Suspended Mail During World War II
The Programme for the October 2010 meeting of the VIPS was a most entertaining, informative and enjoyable joint presentation of Civil Censorship material relating to the Boer War and WW1, by two club members. Their notes and images are published here.
Definition of "suspend" - to defer or withhold action concerning, to cause to cease or stop for a time, any operation.
Suspended Mail has probably existed in some form or other, since the beginning of mail delivery. We have seen pictures of Suspended Mail items from both the American Civil War, 1861 to 1865, and from the Spanish American War of 1898. We have an actual example from the Boer War 1899 to 1902 and another from World War I, 1914 to 1918. The need to suspend the mail is driven by war and politics. It is not the fault of the Post Office. The suspension of mail is ordered by government, the Post Office carries it out. Even now, in 2011, the USA has suspended mail delivery to Yemen.
Since we have a nice number of examples, this presentation will show a selection of suspended mail covers from World War II. It will endeavour to explain the reasons for that suspension and historical events that were playing out around them.
The covers are arranged in accordance with the date they were mailed.
Visit Censored and Military Postal History for more information.
