1) Mandate Termination Period

Late Mandate mail from small locales: 7 April 1948 postmarked cover from medical service in TEL MOND to the Beilinson Hospital in PETACH TIKVA, franked 10 mils per period base letter postage rate & tied by single strike of the local post office; torn open at back, but complete. The letter was posted 3 weeks before the Mandate post office in Tel Mond closed down, on 30 April....

The latest seen Mandate Express cover from JERUSALEM: postmarked 11 April 1948 & addressed to TEL AVIV, franked 50 mils per period postage rate & tied by 2x strikes of the REHAVIA branch office postmark (with "A" index - morning shift); backstamped next day head post office arrival with 930am timestamp. Slit open at top. The dispatch of the letter from a branch post office rather than from the Gen...

Latest known Sudanese airmail to Mandate Palestine: 7 Feb 1948 postmarked airmail cover on imprinted postal stationary of the Bank of Egypt, sent from KHARTOUM Sudan to the Workers Bank (Bank HaPoalim) in TEL AVIV, franked 2 Piastres & tied by strike of SUDAN AIR MAIL KHARTOUM postmark; slit open at top. A rare postal link as very little mail is seen from Sudan to the Mandate....

Latest known dated Tunisia airmail to Palestine Mandate: 13 Feb 1948 postmarked registered air mail cover sent from TUNIS to business in TEL AVIV, franked 34 Francs & tied by 3x strikes of the local postmark; backstamped 16 Feb REGISTERED LYDDA AIR PORT transit-arrival - a rarely seen transit mark on registered airmail; slit open at top....

Rare late Mandate mail routing via Syria: 15 MAR 1948 postmarked express surface mail cover sent from UNRRA member at BAD REICHENALL Germany to TEL AVIV, franked 1.50m per period rate (as of 15 Sept. 1947), 50pf for overseas surface letter + 1mk express fee, and tied by 4x strikes of the local postmark + express etiquette; routed via SYRIA where backstamped 27 MAR ALEPPO transit with machine cance...

LAST MAIL FROM EGYPT - latest recorded incoming cover prior to 1948 Egyptian seizures of mail to Palestine & mail suspension: 24 MARCH 1948 postmarked air mail registered cover from Elyakim Struck in ADDIS ABABA Ethiopia to Mrs. Chava Motolsky in TEL AVIV, franked 80c per period rate & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark on the front; backstamped 26 March FAROUK AIRPORT 1am transit + another ...

Late Mandate surface mail abroad: 25(?) MARCH 1948 postmarked commercial cover from TEL AVIV to business in EAST HAMPTON New York USA, franked 20m per period surface rate & tied by single strike of the local Head Post Office canceller; subsequently front-stamped 5 MAY East Hampton transit-arrival. Posted during the period of the gradual termination of the Mandate postal service & postal services t...

Late Mandate air mail from JERUSALEM: 25 March 1948 postmarked commercial airmail cover, sent from JERUSALEM to the Italian Ministry of the Interior in ROME & franked 75 mils for triple weight postage (3x 25m differential postage rate to Italy) & tied by multiple strikes of 0830am time-stamped postmark of the head post office public counter; machine backstamped 4 April arrival. Opened roughly at t...

Late Palestine Mandate era airmail - 1st day new air schedule: 31 MARCH 1948 postmarked commercial cover on imprinted business postal stationary, from TEL AVIV to MILLIKENPARK Scotland UK, franked 25m per period rate & tied by a single full strike of the head post office canceller; slit open at top.Here carried on BOAC's new reduced flight schedule starting April 1st: as time-stamped 11am, the cov...

One of the last air mails out of Mandate Palestine - "Kafkaesque": 11 APRIL 1948 postmarked cover from Esther Hoffe in TEL AVIV to Dr. Max Brod in ZURICH, franked 40m per period air mail rate & tied by 3x strikes of the local postmark; flown out of Palestine via British BOAC airlines, which enjoyed a monopoly on the transport of outbound airmail, on one of its last flights before the termination o...

One of the last airmails from France to Mandatory Palestine, postmarked 12 April 1948 and sent from NICE to TEL AVIV; franked 16 Francs & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark; cut open at left. Likely carried on Air France on one of the last flights to Lydda prior to its closure around 24-25 April (Air France did not fly to Haifa before or thereafter). Per press reports the last airline to eva...

