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Messages - Graham Mark

#46
Hello
A book which will be useful, from the Official History series is "Transportation on the Western Front".  In its 1937 edition it is probably pretty scarce, but the IWM / Battery Press reprint of 1992, ISBN 0898391792 should be not so difficult to find.  There is a box of 14 maps to accompany the volume and 17 sketch maps in the book itself.
Of course not just railways are covered but certainly there are sections of the book with deal with light railways.
I hope this will be useful
Graham
#47
Hello Nick
Censor 6582 has been recorded by the Civil Censorship Group 3 times all in 1942, operating in London, and handling UK-USA & vv mail. I agree with Peter Harvey's suggestion that the letter could have been censored on its way to Eaton Square from where it was forwarded under cover and later collected a US NAvy marking.
I have looked in Debretts and Burkes but can find no Lord Augustus Loftus.  Loftus was the family name of the Marquis of Ely where the name Augustus does appear.  My editions of these two tomes are of the 1920s but new-born infants get an entry so I wonder if this Lord is a name rather than a title.
We must remember that Duke, Earl and Baron are names for a few of our 'cousins' across the big pond.  I expect there would be more than one Lord to join them.
I hope this helps.
Graham
#48
On the basis that proof strikes can be found in Post Office records I suggest the standard double ring steel postmarks were manufactured to order for the Post Office.  I am sure the Archives can name the usual manufacturer.
The skeleton postmarks were I expect, part of the standard kit for the Field Post Offices.
Graham
#49
Members Discussion Forum / 11th (Northern) Div, DAC
February 21, 2018, 07:59:07 PM
This cover from the DADOS to the OC DAC at Ferdan, on the Suez Canal, 18 April 1916, is a puzzle.
According to the Order of Battle, vol 3A, the DAC remained in England when the Division sailed for the Aegean in July 1915, and did not rejoin the Div until it had moved from Egypt to France in July 1916.
Can anyone solve this one for me.
Best wishes to all.
Graham
#50
Quoting from "A Short History of the RAF" 2nd ed, Air Ministry, 1936:
The Central Flying School was established on a site of 2,500 acres, two miles from the village of Pewsey ... The first course began on 17 Aug 1912.  The War Office and the Admiralty shared the costs but the WO provided the admin.  CFS was still at Upavon in Oct 1918.
Looking at a 1919 Ordnance Survey map, 1" to 1 mile, I suggest the distance south of Pewsey is nearer to 3½ miles.
I hope this helps in the write-up.
Graham
#51
Sorry I cannot make anything of the E card, other than saying that Ind Exped Force E was also in Egypt.
You might need someone to read the Indian handwriting.
Regards
Graham
#52
Hello Chris
I cannot tell you much about the stationery cards, but maybe the E and F link them to Indian Exped Forces E and F.
Card F is addressed to a soldier of the 5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) in 10 Indian Div serving on the canal in Egypt.
Now I must go back to your original post to see the details of the other card.
Graham
#53
Members Discussion Forum / Re: BEF 1939-40 Unit
December 19, 2017, 07:44:20 PM
I suggest the initials might be R.W.K. equals Royal West Kent Regiment.
Graham Mark
#54
Hello Nick, sorry to be slow in responding, I have been diverted to other matters.
"History" para 1377 - Kenya - Censorship was introduced on 1Sept39. HQ was Nairobi, other stations under HQ were at Mombasa, Kisumu and Kampala. [Tanganyika was a separate censorship]  There is no mention of PoW correspondence in this section nor in the section on Tanganyika.
Para 1500 - Egypt - PoW censorship was carried out by Military Authority under the War Office, not by the Anglo-Egyptian Censorship (which handled civil mails). Collaboration between the two censorship was close.  But because the PoW censorship in Egypt was under the control of the War Office there is nothing in the "History" about its activities.  Similarly as the PoW censorship in East Africa came under the same control the "History" is also silent on any details.
In the section I quoted from in a previous reply, para 353, where the new structure of the censorship for PoW mail in the eastern hemisphere was set out, the last sentence reads: " Postal and Telegraph Censorship therefore ceased to have any responsibility in the Middle East".
Looks like War Office records will have to be examined.
Graham
#55
A query has come to me about censorship of civil mails in France in 1918.  I concerns an encircled five-pointed red star.  Bourguignat's "Le Controle Postal et Telegraphique Francais pendant la Premier Guerre Mondiale" tells me that a directive of Feb 1918 stated that letters from le Zone des Armees, passed without opening, had to be marked with this circled star.  He illustrated an example from Department Aube, some 90 miles SE of Paris, addressed to Paris in June 1918.
Can anyone tell me, in general terms, how far back from the front lines the military control stretched?  Did it fluctuate during the war?
Graham Mark
#56
Hello Alan
At the time the Japanese ships were operating in the Med the route from London via the trans-Siberian would not have been practical.  A more likely route would be transatlantic, across the N American continent and transpacific.  Most likely route from Atlantic to Pacific would be across Canada as much mail from Japan and China to USA was diverted to Vancouver for censorship reasons so there would have been a good outlet there for mail going to Japan.
For the impracticality of the trans-Siberian route I quote a Post Office file POST 56/73, section V "Far East via Siberia" which I edited for publication as "Imperial & Foreign Mails, Sea Conveyance during War 1914-1918", pub 1997 by The Postal History Society. (copies still available, with a brand new supplement).
Best wishes to all
Graham
#57
The answer is a little more complicated.  On 31 Jan 41 a conference was held to determine the policy for dealing with PoW mails.  This came at a time when Italian PoWs were being considered for distribution to new holding countries.  Centralising all PoW mail censorship in UK was impractical and some Empire censorships were already under strain.
It was decided that A) all Pow censorship in the Eastern Hemisphere was to be in military hands, B) incoming letters for PoWs in the Eastern hemisphere (except UK) should be censored in Egypt by a military organisation controlled by a joint committee of the Adjutant General and Military Intelligence, C) all outgoing letters from PoWs should be censored at Army HQ in the country where the PoWs were detained.
This info is drawn from "History of the Postal and Telegraph Censorship Department 1938-1946", pub by the Home Office 1952, two vols, NA Kew ref DEFE1/333 and 334
It seems that PoW mail from East Africa (and possibly India) was routed via Egypt to Europe and so all the latters and cards picked up a censor chop from Egypt en route.
I hope this helps,  Graham
#58
Thank you Nick and Frank
I will pass on your comments
Graham
#59
Members Discussion Forum / Cover to HMAS Adelaide in 1941
November 02, 2016, 06:47:33 PM
Query originally asked on the Civil Censorship website
Cover to HMAS Adelaide in 1941

