Israel. 1948 JERUSALEM siege / Jewish Quarter of Old City: full strike of Second "Wall" Postmark (????? ?????) tied to top-guttered Interim 10m JERUSALEM Locals II frank on unaddressed cover (franked per period letter rate) on mint "Doar" stationary envelope. This 2nd type was ordered as the original one was not portable. It was received on 10 May (same date that the Locals II frank entered use) by the last convoy to reach the besieged Old City, and any mail marked by it was carried by the last outgoing convoy on the 13th (day before Independence day). Unlike the 3rd type (created after establishment of Israel) known only for souvenir and philatelic strikes, this 2nd version was legitimately used by the defending forces in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. Extremely rare and very fine - at a minimum as a genuine momento from the "siege within the siege".

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Israel. 1948 War of Independence/POSTAL HISTORY GEM: cover from "Convoy Driver" (Nahag Shayara) return-addressed Bezalel Gaber at the Tel Aviv Hotel JERUSALEM to Aharonson Stamp Shop TEL AVIV, pre-franked 10m per period letter rate using 2nd issue local Ba105; sender apparently aware of inability to dispatch mail through postal service and had the cover couriered [by "Burma Road", newly opened to traffic 1 June; 1st convoy known to carry mail arrived 10 June] shortly before that 1st convoy returned to TEL AVIV (18 June) with accumulated mail from Jerusalem; here deposited into postal system 14 June where accepted untaxed by TEL AVIV Head Post Office & frank tied by full strike of postmark; re-routed locally to Post Office Box; folded vertically & horizontally as typical of couriered mail. Cover is of interest as sender identifies himself as "Convoy Driver": in light of pre-June 18th postmark he himself may have couried this cover on an earlier passage on Burma Road. Gaber (b. 1921) was a convoy driver to the Negev and to Jerusalem, was a driver in the big "Hulda" convoy of 31 March 1948 which was ambused and trapped in Jerusalem, where he remained until June (between Dec. 1947-Mar 1948, 224 convoys were sent to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, of which only 8 failed to arrive; convoys continued coming until 20 April). Gaber was a member of the "Shelev" transport cooperative prior to becoming a convoy driver. Convoy drivers (and convoy guards) are more or less anonymous heros of the Israeli War of Independence with little documented specifically about them, and this cover sheds a little light on their identity and whereabouts.

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Israel. 1948 JERUSALEM 1st convoy mail: commercial express registered cover to HAIFA, franked 65m per period rate using mix 1st locals 25m (Ba103) & complete set 2nd locals (Ba104-6) tied by 2 strikes of black interim postmark + 2 strikes 11 MAY 1948 dater (3rd day 1st locals use; 2nd day 2nd locals use); transported on 1st convoy of 18 June (carrying mail dated 9-12 May) but not backstamped as not registered letter. Scarce as such; rare rate & franking. Cut open at left. Estimated value $400+

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Israel. 1948 1st convoy mail from besieged JERUSALEM: registered commercial cover from JERUSALEM 4 (Anglo Palestine Bank) to APB in TEL AVIV franked at period rate (10m letter + 15m registration) using 25m 2nd local Ba106 stamps tied by local Minhelet Ha'am postmark (2 strikes on back) & vertical dater 12 MAY 1948 (unclear but consistent with 2nd local issue usage dates, starting 10 May), with registry-label 0103 on front (consistent with known number range for interim period); accumulated at Rechavia sorting center & dispatched to Tel Aviv with 1st convoy which took the accumulated mail from 9-12 May that arrived there 18 June 1948 - cover backstamped as such by local trilingual postmark + National Loan cachet applied by Tel Aviv sorting office. Estimated value $200+

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Israel. 1948 JERUSALEM 1st convoy mail: registered cover to Anglo-Palestine Bank in TEL AVIV, posted at Anglo-Palestine Bank (JERUSALEM 4), franked 25m at period registered letter rate using 2nd local issue Ba106 tied by single strike of local interim postmark (+ 2 on back) & 12 MAY 1948 dater; transported on 1st convoy of 18 June & backstamped same day TEL AVIV arrival; slit open at bottom. Estimated value $235+

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Israel. 1948 JERUSALEM 2nd convoy remarkable assembly: 16-5-1948 'first day' registered cover (4199) from JERUSALEM-6 (Mahane Yehuda branch office) to Kibbutz DAFNA (misspelled) franked 40+ mils (10m letter + 15m registered + 2+ x 6m additional weight) using complete 2nd issue Jerusalem locals (Ba104-106) + 1 non-denominated/un-overprinted with 'canal' flaw (light brown ink: Jewish State 10m Ba30 or 1st issue 5m Ba101), tied by 3 strikes of JERUSALEM "Independence" postmark (Ba B-5) on front + 2 on back; as posted during the full siege on JERUSALEM, held at Rehavia sorting office until carried by 2nd convoy to TEL AVIV (carrying accumulated mail from 13 May - 21 June), here backstamped 21-6-1948 TEL AVIV transit (inverted Hebrew date), then 23 JU 48 TIBERIAS & ROSH PINNA transit - using reintroduced Mandate postmarks (Dorf-7/Dorf-5); slit open at bottom, vertical & horizontal folds. Addressee Ariela Elazari (b. 1929 Jerusalem) was a female soldier in the 3rd battalion of the Yiftach Brigade of the Palmach, who served as a wireless operator, and who in this function also served as part of the Israeli delegation to the ceasefire talks in Rhodes in 1949; retired from teaching in 1994; listed veteran on Palmach's website. Cover's registry-label serial belongs to the sequence Aloni associates with the Interim period (0010-8952) - possibly prepared beforehand, before postal dispatch. Rare combination of special franks & postmarks + small locale routing on 3 postal period cover.

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Israel. 1948 besieged JERUSALEM Military mail: 22(?) MAY 1948 "Misrad Kesher | Yerusalayim" (Signals Corp) stampless inter-unit corresondence registered Hagana cover #159 from "Mizrachi Department" (cachet on back) to "HaLevy", marked "Dan Urgent"; received by "Maimon" who crossed out the addresee's name; tied by scarce bluish-black signals corps cachet; originally sealed by tape and carefully opened, folded vertically & horizontally; Muenz certified. Rare intercity military communications in beseiged Jerusalem.

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