IN THIS EDITION – MARCH 2011 – WHOLE NO. 61

LE COMMENTAIRE Page

Secretary’s Report..........................................................................................................…..................................... 2

Chairman’s Report..........................................................................................................…...........…..................... 2.

AIR CRASH STUDY GROUP

INTERESTING WW2 COVER SOLD IN AIRMAIL COLLECTOR AUCTION ...................................... 3– OCTOBER 2010

3RD DARDANUS COVER DISCOVERED .................................................................................................. 3 & 4By Alistair Watt

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS “CITY OF ALEXANDRIA” & “CITY OF ATHENS”BARGAIN CRASH COVER .............................................................................................................................. 4

By John C Symons

BOAC CRASH AT KINNEKULLE, SWEDEN – AUGUST 1944 .............................................................. 5 − 10By Ken Sanford

RARE POST OFFICE NOTICE FOR PAN AM CRASH AT ANTILLA, CUBA8 AUGUST 1944 .................................................................................................................................................. 10

TRAIN WRECK STUDY GROUP

MAIL FOR GREECE DAMAGED IN TRAIN FIRE IN FRANCE, JANUARY 1963 .............................10 - 12By Adrian Ritoridis

SCOVIL IDENTIFIED – NOW WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED .........................................12 - 13By Robin Gwynn

TRAIN WRECK AT HALTERNIN WESTFALEN – 20 SEPTEMBER 1919 ..........................................13 & 14By Robin Gwynn

SHIP WRECK STUDY GROUP

MORE ON MYSTERY COVER ....................................................................................................................14 & 15

SANTAGELO SHIP WRECK COVER COLLECTION SOLD AT HARMER’S OF LONDON ..........15 & 16

HIJACKINGS, ROBBERIES, INSURRECTIONS, EARTHQUAKES, FLOODS, VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS, FIRES, AVALANCHES, TERRORISM, WARS & POST OFFICE DELAYS

THE DEVIL’S MAIL – 1922-PRESENT (continued from Dec. 2010 issue) ............................................ 17 & 18By Steven Berlin

Russian Air Force Shoots Down Korean Air Flight 007 – 1983 ..................................................... 17

Mail Bomb Security Markings in Israel - 1985 ................................................................................ 18

CAN ANYONE HELP – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS – Question 93 ........................................................... 19

CRASH COVERS ON EBAY ........................................................................................................................ 19 & 20

COPIES OF “THE HISTORY OF MAIL BOMBS STILL AVAILABLE ................................................... 20

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Secretary’s ReportNew Members Resigned

Maria Kanas (Australia)sanak@adam.com.auCollects any kind of crash cover that are available, but tends to lean to maritime disasters. She would like to purchase covers from members who have any to sell

Michael Buckley (UK)John Hammonds (UK)

The following members have not renewed for 2010, so their membership will be dropped for the June issue.

Patrick Frost, David Plant, Knut Arveng, Alexis Carabott, Alain Jacquart, Albert Aldham, Nancy Clark, Elizabeth Gilkey, Todd Hirn, Michael McComb and Thomas Johansen

DeceasedMarc Eisenberg - Lincolnwood, Illinois – USA

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

We are still, at the time of writing (February 7th), awaiting renewals from over 20 members, 62 having paid to date. Our finances are sound and we run the Society on a very tight budget. Last year the Society has published its first book, The History of Mail Bombs by Dale Spiers and sales went so well that the firstprinting is sold out and Ken Sanford arranged a reprint.

The Society is centred on our quarterly publication “La Catastrophe” and in this respect we are indebted to Ken Sanford who consistently produces an absorbing journal, writing some of the sections himself. The Air Crash, Ship Wreck, Railroad Wreck and Unusual & Dangerous Interruptions Study Groups are headed respectively by Ken Sanford, Peter Day, Robin Gwynn and Dr Steven Berlin.

In order to produce a balanced journal, Ken requires a store of articles from which to select. I am sure all members have items with an interesting story or where they require further information and I encourage you to submit an article or query to Ken, particularly if you have not done so before.

EDITOR’S REPORT

Articles are badly needed for future issues, especially articles on train wrecks. If you have a favourite or especially interesting cover, why not send a scan (as a TIFF or JPG file in at least 300 dpi) and a short write-up about it. If you have seen a rare or unusual cover come up in auction, or a cover not listed in the catalogs, we would love to know about it, along with a good clear scan, if possible. Articles that have been published in other publications would also be welcome. Just be sure to get permission to reproduce it from the publisher.

