Today in Postal History



China to Great Britain
December 17, 1941

There is very little I can tell you about this bedraggled cover.
I can't even confirm the date other than to say
it was the date attributed to the cover when I found it.

The two stamps are most likely one of the 50c dark blue Sun Yat Sens of 1940
- either Scott 386 unwatermarked or Scott 3996 watermarked Yu.

The addressee's title was "Comradeship Leader" | China Inland Mission.
This was probably a contact for a church support group for the mission.
The China Inland Mission was active in China from 1865 to 1953

The date the cover was sent was after the United States had entered World War II
but both China and Great Britain had been at war for some time.
Since the cover had to come from somewhere in China not occupied by the Japanese
and could not exit from any of the Pacific ports,
its route was probably via the Burma Road to Rangoon
and then on to India, Africa, and Great Britain.

Goetz identifies the censor marks as British-Indian.*
There are two censor marks - a DHF/18 straightline and a boxed DHF/5(?).
They may have been applied in Rangoon and later in India.
There is also a censor seal at the left.

*Thanks to Goetz for the comment on the censor marks
and the thoughts regarding the circuitous route.

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