by Lawrence Sherman, M.D., San Diego, California

by Lawrence Sherman, M.D., San Diego, California

Airmail Registered Letter to Poland, August 30, 1939 Front: Returned to Sender Label: This article was held in France during the German occupation and has now [May 1945] been released by the French authorities. Back: Registered, Inman Sq., MA 8/30/39 NY Registry Div. 8/30/39 NY Foreign Mail Div. 8/31/39 Paris 8/12/40 NY Registry Div. 5/17/45 Boston, MA 5/28/45 Cambridge, MA 5/29/45

Censored in Bermuda, 1939-1940 Terminal Censorship Letter to Bermuda was postmarked Sep 1, 1939, date war began. Terminal Censors in Hamilton were ready for mail originating or terminating in Bermuda itself. (10 /½ oz. was correct rate; was letter overweight?) Imperial Censorship The Imperial Censorship Detachment examined transatlantic mail that travelled through Bermuda. Number of censors peaked at nearly 1,000 in 1941. Only 6 Detain labels are recorded, all used in Oct-Nov 1940.

Hand Stamp, February 1940: Translation, Damaged by Seawater Danish ship Vidar was first vessel sunk in World War II to have any mail salvaged. German submarine U-21 torpedoed it in North Sea on Feb 1, 1940. Three (of 145) sacks of mail from neutral U.S. to neutral Denmark washed ashore in England; salvageable mail was forwarded to Copenhagen, where hand stamp was applied.

German invasion of Netherlands and Belgium, May 10, 1940, caused some mail to the Netherlands to be diverted to Batavia in East Indies. Blitzkrieg, May-June, 1940 Airmail letter to Belgium was returned because Belgian postal services were disrupted during the period leading to that nation s surrender on May 28, 1940.

Mail to France 1940-1941: The Two Zones Mail to St. Martin, Landes, in Occupied Zone: returned. Mail to Trevoux forwarded to Lyon, both in Unoccupied Zone (Vichy): delivered.

Mail to France 1940-1941: The Four Censors Front: Returned surface mail to Occupied Zone, with Italian censor tape over British tape (incoming mail, left). Back: German censor tape over Italian tape (incoming mail, right), with British censor tape over other end of same German tape (returning mail, left).

The Baltic Nations, 1940-1941 Baltic states were formally annexed by Soviet Union in August 1940. Airmail letter to Latvia, U.S.S.R., one month later. Lithuania, January 1941.

Occupied Nations, East and West, 1940-1941 To Manchukuo, August 1940 To Luxembourg, February 1941

Pearl Harbor and Suspension of Mail to Europe

Pearl Harbor and Suspension of Mail to Asia

Pearl Harbor and Changes in Airmail Rates and Routes: Airmail to Turkey, 1941 & 1943 Rate: May 29, 1939-Dec 17, 1941, 30 /½ oz. Route: Atlantic FAM 18 usually to Britain, then (after Italy entered war) by sea to Durban, South Africa, then flown to Cairo. Letter censored in Durban & Cairo. Rate: Dec 18, 1941-Oct 30, 1946, 70 /½ oz. Route: FAM 22 NY/Miami to Brazil, then to Gambia, Nigeria, Leopoldville (Belgian Congo), and Cairo. Letter censored in Chicago & Cairo.

Surface Mail Portion of letter sent by PMG to Secretary of State, July 3, 1942, transmitted to American Chargé d Affaires in Bogotá (From National Archives). Surface Mail to Colombia, 1942 Airmail Rate: 35 ½ oz. Route: FAM from Miami and air in Colombia.

Mail to China Forwarded to India, 1942 Seventy cents paid on Dec 22, 1942, for airmail to Chengtu, China via N.Y., Miami & West Africa Clipper. New address: c/o Thomas Cook & Son, Calcutta, India. Six dollars in China airmail stamps paid forwarding fee to India. Calcutta censor tape and agency and city back stamps were added on arrival, Feb 11, 1943.

German Occupation of Vichy France, 1942: Au revoir, la poste Marseille Censor returned this surface letter mailed to Marseille in February 1943 with enclosure stating reason for return: letter was intended for a person in enemy or enemyoccupied country.,

German Occupation of Vichy France, 1942: Andorra Begone With borders closed and mail routes blocked, this surface mail to Andorra was returned to sender.

German Occupation of Vichy France, 1942: The Swiss Dis-Connection June 1942: Airmail to Lugano censored in Bermuda, received in Lugano, forwarded and delivered. October 1942: Airmail to Lugano censored in Bermuda, returned with No Service Available handstamp applied. The key: Closure of Geneva- Lisbon route after German occupation of Vichy France, Nov 1942.

Damaged by Sea Water, February 1943 Front and back of mail recovered from Pan American Yankee Clipper that crashed upon landing in Tagus River, Lisbon, on Feb 22, 1943. Ninety-three bags of waterdamaged airmail were salvaged, sorted, and forwarded.

Surface Mail to Spanish Western Sahara, February 1943 Back postmarks: Calabar, Nigeria (Apr 5); Fernando Po (May 8); Las Palmas, Canary Islands (Aug 13); and Madrid (Sep? date)

Mail to Sweden mis-sent via Germany, February 1944 Photocopy in U.S. National Archives German censor tape on back indicates mail from U.S. was mistakenly routed via Germany because it was either: (1) misssorted by Censorship in Bermuda, or (2) routed in error by the Lisbon Post Office upon arrival there.

Restricted Resumption of Mail to Certain Areas of France, September 1944 From Postal Bulletin No. 18751, Sep 5, 1944

Restricted Resumption of Mail to Switzerland, November 1944 From Postal Bulletin No. 18769, Nov 7, 1944

Airmail to New Caledonia, December 1944 Rate: 40 /½ oz. by FAM and other means from San Francisco.

Extension of Mail Service to Southern Part of the Netherlands, April 1945 This postal card was mailed on May 18, 1945, 10 days after VE Day. Only mail service to Netherlands south of Scheldt river had been restored. Card was addressed to Rotterdam, which lay to the north. From Postal Bulletin No. 18815, April 17, 1945

Airmail to Poland, November 1945 By August 28, 1945, letters up to 2 ounces and postcards could be sent by surface or air to the Baltic nations and Poland. Censored in Poland, this airmail letter went to Cracow, then Warsaw, and was marked Retour because addressee was no longer there.

Restricted Resumption of Mail to Germany, April 1, 1946 From Postal Bulletin No. 18913, April 2, 1946

Resumption of Limited Mail Service to Japan, September 10, 1946 From Postal Bulletin No. 18960, September 5, 1946

FOREIGN DESTINATIONS International Mail from the United States During World War II