There is an interesting website with lots of crash covers shown at: http://www.crash-mail.com/

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Kendall C. SanfordAssociate Editor, Air-Crash Study Group613 Championship DriveOxford, CT – USA 06478-3128

INTERESTING WW2 COVER SOLD IN AIRMAIL COLLECTOR AUCTION – OCTOBER 2010

The description was as follows: 1943, Jan 16 – WWII censored military aircraft crash on the Air Transport Command route carrying mails from British West African Colonies. Plain airmail etiquette cover, 35% charred, addressed to Glasgow, no arrival marks, franked Nigeria KGVI 1/3, cancelled "Buea-Cameroons/16 Jan 43/Under British Mandate", ms "By Air Mail", red Nigeria half circle censor mark. Cachets were not applied to mails recovered on this service to ensure that no information might leak through to the enemy. Unlisted in Nierinck, but a letter from Francis Field, dated 7/7/52, accompanies this lot. It guarantees this cover to be "a genuine accident mail souvenir which was involved in an RAF plane crash over North Africa when most of the mail was burned beyond recognition". This cover is ex McCaig and is illustrated in West African Airmails, The McCaig and Porter Collections, Priddy, B., West Africa Study Circle, 2002, pp 154,155. A truly rare and historical WWII item. Estimate £650.00. It sold for £

3RD DARDANUS COVER DISCOVEREDBy Alistair Watt

What do you think of this cover? It is from Kunming with late November 1939 transit thru Hong Kong . It has a London arrival stamp of 18th December applied over the Post office “found damaged” label. Mail from the Imperial Airways Dardanus crash was not into Australia until the 5th December so it could not have been the extra distance into London until after the 10th of December at the very least. This is quite possibly a Dardanus cover.

Editor’s Comment: I agree with Alistair. This more than likely is a cover from the “Dardanus”, which was shot down by Japanese fighters over Waichow Island on 18 November 1939. The other two known “Dardanus” covers are one to Australia and one to Fiji. See “La Catastrophe”, Jul-Sep 2007.

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3RD DARDANUS COVER DISCOVERED (continued)

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS “CITY OF ALEXANDRIA” & “CITY OF ATHENS”BARGAIN CRASH COVER

By John C Symons

In his book “Air Crash Mail of Imperial Airways & Predecessor Airlines”, Ken Sanford asked for any information on covers coming in to collectors' possession. Shown below are images of the front and back of a cover that I feel sure was involved in the incidents which occurred at Mersa Matruh on 26 October 1929. It differs from those illustrated in the book, in that there are no cachets applied, yet it clearly was damaged - missing stamp, incomplete postmark, and crumpled air mail label. I can only think that the damage was such that the cover did not need any attention, or it was enclosed in a covering “ambulance” envelope.

The dates of the postmarks would endorse this opinion that it was involved in the Mersa Matruh incident, posted as it was on 25 October at Moreton, Dorchester, and out for delivery at Hyderabad on 5 November. These dates fit the details given by Wingent for Imperial Airways flight IE31, departing Croydon on 26 October and arriving Karachi on 4 November. Travelling backwards and forwards between Karachi and Hyderabad doesn't help to sort out the cover's movements, nor do they help to clarify how the cover was handled following the crash. I'm almost too embarrassed to say what I paid for the cover. It was purchased on eBay for 99 cents−yes, 99 cents! If I'm right in what I write above, then it was an outstanding bargain, an interesting cover at a very good price.

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BOAC CRASH AT KINNEKULLE, SWEDEN – AUGUST 1944By Ken Sanford

Lockheed Lodestar with marking of BOAC G-AGIHAviation museum at Oslo Airport - Aircraft Collection of the Norwegian Armed Forces

British Airways was operating regular scheduled flights during 1939 and early 1940. The original route (No. 730) with British Airways (later BOAC) was from Perth to Helsinki via Stavanger, Oslo and Stockholm, which started in late summer of 1939. In November 1939, Imperial Airways and British Airways were merged and became British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). When Norway was occupied by the Germans on April 9th 1940, the Norwegian stops were avoided of course, and the route went directly from Perth, Scotland to Stockholm’s Bromma Airport until April 21st, when two Lockheed 14s landed at Bromma, which were the last regular commercial flights on a regular schedule. During the autumn of 1940, nine roundtrips were made to Stockholm with an ex Polish Lockheed 14 (G-AGBG), mostly carrying diplomatic mail. During the end of 1940 a few special flights were carried out between Perth and Bromma.

In early spring 1941 an agreement was signed between the UK and Sweden which allowed planes of BOAC to operate a so-called “courier route” between Leuchars, Scotland (a Royal Air Force base south of Dundee) and Stockholm’s Bromma Airport. The first flight departed from Leuchars on 2 March 1941, and arrived at Bromma on the 3rd. It was a Lockheed 14 Super Electra. At the end of 1941, BOAC used Lockheed Hudson 3s and Lockheed Lodestars.

