Jamaica Internment POW mail

A place to discuss censored mail from World War II

Jamaica Internment POW mail

Postby belcherstephen » Wed Feb 15, 2017 1:29 pm

I have two covers in regard to this area and would welcome any comments

Letter 1 from the Womens Internment camp No date but details hand written which can indicate early use to Germany
Censor mark Tombstone D40 in blue And a circle in black with Ao but their are no German censorship markings

Letter 2 from Prisoner of war to Germany dated April 1942 Censor mark tombstone D5 then GB censor 4261 and finally two red German hand stamps

Apart from the question regarding lack of any further censor marks on letter 1 what route would these letters take to reach Germany

regards steve
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Re: Jamaica Internment POW mail

Postby Ray Murphy » Sun Feb 19, 2017 2:43 am

Hi Steve,
For the most part, very little is known about the Women’s Camp other than they appeared to use normal stationery, but they were subject to the same rules and limits on how many letters could be sent. Very few covers exist. The tombstone D/40 marks the review by military intelligence, i.e., M.I.5. Sometimes there is an orderly room stamp or even a Jamaican civil censor label. From what I have read, almost all, if not all, German and Italian POW mail was censored by a special office in Germany, and there is an office code on the stamp in the form of a small lower case letter in the bottom of the circle. The Ao stands for Auslandbriefpruefstelle (foreign letter examining office). B is Berlin, d is Munich, e Frankfurt, x Paris. Just because a letter went through there doesn’t automatically mean it was censored, but that it probably was. The ones with a eagle are Gestapo - they took over after February 1944. Censoring POW mail started in 1941. The SS also got in the act in the summer of 1944. The marks are detailed in an article in German by K.H. Reimer, Zensurpost aus dem III Reich in 1966, and a newer book Die Zensur in Deutschland im 2 Weltkreig by Landsmann (I haven’t really delved into that area).

Giorgio Migliavacca had a super article “POWs in United States and Allied Camps” in the Postal History Journal, No. 109, February 1998 pp6-18. He notes that the surface mail was routed through Lisbon and eventually to Germany. The Germans distributed the mail locally and to Italy. The reason given for the German censorship was to minimize defeatism. They were also interested in what the Italians were doing regarding surrendering. Your cover with the Ao in a circle mark is German censorship even without the swastika.

There were apparently several routes. The main one was by sea from New York to Lisbon, then train to Germany. Some went via the Papal Nuncio in Lisbon. Others went by neutral shipping to Marseilles. Allied bombing seriously affected the mail movement, and the invasion in the south of France really messed it up. I suspect some went in through the French Atlantic ports up until D-Day, and probably some went via Sweden. POW mail was a two-way street, because the Allies wanted mail from our troops on German hands. The Red Cross and the Holy See were also involved. Apparently there was also airmail, but the POW had to pay extra for it, while a surface letter was free.

Hope this helps,

Regards,
Ray
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Re: Jamaica Internment POW mail

Postby belcherstephen » Sun Feb 19, 2017 5:19 pm

Ray Thank you for your very detailed explanation in regard to these covers it also help in other covers I have in regard to this area once again with thanks Steve
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