Wireless Intelligence Screen - 1940 Egypt/Aden

[Neil Williams]

Folks

I'm looking to decipher the attached letter/cover, particularly what E & SD is in the sender's return address. Any other gen gratefully received!

13 WIS moved from the UK to the Middle East in September 1940 - later these units were renamed Wireless Observation Units, and more generically known as the 'Y-service'. I could guess the function of No 1 Section was listening to the Italians across the way. It could have been at the radio base at Aden Salt Pans, or at some outpost nearer the Red Sea.

The postmark is FPO 171 9 DE 40, which Proud tells me is then No5 LoC PU in Egypt, applied 5 days after the letter is datelined. The rest of the letter indicates to me Gnr Maxwell is not in transit, so reconciling his address with the FPO mark is another piece of the jigsaw. Did all Xmas Concession mail go to Egypt? - was there some special censorship requirement for this Unit? - did the mail from his outpost normally go to Egypt? - and so on...

Neil W

[Michael Dobbs]

Neil

I have found the following information on The National Archives website:

13 Wireless Intelligence Screen, later 13 Wireless Observer Unit (WIS WOU). Based at White Waltham (UK) until September 1940, then moved to the Middle East. Photographs of vehicles included. With appendices
AIR 29/164/2  (July 1940 - December 1943) (Operations Record Book)

You will see that the later title is Observer Unit, not Observation Unit.

The ORB may provide some answers to your queries.

Mike

[Neil Williams]

Mike

my typo, I had written down Observer Unit...

I was aware the ORB was in the National Archives, but as that's a long way away, I was hoping for a shortcut to the answer!

Neil

[Nick Colley]

Well, this is pure conjecture of course, so I'm sure what I'm about to suggest will provoke someone into correcting me..... 

Were there any FPOs in Aden in 1940? I'm struggling to recall if there was. Also, I'm not too confident about FPOs at any significant distance south of Cairo until we reach Khartoum. So, thinking about air mails from Aden to the UK after Italy entered the conflict, the most direct geographical route would be to Khartoum, I think, but at this time, that would require over-flying enemy territory (Djibouti. Eritrea, Ethiopia, to name the three culprit countries). Aden to Cairo would be about 2400 kms by air, but once north of Eritrea, refuelling stop(s) would, I imagine, have been available. It seems likely, therefore, that the obvious place to gather mail for onward transmission from around the Middle East, particularly and specifically (free) mail from Aden would be Cairo.

I would also add that the examples in my custody of 1940 free Christmas mail from that area also bear FPO 171.

Anyway, as I said, it's only a (conjectural) train of thought.

Oh, by the way, R9/99 is a previously unrecorded mark, so thanks for that  :)

chrs
N

[Alan Baker]

I was wondering if Nick had read this post! I was about to comment on R9/99 as he was typing

Looking at the Second Edition of Colley and Garrard, (ed Colley & Muchall) (worth its weight in gold), the earliest date recorded for R9 censors was December 1940, in Aden. This fits with the date on the cover. I also note that the letter was written on 4th December, but the FPO stamp is dated the 9th. I would suggest this also fits with the airmail flight out of Aden to Egypt

But then, what do I know about WWII RAF covers?

[Neil Williams]

Thanks to Nick and Alan for these replies.

Interesting other Xmas Free items are also FPO 171. They can't all have been from Aden, so was that a processing point? Flights from Aden to Cairo or Khartoum could have used the airfields near Port Sudan for staging.

No known FPOs in Aden until late 1944 when FPO 729 appears. The RAF PO appears late 1941 / early 1942 with the use of Air Letter Cards. For those who don't know the first mark used by the RAF PO, it looks similar to a regular Aden GPO cds and is typically seen on ALCs and ALs.

Glad R9/99 is a newbie. I only have a 1st Edn Colley and Garrard (now need to find the 2nd!). If it's any interest, the other marks I have associated with Aden (in its broadest sense) which are not in the 1st Edn are:

R1/69, 71
R2/66
R9/29, 53, 54, 57, 84, 98, 117
R10/26, 319, 458, 833, 852, 866, 969
R11/26, 27, 101, 229, 289, 314, 319
R12/35, 48

If any of these are of interest for scans, let me know and I can either post on the forum or PM them.

I had another extensive google for E&SD yesterday evening and still drew a blank!

Neil

[Alan Baker]

The best I have found is Equipment and Supply Detachment or Depot

[Ross Debenham]

I am not surprised that R9/99 is not listed in Colley and Garrard purely for the fact that I believe most of the information is from philatelic sources. I note with interest that R9/98 is mentioned as being used on mails from Aden. I believe both of the censor stamps would have been issued in unison, obviously not to the same unit but to a nearby unit. I have the same problem with R12/2 which is on a cover postmarked EAAPO 81 at Port Reitz in Mombasa and is not listed by Colley and Garrard. However R12/3 is listed as being used in East Africa. I propose that usage of these censor markers was so rare that they have not been observed before. Hope this assists.