My cover and letter of the day I forgot I had hiding inside some notes on my desk!!
I brought this online in a small lot of covers and this was not in the scan. This letter was posted from HMS GOLIATH which at this time was serving with the Royal Navy China Station at Weihaiwei. Weihaiwei was a British Treaty Port in China and also the Summer anchorage of the Royal Navy's China Station.
The cover was posted from Weihaiwei on the 21st September 1902. The cover bears a Russian adhesive with the China overprint and a Russian postmark for the 27th of September 1902.
The cover arrived in Scotland on the 22nd of October 1902. Does anyone know why this cover went though the Russian Post Offices in China, what the post mark say's or the route.
The letter is quiet interesting as this young officer went traveling in certain parts of China and Hong Kong during his leave
Chris,
Because the cover was inscribed "via Transsiberian RR" it was taken to the nearest Russian post office which was a little west of Weihaiwei at Chefoo. The postmark reads Chefoo Post Office and has a new style date of 27 Sept. 1902. From Chefoo it was taken on a short boat ride to Port Arthur and then on the Chinese Eastern RR to Harbin and then west into Siberia. Great cover!
Nice Cover Chris
With a transcript of the letter may be something for the Winter Journal.
Chris