FPO query

Material relating to the philately of the reign of George V.
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jimusedcontrols
Posts: 123
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:00 pm

FPO query

Post by jimusedcontrols »

Hi folks

I just acquired a nice registered cover dated 14 December 1936 from FPO 26 to Stockport via KLM Airmail with an X35 9d photogravure single franking.

Great item for me as used control and single franking. However I am not sure about the postage rate. I do not have any overview of the rates for field post offices nor of their origin.

The datestamp is 15/79 according to Whitney but that was WW 2 rather than between the wars.

There was a camp 26 in Palestine in 1936 but that should have had 15/48.

Why sent KLM? Presumably only from Holland or a country with Dutch influence?

Why 9d.? The foreign registration fee from England was 3d at the time; it would have cost 6d to send a second weight letter to Palestine at that time.

Just all rather confusing for me!

Thanks for any help

Regards

James
censormark
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:00 pm

Re: FPO query

Post by censormark »

FPO 26 was at Sarafand from 1 Oct36 until 10.Jan37 (it is not common)
KLM flights between DEI and the Netherlands landed in Palestine on their normal route. They were not allowed to land at Cairo because the British Govt wished to protect the monopoly that IA had in serving Egypt on international routes.
It is quite possible your soldier missed the IA flight (although there were four services a week) so he used the KLM service. Alternatively he decided to create a philatelicly interesting piece for a souvenir and deliberately posted it for the KLM service and paid what he thought would be an adequate sum. I regret I cannot say what the correct rate from Palestine should have been and verly likely for the KLM service it should have been paid in piastres and milliemes.
I hope this is some help.
Graham Mark
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