Cover of the day 6th April 2020

[Peter Harvey]

Here is my cover of the day, from the postal concession period in Egypt, an earlier cover dated May 33 sent home to Weymouth.

To reverse has the crest Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt of the Royal Artillery, with the British Forces in Egypt 1 Piastre Postal Seal, this is from the first series (SGA1 for you stamp collectors) correctly used sealing the rear of the cover and cancelled with a violet diamond Retta.

Shows the red Crown Egypt Postage Prepaid 3 to the front (used at Moascar this date) and part M.P.O. MOASCAR date stamp 30 MA 33. Given the above this should have travelled free of any other charge to its destination, however it has been taxed 'T' and then charged on arrival in the UK with the I.S.F. 3d cachet paid with the 3d Due. Postal services both in Egypt and the UK were slow to catch on to the concession arrangements and often without a stamp on the front of the cover postage due was charged.

[Alan Baker]

Here is my offering. A bit scruffy but -

Posted from Alresford on 6th August 1879 to Captain Pollard, HMS Rupert, Alexandria, via Brindisi. Backstamped "Poste Egiziane, Alessandria, 14 Ago 79" (why Italian?) It bears a tatty 2.5d rosy mauve (SG141) – Plate 13.

HMS Rupert was a British battleship, launched in 1872, whose main armament was an armoured ram! She served in the Mediterranean from 1876 – 1880. Her later career was mainly as a guardship, finally in Bermuda 1904 – 1907, when she was sold.

As for Captain Pollard, I have found nothing, so all info welcome.

NB There is a pencil note at the bottom right - £30! I am pretty sure I didn't pay anything like that or it, but I am open to offers...

[Nick Colley]

Alan, see attached re Pollard - from the website recommended by Colin a while ago: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000540861

You now have his first name and middle initial.

chrs
N

[Nick Colley]

'mng, all, attached is what appears to be a relatively humdrum RCAF re-directed item posted initially from New York on 8th September 1944. It follows the addressee from Canada initially to the UK - FPO 539, used by the RCAF at no.3 Personnel Reception Centre (PRC) at Bournemouth, two weeks after leaving New York.

However, the addressee had, by then, been posted to India, where this cover received the postmark CANADIAN FORCES POSTS * BOMBAY * on 9th October. I can't find this illustrated in Bailey & Toop, but maybe I'm not looking hard enough. Has anyone seen another example?

The endorsement on the front tells us the addressee was posted to 435 Squadron. This was formed at Gujrat, north of Lahore wef 1st November 1944, equipped with Dakota transport aircraft. It moved to Tulihal near Imphal (about 50 miles from the Burmese border) on the 18th December 1944.

chrs
N

[Chris Grimshaw]

Staying with Turkey WW1 POW material,  desk is currently awash with this material!

PPC from a Richard Lacy, 1/4th Hants held in Kastamuni, datelined April 6th 1917  Received in London 28 May 1917 

Address to a Captain Lacy R.N

Chris

[Chris Weddell]

Here is my cover of the day. Like Nicks mine looks humdrum.

The cover was posted by Sgt Charles E. Monroe stationed at the Regimental Headquarters of the 506th Infantry based at in Berkshire which during the US involvement in WWII was called the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment which were nicknamed the "The Currahee's". The most famous company in this regiment was E Company otherwise known as Easy Company or the Band of Brothers.

