A stopover in Alaska. The IJ Sisters in the age of aircraft (1946–1983) · Archives des Sœurs de l'Enfant Jésus-Nicolas Barré

On 29 August 1958, Mothers Saint Emmanuel Tatsumi and Saint Cecilia Takamine, from the Tokyo community, were returning from a trip to France. Their plane made a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska. They were among the first to travel on this new trans-polar air route, at a time of constant innovation in the field of civil aviation. This event illustrates the central role of transport for a missionary congregation such as the Infant Jesus Sisters.

The distance revolution

When the Institute became missionary in 1851, journeys to the Far East were still an adventure. Despite the progress of the Industrial Revolution, the journeys remained long and gruelling. In 1852, Mother Saint Mathilde Raclot and her companions took 39 days to travel from Southampton to Singapore. The canonical visits by the Superiors General or their representatives, which took place at intervals of several years, would last for weeks in order to visit all the communities and make the journey worthwhile.

In 1939, the Superior General, Mother Saint Berthe Bourgoing, had to cross the Atlantic by ship to reach Canada, which she then travelled across by train before boarding a ship bound for Yokohama. In 1946, at the age of 70, she experienced air travel for the first time. Despite the basic comfort, she welcomed the speed of this new means of transport. However, the technology of the time did not allow for long-haul flights. Thus, for her journey to Asia between 1946 and 1947, she travelled by ship from Marseille to Singapore (25 days), then by plane from Singapore to Tokyo. On her return, she followed the same route, via Southampton.

Picture postcard drawn for the journey of Mother Sainte Berthe Bourgoing (1946, IJS archives, 1M41/19)

The rise of transcontinental flights

Mother Saint Jean Desmet, elected Superior General in 1950, epitomised the transition to air travel. In 1951 and 1952, she made a journey lasting several months, during which she visited communities outside Europe, notably the new foundation in California, as well as Malaysia, which was celebrating its centenary. Her itinerary alternated between ship, plane and train.

It was in 1955 that she undertook her first journey entirely by plane, travelling to Japan. In 1952, Air France had launched a Paris–Tokyo route linking the two capitals in 51 hours with three stopovers. However, Mother Saint Jean’s journey was punctuated by numerous stopovers: Milan, Rome, Cairo, Bahrain, Karachi, Calcutta, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Okinawa. It took her four days to reach her destination. At the same time, the sisters benefited from the growth of airmail, which facilitated communication between the various provinces. Ships remained a popular means of transport, as did maritime mail services. However, it still took 32 days to travel from Marseille to Yokohama.

Mother Saint Jean Desmet (ca. 1950, IJS archives, n°406/9)

Plane of the British Overseas Airway Corporation (BOAC) (1950's, IJS archives, 1M41/20)

Anchorage, an aviation hub

With the boom in international tourism, airlines sought to reduce flight times and establish new air routes. However, in the midst of the Cold War, not all airspaces were accessible. Air routes were therefore established via the west, and Anchorage became a major hub for travel to East Asia. For Japan, the ‘Polar Route’ was inaugurated by Air France on 10 April 1958, with a single stopover in Anchorage; 3,000 kilometres shorter, it reduced the journey to ‘just’ 30 hours.

On 29 August 1958, Mothers Saint Emmanuel Tatsumi and Saint Cécile Takamine were the first sisters of the congregation to set out on this journey. Their stopover in Anchorage was immortalised in a postcard sent to the Superior General, written in French by Mother Saint Emmanuel. Their account, published in Sint Unum, bears witness to this adventure and its innovative nature.

Mothers Saint Cécile Takamine and Saint Emmanuel Tatsumi (1950's, IJS archives, n°406/9)

Front of the postcard sent by Mothers Saint Emmanuel and Saint Cécile from Anchorage (1958, IJS archives, 4M7/2)

Back of the postcard

In 1960, Mother Saint Jean and her assistant, Mother Saint Jeanne Le Grand, followed in their footsteps for the Superior’s third trip to Asia. After a ten-hour flight, they landed in Anchorage, but a setback awaited them: their second flight, already delayed, did not have enough fuel. It had to land at Mikawa military airport to refuel before continuing on to Tokyo. On their return journey, they opted for a different route, departing from Bangkok and making several stopovers before embarking on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Sint Unum, recounting the trans-polar flight of Mothers Saint Cécile and Saint Emmanuel (1958, IJS archives, 1P1/7)

New air routes

Since the 1950s, the Institute has been experiencing a new period of expansion, with new foundations in Asia, the Americas, Africa and Oceania. The development of aviation made it possible to bridge the distances between provinces and allowed the sisters greater mobility. By the time Mother Saint Jean’s successor, Mother Saint Justin Deleuze, set off on a trip in 1966, flying was no longer such a rare occurrence. To reach Japan, Mother Saint Justin did not travel via Alaska but via California: a 14-hour flight from Paris to San Francisco, two days visiting the communities, then a stopover in Honolulu before landing in Tokyo.

Mother Saint Justin Deleuze arriving at Tokyo-Haneda Airport (1966, IJS archives, n°425/5)

Mother Marie del Rosario Brandoly, Superior General from 1971 to 1983, travelled more frequently, though she presumably did not take the route via Anchorage. The end of the Cold War and technological advances meant that this route lost its appeal, and the flights to Asia via Anchorage ceased in the late 1980s.

Mother Marie del Rosario Brandoly at the airport of Lima (1972, IJS archives, n°404)

Fore more information...

Sitographie

Air France. "De Paris à Tokyo depuis 65 ans", 2017 [https://corporate.airfrance.com/fr/actualites/de-paris-tokyo-depuis-65-ans Berliner Jeff. "Glanost, Boeing hurt Anchorage". UPI (archives), 1988. [https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/04/24/Glasnost-Boeing-hurt-Anchorage/3020577857600/] Frenchlines. L'épopée des messageries maritimes : l'Orient pour horizon", exposition virtuelle. [https://www.frenchlines.com/expositions/expositions-virtuelles/lepopee-des-messageries-maritimes-lorient-pour-horizon/#1447425045993-d11888b8-4896] HistoriaPhil. "Sarre 1958 vol inaugural transpolaire AirFrance Paris Anchorage Tokyo", vente en ligne. [https://www.historiaphil.com/boutique/fr/histoire-de-l-aviation/10001-sarre-1958-vol-inaugural-transpolaire-air-france-paris-anchorage-tokyo-af58-p2-type-2-3000000033302.html]

Written by Anaëlle Herrewyn, IJS archivist