Cover of the Day 29th March 2020

[Alan Baker]

1 week into lockdown

I came across this cover while looking through the vast accumulation of material awaiting writing up. It was posted in Kingston Jamaica to C/Sgt G Challis, Suffolk Regiment, Up Park Camp, Kingston. It is clearly philatelic, bearing the Victory issue stamps (Perf 13.5x14) and posted on the first day of issue, 14th October 1946. Sgt Challis was obviously a collector

Further investigation reveals that the 6th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment arrived in Jamaica in February 1946 to act as the garrison force based at Up Park. Apparently, the battalion did not go overseas in WWII.

They took over garrison duties from the Brockville Rifles of the Canadian Army, who had been there since August 1944, one of a series of Canadian units  in Jamaica during the war.

The Suffolks remained in Jamaica until August 1947, when they were relieved by the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment

[Nick Colley]

Hi, Folks, apologies for missing yesterday. I had other taskings to attend to.  >:(

Anyway, attached is a naval air mail in December 1939, from a Lt. Gordon, RNVR, to Istanbul. The mark is Alan Brown's PP41, rated in m/s to 7d.

This is the background: Lt.P.C.Gordon was serving aboard the destroyer HMS Daring. She spent most of her career in the Far East, but was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet just prior to the outbreak of WW2. Before arriving in the Med, she spent several weeks patrolling the Red Sea. She joined the Med Fleet in November 1939, but her condition was unsatisfactory for the Mediterranean Fleet, and she was docked at Malta on 25th November for repair. On completion, she took passage to the UK. 

Considering the cover: the arrival d/s of Istanbul of 28th December 1939 indicates it was sent while the ship was in Malta, which would account for the routing endorsement via Rome. I had another cover from this correspondence, but with the PP41 rated at 4d, and arrival in Istanbul the 2nd January 1940, also with the Rome routing endorsement. Sadly, I don't have this cover any more - I traded it with the late John Daynes. I only have colour photocopies. Neither do I have the date HMS Daring left Malta, but she arrived on the Clyde 7th January. I think it's conceivable, given the 4d postage on the later item, that this later item was sent from Gibraltar while she was en route UK. If this is so, then it implies that the POSTAGE PAID mark (ie PP41) was ship-specific ie used on board HMS Daring.  How's that for a theory?

To finish the story, HMS Daring joined the Home Fleet, and was torpedoed on 18th Febtruary 1940 while on convoy escort duty. Sadly, there were only 15 survivors. Lt Gordon was not one of them.

chrs
N

[Michael Dobbs]

Hi all - my cover of the day supports two of my postal history interests: mail from my birth town of Spilsby, Lincs and Forces mail:

It is a mourning envelope addressed to [b]Captain Buckle RN, HMS Invincible, Malta[/b] and postmarked at SPILSBY using the three bar oval vertical duplex mark using the 728 numeral allotted to Spilsby - dated JA 19 / 85 (for 19 January 1885).

[i][b]HMS Invincible[/b][/i] was an ironclad built on the Clyde and launched on 29 May 1869 (completed on 1 October 1870).  It had steam, masts and sails and was 280 feet long, having been designed specially for service on foreign stations.  It was fitted with 10 x 9 inch guns and 4 x 6 inch guns.  After seeing service she reverted, with a couple of name changes (renamed Erebus in 1904 and Fishguard II in 1906), to become a training ship but foundered in tow off Portland on 17 September 1914.

[i][b]Claude Edward Buckle[/b][/i] was promoted to Captain on 22 January 1877 and was appointed Captain of HMS Invincible on 1 May 1884.

[i]Invincible[/i] was stationed in the Mediterranean (according to The Navy List for 20 September 1883, 20 December 1884 and 20 March 1885).  In The Navy List for 20 June 1885 [i]Invincible [/i]is shown as being in service in China, still with Captain Buckle as ship's captain.  However, The Navy List for 20 September 1885 whilst still showing the vessel as being in China has the comment "ordered home".

The Navy List for 20 March 1886 shows [i]Invincible[/i] at Devonport, whilst Captain Buckle is not shown having a ship.

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Folk,

Here is my cover of the day, not your typical postal history, take away the letter and all you have is a POMM Air mail envelope. If you have ever been to Sydney Australia, you would have noted the constant flow of small ferry boats in and out of the harbour, this cover comes from one of them back in WW2.

Plain envelope Air Mail with the red Post Office Maritime Mail. Enclosed letter addressed from HMS Burra Bra c/o Woolloomooloo c/o GPO London.

The Burra Bra was a Manly & Port Jackson Steamship Company ferry, commission in 1908 and operated as such until 1940 when she was requisitioned by the RAN as a anti submarine training vessel (basically I think she towed targets and other ships fired at her (or the targets)). The address Woolloomooloo related to a wharf in Sydney harbour which was commissioned towards the end of WW2 as a repair yard for the Pacific fleet, and called HMS Woolloomooloo.

We seem to have done well with covers of the day in week one, any other members joining in would be appreciated.

[Michael Dobbs]

Peter

I have recorded references to Woolloomooloo in the Post Office Circulars relating to telegraphic facilities available to and from Naval Shore Establishments and Depot Ships overseas - initially this was restricted to EFM telegrams only, but later in 1945 included all telegrams: ordinary, deferred and letter telegrams (ELT, NLT, DLT or GLT) as well as EFM telegrams. 

