Welcome to the 93nd entry of Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog. If you take this link,
you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this
one (the most recent always shows up at the top).
This
week, in honor of Memorial Day in the United States, I'm going to be
presumptuous and tell you to push your own personal troubles out of the
way so you can ponder what it means for individuals to serve in the
military for their country (it does not matter which country) or for
people to be injured, displaced, and terrorized by war.
But, even as
we ponder, I hope we can also learn something new and still enjoy as we
explore the postal history hobby. And, if these words sound familiar,
maybe you recall some of last year's post titled
Unforgotten. That post received some excellent feedback and may well be worth another read if you feel like it.
This
week I am going to leave the time period with which I have the most
comfort and look at something a bit more modern. Yes, I know, World
War I might not be considered to be all that recent by many people, but
it is about a half century later than most postal history I study.
Before I get too far into the postal history part of
this item, can you see why I was attracted to this particular cover in
the first place? Yes, it is a clean enough. And, yes, it is a piece of
mail between two countries (the US and England). Also, as we shall
see, this letter illustrates a proper postal use of the time (1916).
In my mind, these are all good things if I am considering an item. Yet it was the address panel that caught my attention.
"Mr. J.R. Little, Friends Ambulance Unit, 8 Weymouth St. London W, England"
I
must admit that, while I was aware of the ambulance units run by the
Quakers in World War II, I was not aware of their involvement in the
first world war. The gap in my knowledge makes some sense since WW II has received more
historical coverage in the US given their extensive involvement as
compared to the first conflict. And, even if you weren't aware of these
ambulance units, you may recognize the movie, Hacksaw Ridge, that
followed the story of an American conscientious objector who served
heroically as a medic in the second war.
The Postal History PartThe
post marks on this particular cover tell the story in a clear fashion.
A boxed marking on the front was placed over the postage stamp (so it
could not easily be re-used) that reads New Rockford, N. Dakota. And
the markings on the back are as follows:
- New Rockford N. Dak Registered Jun 7, 1916
- New York Rec'd For'cn Jun 10, 1916
- Liverpool June 19, 1916
The
postage stamp has a 12 cent denomination and depicts Benjamin
Franklin. You can see, if you look closely that the stamp itself is
actually partially covered by some paper tape on the right. And, if you
look even more closely (click on the image to see a bigger version),
you might notice in pencil the numbers "138" have been written on the stamp itself. I will make an educated
guess that there just might be a "6" after the "8," but it is under the
tape.
What's the "138" thing about?
The
numbers in pencil on the stamp aren't something I have noticed before,
so maybe someone else who knows more about this period of time and
postal history can help. However, I can do a little sleuthing and point
you towards THIS part of the envelope. It explains my reason for
thinking there is also a penciled in "6."
Registered
mail of the time from the US to the United Kingdom had a few
characteristics that we can spot on this particular envelope. First,
some sort of "registered" marking or label is placed on the front. A
tracking number, or ledger number, is included with the marking. I do
not think it is coincidence that the three numbers visible on the stamp
match up with the first three numbers here.
The next couple of
pieces of evidence to show that this was a registered piece of mail
include the blue cross marking applied with a pencil on the front. This
alerted the British postal service that this item was registered and
extra security/tracking was to be provided. And, all of the dated
postmarks appear on the reverse of this envelope, all carefully placed
so they overlap the flap - with the idea that it would show that the
contents had NOT been tampered with.
But, was this mail "tampered" with anyway?
I
find it interesting that some of the processes for registered mail was
supposed to provide evidence that the contents had not been disturbed or
taken. However, the paper tape was neatly adhered to the right side of
this envelope simply because it HAD been purposely opened and
inspected.
This
is one way we are reminded that there was a war on. While it would be
almost a full year before the United States entered that conflict, the
United Kingdom was certainly very much involved. As a result, incoming
mail was inspected with the intent of checking for contents or
information that could either serve the war effort or, perhaps, harm
that same effort if it were allowed to be received unaltered.
Once the item was
passed by a censor, tape was applied to reseal the envelope. A censor
number "1521" was included on the front side to provide some
accountability for the process.
If you would like to learn more about censorship during World War I, I suggest this online article provided by the International Encyclopedia of the First World War. The following was taken from that site on May 28, 2022:
"In the Allied countries, postal control was also extended to
correspondence between civilians. In Britain, all mail was controlled in
special censorship offices either in London or in Liverpool, and in
1918 between 4,000 and 5,000 persons were occupied with this...
As the blockade authorities controlled all ships, censors opened all
letters and parcels between neutral countries as well. As a result, they
closely surveyed the correspondence of German agents and even replaced
German propaganda with their own."
Needless to say this
slowed the arrival of mail, but the absence of a receiving marking in
London means this letter will provide us with no evidence as to how much
it was delayed. The Liverpool marking tells us when the letter left
the steamship and arrived at the exchange office there. Based on the
description above, it isn't hard to imagine that this was processed by
the censors there rather than those in London.
How much did this cost in postage?
Registry
mail services cost 10 cents, effective Apr 1, 1879 to Nov 30, 1925, which was paid by the postage stamp. This leaves us with 2 cents
for postage. But the postage rate for letter mail to other countries was 5 cents for the first ounce of
weight (Oct 1, 1907 - Oct 31, 1953). That certainly doesn't seem to add
up now, does it?
