I'm confused by this envelope!

Pre-stamped and 'By Air Mail', and pre-addressed to Base Air Post Depot, Karachi, so how would it have been distributed for use by Air Mail within India but outwith Karachi?

Jim

A couple of enigmatic RAFPOST Airletters. At first glance they appear to be postmarked RAFPOST 143 but closer examination suggests a possible 147.

However the  situation is further complicated by the sender's address of RAF Jharsuguda which is in India. E B Proud in his Postal History of Naval & RAF Postal Services lists RAF Indainggyi in Burma as being RAF PO 143 and 147 as not known.

Does anyone have other items from this correspondence with a clear date and number?

(Second pic to follow)

Jim

This postcard was posted in Nailsworth on 25 December 1903 addressed to Fife. The back is undivided. Can anyone explain the event depicted? I'm not sure if its naval or civilian.
Jim

I'm assuming that the RN stands for Royal Navy but unsure of the CO.
Any thoughts?
Jim

This card appears to have been sent by a German PoW in Russia to a bank in Sweden about a money transfer between a German bank and a Russian bank.

Google has translated the German message to something like this: I confirm that I have received this from Deutsche Bank by letter of credit from the Russian Bank for Foreign Trade.

I've heard of British officers cashing cheques in Germany drawn on Cox & Co but this card suggests a more commercial transaction.

Any suggestions?

Sender's details on the reverse of this cover are W G Bracken F/O, R.A.F. Ceylon

Its cancelled Indian Section Base Office (number illegible) dated 20 May 42.

R.A.F. censor type R10/955 as used in Ceylon.

Subsequent FPO 130 dated 22 Aug 42. Cancel was used by Canadian Forces but I don't know where.

Any thoughts on why there's a three month gap? I wondered if the sender might have been a casualty and somehow the PO set aside the item.

I checked the The Commonwealth War Graves site which records the death of Flight Sergeant William Henry Bracken of Royal Canadian Air Force 7 (R.A.F.) Sqdn who died on 20 May 42 (same date as above cover) and is buried in Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium. Originally from Moose Jaw, SK, he was radio operator in a Stirling bomber which collided in mid air with a German ME 110 night fighter. All were killed in the collision.

So it seems a pure coincidence that WG Bracken despatched a letter to his parents at precisely the same time that WH Bracken died several continents and timezones distant.

Back to the cover: the addressee, John Bracken, was premier of Manitoba and subsequently leader of the Progressive Conservative party of Canada. He had four sons, William Gordon, who died on March 7, 2008, being the youngest. His obituary mentioned his RCAF service.

I haven't been able to find any connection between William Henry Bracken and the Winnipeg Brackens.

Jim

I haven't come across this circular censor (?) mark in green on a Cairo PC dated 26 Dec 1917.
Any info would be appreciated.
Jim

This cover was sent from Italy to a POW in Egypt in 1941. I can't make out the cachet which has been applied over the postmark.  The RHS disappears under the POW Censor label. The first word in the top line appears, and might be expected to be "PASSED" but there seem to be two "D"s. The lower line begins with "EAST" but I can't make out what follows.

Any thoughts?
Jim

Chris, further to your Zoom request today, I can kick off with two covers:
The first, if I have interpreted it correctly, is Passed by Censor Gould type 5C20 (HMS Brilliant) and the thimble datestamp the rare Gould DD22 (2 known), possibly used in Lerwick. It is backstamped Halifax 11 JA 16.

The second, again please correct me if I'm wrong, seems to be an unrecorded censor, similar to Gould 7A 30s Addressed to whisky distillers (I thought the Navy only drank rum!) in Aberdeen where it was backstamped on 8 JU 1917.