This cover was posted on May the 3rd 1944, Three days after the fateful Operation Tiger which took place on the 22-30th April 1944 at Slapton Sands Which Charles would have been part of. Operation Tiger was a large scale rehearsal for the D-Day landings. On the 6th of June 1944 the 506th landed at Utah Beach. I found on Ancestry this for Charles for the D-DAY period :-

Name:
Charles E Monroe
Race:
White, includes Mexican (White)
Rank:
Enlisted Man
Admission Age:
22
Birth Date:
abt 1922
Admission Date:
Jun 1944
Discharge Date:
Jul 1944
Military Branch:
Infantry, Parachute Troops or Units
Diagnosis:
First Location: Shoulder; Causative Agent: Fall, From Vehicle (except airplane)
Type of Injury:
Injury, battle
Injured in Line of Duty:
In line of duty
Type of Discharge:
Duty
Length of service:
1 Year(s), 9, 10 OR 11 MONTHS Month(s)
Service Number:
32411278



From WIKI :- "Exercise Tiger was one of the larger exercises that took place in April and May 1944. The exercise was to last from 22 April until 30 April 1944, and covered all aspects of the invasion, culminating in a beach landing at Slapton Sands. On board nine large tank landing ships (LSTs), the 30,000 troops prepared for their mock landing, which also included a live-firing exercise.
Protection for the exercise area came from the Royal Navy. Two destroyers, three Motor Torpedo Boats and two Motor Gun Boats patrolled the entrance to Lyme Bay and Motor Torpedo Boats watched the Cherbourg area where German E-boats were based.
The first phase of the exercise focused on marshalling and embarkation drills, and lasted from 22 to 25 April. On the evening of 26 April the first wave of assault troops boarded their transports and set off, the plan being to simulate the Channel crossing by taking a roundabout route through Lyme Bay, in order to arrive off Slapton at first light on 27 April.
Friendly fire incident.
The first practice assault took place on the morning of 27 April and was marred by an incident involving friendly fire. H-hour was set for 07:30, and was to include live ammunition to acclimatize the troops to the sights, sounds and even smells of a naval bombardment. During the landing itself, live rounds were to be fired over the heads of the incoming troops by forces on land, for the same reason. This followed an order made by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, who felt that the men must be hardened by exposure to real battle conditions. The exercise was to include naval bombardment by ships of Force U Bombardment Group fifty minutes prior to the landing.
Several of the landing ships for that morning were delayed, and the officer in charge, American Admiral Don P. Moon, decided to delay H-hour for 60 minutes, until 08:30. Some of the landing craft did not receive word of the change. Landing on the beach at their original scheduled time, the second wave came under fire, suffering an unknown number of casualties. Rumours circulated along the fleet that as many as 450 men were killed.
On the day after the first practice assaults, early on the morning of 28 April, the exercise was blighted when Convoy T-4, consisting of eight LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade, was attacked by nine German E-boats under the command of Korvettenkapitän Bernd Klug, in Lyme Bay.
Of the two ships assigned to protect the convoy, only one was present. HMS Azalea, a corvette, was leading the LSTs in a straight line, a formation that later drew criticism since it presented an easy target to the E-boats. The second ship that was supposed to be present, HMS Scimitar, a World War I destroyer, had been in a collision with an LST, suffered structural damage and left the convoy to be repaired at Plymouth. Because the LSTs and British naval headquarters were operating on different frequencies, the American forces did not know this. HMS Saladin was dispatched as a replacement, but did not arrive in time to help protect the convoy.
The E-boats had left Cherbourg on patrol the previous evening and did not encounter the Allied patrol lines off Cherbourg or in the English Channel. They spotted the convoy and attacked.
LST-289 was set on fire but eventually made it back to shore with the loss of 13 Navy personnel.[14]
LST-507 was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of 202 US Army/US Navy personnel.[14]
LST-511 was damaged by friendly fire from LST-496 (intended to be directed at one of the E-boats which passed between the two LSTs)[15] resulting in injuries to 18 US Army/Navy personnel.
LST-531 sank within six minutes of being torpedoed with the loss of 424 Army and Navy personnel.
The remaining ships and their escort fired back and the E-boats made no more attacks. In total, 749 servicemen (551 United States Army and 198 United States Navy) were killed during Exercise Tiger.Many servicemen drowned or died of hypothermia in the cold sea while waiting to be rescued. Many had not been shown how to put on their lifebelt correctly, and placed it around their waist, the only available spot because of their large backpacks. In some cases this meant that when they jumped into the water, the weight of their combat packs flipped them upside down, dragging their heads under water and drowning them. Dale Rodman, who travelled on LST-507, commented: "The worst memory I have is setting off in the lifeboat away from the sinking ship and watching bodies float by. The 248 bodies that were recovered were sent to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey on 29 April.The highest army casualties were members of the 1st Special Engineer Brigade.

