a3p stamps tied by Gangtok cancel (Type ?) dated 5 MAY 1933. Cover is also marked with two straight line dates identifying the date the cover was received by the post office and the date it was mailed. The cover is also marked with a straight line UNDER CERTIFICATE OF POSTING marking. Ex Shambhala collection Spink Auction, The Shambhala collection of Tibet, January 14, 2022, Lot: 612 Realized: HK$9,000 (US $1,155)