Last outbound Mandate airmail with local markings: 14 April 1948 postmarked air mail cover on imprinted business postal stationary, sent from business in TEL AVIV to business in LONDON; franked 25m per period postage rate & tied by single strike of the head post office postmark; though no backstamp, there are British manuscript postal markings indicating that the addressee left ("gone away") & the...

LAST CZECH AIRMAIL INTO MANDATORY PALESTINE: 15 APRIL 1948 postmarked air mail cover sent from PRAGUE to TEL AVIV, franked 10kr & tied by single strike of the local postmark; as not registered mail, not backstamped with transit or arrival postmarks, but this cover was carried on one of the last CSA Czechoslovakian Airlines flights into LYDDA during the period of the Mandate. The regularly schedule...

1948 new latest known mail from Mandatory JAFFA: 17 April 1948 postmarked air mail cover addressed to business in TERRENOIRE France, franked 25m per airmail postage rate to France using 20m & 5m stamps & tied by 2x strikes of 5pm time-stamped double ring postmark of the public counter at the head post office, 8 days after Proud's last known date of use of 10 April (#D11; Goldstein-Dickstein & Sach...

One of the last airmails from Mandatory Palestine: [Sunday] 18 April 1948 postmarked air mail cover sent from TEL AVIV to NEW YORK, franked 65 mils per period postage rate to the USA & tied by 4x strikes of the head post office public counter postmark; slit open at top.Rare postal history: British BOAC enjoyed a monopoly on the carriage of mail out of Palestine, so any outbound airmail in the post...

LAST BRITISH BOAC AIRMAIL OUT OF MANDATORY PALESTINE: [Monday] 19 April 1948 postmarked commercial air mail cover on imprinted business postal stationary, from TEL AVIV to business in MILLIKENPARK Scotland UK, franked 25m per period rate to the UK & tied by single strike of the head post office canceller. A similar cover postmarked 18 April from Haifa to the UK, with backstamped (office) arrival o...

LAST FRENCH AIRMAIL INTO MANDATORY PALESTINE: 20 April 1948 postmarked airmail cover, sent from PARIS and addressed to HAIFA, franked 28 Francs & tied by 2x strikes of the local postmark; slit open at bottom. Rare postal history: Air France flew to Lydda airport in Palestine on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays; this cover was posted on Tuesday the 20th and would have been carried on the last incomin...

New latest known date of Mandate HAIFA sorting office in 1948: airmail cover prepared in HAIFA and addressed to SAINTE FOY LA GRANDE France, franked 35 mils for the period air mail postage rate (5m frank missing from top right); the letter was entered into a letter box and subsequently processed by the sorting office when the box was emptied - tying the cover with the latest known date of use of t...

Rare very late Mandate period incoming air mail (from Lebanon): [Friday] 23 APR 1948 commercial airmail on Shell company stationary, from BEIRUT to HAIFA, franked 50p & tied by 2 strikes of the local postmark; the cover was tied by an English-language "BY AIRMAIL" instructional marking handstamp, highlighted by pink crayon emphasis: overseas surface mail service to Palestine officially ended on Ma...

LAST SEA MAIL FROM MANDATE PALESTINE from siege era JERUSALEM + Discovery: 26 April 1948 postmarked couriered printed matter surface mail cover on imprinted postal stationary of JERUSALEM charity but postmarked at the TEL AVIV head post office (the Jerusalem GPO was closed to the public already on this date and regular postal service out of the city stopped) & addressed to CLARENDON Pennsylvania U...

LATEST KNOWN postmarked outbound airmail during the MANDATE era, dated [Sunday] 2 MAY 1948: sent from TEL AVIV to business in CHICAGO; franked 65m per period air mail postage rate to the US & tied by 4 strikes of the Head Post Office public counter double-ring postmark + British airmail etiquette - the cover was actually handed-in in person to the postal clerk & accepted for dispatch (and not post...

1948 wartime Palestine/Israel - original Post Office notice: mimeographed 23 July 1948 notice PBN 2739 from the British General Post Office (London) announcing resumption of unregistered air mail service for letters weighing under 2 ounces & postcards to "certain [Jewish-controlled] places in Palestine" and lists 15 of the "more important" locales (including JERUSALEM, after siege ended 20 June). ...

1948 Wartime Palestine/Israel - original Post Office notice: mimeographed 10 Feb 1949 notice PBN 2808 from the British General Post Office (London) announcing resumption of parcel post services to "Israeli-controlled areas of Palestine and to certain places in Arab-controlled areas". The notice concludes "full details may be obtaied at any post office". Near-mint condition with filing hole at uppe...