Jay Smith & Associates: Norway: Covers: WWII-Era And Censored Covers

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Norway: Covers: WWII-Era And Censored Covers

WWII-Era And Censored Covers

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Item #

Quality & Description

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US$

240471

170 x2 [1937 20 øre Lion, Watermarked] (VF) on 8 September 1940 surface mail cover from LARVIK with bridge cancellations, to the U.S. The reverse bears Nazi censor tape and handstamp of a type used in Berlin. (Airmail to North America was usually censored in Frankfurt, but surface mail from Scandinavia was normally censored in Berlin.) No British censoring (unusual at this point in time) and the U.S. had not started censoring yet. 40 øre postage appears to be overpaid by 10 øre. The interior lining of the envelope had been ripped out prior to mailing per censorship regulations.

ACTUAL item.

26.00

240470

165 OR 190 and 174 x2, PLUS 169 OR 195 and another 174 [5 øre Posthorn; 15 and 40 øre Lion] (VF, watermark status not known for 5 and 15 øre) on 3 December 1940 airmail cover from FLATRÅKER with bridge cancellations, to the U.S. At BERGEN the item was rated as being underpaid and needing an additional 55 øre postage; this would have been held at Bergen, the difference requested from the sender, and then postage affixed and canceled at Bergen on 4 December. VERY UNUSUAL EXAMPLE. The 40 øre stamps must be watermarked because of the use date; the 15 øre unwatermarked stamp was issued two days before this one was canceled, this is probably watermarked but perhaps not. The reverse bears VERY UNUSUAL (at least on Norway-U.S. mail) narrow Nazi censor tape and has been handstamped with "Ae" in circle ("e" code = Frankfurt). The handstamp in circle normally indicates that the item has intentionally not been censored, however in this case it was incorrectly used as a sealing handstamp -- VERY UNUSUAL use. No British censoring (unusual at this point in time) and the U.S. had not started censoring yet. 85 øre rate: 30 surface and 55 air surcharge per 5 grams. Slightly reduced at right. Unusual small village postmark. Very nice cover with several very unusual features.

ACTUAL item.

55.00

229619

9 December 1940 package label/front for printed matter parcel from TRONDHEIM to Denmark with both Oslo "Ao" and Danish (German) censor handstamps. 98 øre franking (rough condition as to be expected on a package). At 7 øre per 50 grams, this is a 700 gram / 14th weight class franking -- such printed matter items are really quite scarce.

ACTUAL item.

35.00

240467

165, 174 pair OR 190, 200 pair [5 øre Posthorn and 40 øre Lion] (VF, watermark status not known) on 5 April 1941 airmail cover from ARENDEAL with machine cancellation, to the U.S. The reverse bears Nazi censor tape and handstamp ("e" code = Frankfurt). No British censoring (unusual at this point in time) and the U.S. had not started censoring yet. 85 øre rate: 30 surface and 55 air surcharge. Roughly opened. Looks nice.

ACTUAL item.

