UNDERCOVER ADDRESS

[Ross Debenham]

I attach a scan of letter from East African Army P.O. 2 to an address in Entebbe, Uganda. I was looking up some dealers on the computer a few weeks ago where I saw an envelope to the same address and notated by the dealer as an "UNDERCOVER ADDRESS". I only ever thought that undercover addresses were in neutral countries such as Portugal and Switzerland. Can any member enlighten me as to the purpose of undercover addresses especially in non neutral countries and if in fact this was a known undercover address.

[Frank Schofield]

Ross

This is NOT listed in Charles Entwistle's book, Undercover Addresses of WWII, 3rd Edition, published in 2006

Frank Schofield

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Ross,

There is no reason to believe this is an undercover address (in fact it is hardly an address). As Frank states not noted by Charles Entwistle and he has no addresses listed in Uganda.

To answer your questions further and undercover address was a forwarding address, allowing communications typically through a neural country to be mailed onwards to an allied country, or where there were no other mailing routes, or I suppose to disclose some content, ask about family etc and not arouse the censors suspicion. Many of these are very well known addresses to philatelists like those operated by Thomas Cook.

Other undercover addresses would be those typically used as forwarding addresses for troops from occupied countries, like the Free French or Free Dutch forces, where mail was forwarded through London P.O box numbers.

For me in identifying these, I usually look for the known addresses or for those covers where a label, censor mark or cachet does not really fit with the rest of the cover.

Regards

Peter

[Ross Debenham]

Thanks gents, it didn't seem right to me as well, but it just confused me as to why in the other source it was listed as an Undercover Address.
Ross

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Ross,

A quick Google search, not sure if you noted this? This letter would be to the wife of Charles Robert Stenmore Pitman:

Charles Robert Senhouse Pitman, DSO, MC (19 March 1890 – 18 September 1975) was a noted herpetologist, conservationist and friend of Joy Adamson.

In 1924 Pitman was offered the position of Game Warden of the Uganda Protectorate. After his marriage to Marjorie Fielding Duncan, he assumed this post which he held from 1925-1951, interrupted only by three years (1931-1933) spent in Northern Rhodesia as Acting Game Warden and undertaking a faunal survey, and by five years (1941-1946) during which he was Director, Security Intelligence (Uganda).

[Chris Weddell]

The Col Pitman address has been said to be used as a mailing address used for those sending intelligence directly to Pitman himself. The address was his home address. I have seen and have a number of covers myself posted to him pre and World War Two period. I would not call this an undercover address but more like a letter drop address. I have noted covers from around the world plus from a known War Office undercover address to Pitman.

[Ross Debenham]

Thanks Peter and Chris, that information is very interesting and helpful. Now I can see how somebody could list it as an undercover address. After checking my collection I find that I have another cover to the captain himself in Kampala, with exactly the same address, but this time from APO 52 dated 30 December, 1941. This was a Lines of Communications post office located at Thika.