1) Mandate Termination Period

War of Independence era late period Arabian mail: 24 March 1948 postmarked cover on imprinted business postal stationry (Catholic Orphanage) sent from BETHLEHEM to HAIFA, franked 10 mils per domestic letter postage rate & tied by single strike of the local postmark. The letter was returned on account of the addressee having left - pencil manuscript notation on back + instructional form marking. In...

1948 Old City Jerusalem - rare mail link: 12 Feb 1948 postmarked registered commercial cover on imprinted business postal stationary, sent from company in HAIFA to business proprietor in Christian Quarter of Old City JERUSALEM, franked 25 mils per period postage rate (10m inland letter + 15m registry fee) & tied by 3x strikes of the REGISTERED HAIFA oval postal; backstamped 14 Feb transit-arrival ...

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...

War of Independence affected mail from JERUSALEM - 23 MAR 1948 postmarked cover sent from TEL AVIV to NETANYA, with return address in JERUSALEM handstamped on the front; franked 10m per period postage rate & tied by single strike of the head post office canceller: evidently the cover was couriered from Jerusalem and posted in Tel Aviv, a likely necessity owing to limited mail service at Jerusa...

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 se...

Late Palestine Mandate era airmail: 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 cover met the 12pm dispatch de...

1948 War of Independence - latest known mail from Mandatory JAFFA: 11 April 1948 postmarked air mail cover addressed to shipping company in NEW YORK, franked 65m per period rate & tied by double ring postmark of the public counter at the head post office, one day beyond Proud's last known date of use of 10 April (#D11; Goldstein-Dickstein & Sacher disingenuously list "end of mandate" or an unsubst...

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; of the airlines still operating out of Palestine at this time most probably carried by Swissair to Geneva on its weekly non-stop Thursday flight (15 April), before ...

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...

**LAST MANDATE AIRMAIL OUT OF PALESTINE**: [Sunday] 18 April 1948 postmarked commercial air mail cover on Spinneys Ltd business postal stationary, from HAIFA to business in MITCHAM United Kingdom, franked 25m per period rate to the UK & tied by single strike of the local postmark; backstamped office receipt [Monday] 26 April 1948 with 8:45 time stamp - a rare and critical proving date for this typ...

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...

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...

LATEST RECORDED INCOMING Mandate / 1948 War 'Destinaire Parti' Arab air mail: 1 APR 1948 registered [airmail] cover on "Imperial" stationary from BAINO (BEINO) Lebanon to HAIFA, addressed in Arabic to "His Excellency Iskandar Kurdush" (return addressed to the sending locale in Akkar, Lebanon), franked 55p using horizontal pair 25p + 'orphan' 5p - for the period 25p registered airmail rate + 25p do...

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...

Late Mandate "Tohuwabohu" franked mail: 7 May 1948 postmarked cover, sent from HAIFA to TEL AVIV & franked 10m for the domestic letter postage rate using a Mandate 10m pictorial overprinted with "PAL.CHAOS GOVT." in English & the equivalent (unabbreviated) in Hebrew below - a 5th and rare type of this "government tohuvabuhu" type stamps. As per the double ring cancel, the cover was posted in perso...

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...