26.00

400661

5 øre Posthorn and 10, 40, and 60 øre Lion stamps (not known if with or without watermark) on 14 May 1941 registered airmail cover from OSLO to New York City, USA. The cover was censored at Bermuda with a PC 90 "EXAMINER 342" censorship label without any additional (IC, or C) marking. Flynn lists the examiner 342 label as being known on a few covers. Flynn states that the PC 90 labels were used in Bermuda from about July 1940 to the end of April 1944; and that an additional "IC" notation was NOT added for about the first 18 months of use (and "C" was not used unti mid-1942). There the cover was HELD FOR THE DURATION OF THE WAR (also called "CONDEMNED" whether permanently confiscated or eventually released after the war), and was RELEASED BY THE CENSORS in January or Feburary 1946; the PC 90 label was then marked "REL 29947" The cover first was censored by the Germans in Frankfurt (with a clearly printed brown censor tape with the "e" code for Frankfurt). The cover was sent from Norske Creditbank in Oslo to the Chemical Bank and Trust Company in NYC; the latter tended to be involved in business transactions. Over the address, in the area of the word "Chemical" the 3-line violet (AMERICAN) handstamp can faintly be seen; it is Flynn Type 3 (Flynn page 101) with the text "HELD BY BRITISH / CENSOR / RELS'S [JAN. or Feb.?] 1946". To the right there is a black single-line (BRITISH) "RELEASED" handstamp (markings like this are sometimes seen with three wavy lines above it, but such lines are not evident on this cover). The cover was first received in New York on 13 February 1946 and by Chemical Bank on the 15th. That the Germans allowed the cover to pass but the British (in Bermuda) held the cover strongly suggests that the registered cover between banks cover contained a form of payment that would have been beneficial to the German war effort and their activities in occupied Norway. While it was normal for the Bermuda censors to hold mail containing merchandise, such as stamps and covers, it held business / banking mail is much less seldom seen -- probably because the envelopes were typically discarded upon eventual receipt by the recipient as was most mail. Condemned mail was "put into prize", with the goal of denying the enemy financial resources. Much condemned mail at Bermuda, whose contents were deemed "trivial", was destroyed starting 1 January 1944 due to a serious lack of storage space. Information about this subject and Bermuda-censored mail in general can be found in "Intercepted In Bermuda" by Peter A. Flynn, published in 2006 by The Collectors Club of Chicago. The 115 øre franking is typical of Norwegian registered airmail letters to the U.S. in this time period. The stamps are worn as is the lightweight airmail envelope; all very typical of such mail. Censored covers transiting Bermuda in this time were surveyed by the Bermuda Censorship Project -- only a VERY TINY quantity of censored covers (26, per Flynn -- less than half of one percent of source countries) in the survey came from Norway! Such covers are both very scarce and a very important part of Norwegian postal history. From the Norman Gary collection.

ACTUAL item.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.
SOLD

240469

165, 174 pair OR 190, 200 pair [5 øre Posthorn and 40 øre Lion] (VF, watermark status not known) on 18 July 1941 airmail cover from ALGDALSEIDET with bridge cancellations, to the U.S. The reverse bears Nazi censor tape and handstamp ("e" code = Frankfurt). No British censoring (unusual at this point in time) and the U.S. had not started censoring yet. 85 øre rate: 30 surface and 55 air surcharge. Missing part of back. Very unusual small village postmark.

ACTUAL item.

22.00

249522

192 (or 167) x3 (single and vertical pair) [1940 unwatermarked (or 1937 watermarked) 10 øre Lion] (VF) on a 30 July 1941 cover from BERGEN to a crew member on board a Norwegian Merchant Marine ship. The cover is addressed care of "Norwegina [sic] Consulate / New York". Opened roughly at left (away from the stamps). The envelope also has a tear below the pair of stamps where somebody started to tear the stamps off the envelope but then thought better of it. This does not affect the overall value and importance for such a significant piece of postal history.) Because it was addressed as consular mail, the Germans supposedly did not open and censor the letter, but instead marked it with a blue "Ab"-in-circle (in Berlin) indicating that they (supposedly) did NOT open the envelope. The sender removed the dark inner lining paper from the envelope according to censorship requirements. Upon arrival at the Norwegian Consulate in New York, the address "s/s Grey County" was added -- the ship which the addressee was on according to their records. See this link for information about the ship -- at the very bottom of that page it provides the ship history following the war, so the ship did survive the war. [That website is "http" instead of "https" and thus the link may give a security warning, but it is a safe website.] What happened after the cover reached the Norwegian Consulate is not known to me because there is next a black boxed handstamp (on front and back) "Received ... FEB 15 1944 ... / BREVCENTRALEN / NORTRASHIP". According to Sanne [Norwegian Exile Mail 1940-1945; the 1986 English translation by the Scandinavian Philatelic Foundation is available from me] this handstamp was applied at the London (England) Nortraship office (the management of the Norwegian Merchant Marine). In his book, Sanne illustrates an example with a February 25 1944 dated marking and he says [as of 1986] "the author only knows of three covers - all with the same date". This cover is especially important because the marking bears a February 15 1944 date and, though other covers may have been discovered since the publication of the book, it is clearly quite rare. In the referenced website it is quite clear that the s/s Grey County was quite busy on convoy duty sand the letter may never have caught up with the ship. Or it could be that if the letter did catch up with the ship, the addressee may no longer have been aboard the ship. I suspect that this marking may only have been used on covers that Nortraship was trying to "resolve" and deliver -- if they did send it onward, that was done enclosed in an outer envelope. The rough opening on the left side suggests that it did either reach the addressee or was returned to the sender. This is an important item in the WWII postal history of the Norwegian Merchant Marine and the Norwegian contribution to the Allied war effort. An exceptional item and certainly the only item of this type that I have had in 51 years!

