More on Concession Rate During the Kenyan Emergency

[Nick Guy]

I'm afraid I've not got myself into the habit of checking the members' forum regularly so this is extremely late, but I hpoe completes the comments on rates in the earlier thread on this topic.
From the table in BEA: The Bulletin of the East Africa Study Circle, 17(105), Sep 2013, p 74 (part of the final article of a series on surface postal rates of EAP/Kenya by Vicki Archard in issues 102-105) the Imperial/Commonwealth surface rate and thus the GB rate was 20c for the first ounce until 1st January 1958 when it rose to 30c.  Proud, in his Postal History of Kenya, gives airmail rates that came into force on the 19th February 1947 with the rate to the UK being 1s 30c for the first half ounce (the UK rate was not changed from earlier listings), and says this was replaced by a rate of 1/- on 1st June 1947.  He then lists the "rates of Postage" "in 1956" when the UK rate was again 1s 30c.  I don't have any other lists of air mail rates after 1952 (when the UK rate was still 1/-) but the Kenya Uganda and Tanganyika 1s 30c stamp was issued on the 1st December 1955.
Without any documentary evidence whatever, but since many of the non-Kenyan troops deployed in the emergency were British, I had assumed that the forces rate would reflect the rates allowed British forces serving overseas but converted into local currency when they used the local post office rather than an FPO - if the East African Shilling is assumed to be at parity with the sterling shilling, 20c = 2.4d and 25c = 3d, and I have seen 2½d and 3d forces airmail covers through the FPOs stationed in Kenya during the Emergency.  I can offer no authority for that suggestion, though.
Nick Guy

[abump]

Thanks, Nick.  You summary seems to follow the examples I have in my collection, as well as ones I have seen.