H.M.A.S. Golden Hind II (Woolloomooloo, Sydney, NSW, Australia)
inserted POC 13/6/45
deleted POC 27/6/45 (re-named H.M.A.S. Woolloomooloo ?)

H.M.A.S. Woolloomooloo (Woolloomooloo, Sydney, NSW, Australia)
inserted POC 27/6/45 (formerly H.M.A.S. Golden Hind II ?)

Mike

[Chris Weddell]

Sorry I have missed a few days. Here is my late cover of the day.

This is a new cover for me as I only got it in Fridays post. A letter posted from Turkey to A Polish soldier who was a member of the Field Censorship Unit 32 based in Cairo then redirected to 526 Company. I have not researched this at all yet.

[Peter Harvey]

Nice cover Chris,

Unusual to see WW2 mail to censorship units (in my opinion) and especially interesting with the Polish link.

Pete

[Nick Guy]

Here's a cover that might interest someone apart from myself.  It's from Italian PoW Gustavo Gugliemi to a family member - the letter's salutation is "Miei Carissimi" - in Bologna; if anyone can interpret his rank that'd be interesting.  It is a little out of the ordinary run of things on two grounds.  It dates from the period from September/October 1941 when the Italian PoWs from the Abyssinian campaign were being settled in what Weiszbecker calls "Definitive" camps but there mail was being handled through APOs of the East African Army Postal Service, the earliest recorded date of mail postmarked with the POW/EAC series of postmarks being 31 December 1941 - though given the number of PoWs East Africa had to deal with, mail surviving from this relatively short period still cannot be called rare.  Also, it has the Geneva Red Cross cachet which my other two PoW covers to Italy from November and December 1941 don't.  (I've always assumed that Surface PoW mail could be exchanged via Portugal or Turkey but even if there was an extended period where mail had to be transferred through the Red Cross they don't seem to have made a habit of handstamping routine items).
What intrigues me is the APO used.  The number, though badly struck, is clearly either 51 or 54.  Careful comparison with good strikes of both convinces me it is 51 and, in any case, according Proud's editing of Rossiter's work 54 was the APO accompanying 12 Division which was involved in the Battle of Gondar until the final Italian units capitulated on 30 November.  I am conscious of the difficulties in relying too heavily on that book, but would still be rather surprised if that identification or the identifications with Lines of Communication offices were seriously wrong.  51 is a Lines of Communication office which is assigned to "Londiana" which I take be Londiani - checking on Google produces examples of Londiana given as an alternative spelling.  Londiani is a station on the Kisumu branch of the Uganda Railway (the original route when the line only ran to Lake Victoria) - and about 130km inland of Naivasha which was the site of Camp 352 where Gugliemi was.  My other items from this period either used Lines of Communication offices located in the same area as the camp - including one item (to Australia) from Camp 352 postmarked APO 59 which was stated to be at Naivasha from September to December - or in the case of Camp 365, which was at Eldoret where no APO is recorded in this period, is postmarked at APO 59 again, and while Naivasha is further from Eldoret than is Londiani, it is on the obvious surface route from Eldoret to the Coast.  So, then, the mystery for me is, why would mail be carried for several hours away from the Coast from which it would be sent overseas to be carried back over the same route, when it could have been sent through an office at the same place or sent over the route it would have to follow to base office at Nairobi?

Nick Guy

[Nick Guy]

Trying again with the details

[Ross Debenham]

Hi Peter, I hope all is okay with you. I have no doubt that it is APO 51 as I have a cover from Camp 360, located at Ndarugu. It is post marked at the army post office in the same month. I just wonder if all mails at this time were being routed through APO 51, at the time, although I do have an envelope routed through APO 59 from Camp 356 a month later.I note that APO 51 was a Lines of Communication post office so they may have had more capacity to handle it. Hope this assists.

[Nick Guy]

Hello Ross

The plot thickens.  The cover from Camp 365 at Eldoret postmarked APO 59 (Naivasha) that I mentioned is postmarked 21 XI 41 - 6 days before the cover I illustrated.  I am intrigued to see that your APO 51 cover has also acquired the Geneva Red Cross cachet - opening up fascinating speculations about special handling!

Thanks for sight of a lovely cover.  Thake care of yourself in these difficult days.

Nick Guy

[Tony Walker]

This is a reply to Alan's post of 10.24am - first off the mark

Interestingly Challis is the name of a very keen Turks and Caicos collector going back some years.  In fact  John J Challis produced a handbook on T&CIls philately in 1950.  In his book he illustrates the only known copy of a particular Opened by Censor cover which is addressed to an Mr Challis in Bermuda, dated incidentally 2 June 1944. Jamaica handled an amount of mail from the T&CIls over the years.

John Challis says in his book 'My late brother Robert was resident in the T&CIls' - he (the brother) was the originator of much postal history material from the Islands, plus much useful information.  It would seem quite reasonable to suggest your cover had been sent by Robert to yet another of the Challis philatelic family.

Tony

Cheers
Tony

[Tony Walker]

Alan -a minor amendment to my post

John Challis's book dealt with T&CIls stamps and PH UP TO 1950, it was published in 1983, so when he referred to 'my late brother', he could have died well after the end of WWII

Cheers
Tony