ACTUAL item.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

401710

Scott #228 [1941 20 øre V-Overprint on Lion] (VF, but faint scrape) solo use on 24 November 1941 DOUBLE CENSORED cover from OSLO to København, Denmark. Boldly canceled with a repeating "OSLO Br." and "V" machine cancellation. , The "V" overprint on the stamp and the "V" in the cancellation was for German victory, thus not popular with patriotic Norwegians. This cancellation "Oslo Br." cancellation was in use only 13 August through 29 November 1941 (Aune / Hauge, 2007). I have heard it said that some patriotic Norwegians used these V-overprinted stamps in an effort to lessen the German scrutiny of their mail. The backside of the letter was clearly opened by the German censors and reverse bears a (GERMAN) OSLO "o" CENSORSHIP TAPE AND HANDSTAMP to reseal it. Upon arrival in Denmark, the letter received a red SECOND (GERMAN) CENSORSHIP handstamp on the front. Despite the small fault on the stamp, this is a very attractive cover with an excellent cancellations. These "V" propaganda cancellations are avidly sought after.

ACTUAL item.

SOLD

229688

196 [20 øre Lion] (VF) on December 1941 cover to Sweden with German BLACK "Ao" (indicating not censored) censor handstamp applied at Oslo.

ACTUAL item.

25.00

229687

196 [20 øre Lion] (VF) on 14 July 1942 cover to Sweden with German VIOLET "Ao" (indicating not censored) censor handstamp applied at Oslo.

ACTUAL item.

25.00

WWII-Era And Censored Covers continued ...

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Item #

Quality & Description

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US$

229720

192 pair (VF) on 25 July 1942 cover from OSLO to Sweden with German Oslo Censor printed tape and handstamp.

ACTUAL item.

40.00

229718

261-6 [Complete original 1943 London issue] on February 1943 cover with Merchant Marine "Anchor and Waves" #23 Ship cancellation.

ACTUAL item.

25.00

229719

261-6 [Complete original 1943 London issue] on February 1943 cover with Merchant Marine "Anchor and Waves" #23 Ship cancellation.

ACTUAL item.

25.00

401712

Scott #190 or #165, Strip of Four [1937 or 1940 5 øre Posthorn (without or with watermark -- presumed without)] (VF) on a very neat 24 February 1943 cover from HONNINGSVÅG (a small town on the island of Magerøya, about 217 miles / 350 km north of the Arctic Circle), with Swiss-bridge-style cancellations, to STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN. The cover was carried nearly the entire length of Norway to Oslo where it was GERMAN "o" [Oslo] CENSORED, with an "o" censor tape and a red handstamp. It was then sent eastward to Stockholm, where it was then FORWARDED, thus the reverse bears a STOCKHOLM machine postmark documenting the forwarding date of 12 March. A very attractive and tidy cover, with a sharp cancellation strike. This would be a great item for any of a Posthorn design collection, a Norwegian town cancellation collection, an Arctic postal history collection, an Occupied Norway / WWII-era collection, or a Swedish forwarded mail-handling collection. The high quality paper of this envelope is much more nicely preserved than many war-time covers.

