Papua New Guinea John Nicholas Blashford Snell Explorer Hand Signed FDC

SBT04  A stunning rare limited edition specially flown first day cover from 1980 of Papua New Guinea hand signed by historic military explorer Lt Col JN Blashford Snell in mint condition.

John Nicholas Blashford-Snell CBE (born 22 October 1936) is a former British Army officer, explorer and author. He founded Operation Raleigh and the Scientific Exploration Society.Amongst his expeditions were the first descent of the Blue Nile, during which he invented whitewater rafting 'by accident' (in 1968); crossing of the DariÔøΩn Gap (1971 to 1972) and overseeing the first northsouth vehicular journey from Alaska to Cape Horn; and a complete navigation of the Congo River (in 1974 to 1975). He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1974 and the Livingstone Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in recognition of his leadership of the expeditions. In 1978, Blashford-Snell established Operation Drake, which later developed into Operation Raleigh, an educational initiative for young people, of which he was Director General until he retired from this post in 1991. In 1993, Blashford-Snell was awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.