A couple of questions about a WWII cover posted from UK by air to the H.M.A.S. Adelaide c/o GPO - The ship was initially used for convoy escort and protection duties in Australian waters.

I am not familiar with the Dumb Machine "Paid" cancel – any info would be appreciated. Why used and under what circumstances?

Also where was the boxed blue Passed By Censor handstamp applied – likely somewhere in the Australia/Pacific area, but anything more specific? The handstamp is dated 23/2/41 and initialled.

No markings on the back.

For me, this is a somewhat intriguing cover.
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I think I have answered part of my own question – the censor mark is a naval censor handstamp applied somewhere in the Pacific region – the resource book "World War Two Censor Marks" (The Forces Postal History Society, edited by John Daynes, 1986) lists the marking as type N 537 (pages 39-40). A notation beside the type marking indicated "Hong Kong 5/40" although the one in question is dated "23/2/41". Any further information on the handstamp would be useful.

Still curious about the so-called dumb machine "PAID" marking – its use and under what circumstances.
#60
Members Discussion Forum / Re: WW1 Censor Mark 804
September 26, 2016, 07:58:04 PM
Hello John
Censor 804 was a "London censor", BUT London sent censors to out-stations like the Northern Isles, Falmouth, Folkestone and in 1916 to some overseas stations.
On 10 April 1915 a warrant was issued at the request of The Admiralty to examine mail from the Orkneys.
I have examples of censors 802, 803, 805 and 806, all on mail from The Orkneys, and I am sure 804 would also have been in that team.  They were destined for Kirkwall but the lack of accommodation there meant they set up their operation at Inverness.  The official Report on Postal Censorship says this censorship began on 22 June 1915.
Further warrants were obtained which brought in mail from Cromarty & Invergordon (29 July15) and Shetlands Isles (18Aug15).  On 4Nov15 half the staff were moved to Edinburgh and the Inverness censor station was closed on Christmas Eve 1915 "in view of the meagre results obtained".
Best regards,  Graham