WWII era Foreign Postal Links with Allied, Liberated & Neutral Countries

World War II - mail from Poland DURING the German invasion: 3 Sept. 1939 postmarked surface mail picture postal card (Nobel prize laureate Wladislaw Reyont) with message in Hebrew-spelled Yiddish, sent from BRODY to TEL AVIV, franked 30 Groszy & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark; sent in a sealed bag and received some time later in Palestine, evidenced by the mute hexigonal Palestine censor...

WWII rare postal links - BULGARIA: 26 Sept 1939 postmarked postal card with same day dated family correspondence in French, sent from SOFIA to TEL AVIV; imprint franked 4 Leva & tied by single strike of the local machine cancel; tied on front by TEL AVIV T13 Palestine censor hexigonal handstamp. A scarce postal link, especially so in WWII: Bulgaria remained neutral until March 1941 (declaring war ...

Palestine meter franking on overseas mail: 20 Oct 1939 postmarked commercial air mail cover, sent from the "South African Binyan Mortgage Company" in HAIFA to addressee in BENONI South Africa, business-meter franked 60 mils (Sacher #G4) per the period Imperial Airways unified base air mail rate succeeding the 'All Up' airmail postage scheme - a rare instance of meter franking on overseas mail; ope...

Palestine Mandate early WWII incoming mail on business postal stationary labelled containing correspondence in Persian/Iranian language, postmarked 10 NOV 1939 from LONDON to Geula neighborhood in JERUSALEM & tied by machine cancel; opened & resealed by Jerusalem censor J45 using pink PC22 label-tape; opened on 3 sides and edges cropped....

Early WWII double censorship between Palestine & Egypt: 20 Nov 1939 postmarked surface mail cover on imprinted postal stationary sent from HAIFA to business in ALEXANDRIA, franked 15 mils per base postage rate to non-UK destination & tied by strike of the head post office postmark; opened & sealed by the censor in Haifa, then opened & sealed by the censor in Egypt - each tied by censor approval ha...

Rare WWII surface mail via Palestine: 21 Nov 1939 postmarked surface mail cover sent from MANILA Philippines to HERISAU Switzerland, franked 4c & tied by machine slogan cancel; the cover was subsequently censored in HAIFA by censor #28 & tied by hexigonal cachet. The cover was likely carried via the Red Sea through Suez and on to Haifa, from where it taken by rail through Lebanon and Turkey throug...

Early WWII outbound surface mail from Palestine: 23 NOV 1939 postmarked surface cover from TEL AVIV to NEW YORK CITY, franked 15m per period surface mail postage rate to non-UK destination & tied by multiple strikes of the head post office postmark; front-stamped by the hexagonal handstamp of censor T5 in Tel Aviv; slit open at top, back-flap missing....

LEGENDARY - "Small Packet" cover as WWII AIRMAIL: 26 Nov 1939 postmarked registered air mail cover sent from TEL AVIV to RICHMOND (LONDON); the cover is endorsed "Imperial" Airways & bears franking totaling 153 mils, with a few stamps clearly missing & tied by 3x strikes of the oval REGISTERED TEL AVIV postmark on front + 2x on back; affixed on lower front with green customs label PT 539 w...

Returned WWII era hotel mail: 22 Dec 1939 postmarked airmail cover sent from TEL AVIV to hotel Albergo Impero in ROME Italy, franked 25m per base letter rate by non-British carrier (likely KLM as Ala Littoria operated from Haifa) & tied by 2x strikes of the head post office cancel; opened & sealed by Palestine censor 70/5733; subsequently received by the hotel & affixed with hotel labels for deliv...

Wartime incoming civilian mail: 8 II 1940 uprated airmail postcard in French (family correspondence) from THESSALONIKI to TEL AVIV, pre-franked 5d + 13d additional for airmail, tied by 2 strikes of local postmark + Greek airmail etiquette; postcard tied by double-ring handstamp of the "exchange control" authority (ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΑ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΕΘΝΙΚΟΥ ΝΟΜΙΣΜΑΤΟΣ-ΘΕΣ/Ν�...

Unusual WWII wartime airmail from Palestine: 8 MARCH 1940 postmarked airmail cover, sent from HAIFA by an officer in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps to COLCHESTER (UK), endorsed "by air mail KLM" & franked 20m per the period 10g letter postage rate on that carrier - the cover was subsequently sanctioned for being shortpaid & stamped with "insufficiently prepaid for airmail" bilingual boxed instruc...

Unusual WWII airmail mourning cover: 22 March 1940 postmarked small cover with thick black borders and edges, sent from Lady Derby at Knowsley Hall in PRESCOT Britain to the wife of Charles Wood (care of the Earl of Teversham of the Yorkshire Hussars), franked 1s3d (15 pence) at the revised and more expensive WWII era airmail postage rate & tied by 3x strikes of the local postmark. The cover was h...

