WW2 RASC Base Depot

[Michael Dobbs]

I have received the following enquiry from a member:

[color=maroon]I am looking at a cover dated 1942 which is addressed to a RASC Driver serving at RHGZK. APO 1915 (Egypt possibly).  It has been cancelled with a handstamp "RASC Base Depot".

I have tried every which way - Google, reference books, other friends in the philatelic world to find out what RHGZK stands for but to no avail[/color]

I responded as follows:

[color=navy]Many thank for your enquiry.  I should refer you to my article in Journal 274 (Winter 2007) on the use of APO numbers as temporary addresses "Numbered Army Post Office (APO) addresses used on British Forces Mail during WW2".  No official lists exist of APO number and location.

The reference to RHGZK is a draft indicator (a random selection of letters)  (i.e. a small unit or group of soldiers posted as a draft to a bigger unit somewhere overseas) - it does not stand for anything.  I say 'random' but there was a specific sequence but such information has not yet been found in any records.

It would be useful to have the full name and postal address of the RASC Driver.

The only reference I have for APO 1915 is an entry in the Post Office Circular of 29 April 1942 which stated that the EFM telegraph service had been authorised and a reference (I do not have a note of its origin) to 9 Ordnance Stores Company.[/color]

I subsequently sent a further response as follows:

[color=navy]I am particularly intrigued by the RASC Base Depot datestamp as it looks like a postal datestamp and indeed reminds me of Egyptian postal datestamps, but we shall see !

As regards the draft indices - after sending you the email I just knew I had seen something about these draft letters before and now I have found it.  A notebook written by a now deceased member who joined the Forces Postal Service after the end of WW2 (after training he was sent to Korea / Japan).  His notebook was his guide for carrying out postal duties and in it he refers to "Draft Indice" as follows:

"An army draft indice is allotted to a soldier or group of soldiers proceeding abroad.  It is a group of five letters beginning with the letter 'D' or occasionally 'T', i.e. D C E C V

(DC... = Royal Engineers; DF...  = RAOC; DS... = RASC, etc)"

This, of course, represents post-WW2, but something similar obviously took place during WW2 as there are plenty of covers available which show a group of draft letters with or with an APO number as part of the address.[/color]

Has anyone see this RASC Base Depot marking before - do you know where it was applied ?

Thanks, Mike  ;D

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Mike,

Hope your well.

Interesting cover this and i have not seen the RASC date stamp before.

I agree with the random letter for 'drafts' I see lots of these and have a couple from India listed on Ebay at this time. I have always wondered if there is logic to them, but I don't think there is.

Page 276 of Proud WW2 refers to a number of rubber hand stamps that were used by Home Postal Depots for mis-sorted and mis-directed mail and this seems to me the likely use of this date stamp, however what i found interesting was the fact that this is to a draft in Egypt.

The date stamp itself looks in the same style as the Egypt post Prepaid date stamps, although I have no reference of similar, maybe a locally improvised date stamp to handle redirected mail.

I will be interested to see any other comments.

[akennedy]

During the war the various Base Depots in Egypt received many drafts from Britain, and sent the individuals on to units around the Middle East. Mail arriving for them had to be delivered to them, and most if not all of the depots had a section where the incoming mail was sorted, for delivery if the addressee was still at the depot, or forwarded to his new unit, individually redirected . Rubber datestamps were obtained locally for use on such mail. This sorting was carried out at each depot because that was where records of each individual were maintained. The redirected mail would have been passed to either a local stationary APO or the Base Post Office for onward conveyance in the postal system.
I can recall cachets (rectangular?) for R.A. and R.E. Base Depots.
This particular letter does not show sign of redirection so was probably delivered at the RASC Base Depot.

Alistair
Alistair

[Michael Dobbs]

Alistair

Many thanks for you comments - most useful.

So you are confirming that this particular RASC Base Depot marking is from Egypt ?

Regards, Mike  :)

[akennedy]

Yes - very definitely used in Egypt

[Michael Dobbs]

Alistair

Once again very many thanks for your help.

Regards, Mike  8)