The flight usually landed at Bromma early in the morning and returned in the evening of the same day. On 7 April 1941, a second Lockheed 14H Super Electra (G-AGBG) was added. In the beginning it was mostly to show the flag, the British could transport passengers, mail, newspapers etc. to Sweden. The Norwegian exile government in England paid for two Lockheed 18 Lodestar`s, which were brought over from USA by Norwegian crews. The two planes were given civil British registration, and the Norwegian crews wore BOAC uniforms. (G-AGDD "Loch Lesna" and G-AGDE "Loch Lesja").

On 18 August 1941, G-AGDE “Loch Lesja” flew from Leuchars, the first flight with a Norwegian crew. On 20 August, G-AGDD "Loch Lesna" operated the second flight with Norwegians. A few more Lodestar`s followed later, also with Norwegian crews.

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BOAC CRASH AT KINNEKULLE, SWEDEN – AUGUST 1944 (continued)

During 1942 the Hudsons were supplemented by a number of Lockheed Lodestars, purchased in the USA by the Norwegian Purchasing Commission (the Norwegian exile government in England). These aircraft were registered to BOAC but were flown by Norwegian crew members who wore BOAC uniforms and were given British passports. On 5 August 1942 the first secret test flight was made with a military Mosquito Mk IV (DK301) by RAF 105 Squadron.

But more and more allied airmen landed in Sweden (mostly after their aircraft were shot up over Germany) and wanted to be repatriated. Norwegians wanted to join the war effort and the allies had a need for ball bearings and special (alloy) steel. During the war there were 2,784 British courier flights. 787,500 kilos of steel and ball bearings were exported from Sweden to England. The first flight of a BOAC Mosquito plane was made on February 2nd, 1943 with G-AGFV. A Mosquito could carry 600 kilos of ball bearings. BOAC operated some daylight flights during May 1945 after the War ended. The last flight to Stockholm was with G-AGKO on May 16th, 1945.

On 12 March 1943 the first Douglas Dakota (DC-3) flight was made to Bromma Airport, Stockholm. On 6 October 1943, Niels Bohr was flown from Bromma to Leuchars. Bohr was a Danish physicist who made major contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum physics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. He was part of a team of physicists working on the Manhattan Project, developing the atomic bomb at Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, USA. On 8 October 1943, the first flight with a Liberator 3 (G-AGFS) was made.

During the long daylight hours in the summer months it was extremely dangerous for the rather slow Hudsons and Lodestars to fly over German occupied territory−Norway and Denmark. Although the Lockheed aircraft provided good passenger and cargo carrying capabilities, their performance was unsatisfactory and a request for a high speed, high flying aircraft was put forward. The route required an aircraft with greater performance−speed, higher ceiling and greater endurance, so that the route over enemy territory could be changed, allowing for the possibility of flying north of Trondheim in good weather conditions.

One aircraft that could leave most German fighters standing was the Mosquito. It had a very high payload, more than equal to its empty weight and cargo could be carried in the nose, cannon and bomb bay. On 5 August 1942, a 105 Squadron Mosquito B Mk.IV, DK301/GB-H carried out a courier flight to Stockholm. The aircraft was painted grey and devoid of all markings for this flight. Following the successful flight of DK301, a Mosquito PR Mk.IV, DZ411, was delivered to BOAC on 15 December 1942. During the spring of 1943, six Mosquito FB Mk.VIs were acquired, with the final three aircraft in April 1944. The new, fast aircraft served alongside the Hudsons and Lodestars, and many sorties were flown with Norwegian crews. In the spring of 1943, German fighter activity increased and BOAC decided to ground the Lockheed aircraft. During the summer months the Mosquitoes were the only aircraft operating the route. However the Norwegians disliked the lack of passenger space and took the Lodestars back to the air.

The first Lodestar to be shot down by the Germans was on 3 April 1943, when a Norwegian operated BOAC Lodestar "Loch Lange" (G-AGEJ) was downed northwest of Skagen, Denmark by a German fighter based at Skagen. No mail is known from that incident. At 8:01 p.m. on 28 August, 1944, the BOAC Lodestar 18 (G-AGIH), took off from Bromma Airport, enroute to Leuchars. The Captain was Alf Kristian Hiorth and the second officer, who was being checked out on the route, was 1st Lieutenant Lars Larsen Bergo. The Radio Operator was Sven Brun Moe. There were twelve Norwegian passengers onboard. The flight reported radio problems and attempted to return to Bromma. But because of bad weather, the plane was directed to either Såtenäs or Torslanda at Gothenburg) Sweden. There are conflicting reports as to which airport the flight was directed to land. The Captain attempted to descend below the clouds, but had the bad luck to collide with the only hill in the area−Kinnekulle, which is a ridge in the province of Västergötland, Sweden, It is located on the southern shore of