Early WWII period 'All Up' airmail alternative: 8 Apr 1940 postmarked ultra light-weight air mail cover sent from soldier in JERUSALEM to SYDNEY Australia, franked 120 mils for double weight rate (2x 60m) as per the successor to the pre-war 'All Up' single rate empire-wide airmail system; tied by 3x strikes of the single circle postmark of the sorting office & signature-endorsed censor handstamp. ...

WWII very last Empire Route air mail to Australia - delayed by German invasion of Western Europe: 3 May 1940 postmarked civilian air mail cover from JERUSALEM to KILLARA Australia, franked 60m per period rate via BOAC/Imperial Airways using strip of 3x 20m lightly vertically ribbed stamps & censored with signature endorsement in pencil; per manuscript docketing the cover arrived on 18.6.40.As such...

WWII late Empire Route air mail to Australia - delayed by German invasion of Western Europe: 8 May 1940 postmarked civilian air mail cover from JERUSALEM to KILLARA Australia, franked 60m per period rate via BOAC/Imperial Airways, using 3x 20m lightly vertically ribbed stamps tied by 2x strikes of the single-circle canceller of the sorting office (i.e. the cover was deposited un-postmarked into a ...

WWII mail from France at the start of the German invasion: 12 May 1940 postmarked uprated postal card bearing same day dated message in German, sent from LE VESINET (PARIS) to SHAVE ZION via HAIFA post office, franked 1.50Fr for surface rate mail & tied by machine slogan cancel; vertically folded. Germany invaded France and the rest of western Europe two days earlier, on 10 May (culminating in Par...

Rare postage period June 1940 Mandate mail abroad: 5 JUN 1940 postmarked Red Cross imprinted postal stationary cover from JERUSALEM to GENEVA Switzerland, franked 15m per period surface mail postage rate & tied by 2x strikes of the sorting office (i.e. the cover was deposited into a letter box uncancelled and not handed in at the public counter); opened & sealed by Jerusalem censor 69/7333 + again...

Wartime incoming civilian mail: 27 JUNE 1940 airmail cover from BELGRADE to HAIFA franked 10 Dinars; backstamped 28 VI 40 machine transit postmark at local airport (ZEMUN) & 30/06 ISTANBUL transit; opened & passed Palestine Censor + 8 JY 40 HADAR HACARMEL (Haifa) arrival (GD-98). Route: as Italy entered the War on 10 June, Ala-Italia airlines unavailable; as no German censor-mark, not taken by DLH...

Latvian SSR "1st day" official incoming overseas mail: 22 July 1940 postmarked [official] triple-weight registered surface mail cover on imprinted postal stationary of the Latvian Foreign Ministry in Soviet-occupied RIGA to [Jewish-Palestinian] Latvian Consul M. Caspi in JERUSALEM, franked 96 Sant. (75s international registered letter rate + 2x10s additional weight) tied by 3 strikes of local post...

Wartime incoming civilian mail: 10 Aug 1940 postmarked uprated postcard from LYON (now Vichy France) to TEL AVIV franked 1.50Fr; received in Palestine as per the hexigonal T5 Tel Aviv censor mark. The UK suspended postal services to France and her colonies on 25 June 1940, on the same date the Vichy government was installed; Vichy severed diplomatic ties with the UK on 8 July following her attack ...

WWII the Secret Policeman's Ball - censorship free mail from the censor: 7 Oct 1940 postmarked surface mail cover sent from S. Farrugya at the Telegraph Censor at the head post office in TEL AVIV to female addressee in MENAI BRIDGE Britain, franked 10m per period postage rate & tied by single strike of the head post office postmark; backstamped 19 Dec arrival & re-routed to BANGOR - this scarce on...

Unlisted GAZA postmark discovery: 13 Nov 1940 postmarked surface mail cover sent from female sender at police headquarters in GAZA to female addressee at BURNHAM UK, franked 10 mils per special surface rate to the UK & tied by Dorfman/Proud unlisted double ring Maltese Cross GAZA postmark - similar to Dorf #3/Proud D2 but the letters are closer together, the letters "A" are flat-topped, the left e...

WWII Greek postal link with Palestine during the Italian invasion (Greco-Italian War): 29 NOV 1940 surface mailed commercial cover on business postal stationary, sent from ATHENS to HAIFA, franked 9 Drachma & tied by single strike of the local postmark + 2 different handstamps of the Athens Censorship (ΛΟΓΟΚΡΙΣΙΑ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ); subsequently opened & resealed by the Palestine censor H32 i...

Rare transit marking on WWII surface mail: 10 Feb 1941 postmarked surface mail cover sent from RAMAT GAN to Red Cross in GENEVA Switzerland, franked 15 mils for non-UK destination surface postage & tied by single strike of the local postmark; opened & resealed by the Palestine censor and machine backstamped 8 March ISTANBUL transit - a long month-long transit in the Levant. Likely transited Bulgar...