Great Britain and British Commonwealth SEYCHELLES Postal History - Military - World War II
Sale No: 236
Lot No: 1350
Symbol: C
1939 (Sep 5) commercial registered airmail cover to GB with scarce franking of 12c 20c 25c & 75c (Cat £70 x3), two strikes on reverse of the first type 'PASSED BY CENSOR' h/s (#H.1) & very fine 'PASSED BY CENSOR/MOMBASA/ 3 ' h/s on the face. Very early civil censored mail: War was declared 4.9.1939. [The rate was 12c + R1 airmail surcharge + 20c registration]
1943 (Nov 10) cover to a convent in Ireland with 50c pair & a very fine example of the rare 'OPENED BY CENSOR LL...' label (#H.T.LL) tied by chamfered-boxed '[crown]/PASSED' cachet (#H.V), British censor label at right & Irish censor cachet in red.
1944 (Apr 8) usage of formular aerogramme to GB opened & resealed with plain labels & with superb '[eagle]/ RAF/CENSOR/596' cachet used on Seychelles, 18c cancelled in transit at RAF Mombasa with 'EA/APO 81' cds.
1944 vice-regal cover with printed crown on the flap & endorsed by the Governor "WM Logan/Govt House/Seychelles", to GB with 9c x2 paying surface rate tied by cds of JY27/44 but 2c 30c & 50c added to make up 1r airmail rate & cancelled AU2/44. These envelopes with the printed crown on the flap were a local expedient when the Governor's stationery was exhausted: this & the next lot represent a new discovery not recorded by Hopson & McCloy. [Privileged mail was not subject to censorship. Three squadrons of Catalinas arrived 27.7.1944, one plane departing 3.8.1944]
1944 (Nov 15) vice-regal cover with printed crown on the flap & signed by the Governor "WM Logan/Govt House", to GB with 1r black. [Hopson & McCloy note at p45 that BOAC's 'Golden Hind' service made five flights Kenya-Seychelles- Kenya, and that "...these did carry...civilian mail but little was sent...". The service was extended from Seychelles to Ceylon on one occasion only. The return flight arrived from Colombo 16.11.1944 & left the next day for Kisumu. Mail identified as per 'Golden Hind' is rare]
1944 (Nov 30) airgraph form from the Seychelles Postmaster to GB, advising of a rate reduction - from Sep 1944 - from 50c to 18c for the service. Flown per 'Golden Hind' service. The only civilian airgraph known to both our vendor & a major collector of airgraphs. [Airgraphs were introduced by 27.5.1942. Examples from the Seychelles are extremely scarce, with most of those recorded being RAF types. The rate reduction coincided with the introduction of the 18c aerogramme rate]
1944 cover endorsed on reverse "O'Toole/RAF Seychelles/.../I certify on my honour..." & with rare '[eagle]/RAF/ CENSOR/42' cachet (introduced Sep 1944), to GB with 1r black cancelled in transit with 'EA/6XII44/APO 81' cds used at Port Reitz (KUT), light vertical fold & minor soiling. Rare carriage per 'Golden Hind' which departed Seychelles 5.12.1944.
1945 (Aug 6) usage of KGVI 20c Registration Envelope size F with rare albeit philatelic franking of 5r Pirogue on reverse, to Kenya self-censored by the sender with military censor h/s #7428, 'ELDORET' arrival b/s. [6.8.1945 was the last day of military censorship on the Seychelles]