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BOAC CRASH AT KINNEKULLE, SWEDEN – AUGUST 1944 (continued)

Lake Vänern, 55 kilometers from Såtenäs. Its highest point is 306 meters above sea level. The crash occurred at 00:30 on the 29th. As Kinnekulle is on a direct line between Bromma and Såtenäs, in this writer’s opinion, the pilot was intending to land at Såtenäs–not Torslanda. If he was heading toward Torslanda, he would not have been near Kinnekulle−he would have been on a track much further south. Only four out the 15 on-board survived. The names of the dead passengers were not released during the war as they had relatives in Norway! Captain Hiorth was at the time of the accident, the one with most trips (82) to Stockholm.

Five of the twelve Lodestars crashed on the Stockholm route during the war, killing 11 Norwegian crew members and 18 passengers. The following is a summary of the crashes on the Scotland-Sweden route during the war:

3 April 1942 - Lodestar shot down over the Skagerrak by German Kapt. Erik Engnæs. Pilots Ltn. Oddvar Wenger & Rt. Harald Wilhelmsen and 5 passengers killed

23 June 1942 - Hudson - G-AGDF - made an emergency landing in the water off Gullmarsfjorden, Sweden. The mail for GB was recovered three months later but no covers are known.

4 April 1943 - Lodestar - G-AGEJ “Loch Lange” left Bromma at 1:38 a.m., passed Lysekil, Sweden at 3:13 and then disappeared, and was not found. 15 kg of diplomatic mail was onboard, but no covers are known in collectors’ hands. According to the German Oblt Speidel, a German fighter shot down a Manchester at 4:32 a.m. 50 km northwest of Skagen, Denmark. It was more than likely the Lodestar.

23 April 1943 - Mosquito IV - G-AGFV was attacked by a German FW 190 over Denmark, and made an emergency landing at Barkaby outside Stockholm

17 August 1943 Mosquito G-AGGF crashed at Glenlee, Scotland - Bromma to Scotland

25 October 1943 Mosquito G-AGGG crashed into the sea near Leuchars, Scotland, probably due to engine problems, on a flight from Bromma to Leuchars

17 December 1943 Lodestar G-AGDE crashed into the sea off Leuchars, Scotland on a flight from RAF Leuchars to Stockholm-Bromma Airport, possibly due to ice on the wings. The accident killed all 10 passengers and crew members onboard the flight

3 January 1944 Mosquito G-AGGD Emergency landing at Såtenäs, Sweden (which was a military airport)

21 January 1944 Dakota G-AGFZ crashed at Bromma

31 January 1944 Lodestar – crashed into a hill at Strathaven, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Norwegian pilot, crew and passengers all safe

4 July 1944 Mosquito G-AGFV crashed at Bromma

19 August 1944 Mosquito Mk VI G-AGKP crashed in the North Sea 13 km from Leuchars

29 August 1944 Mosquito Mk VI G-AGKR departed from Gothenburg Torslanda Airport at 1:54 a.m. and disappeared. It was presumed to be a weather or mechanical problem, as the Germans said they had no fighters flying that night because of the weather.

29 August 1944 Lodestar G-AGIH crashed at Kinnekulle, Sweden

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BOAC CRASH AT KINNEKULLE, SWEDEN – AUGUST 1944 (continued)

Coffins of the dead passengers & crew from the crash of BOAC G-AGIH

Mosquito IV - G-AGFV

2 May 1945 Lodestar G-AGLI - due to bad weather and a possible navigation error, made an emergency landing on water at Sikeåfjärden, 7 km northeast of Umeå, Sweden. Six passengers were onboard, including one woman. Both crew and passengers were rescued by a Swedish fishing boat before the aircraft sank.

Quite a number of covers are known from the crash at Kinnekulle. John Thiesen advises that “From my own studies of the items it seems as if most of the mail was so damaged, that it could not be forwarded. The covers were returned to the sender in an ambulance cover and with the label ‘Åter til avsändaren’ (Nierinck 440829 type ‘a’).”

Cover which was returned to sender & Stockholm ambulance cover with Nierinck type ‘a’ label – John Thiesen collection

Some of the mail to England and U.S.A. was in a bag which was not so much damaged. These items were forwarded to the addressees. They show the framed handstamp "Damaged through an air-/plane accident in course/of conveyance" (Nierinck type ‘b’), which was applied in England in two colors−violet & blue.

