Covers of the day - some more Russian

[Nick Colley]

Well, the Russian theme has taken off, eh? By coincidence, while you were all posting your Russian items, I found these in the 'What do I do with these' box. They were on the same album page, so you can inspect the two for the price of one.

The first one is philatelic, I think, and posted through US APO 798 in August 1944, which, according to Rogan & McGrath (War Cover Club) was in Erivan. This is in Armenia, about 25kms north of the Turkish border. Any ideas why the US had a presence there? Was it the obvious reason - to keep an eye on Soviet intentions with regard to Turkey?

The second one is from the US Military Mission in Moscow in 1945. It appeals to my sense of humour, though, to see Soviet stamps cancelled with a Washington DC postmark. Presumably it travelled by (diplomatic?) bag. Also, on the list of destinations on mail originating from US military personnel in Moscow, Bermuda is surely one of least expected.

chrs
N

[Howard Weinert]

I don't think APO 798 was in Armenia. I can't find any evidence that the US had a military presence there. In fact the return address of Capt. Sheldon is HQ Eastern Command USSTAF (United States Strategic Air Forces). This HQ was located at Poltava in the Ukraine, where the US had an Air Force base in 1944. The other cover did go by embassy pouch.

[Peter Harvey]

Hi,

I am not sure if you have seen this https://www.rfrajola.com/KL1/KL1.pdf but the content would support the points that Howard makes.

Peter

[Nick Colley]

Thanks for those responses, Howard & Pete. I was only quoting McGrath & Rogan. If they are mistaken, then that's fine by me. I think Ukraine is at least as good as Armenia from a military postal history point of view - if not better, given the connection to the shuttle bombing operations. Good stuff. Thanks again, chaps.

chrs
N