IOR/L/PS/12/2019

The file contains correspondence related to assistance rendered to Lufthansa to facilitate the search for a plane which went missing around 30 August 1937 during a flight from Kansu to Kabul; Lufthansa had been undertaking experimental flights to establish a service between Germany and the Far East, via Afghanistan and Sinkiang. The flight had three crew members: Baron von Gablenz, Flight Captain Untucht, and Herr Kirchoff. The file records requests for assistance from the German authorities, and assistance rendered by the Government of India.

Included in the file are two extracts from The Times, from 9 and 27 September 1937 respectively (see folios 22 and 78), reporting on the initial disappearance of the air crew and their return to Kabul on 27 September.

The recovery of expenses incurred by the Government of India from the German Government in 1938 is also documented in the file.

The main correspondents in the file are as follows: Arthur Ernest Macann, the British Chargé d'affaires at Kabul; officials of the India Office; and officials of the External Affairs Department of the Government of India. The file also contains input from officials of the Air Ministry and the Foreign Office.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.