Nierinck type ‘f’ cachet from Swedish ambulance covers, which were a semi-transparent glassine material

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BOAC CRASH AT KINNEKULLE, SWEDEN – AUGUST 1944 (continued)

Gunnar Zetterman cover with violet cachetNierinck type ‘b’

Cover with blue cachet – unlisted by Nierinck

Lockheed Lodestar with marking of BOAC G-AGIHAviation museum at Oslo Airport - Aircraft Collection of the

Norwegian Armed Forces

Lockheed Lodestar G-ADGE at Leuchars - Sister aircraft to G-AGIH

Thanks to John Thiesen, Bo Widfelt, Magnus Heder, Gunnar Zetterman, Knut Arveng & Leif Ruud for information and translations for this article.

References:

1. Website: http://tinyurl.com/65eh3wb

2. Website: http://tinyurl.com/5sxmkpk3. http://www.europeanairlines.no/Arcticles_Timeline_aviation_Norway_070207.pdf4. http://www.luftwaffe.no/Table2.htm5. http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/casuality_register-norway-1941-1945.pdf6. The History of Airmail in Scandinavia, Örjan Lüning, Sveriges Filatelist-Förbund, Stockholm, Sweden, 19787. Blockade Runners; Sweden's Lifeline in the Second World War, Lars-Axel Nilsson & Leif A. Sandberg, published

by authors, Sweden, 19968. Recovered Mail, 2nd Edition, Volume 2 – 1937-1988, by Henri Nierinck, published by author, 1995

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BOAC CRASH AT KINNEKULLE, SWEDEN – AUGUST 1944 (continued)

9. Brittiska Nödlandare (British Emergency Landers) 1940-1945, by Rolph Wegman, published by Air Historic Research AB, Björkgatan 22, SE-571 39 Nässjö, Sweden

10. RAF Nordic Casualities Of Crews And Losses Of Aircrafts In World War 2 - http://www.luftwaffe.no/Table2.htm

This article was originally published in “Air Mail News”, February 2011, journal of the British Air Mail Society.

RARE POST OFFICE NOTICE FOR PAN AM CRASH AT ANTILLA, CUBA – 8 AUGUST 1944

A Pan American World Airways Sikorsky S-42 flying boat “Hong Kong Clipper” crashed at Antilla, Cuba on 8 August 1944. Salvaged water-soaked mail was forwarded on August 8 and 9 to Miami, Florida for redistribution. Your editor recently acquired on eBay, a cover with the rare New York Post Office mimeograph explanation as shown below. This was the first time I have seen this post office explanation. This is listed in the American Air Mail Catalogue as 440808 type ‘b’.

Robin Gwynn

Associate Editor, Train Wreck Study Group

Email: gwynn@paradise.net.nz

MAIL FOR GREECE DAMAGED IN TRAIN FIRE IN FRANCE, JANUARY 1963By Adrian Ritoridis

The incident in question is discussed at length by Gwynn and Hoggarth in their recently published book, Railway Disaster Mail. According to the entry, the fire occurred on January 25th 1963, on board the Simplon Express leaving Paris at 7:28 pm. Once alerted to the fire, the driver stopped the train between the St Florentin and Flogny stations, 180 km from Paris, on the Paris-Dijon section. The fire was restricted to the ‘Paris Trieste’ wagon, which contained the mail, but could not be controlled so the majority of the mail was destroyed and only 5 mail bags were rescued, albeit damaged by the flames.

The authors of the aforementioned book knew of only one cover from this accident (fig.1). This cover, now in Gwynn’s collection, belonged to Hardeman Smith, whose collection was auctioned by Harmers in 1994. The cover was accompanied by a letter from the Chief Engineer of the French National Railways in response to Hardeman Smith’s enquiry, nine years after the event, as to the causes of the damage to the cover (fig.2). This letter, dated March 28th 1972, is the only source of information we have for this incident and the recovered mail. According to the Chief Engineer, the fire was caused by the “bad distribution of the load which caused friction between a wheel and a metal part of the chassis of the van.” The five mail bags recovered were returned to Paris

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MAIL FOR GREECE DAMAGED IN TRAIN FIRE IN FRANCE, JANUARY 1963 (continued)

and forwarded on 28 January after being annotated “Courrier accidenté en cours de transport” to explain the state of the mail (quoted from Gwynn and Hoggarth).

Figure 1

Figure 2

I would like to present a second cover from this incident which has been in my possession for some time (fig.3). It is only recently that I have been able to identify it thanks to Gwynn and Hoggarth’s book. This second cover was mailed from Chicago on January 16th, 1963 (Gwynn’s cover was sent from Boston on the same date). Both covers show clear signs of damage by the fire. Once they had been returned to Paris the two covers were struck by the magenta cachet used to indicate they had been damaged in the course of transport. They were placed in a No 716 F-2 ambulance cover struck by a ‘P.L.M. ETRANGER’ cachet (railway cachet ‘Paris-Lyon-Marseilles – Foreign’) and forwarded to their original destination.

