Two covers India to South Africa 1941

[Michael Dobbs]

I have received the following query in relation to the two covers illustrated - they are war time letters from India to South Africa.  Can anyone explain the various markings on the covers, in particular:

Q1) What is Free VRY 1
Q2) What is 5 in circle and the "V" under the airmail - It is believed that these marks have been seen on Dutch covers, thus could it have flown via KLIM to Holland and then down to South Africa.?

Someone else has commented that VRY (Afrikaans) means FREE, so the FREE/VRY 1 mark is South African and the triangular censor mark is Indian but nothing else beyond that.

Many thanks, Mike  ???

[akennedy]

the reason for the FREE handstamp on the second cover would be because the Indian stamps paying the postage are are on the back. Stamping it FREE would prevent the letter being treated as unpaid and postage due levied.

Alistair

[Graham Mark]

Hello Mike
The encircled 5 is an Indian censorship marking, recorded used on civil mails at Karachi between May 41 and Feb 42.  A paper in DEFE1/144A from Army HQ Simla 25Apr40 to the censorship HQ in UK and copies to other territories described the marks used in India and this one has a number range 1-120.  I have not seen this paper so cannot say whether it gives any clue as the use of this or other handstamps.

Indian censor stations had alphabet codes - V was Meerut, but that makes a very unlikely journey from Sialkot to Karachi.  Moreover the letter codes were usually prefixed DH and Meerut was only operative from late 1944. So some other explanation is needed for that one, but I cannot offer one.
Graham