1942 Airmail Trinidad to Guiana

[Colin Tabeart]

Here is a cover dated 6 Jan 1942 from Port of Spain, Trinidad, backstamped Paramaribo 10 Jan. Has Dutch censor tape of Suriname. Can any member help with: How did it get there? What was "Force A"? Where was APO 803? What does the "7" in circle mean? Where was the large blue crowned ??? POSTAL CENSOR 4 applied?
Many thanks, Colin

[Michael Dobbs]

Colin

I cannot help much, other than to say that APO 803 is almost certainly a US APO address.  It is certainly not a British one.

A look on the web reveals a number of covers on eBay featuring APO 803 as the address for service personnel in Trinidad.

Mike  :)

[Peter Harvey]

Hi Colin,

"Force A" was the designation given to a detachment of U.S. Troops from Trinidad sent to Dutch Guiana to assist in the Islands protection. I think the Dutch requested this and the U.S. had the aim of protecting he Bauxite mines which were significant to the wartime manufacturing efforts.

It looks from you cover like the detachment mail was sent vis the US APO in Trinidad (APO 803), so no special arrangements for Force A. The cachet under the reverse label is a Trinidad civilian censor.

Peter

[Colin Tabeart]

Many thanks Mike and Peter. Nearly there - can anyone complete the story and say how it travelled - PANAM? And what the "7" in circle signifies? Colin

[Peter Harvey]

Colin,

Th '7' is almost certainly a Civilian Censor individual number. You see these used in the majority of the commonwealth countries, so I assume used in Trinidad.

Peter

[Neil Williams]

Colin

There's a partial second Dutch transit mark on the censor tape. It's the same date, but not Paramaribo, and as it's a short place name beginning with C my guess would be CURACAO. Unfortunately, there are no time indicators, but as Peter says the detachment was on an Island, logic would suggest the cover went first to Paramaribo, the capital of Dutch Guiana, on the mainland, for sorting and then on again by air to the island of Curacao.

Pan Am is a good bet for the carrier, but there may also have been some KLM services within the region.

Neil Williams

[Alan Baker]

Not sure it is Curacao, which is off the coast of Venezuela. Trinidad is actually closer to Dutch Guiana.

[Nick Colley]

I see that Curacao is about 800-odd kms NW of Trinidad, and Paramaribo is about the same distance to the south east. A few minutes spent with Google maps suggests there is only one plausible candidate for the Dutch style d/s beginning with 'C'. A settlement/habitation called (confusingly) Calcutta. It's adjacent to the Saramacca River, about 40 kms or so upstream (ie east) from where the river flows into the sea, and about 50 kms west of Paramaribo. I can't suggest a reason why (air)mail from T & T to Paramaribo might have been handled at a such a place. Well, I suppose I could, but it would only be speculation, so I won't.

chrs
N

[Alan Baker]

Further thoughts. The name on the stamp is probably six or seven letters, based on the start point around the circle. It may be "O" rather than "C".

Also, the date is the same as the one on the Paramaribo Frank so the cover would not have travelled too far to receive those two stamps, whichever was applied first.

[Colin Tabeart]

Gentlemen all, many thanks for further thoughts. Careful check of the second Dutch stamp - cannot be sure if it starts with a "C" or an "O", but must have been reasonably close to Paramaribo. Wondered if it could just be the mark of the Dutch censor at Paramaribo? Understand PANAM's FAM 6 called at Port of Spain and Paramaribo en route to Buenos Aires, so guess the cover went by that method. There is a little about the US involvement in guarding the bauxite mines at http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1941/1941-11-24a.html if of interest. Best to all, Colin