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MAIL FOR GREECE DAMAGED IN TRAIN FIRE IN FRANCE, JANUARY 1963 (continued)

In both cases, the cachet used appears to be the same one, as can be discerned by the positioning of the letters in the cachet (fig.4). However, whereas Gwynn’s cover and ambulance cover both bear the same cachet, the ambulance cover in my collection bears a different cachet (fig.5). It is a generic cachet reading ‘COURRIER ACCIDENTÉ’, which is struck in the same colour as the cachet on the cover and measures 45 x 0.5 mm.

Figure 3

Figure 4

As both covers are addressed to Athens, I assume that at least one of the mail bags rescued contained mail destined for Greece. I would be very interested to hear from other collectors who may possess similar covers but have, so far, been unable to identify them.

Figure 5

SCOVIL IDENTIFIED – NOW WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!By Robin Gwynn FRPSL FRPSNZ

When Norman Hoggarth and I produced Railway Disaster Mail (Stuart Rossiter Trust) early last year, we anticipated an instant deluge of new reports and corrections. Opening up such a large, world-wide subject from a previously very narrow base of philatelic literature meant it was inevitable that there were areas we overlooked.

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SCOVIL IDENTIFIED – NOW WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! (continued)

So far, though, the deluge has not materialized, and in fact there has barely been a trickle. Surely members of this society can add to what we have put in print? (Don’t be shy, Ken would love to hear from you!) However thanks to Norman Banfield, FRPSNZ of New Zealand, one mystery which defeated us has been solved.

Illustrated are two damaged covers from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, one undated, the other with a clear meter date 19 October 1936. Both have struck on the reverse, in slightly differing shades of grey-blue, “DAMAGED IN THE/SCOVIL WRECK”.

Our best efforts had failed to locate Scovil, but it has now been clearly identified. It is a lakeside area east of Kenora, East Ontario, at latitude 49.78º and longitude 94.28º. The location makes good sense in terms of the westward routing of the covers, so the heading for the entry on page 161 of our book should be ‘Accident at Scovil, Ontario, Canada’: the question mark can go, and we know we are indeed dealing with a place called Scovil, not Sovil or Soovil as had appeared in auction catalogues to muddy the trail.

We are left with two questions. We still do not know what happened to cause the damage in October 1936, and we had also received a report of another separate accident resulting in the use of the same cachet five months earlier, on a cover sent eastwards from Manitoba to Europe on 25 May.

With the place and dates identified, the best hope for uncovering the answers will be through local newspaper reports in Kenora. Can any of our readers access such reports? Norman and I live in the UK and New Zealand respectively, and it is impossible for either of us to do so.

This cachet is on the back of each cover

TRAIN WRECK AT HALTERN IN WESTFALEN − 20TH SEPTEMBER 1919By Gunnar Zetterman

A railroad accident occurred in the station yard of Haltern in Westfalen, Germany on 20 September 1919. Five of the staff were killed and the mail van was completely burnt away. It was train D91 from the Rhineland to Hamburg, which had connected with a Dutch train from the Hook of Holland. On a side track there was train loaded with coal for Denmark, which was being shunted by a locomotive. The D91 collided with this locomotive and both locomotives derailed. A few covers damaged by fire were salvaged. Covers are known with slightly different labels: Beschädigt/durch Brand des Bahnpostwagens./Postamt Haltern. (Damaged by fire in mail van./Post-Office Haltern. Two slightly different types of cachets have been recorded.Source: A German note by Günther Heyd.

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Peter DayAssociate Editor, Ship Wreck Study Group

Email: peter.day80@tesco.net

MORE ON MYSTERY COVERBy Robin Gwynn

The text on pages 14 & 15 of the December 2010 issue of 'La Catastrophe' regarding a cover from New Zealand to Jamaica was not that intended to be published by the author as further information had come to light after it was submitted for publication. The censor cachet 155 for New Zealand is believed applied at Palmerston North, which would be fine for a cover emanating from the village of Umutoi near the small township of posting at Ashurst (postally then as now under Palmerston North). The P.C. 90 censorship label "OPENED BY/EXAMINER I.D.5662" is recorded in use in Jamaica from mid-November 1942 to mid-May 1943. It undoubtedly travelled from New Zealand via the Panama Canal via the MANZ Line as member Barbara Priddy has kindly commented:

"I asked a colleague at my local society, who is a Jamaica collector, about the Mystery Cover in the December issue of 'La Catastrophe'. There was a ship line which sailed from New Zealand via Panama to Jamaica and the Eastern USA. The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was formed in London in 1873. The P & O Line took over the NZSC in 1916 but the company continued to operate as before. In 1936 the Montreal-Australian New Zealand Line (MANZ Line) was formed in conjunction with Ellerman and Bucknall and the Port Line. One of the routes operated was between Montreal, Halifax & Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, and Panama to New Zealand & Australia (with stops at US East Coast ports on the northbound leg only). This cover could have been carried on this service. The fleet list for the NZSC shows the "OPAWA" as being torpedoed and sunk in the North Atlantic by a German submarine in February 1942, but a cover from New Zealand to Jamaica would have been off-loaded before the ship proceeded to the North Atlantic".