Both seem to have London IS recorded labels, presumably applied there.
Regards
Jim

The 8 barred handstamp suggests that this OAS cover was sent from a Naval base. It looks as if the two line CENSORED LETTER was applied by the censor, but I've never seen "censored" used as an adjective before.
Any thoughts?
Jim

Submitted on behalf of a friend is this PC sent by "Molly" in mid August 1914 who appears to be located in France. The place name has been blue penciled out but there is no censor mark present. It seems that Molly may have arranged for the card to be taken back to Blighty and posted there. It also seems that he has anticipated the introduction of free OAS postage on 31 August but Foreign Branch has picked it up and given an unpaid penalty (1/2d postcard rate + 1/2d penalty).

Are our assumptions correct, and any ideas where the photo location is?

Jim

I know that this may be a little off beam for "Forces Postal History", but if you are looking for a brief lockdown diversion read, you may be interested in a piece I put on Stampboards a while back about these Labels.

https://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=88964

Regards
Jim

I believe that the first cover was addressed and signed by Douglas Haig on Christmas Day 1915.

I've also had the second cover for some time, but have only noticed now that the second cover appears to have been addressed by the same hand.

There is a signature by the War Cabinet cachet that I can't quite make out. This cover has a feint LONDON roller cancellation of 22 Oct 15 or 16.

Any thoughts?
Regards
Jim

Apart from a couple of brief mentions in newspapers I haven't been able to find out anything about the Vatican Enquiry Bureau. This 1943 cover from Catterick Camp to London has a cachet on the LHS of S.C.F.  R.C. Catterick Camp. Under the reuse label the envelope was originally addressed to Father John Ryan, Chaplain, Catterick Camp.
Any info would be appreciated.

Jim

I know this is a long shot and unlikely, but can anyone identify the Naval vessel source of this cover?
Thanks for looking.
Jim

The attached appears to be a newspaper wrapper postmarked FPO 792 on 22 August 1945 sent to Lancashire after being censored by R7/453. It is preprinted 'On Active Service' and 'Particulars of Sender: No, Rank and Name.

At the top can be seen 'RAF BLA' in small print. A word has been inscribed in pencil 'Det???d' and, strangely, the address has been written twice  in two different hands.

I cant find any reference to Newspaper Wrappers in John Daynes' 'Wartime Postal Stationery'.

Any thoughts?

Regards
Jim Mackay

Can anyone clarify usage and location of FPO T36 in Dec 18 and Jan 19?
The scan shows two PCs to Lancashire. In the earlier one, Harry writes "we have just passed over this river", the card showing the Rhine. The second card shows Cologne. Proud lists usage by TP2 during the final Security Exchange. Is this a Canadian unit? Kennedy & Crab suggests 2nd Canadian Division but with a question mark beside it. The same censor, 1147, has passed both items.
Many thanks.
Jim

I wonder if anyone can help to interpret this Air Mail cover which was posted in the UK (Carlisle?) on 12 Jan 1943 with the address of Draft RCKGG at Army PO 4270. There are two East African backstamps, EA APO 91 dated 2 April 1943 and EA APO 88 the following day. The arrival (?) EA APO handstamp number is unfortunately illegible and the redirected address is HQ, CD  P(or R?) A, Diego Suarez. There are also the letters S.M.O. in red at the bottom of the cover.

I've Googled Capt Zeitlin and the London Gazette records that he relinquished his commission on account of disability on 28 April 1946 and was granted the honorary  rank of captain. Google also points to an obituary in the BMJ dated 6 October 1973 but I've been unable to get past the first page of the PDF file.

Any help or suggestions will be most welcome.

Jim

I wonder if anyone knows what the abbreviation JATC stands for.
The sender's address is  1187785 Cpl Hook, J.A.T.C., c/o Brussels Unit, R.A.F., B.A.O.R.
The cover is machine postmarked APO 870 on 25 Sep 1945 and censored by R7/189 (latest known date) and addressed to Mrs Hook in Finchley.
Many thanks.
Jim

Just wondering if free postage was officially sanctioned or was the sender of this 1915 cover 'chancing it'?
Thanks
Jim