ACTUAL item.

39.00

401548

Scott #O35 x2 (or #O24) [1941 10 øre Official #O35 Unwatermarked or #O24 Watermarked] (one VF, one damaged corner) on 25 March 1943 domestic cover from the tax inspection office for Sør-Trøndelag county. From TRONDHEIM to Røros, with WWII-era text-machine cancellation "SVARTHANDLERNE ER SAMFUNNSFIENDER" (black market traders are enemies of society). This text-machine cancellation was only used in 1942 (very scarce) and 1943; only in a total of 5 post offices in the 4 largest cities (there are some cancellation sub-types in the Oslo post offices). In Trondheim, this cancellation is recorded by Aune/Hauge (2007) used on 29 December 1942 and in 1943 from 7 January through 23 March. This cover is dated 25 March 1943, two days later than the last recorded date. This is assumed to be the lower-value unwatermarked version because of the date. Very neat and attractive. A nice example of one of the social effects of WWII in Norway.

ACTUAL item.

9.00

400660

Scott #264 [1943 30 øre "London" issue] BLOCK OF NINE (VF / F-VF, center right stamp with tear) on 18 December 1943 cover with RED "NORSK SKIPSPOST / MARINEN" NORWEGIAN NAVY rectangular "Anchor and Waves" #113 cancellation. Cancellation #113 was assigned to the minesweeper THORODD. It is known [per Karl U. Sanne, author of "Norwegian Exile Mail 1940-1945", which is available from me] that while "most" Norwegian NAVAL covers bearing this type of cancellation are "very rare", cancellations from MARINEN #113, 117, and 118 are more often encountered because of being used "... for the cancellation of mail from the Brigade in connection with Christmas 1943 ..." -- of which this cover appears to be an example, addressed to "Dr. E. Buchmann" of the "Norwegian Public Health Service / 6 Grey Street / Newcastle on Tyne". The cover also bears a red octagonal-boxed British Naval censorship handstamp (crown over "PASSED", the rest unclear). The envelope is in excellent condition; there are no markings on the reverse. The cover is over-franked, but the selected stamp design supports the naval connection. The "London" stamps were originally issued and used by the exiled Norwegian government, on 1 January 1943, by the Norwegian Government in Exile in London, England, and were intended as a propaganda tool to emphasize that even though the government was in exile, the Norwegians were still fighting and working for freedom in various ways. The stamps were "re-issued" to the public on 22 June 1945. Uses during the "Exile period" are very much sought after. This is one of only a few "MARINEN" [Navy] canceled covers I have had in 52 years (most covers of bearing this general cancellation type usually have the HANDELSFLÅTEN [Merchant Marine] cancellations). This is the only example of the aforementioned 1943 Christmas mail that I can recall having in 52 years.

