I have been sent the following enquiry by a member of the British Postmark Society:

[color=maroon]You will see that the Postage Due stamp on the attached 1931 cover has been cancelled with a killer.  I presume that Liverpool would have used dumb naval cancellations during WW1. Is it possible that this killer was originally used at Liverpool for that purpose?[/color]

I have looked at Gould's "British Naval Postal & Censor Marks of the First World War" (Revised Edition 1998) and also his Volume 2 (2016) and cannot find a similar marking.  However, I would appreciate comments, confirmation or otherwise from our Naval specialists who have a far better eye for these markings than I!

Thanks, Mike

Andrew

[b]1st Czechoslovakian Independent Armoured Brigade Group[/b]

[u]Datestamps issued[/u]:

C.S.P.P. / Czechoslovak Field Post issued 1.9.43
(thought that three datestamps were issued)
(No British FPO datestamps issued)

[u]Field Post Office designation[/u]:

FPO BCZ.1

[u]Deployment[/u]:

It appears that the Brigade, upon landing in Normandy, moved up to Falaise and joined First Canadian Army.  There it stayed until it received orders on 5 October 1944 to move up to Dunkirk and take over from 154th (Highland) Infantry Brigade as DUNKIRK FORCE.  This it did on the nights of 7/8 October 1944 and as from 090000A hours on 9 October 1944 command of DUNKIRK FORCE passed to Brigade HQ.  Thus the Brigade became responsible for the containment of the German garrison in Dunkirk.

Czech Brigade Operation Order No 5 dated 20 January 1945 stated that the enemy garrison at Dunkirk consisted mainly of coastal units (Festung and Stamm Abteilungen) navy and air force ground personnel, units of 226th Infantry Division and remnants of various other infantry and artillery units which had retreated to Dunkirk during the battle of France. 

Following the unconditional surrender of Germany itself, on 8 May 1945 staff officers from the Czech Brigade and 22 Liaison HQ entered Dunkirk under a flag of truce and demanded the unconditional surrender of the garrison.

I am aware that following the surrender of Germany the Brigade moved to Czechoslovakia and came under US control and was allocated US APO 655 as their address, thus replacing BLA (British Liberation Army).  However, I cannot find my notes on this at the present time - but see reference (e) which is an excellent book on the Czech Indep Armd Bde Gp.

[u]Censor markings[/u]:

11696 - Army shield censor (FPHS Type A600) - was allocated to:
Company of Heavy Workshops [Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade Workshop]

[u]Reference works[/u]:

(a) Czechoslovak Philatelic Society of Great Britain, Monograph No 1
(Czechoslovak Army and Air Force in Exile 1939-45 - Postal and Other Philatelic Activities) by W.A. Page FRPSL (August 1981)

(b) Supplement to the above (1982)

(c) Czechoslovak Philatelic Society of Great Britain, Monograph No 5
(Czechoslovak Army in France) by Roy E. Reader (1987)

(d) Billig's Handbook on Postmarks: Volume 11: Postal Markings of the Allied Forces in Great Britain 1940-46 by Norman Hill (date unknown - poss c.1950s?)

(e) Czechoslovak Philatelic Society of Great Britain, Monograph No 27
The Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade in France and their Return Home, 1944-1945 - A Historical and Philatelic Study (2014)

Your two Army censored covers are clearly from the Dunkirk area, but I don't know about the RAF censored cover - it is recorded* as being in the UK on an undated 2½d postage paid cover (might this be the actual cover that is recorded?).

* "Censorship in the Royal Air Force 1918 to 1956" by Dr N Colley and W Garrard, 2nd Edition edited by N Colley and I Muchall (produced electronically 2015)


Mike  :)

Matt

Welcome to the Forum - we all started from somewhere and our knowledge has grown over the years.  Even our "experts" can learn something new from time to time.

Can you provide a date for your Indian FPO 144 postmark please.