Well, maybe this will help. Here is another
letter that was sent in May of 1916 from Utica, New York to Huddersfield
in England. This letter only bears a 2 cent stamp and it is not a
registered letter.
It turns out that the United States made some special agreements that
provided discounted rates with certain nations, and the United Kingdom
was one of those nations. In essence, the United States domestic rates applied
to mail being sent to the United Kingdom beginning Oct 1 ,1908. This
rate was increased to 3 cents on Nov 2, 1917 to help fund the American war effort after they joined the fray.
Mexico
and Canada also enjoyed these postal rate discounts from the normal
Universal Postal Union rates. Shown above is a 1918 letter where the 3
cent "war rate" was required. This envelope was featured in one of the
earlier Postal History Sundays and can be found here.
The Social History Part
I
started the process by doing some reading on the Friends
Ambulance Unit just to get a feel for what I was getting into and found this overview to
be worthwhile on the Quakers in the World site. Rather that try and
craft a summary, I took excerpts from the first few paragraphs to give
us all a feel for what the Friends Ambulance Unit was in WW I.
"Philip (Noel) Baker appealed for volunteers [and] Early in September the first training camp took place at Jordans, in
Buckinghamshire, for about 60 young men. Initially neither the British
Red Cross nor the army wanted to involve a group of independent and
pacifist volunteers, but the situation changed dramatically when the
Belgian army collapsed in late October. The FAU was provided with
equipment and supplies, and a party of 43...left for Belgium.
A few miles out they met a torpedoed and sinking cruiser, rescued the
victims, and carried them back to Dover. Setting out again, they came
to Dunkirk, and worked for three weeks in the military evacuation sheds,
looking after several thousand wounded soldiers until they could be
evacuated on hospital ships. The Unit set up their administrative
headquarters nearby, at Malo les Bains. There was a terrible typhoid
epidemic that winter, and this led to the establishment of the first of
four hospitals, the Queen Alexandra, at Dunkirk.
The FAU expanded as the needs grew, and many non-Quakers joined.
There were two sections: the Foreign Service and the Home Service... the Foreign Service started on a
programme of civilian relief [and] were soon noticed by the
French army medical headquarters, and this led to the staffing and
running of French ambulance convoys (Sections Sanitaires Anglaises)... In 1915, they started
running ambulance trains, and in early 1916 they had two hospital
ships.
The Home Service set up and/or helped to run four hospitals in
England. Two were in Quaker premises – one in part of the Rowntree
factory in York, and the other in a Cadbury house in Birmingham; the
other two were in London."
In summary, this was no small operation.
Looking for J.R. Little
It turns out that the Library of the Religious Society of Friends
in the UK maintains a site where significant primary resources can be
accessed. It did not take long using the tools they provided to find
these cards for J.R. Little.
Little
has an index card with a photo, but the contents are a bit less
detailed than many. The reverse of this card provided some additional
detail.
James
Raymond Little was a member of the initial group that met at Jordans
Camp, undergoing - or somehow involved - in the original training for
the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU). The entry for October 30 places him
at the "L Office" (London Office). He would visit Dunkirk for a few days
in July of 1915, soon returning to London. He remained with the FAU
until 1919, after the war had concluded.
I eventually found this contemporary history (another edition or copy can be found here) of the FAU during the First World War, which gave me the answer I sought - what was J.R. Little's role?
It
is here on page 238 that we find our answer. J.R. Little, and
apparently his spouse, were the constant force that kept the
organizational side of the FAU ...um... organized. If we were hoping
for some glamour with this particular piece of postal history, we may
not have found it in the direct sense. But we should have known this
would be the case simply by the immaculate condition of the envelope.
If Little had been working near the conflict, it is doubtful that this
envelope would be quite so pristine.
However, let's not belittle
the efforts of the recipient of this piece of mail. Little had
sufficient respect for his role that he not only merited mention in the
book specifically for efforts at the London Office, but they also
provided a plate in the book with his photograph.
And,
if further evidence were needed that J.R. Little was among those
involved in the FAU from its very beginning, he is among those list in
the "Committee of the Friends Ambulance Unit" shown below from the text
cited earlier.
Once
again, let me point out that the FAU was not a small undertaking, with
the management of several hospitals, ambulance convoys, ambulance trains
and hospital ships. Simply acquiring the needed supplies and getting
them to where they needed to be would have been a difficult task.
And
remember - the FAU was a voluntary organization. Its members were not
paid, so there was significant turnover as individuals found they could
no longer continue to serve as a volunteer.
FAU - Not Safe from Harm
Not
all members of the Quaker Friends were in agreement as to the role they
should play during periods of armed conflict. An excellent article by Linda Palfreeman
actually explores the debate and differing opinions of the time. Many
felt the Friends Ambulance Unit was in direct opposition the religious
tenets that are held by Quakers. Nonetheless, a significant number of
conscientious objectors, not all of whom were British and some who were
not Quakers, were involved in providing medical relief to those in need
due to armed conflict.
Efforts
to provide medical help often put ambulance drivers and personnel in
the line of fire and they were not immune to the various illnesses that
were prone to be found in less than optimal living conditions.
-------------------
Thank you once again for joining me as I share something I enjoy. I hope you learned something new in the process.
Take
a moment or two this weekend and remember those who have witnessed the
horrors of war firsthand, whether they were members of armed forces,
civilians, or those who chose to do what they could to provide relief to
those were sick or injured.