ACTUAL item.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.
Sold

401711

Scott #186, 196 [1939 30 øre Tourism; 1941 20 øre Lion With Shorter Nose on "2" (Facit #226b)] (VF) on a VERY RARE 16 March 1944 AIRMAIL cover from "ØVRE-ÅRDAL" with bridge-style town cancellations, to Paris, France. GERMAN "f" [Frankfurt] CENSOR TAPE and handstamp, along with small censor markings including special on-site censor markings (see below), and one blue CHEMICAL (SECRET WRITING) DETECTION TEST SWIPE on the reverse. There are a couple inconsequential, normal, small opening tears and wear. At this time, airmail covers leaving Norway (thus censored) FROM SMALL VILLAGES are remarkably scarce. Furthermore, WWII-era covers from any size village, town, or city, and especially airmail, TO FRANCE are also remarkably scarce. However, this cover is MUCH MORE RARE... The return address is "Andre O...." / "B21-Z9 / A/S Nordag / Øvre Årdal / (Sogn) / Norge". The "A/S Nordag" is described by Google AI as a "massive, frantic German wartime industrial project to build an aluminum plant and a 13-kilometer supply railway run by A/S Nordag, relying heavily on thousands of Norwegian construction workers alongside ... over 1,000 Soviet / Ukrainian prisoners and more than 600 French civilian forced laborers were quartered in harsh local camps. ... The French civilians in Årdal were primarily young men conscripted under the [French] Vichy regime Service du travail obligatoire (STO). They were rounded up and deported to support the German war industry. While [the French men] were legally classified as "civilians" and permitted to send heavily censored letters home to family, their service was entirely compulsory, enforced under threat of imprisonment or execution for resistance. ... Unlike Soviet and Ukrainian prisoners in Øvre Årdal -- who were treated with extreme brutality and strictly denied outside contact, French STO workers were legally granted limited mail privileges. [This envelope] represents one of [the] rare, surviving lifelines sent from an occupied fjord back to wartime France." ... "The alphanumeric string [in the return address] is a military postal and camp classification code. "B" or "Barakke": indicates a specific wooden barracks building within the multi-camp complex in Øvre Årdal. "Z9": The letter "Z" was frequently used by German camp administrators to categorize Zivilarbeiter (civilian workers) or Zwangsarbeiter (forced laborers) to separate them from standard military POWs (who used Stalag/Oflag designations). [One of the many reasons for the German occupation of Norway was to gain access to the tremendous potential for Norwegian electric energy generation because of the many high-fall, high-volume water sources well suited to hydro-electric generation. Aluminum production, which was absolutely critical to the German war effort, required enormous amounts of electricity. Massive amounts of electricity were also needed to produce "heavy water" which was used in the German nuclear weapons program.] In 53 years, I have never before even heard of this relatively small group of French "STO" workers held as forced laborers in Norway, and I have certainly never knowingly seen a cover sent by one of them. This is a rare piece of WWII postal history!

ACTUAL item.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

229723

196 (VF) on 19 September 1944 cover from OSLO to Sweden with large black "Ao" Oslo Censor handstamp on plain brown tape.

ACTUAL item.

40.00

229722

196 (VF) on 29 October 1944 cover from OSLO to Sweden with large black "Ao" Oslo Censor handstamp on plain brown tape.

ACTUAL item.

40.00

229721

192 x2 (VF) on 8 November 1944 cover from OSLO to Sweden with large black "Ao" Oslo Censor handstamp on plain brown tape.

ACTUAL item.

45.00

WWII-Era And Censored Covers continued ...

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Item #

Quality & Description

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US$

229726

1950 May 3 registered airmail cover with several stamps to Austria with Austrian censorship. Some aging. Inner liner removed due to censor regulations.

ACTUAL item.

22.00

401721

Germany Scott #511B [1942 12 pf Hitler] (VF) on clearly dated 23 August 1943 (light cancel, but the date can be read without doubt) FELDPOST cover to "Direktor Artur Riedel" in Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Germany. The Feldpost cancellation has "---" where the kenn number would normally be (probably removed for security reasons). The cover is endorsed "Durch Deutsch Feldpost" [By German Military Post]. This very unusual cover -- franked with postage, thus sent by a NON-QUALIFIED SENDER -- deserved further research. The "cleaned up" return address is "Kammersänger Bötel / Spielgruppe 563 / "Kleines Lexikon" / Oslo P15 / K.d.F. / über Berlin N.4.". The analysis of the return address is: 1) "Kammersänger" [chamber singer] is a prestigious official German title for an eminent opera or concert singer. This individual may have been a relative of Heinrich Bötel (deceased 1938) or Bernhard Bötel (retired, died in 1953), well-known singers of a somewhat earlier era. This person was likely a director or lead performer of this troupe. 2) Spielgruppe 563 / "Kleines Lexikon": A Spielgruppe was a mobile theater group or entertainment troupe sent to occupied territories or frontline sectors to perform for soldiers and administrative staff. "Kleines Lexikon" ("Little Lexicon") was the title of the specific theatrical comedy, revue, or program they were touring with. 3) "Oslo P15": The troupe was stationed in or operating out of Oslo during the occupation. "P15" refers to a localized sector or administrative sorting code used within the occupation hub. 4) "K.d.F.": Kraft durch Freude ["Strength Through Joy"]. The troupe was officially employed and managed by this civilian organization, rather than being active military personnel. "über Berlin N.4": The official routing instruction. Mail to and from these civilian KdF units in occupied Norway bypassed the local Norwegian post and was funneled through a central Berlin distribution node (Berlin N.4). In 53 years, this is the first example of Norwegian K.d.F. FELDPOST mail that I have encountered. (One other K.d.F. cover came to me from the same collection, but it was sent by somebody else, and through the Dienstpost official mail system rather than the Feldpost military mail system.) Though this cover may initially appear as "just another Feldpost cover", it is a remarkable -- and "quite scarce" coming from Norway -- example of Norwegian Occupation postal history. If anybody can identify with certainty the sender or recipient, I would like to add the information to the description (which I will leave available for reference purposes).