Thanks, Mike

Further to my previous response, the Imperial War Museum link is:
[url=https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7691829]https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7691829[/url]

The other reference is to a Canadian book and in view of my recent finding below I now have doubts about RNCO abbreviation in this book being appropriate:
[url=https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/themes/defence/caf/militaryhistory/dhh/general/book-1986-bilingualism-forces-1-en.pdf]https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/themes/defence/caf/militaryhistory/dhh/general/book-1986-bilingualism-forces-1-en.pdf[/url]

However, could it be that RNCO stands for [b]Royal Naval College Osborne[/b] - your postcard is postmarked East Cowes.
See the topic in the following link: [url=https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/134368-navl-cadets-1903-1921/]https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/134368-navl-cadets-1903-1921/[/url]

Also Wikipedia: [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Naval_College,_Osborne]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Naval_College,_Osborne[/url]
The Royal Naval College, Osborne, was a training college for Royal Navy officer cadets on the Osborne House estate, Isle of Wight, established in 1903 and closed in 1921.

I have found a reference to Arthur Ernest HIDER (5440) with HMS Racer (RNCO).

This was on the IWM website.

I found another reference to RNCO as Reporting  Non-Comissioned Officer in a listing of abbreviations in a Canadian military book.

I can possibly explain more (with URL's) once I can do the search on my computer rather than iPhone.

Mike

Canadian member Mike Street, who is also Chairman of the Canadian Military Mail Study Group, who with some colleagues, are looking into the allocation of DB/N censor numbers to actual RCN ships or shore establishments.  The starting point is a listing compiled in the 1990s by the late John Frith with help from several prominent collectors at the time. One of the problems with the Frith list, however, is that in many cases he has assigned the post office where a letter was postmarked as being the physical location of the DB/N device. For instance, in many cases Avalon or Stadacona is given as the location of the device because a cover carries an Avalon triangle or a Halifax postmark. Another example is that six devices were assigned by Frith to HMCS Fort Ramsay, a stone frigate located in Gaspe, Quebec. Although it was an active base during WWI, there is just no way six censors would have been stationed at Gaspe, a very small town at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec.

Mike writes that: we believe that the DB/N devices were assigned to the actual ship, including stone frigates and shore bases where appropriate.  HMCS Stadacona in Halifax, for example, would have had several DB/N censors working there, complete with their own devices, handling mail from personnel stationed at the base and putting in the mail stream censored letters from ships calling into the port. Our goal is to confirm or correct assignments in the Frith list by finding covers that because of contents, names, etc. are identifiable as to the ship on which a particular DB/N device was used. The ultimate goal is to create an online database of covers. 

An example of such a cover is one sent to me by Nick Colley which carries three handstamps: "EXAMINED BY DB/N 164", "FROM H.M.C. SHIP" and "HMC.SHIP". The letter, addressed to Mr & Mrs J Dillon in Montreal, was sent by G.B. Dillon O/D, V76904, HMCS 1081, c/o FMO Shelburne, N.S.". The R.C.N. crest is on the flap. There are no postmarks on the cover (see illustrations attached).  Courtesy of a list of "Addresses and Fleet Mail Numbers of H.M.C. Ships and Establishments" contained in The Royal Canadian Naval Postal History, 1939-1945, Volume 1, by Maurice Hampson and Percy Colbeck, we know that FMO 1081 was assigned to HMCS Kootenay, thus identifying DB/N 164.  As it happens, there is no entry for DB/N 164 in the Frith list, so this is completely new information, 75+ years later.

If you think you can help please contact Mike Street at [url=http://mikestreet1@gmail.com]mikestreet1@gmail.com[/url]

Nick

I've been trying without success to see what the letters M.E.I. stand for - it could, of course, be M.E.1 and I was thinking of the War Office Directorate of Mechanical Engineering.  However, thats only a guess at the moment.  I need to try and identify Wat Office directorate designations when I next visit The National Archives, there does not appear to be anything online except for M.I. (Military Intelligence) designations (M.I.1 to M.I.19).  I cannot find any reference to the War Office at Duncannon Street, thats another mystery!