It seems therefore that whatever happened to the cover took place between off-loading from the MANZ Line ship at Panama and its delivery in Jamaica in February 1943. The dating of the Jamaican censorship label clearly refutes all the published theories on the item. We also received the following comments from Graham Mark.

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MORE ON MYSTERY COVER (continued)

On pages 14 & 15 of the December issue a “Mystery Cover” is described, but I wonder if the story is quite correct. We are told in paragraph 1 that the date of posting was sometime in 1942, and in paragraph 2 that the date of arrival at Half-Way-Tree was 18 February (the illustrations might be read as the 16th).

It seems to me unlikely that a letter posted in New Zealand very early in 1942 would reach Jamaica in six weeks or so by surface mail, including experiencing some delay caused by an accident somewhere enroute. So I suggest the letter may have been posted in late 1942 and arrived in mid-February 1943.

The New Zealand censor 155 is recorded at Palmerston North from July 1941 1 and the British examiner 5662 is known at Jamaica in 1942 and 1943 2.

The possibility of a letter from New Zealand to Jamaica being routed via Halifax, Nova Scotia seems most unlikely. If it were landed on the U.S. west coast, I would expect it to be sent overland to either a Gulf port, or an east coast port for onward carriage to Jamaica, not into Canada. A more plausible route for mail from New Zealand to the Caribbean would be via Panama−as suggested by the spurious 2 cent Canal Zone stamp.

My last point is that I am sure I have seen this cover before, illustrating an article, or an auction catalog, but I cannot lay my hands on that publication at the moment.

References:

1. Startup, Robin: “New Zealand – Passed by Censor N.Z. handstamp”, Civil Censorship Study Group Bulletin #139 (July 2003) pp. 109-111

2. Morenweiser, K: personal database of British examiner numbers in World War 2

SANTAGELO SHIP WRECK COVER COLLECTION SOLD AT HARMER’S OF LONDON

The ship wreck cover collection of the late Gerry Santangelo was sold at the Harmer’s of London auction in November, 2010. There were a number of rare or scarce covers in the collection. Most of the covers sold at or near the estimates, with some common items selling too high (in my opinion), and a number of items selling well above the estimates. Two of the surprises were the following lots:

X170 ✉ Various, an all World accumulation, incl. France, Great Britain, Italy, South Africa, U.S.A., with a good range of instructional marks incl. detained mail, service suspended, returned mail, censor marks and labels, etc. (few 100s) Estimated £1,000-£1,200 – sold for £2700.

X159 ✉ 1908 to 1979, a selection of covers and cards, incl. 1941 (Aug. 6) registered cover from London to Birmingham, stamps cancelled by skeleton circle date stamp of the temporary P.O. used during the Blitz, 1970 (Apr.) cover from Gouda to Delfzijl (due to ice the mail van skidded into a river) with explanatory violet cachet in Dutch, 1979 (July 7) envelope used in Birmingham, burnt and bearing label “The Postmaster/is very sorry that/this packet has/been accidentally damaged/in the post” with manuscript “BOMB DAMAGE”, etc. (21 items) Estimated £500-£600 – sold for £1050

Surprisingly, a number of rather scarce covers were unsold, such as:

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SANTAGELO SHIP WRECK COVER COLLECTION SOLD AT HARMER’S OF LONDON (continued)

Sept. 11, 1857 – Emeu - Estimated £200-£250 June 1897 – St. Paul – Estimated £100-£150

Jan. 20, 1901 – Gefion – Estimated £700-£800 Feb. 10, 1910) S.S.Yucatan – Estimated £600-£800

Feb. 10, 1910 – Général Chanzy – Estimated £300-£400 April 18, 1921 – S.S. Kalyan. – Estimated £200-£250

July 9, 1933 – Cabo San Antonio – Estimated £180-£200 Feb. 13, 1938 – S.S. Uruguay – Estimated £250-£300

In spite of the lack of promotion of the sale by Harmer’s, it brought very good prices, which shows a healthy market for ship wreck covers. When are the auction houses going to learn to properly promote a sale of such a large and important collection? The last few major wreck & crash cover collections were not properly promoted.