[Michael Dobbs]

Nick

Please see attached, page 17 taken from "The BNAPS Catalogue of Canadian Military Mail Markings - Volume 2 The World War 2 Era 1936-1945" compiled and edited by C D Sayles, published by the British North America Philatelic Society Lts, April 2011.

It states "Proofed: 1945" whereas your cover is dated 1944 - I think that this needs to be reported to Dean Mario, FPHS member and editor of the CMMSG Newsletter.

Mike  :)

[Nick Colley]

[quote author=Chris Grimshaw link=topic=1394.msg6261#msg6261 date=1586170390]
Staying with Turkey WW1 POW material,  desk is currently awash with this material!

PPC from a Richard Lacy, 1/4th Hants held in Kastamuni, datelined April 6th 1917  Received in London 28 May 1917 

Address to a Captain Lacy R.N

Chris
[/quote]

Hi, Chris, well, with time on hands, I thought I'd see if I can find out about Captain S.D.Lacy, RN. Annoyingly, I've drawn a blank. He's not listed in either the April 1916 Navy List or the October 1918 List that I have. They only list ACTIVE officers, though, so it may be that he's retired from service - and unable to return to active duty. No trace of him on the internet either :-(

Alan might have more luck with Richard Lacy, if you ask him nicely?

chrs
N

[Alan Baker]

FWR: Lt Richard S Lacy, 1/4 Hampshire Regiment, 6th June1916, reported captured at Kut-el-Amara.
Promoted Captain, seniority date 23rd January 1918
2nd December 1918, reported released from Turkish captivity

Ancestry: Captain SD Lacy, RN, appears on the List of Retired Officers, Navy List 1924, also 1908. Seniority 31.12.06
1888 List, Lt Saumarez D Lacy, "N" (Navigating Officer?) HMS Number, Screw Troopship, launched 1876 as merchant ship, purchased 1878
1898 List, Cdr SDL on Active List, serving CG?
1894 List, Cdr, HMS Minotaur, Armoured Cruiser
1903 List, Cdr on retired list
He was born in India in 1852 and died in Surrey in 1930

Richard's middle name was Saumarez. He died in 1985, aged 89. His sister-in-law was the daughter of Captain WE Goodenough who commanded the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron at Jutland

[Alan Baker]

Make that HMS Humber

[Ross Debenham]

My cover for today is a stamp less cover posted from obviously a member of the Australian Flying Corps and post marked A.I.F. CAMP 11 dated February 17, 1919. What I am trying to find out is was this post office in the Middle East or on the Western Front. If so, where was it.

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Ross, hope all is well with you.

A lovely cover and these date stamps rarely come along and often not as the primary date stamp on the cover, I have seen them to the reverse of covers as receiving marks.

The AIF Postal History by Bob Emery records AIF Camp P.O. datestamps numbers 1 to 16, all used in the UK with the majority located at camps in Wiltshire where the majority of the AIF camped, both on arrival in England and then in rotation on the Western Front. However, A.I.F. Camp P.O. 11 was located at Grantham in Lincolnshire with Bob's book (1984 publication) having a latest known date of November 18. I doubt the location changed, yours is likely the new latest known date!

I have not read the history of the AIF in England, but would suggest the Camp P.O. was at Harlaxton a RFC base close to the town and used for flying training in WW1.

Regards Peter

[Chris Grimshaw]

Nick / Alan

Thanks for the information on Lacy.  Appreciated.

Chris

[Ross Debenham]

Thanks Peter for your info on AIF CAMP 11. Very interesting.