The Foreign Air Mail Route 22 route described in Post Office Department announcements was: Miami - San Juan – Port of Spain, Trinidad - Belem, Brazil - Natal, Brazil - Bathurst, Gambia - Lagos, Nigeria - Leopoldville, Belgian

The stop at Bathurst, close to Dakar under the control of Vichy France, was temporary. It was intended to be replaced by a base at Fisherman’s Lake, in Liberia about 40 miles west of Monrovia, as soon as the new base was ready for operations.

The inaugural flight departed on December 6, 1941, going from New York via Bermuda to San Juan. From there the remainder of the announced route, San Juan to Leopoldville was flown.

This cover was carried on the inaugural Foreign Air Mail Route 22 flight from Natal, Brazil to Bathurst, Gambia (where it was backstamped) and is listed in the Foreign Air Mail (FAM) Section of The American Air Mail Catalogue as F22-5a.