The following cover was in the 5 February 2011 auction of A. Karamitsos of Athens, Greece. (Lot 4075)

Damaged by seawater cover fr. with 30pa. addressed to London. The cover was on board of "S.S Cosseir" which was sunk by German U-Boat during WWI. The letter recovered and delivered to correct address by "Returned letter section of London Postal service.” Price: 1,200.00 EUR. The cover did not sell.

The following is from the website: http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?136368

SS Kosseir, built by James Laing, Sunderland in 1884 and owned at the time of her loss by Khedival Mail S.S. & Graving Dock Co. Ltd., London, was a British steamer of 1855 tons.

On July 20th, 1918, Kosseir, on a voyage from Alexandria to Port Said with general cargo, was sunk by the German submarine UB-51 (Ernst Krafft), 40 miles NExN1/2N Alexandria. 39 persons were lost.

This wreck is unlisted by Hoggarth & Gwynn

The cover shown below was on eBay in February 2011. It is from Japan to Holland and has a Dutch cachet which roughly translated reads: “Received after fire in Rotterdam”. It is unlisted in “Maritime Disaster Mail” and should not be confused with the listing for the ship the SS Rotterdam, which had a fire onboard on 2 September 1915. The start price was GB£ 295.00 (approximately US $475.39).

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Dr. Steven Berlin

Unusual & Dangerous Interruptions Study Group

Email: drstevenberlin@yahoo.com

Hijackings, Robberies, Insurrections, Earthquakes, Floods, Volcanic Eruptions, Fires, Avalanches, Terrorism, Wars & Post Office Delays

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The Devil’s Mail – 1922-Present (continued)

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CAN ANYONE HELP – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS – Question 93

Member John Hotchner sent this cover in, and would like to know what crash it could be from. It is addressed to U.S. military person in the Pacific theatre.

Sent from Philadelphia, PA April 19, 1944 to Pvt. Everett Crandall, AAF, , c/o Postmaster, San Francisco, CA, subsequently readdressed to a different unit, stamp washed off, cover toned, and with burn marks at left edge.

CRASH COVERS ON EBAY

The cover shown below sold on eBay in February 2011 for US$430.00. The description was as follows:

A piece of mail sent from the Netherlands to New Zealand in 1973. The plane carrying the mail was hijacked and blown up. The cover is accompanied by a letter from the postmaster of the Christchurch post office stating the item was damaged by the explosion.

Japan Air Lines Flight 404 was an airliner hijacked by Palestinian and Japanese terrorists in July, 1973. The flight departed Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport, Netherlands, on July 23, 1973, en route to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Japan, via Anchorage International Airport, Alaska. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-246B, with 123 passengers and 22 crew members on board. The passenger complement included five terrorists, led by Osamu Maruoka, a member of the Japanese Red Army, and the other four were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The flight was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Schiphol. In the course of the hijacking, a grenade carried by one of the skyjackers detonated, killing her and injuring the flight's chief purser. The lead hijacker almost immediately announced himself to air traffic control as El Kassar, hijacking the aircraft in the name of the Palestinian Liberation movement. After several Middle Eastern governments refused to permit Flight 404 to land, the plane eventually touched down in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. After several days on the ground, the terrorists demanded the release of Kozo Okamoto, survivor of the JRA's attack on Tel Aviv's Lod Airport. After the Israeli government refused to release Okamoto, the hijackers flew the aircraft first to Damascus, Syria, and then to Benghazi, in Libya. Eighty-nine hours after the hijacking began, the passengers and crew were released; the hijackers then blew up the aircraft. A female PFLP member was killed in the explosion

In the editor’s opinion, this is a very rare cover.

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CRASH COVERS ON EBAY (continued)

The following cover, from the Imperial Airways “Centurion” crash in the Hoogly River at Calcutta, India on 12 June 1939, sold for US$136.00, which shows there is a good market for nice covers−this one is a registered cover. There were 13 bids.

COPIES OF “THE HISTORY OF MAIL BOMBS” STILL AVAILABLE

We sold out of the first printing of this book, but we reprinted it. It is available to Wreck & Crash Mail Society members at a special price of US$30.00 plus postage. Postage within the USA is US$3.00 (media mail), to Canada is US$6.00 (1st class), and to the rest of the World is US$13.95 (Global Priority Mail). For UK members, the price is £19.00 plus £8.80 postage. Payment may be made by US$ check or money order made payable to Ken Sanford, or by PayPal in US$ or UK£ to: kaerophil@gmail.com. For PayPal payments, please add $1.50 or £1.00. Check to be mailed to: Ken Sanford, 613 Championship Drive, Oxford, CT – USA 06478-3128.

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