ACTUAL item.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

401722

Germany Scott #511B [1942 12 pf Hitler] (VF) on a clearly dated 25 March 1945 (partially light cancel, but the date can be read without doubt) DIENSTPOST cover. The cover is a pre-printed "formular" envelope "Durch Deutsches Dienstpost / Oslo" ["By German Official Mail / Oslo"] and is postmarked "DEUTSCHES DIENSTPOSTAMT / OSLO / c" (code letter "c" below the date). The envelope has a very remarkable LIGHT BLUE printed large "X" (corner to corner) which indicated that the cover was from a trusted sender and could be passed without censorship (this the only example I can recall seeing, from Norway, of the "X" in light blue). Please refer to the website page header for more information about such covers. The postage stamp was required because the sender was a NON-QUALIFIED SENDER who, as a civilian, did not have the free-franking privilege. This cover is especially unusual in that it was sent by "Kraftfahrer W. Lindeman" of the "K.D.F." The envelope return address also contains "Oslo P.16 / über Berlin N 4.". The analysis of the return address is: 1) "Kraftfahrer" is a driver or chauffeur. 2) "Oslo -- P.16": The envelope was printed for non-military personnel stationed in or operating out of Oslo during the occupation. "P.16" refers to a localized sector or administrative sorting code used within the occupation hub. 4) "K.D.F.", which is usually written "K.d.F.", refers to the organization Kraft durch Freude ["Strength Through Joy"]. The driver was officially employed and managed by this civilian organization, rather than being active military personnel. "über Berlin N.4": The official routing instruction. Mail to and from these civilian K.d.F. units in occupied Norway bypassed the local Norwegian post and was funneled through a central Berlin distribution node (Berlin N.4). The sender was not a soldier, but was a civilian (probably German) employee or contractor working for the K.d.F. as a driver, thus not qualified for free postage. The K.d.F. ran a massive logistics operation in Norway to support their large morale-boosting activities for the German soldiers. In 53 years, this is the first example of Norwegian K.d.F. DIENSTPOST mail that I have had. (One other K.d.F. cover came to me from the same collection, but it was sent by somebody else, and through the Feldpost military mail system rather than the Dienstpost official mail system.) Though this cover may initially appear as "just another Dienstpost cover", it is a remarkable -- and "quite scarce" coming from Norway -- example of Norwegian Occupation K.d.F. postal history. Furthermore, this cover was mailed at a time (late March 1945) that the German forces in Northern Norway were in full tactical retreat, heading south ahead of advancing Russian forces. Additionally, German forces were being recalled from Norway to protect the German homeland as the Allied forces approached Berlin from both the east and the west. Lastly, the K.d.F. was desperately trying to improve troop morale in Norway because it was very clear by then that the German troops in Norway were trapped. Just 6 weeks after this cover was mailed, on May 8, 1945, 350,000-380,000 German troops surrendered. If anybody can identify with certainty the sender or recipient, I would like to add the information to the description (which I will leave available for reference purposes).

ACTUAL item.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

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