Mike  :)

Michael & Peter

I have found a reference to such a mark in Stanley Gibbons "Collect British Postmarks" 8th Edition, Edited by Bill Pipe, 2011

page 326 under "Inspectors' marks" lists this (no illustration) as 19/66 (19 representing section 19: Newspaper, Parcel, Registration, Express and Triangular Postmarks) with the comment "SCOTCH, WELSH and IRISH with numbers" - in this case WELSH / 4.

Could it be that it was accidentally routed to Wales?

Mike  :)

Peter

Thanks for your response - I have to agree with you.  Looking at the items again, I do feel they are philatelic - each stamp nicely cancelled with a BAPO Z marking!

Mike  :)

Thanks Nick - good point, well spotted !!

Other than to suggest that the delay was maybe down to such mail being sent by surface mail (not air mail) by ship back to UK then to Canadian Overseas Postal Depot.  There could have been some disruption due to enemy action on the surface route back to UK ?

Sorry, I don't have enough info on routes, timings, etc for far east surface mail back to the UK.

Mike  :(

I received the following enquiry from an individual in Belgium, my first for 2022:

[color=maroon]Are the BAPO Z cancels during World War I only used in Alexandria/Egypt?[/color]

I responded as follows:

[color=maroon]Thank you for your enquiry below.  I have consulted the following publication:
The Postal History of the British Army in World War I 1903-1929, by Alistair Kennedy and George Crabb, published FPHS 1977
And this states that BAPO Z cancels were only used in Alexandria, Egypt.  The office opened on 5 April 1915 and continued until at least December 1919.
The above publication also states that the earliest known date of a BAPO Z cancel is 10 April 1915.

I will, however, place your query on our members only discussion forum and should that elicit any additional information I will pass that on to you.[/color]

The individual has responded as follows:

[color=maroon]Thanks for your answer.
I was also of the opinion that this stamp was only used in Alexandria, but on Ebay I saw this announcement which made me doubt.[/color]

I have attached the relevant item - I welcome your views, especially of you WW1 and Salonika specialsts!

Thanks, Mike  :)

Jim

According to "The BNAPS Catalogue of Canadian Military Mail Markings - Volume 2 The World War 2 Era 1936-1945" Compiled and edited by C D Sayles FPO 130  was used by the Letter Section, Canadian Overseas Postal Depot, London  May 41 - (Jun 46).

However, according to "The Canadian Military Posts Volume 2 - Between the Wars and World War Two - 1920 to 1946" by W J Bailey and E R Toop, Edited by Edward Proud it shows it being used at Canadian Base Post Office No 1 (later designated Canadian Overseas Postal Depot in October 1941)  (2.7.41) to 30.9.41.

RAF CENSOR 955 is recorded in "Censorship in the Royal Air Force 1918 to 1956" by Dr N Colley and W Garrard, 2nd Edition edited by N Colley and I Muchall as being in Ceylon.

I hope the above proves helpful.

Mike

Peter - you beat me to it! As soon as I saw the topic I immediately thought of that book!
No hangover here - far too busy with Society issues!

Marc

I've tried to find out more about the unit - BHQ 69/6 Field Regiment RA; this I take to be Battery HQ, 69 Field Battery, 6th Field Regiment RA. 

However, despite spending time trying to search for such a battery or details of the Regiment, I still cannot come up with anything online.  If I get to The National Archives early in the New Year - a search on that site provides the following:
WO261/232 (Quarterly Historical Report - Jan-Mar, Oct-Dec 1947) which also states:

[color=maroon]On 1.4.1947 6th Field Regiment became 67th Field Regiment and on 10.10.1947 6th Regiment RHA became 6th Field Regiment. [/color]

So, was there a 6th Field Regiment by name between 1/4/47 and 10/10/47?

The mystery continues !!

Mike