I have several covers with cachets Addressee Reported Missing. All have a striped dumb cancel with ARMY POST OFFICE in violet on the back. This cover also has a reseal label of the Army Post Office. This one has not been given a return address by the sender so I assume has been opened to get the address from the contents
Where were these applied, in the country that returned the letter or after the letter was returned.
Hello Edmund
I believe the practice was to return the letter to the Army PO in UK and they made sure the family knew of the casualty/mia before the letter was returned to the writer.
The Army Post Office label is so close to similar labels used by the Post Office (civil) that I would be 99.9% sure the labels were used in UK rather than an overseas location. Similarly the barred circle Army Post Office canceller is I am sure a UK item.
Best regards
Graham
Thanks G I think applied in UK
Hi Edmund
To my knowledge, these cachets were applied at the Home Depot in Nottingham. As Graham says, this was only after the addressee had been informed in advance.
All the best
Jeremy