FPO 165

[Robin Davis]

Can any member help me please, where was FPO 165 located on 8.1.41? The earliest date that Proud quotes for this FPO is Egypt 25.4.41 for only one day.

Robin Davis

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Robin,

Are you sure the '1' 1941 is a number one?

Peter

[Nick Colley]

A scan would be good to see, Robin. Or bring it to the meeting on Saturday?

chrs
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[Robin Davis]

Hello Nick & Peter,

Thank you for your replies and apologies for my late coming back to you.

Attached is a scan of the PC sent by a Polish refugee being housed at Platres, Cyprus to Jerusalem. It was posted Platres 30 DE 40 and civil censored in Cyprus type C-2 No: 23. In Palestine or Egypt presumably FPO 165 8 JA 41 and military censor type A102 No: 1545.

Proud gives the first usage date for FPO 165 as Egypt 24.4.41 followed by Palestine 26.4.41.

Any help or suggestions would be welcomed.

Robin

[Alan Baker]

It could be 185

[Robin Davis]

Hello Alan,

The FPO is definitely 165.

Robin

[Michael Dobbs]

I agree that it is 165, but I cannot help any further - sorry.

Mike

[Nick Colley]

As it happens, I agree with Alan that there's a possibility it's 185. However, if you look at Proud (NR for 185), the balance of probability is surely that it's 165.

So, given it's dated 8 days after despatch, and it's addressed to Palestine, it seems likely that FPO 165 was in Palestine. Proud's database would have been compiled, what 40-ish years ago, so it's hardly surprising that new material surfaces that augment, and fills gaps in Proud's records, eh?

So,  to try and focus attention: the auxiliary information that we need to close out the above open-ended reasoning is

      1. some information about what facility was serviced by PO Box 1666 in Jerusalem;
      2. what other observations anyone has about that army censor (it looks like a straightforward A100), no 1545

rgds
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