Aer Lingus bought two Super Electras in 1939. The outbreak of war left them with few destinations to fly to and both were sold to Australia in 1940, EI-ABV becoming VH-ADW. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

This photo was filed under 'Airports by country - J to Z', but SCADTA points to Colombia and another shot of the same scene carries the information that Troepiaal inaugurated a KLM West Indies Branch service to Barranquilla - Soledad from Curaçao, via Aruba and Maracaibo (Venezuela). The date was probably 15 May 1938. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

Ex PH-ASL of KLM, G-AFYU only served with British Airways for a few months, ditching on a flight between Alexandria in Egypt and Malta on 21 December 1939. Three passengers and two crew were killed, three pax and three crew were rescued by a ship. Photo from: Nasjonalbiblioteket (Norway)

Taken over by the USAAF after fleeing the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. Photo from: State Library of New South Wales

A BA Super Electra framed with LOT's sole Junkers Ju 52, SP-AKX, which had Bristol Pegasus engines. Photo from: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

Dutch crown princess Juliana on her way to Surinam (Dutch Guyana) in 1943, escorted by an American B-25 and a Dutch one, 42-65102. PJ-AIM was delivered to KLM's West Indies branch in July 1938. Retired in 1948 and dumped into sea in 1949. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

KLM image. Crashed Curacao on August 13, 1948. Photo from: Civil Aviation Historical Society, Melbourne, Australia

Ex KNILM PK-AFP, ex USAAF aircraft that used the civil style callsign VHCXJ for operations during the South-West Pacific campaign of World War II. Flown by Adelaide-based Guinea Airways on behalf of the military. Postwar transported by road to the Adelaide suburb of Prospect to be converted to a caravan. By 1966 was being used as a garden shed. Attempts to recover it complete were thwarted by the owner's refusal to allow it to be hoisted by crane. Cut up and removed in sections, some of which ended up at the Warbirds Museum at Mildura.

One of two Super Electras briefly operated by KLM in Europe, Ekster (magpie) arrived in Rotterdam on 10 March 1938 and crashed near Schiphol during a training flight on 9 December 1938. The four crew were all killed. The accident investigation blamed the experienced instructor for turning off the starboard engine too soon after take-off, while the trainee pilot had only one hour on the type. Photo from: Amsterdam City Archives

A news photo, an aviation photo and a superb photo of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (left from centre, holding his hat) returning from talks with Adolf Hitler in Bad Godesberg, near Bonn. Chamberlain's declaration of 'peace for our time' after flying home in the same BA Super Electra from the summit in Munich happened six days later on 30 September 1938. Photo from: Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe

PK-AFO arriving in Sydney on the first KNILM service from Batavia (Jakarta). The flight took 21 hours under the command of Captain J. Schott. There was one passenger, plus mail, photos and films. PK-AFO was lost on January 22, 1940 when it crashed into the sea soon after take-off from Denpasar enroute to Sydney. One survivor among the nine on board. Photo from: Hood Collection/State Library of New South Wales

KNILM's shiny new PK-AFM on a regular service from Batavia (Jakarta) to Sydney. It was one of the KNILM aircraft to escape to Australia following the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in 1942. -AFM crashed near Katherine, Northern Territory, on March 26, 1942 when the pilots became disorientated on a flight from Brisbane to Batchelor. Crew and passengers survived but not the greyhounds being carried as cargo. They became dinner during the four-day wait for rescue. Photo from: State Library of Queensland

Withdrawn from use at Parafield in 1949 and scrapped in October 1951. John M. Smith photo.

KLM's Super Electra "Lepelaar" is operating the Schiphol-Doncaster-Ringway-Speke scheduled service on 12 August, shortly after delivery on 30 June 1938, replacing the usual DC-2. Sold to the first British Airways in August 1939 as G-AFYU and crashed off Malta on 21 December 1939.

Operating a scheduled service from Schiphol via Ringway to Liverpool (Speke). Taken from rooftop viewing area on 1938 terminal.