Fig.28: 19.01.1942 EA APO 57 at Gura (near Adowa). Backstamped FPO 90 (Asmara) on the same day. Naivasha and Kinangop (Kenya) arrival on 27 February 1942. EA censor No. 41 (Type EA.2C, in red). Fig.29: Reverse of 19.01.1942 cover in Fig. 28. Governor of Amara stationery. Summary of censor marks used at EA APO No. 57 East African Censor Marks South African Censor Mark Type Number Date Type Number Date 2C 41 16.12.1941 101 306 19.11.1941 2C 41 19.01.1942 East African Army Post Office No. 58 EA APO 58 was attached to 21 (EA) Brigade, and Rossiter records it as being open in Mega from 31 March to 12 April 1941 (13 days), and as a Line of Communication APO in Dessie from 20 June 1941 to 5 February 1942, after which it went to Ceylon.
Fig.30: 31.03.1941, first day of EA APO 58 opening at Mega. This is an Askari (King s African Rifles?) cover (probably in Swahili) addressed to Dar-es-Salaam with manuscript censoring.
Fig.31: 02.04.1941 EA APO 58 at Mega. EA censor No. 136 (Type EA.3A). Fig.32: 30.06.1941 EA APO 58 at Dessie. SA censor No.352 (Type SA 101).
Fig. 33: 08.10.1941 EA APO 58 at Dessie. Manuscript censor (Lt Catchpole) at unit, and SA Sub-Base censor 07 (Type EA B2), applied in Addis Ababa. Fig. 34: 07.01.1942 EA APO 58 at Dessie. Transit EA APO 60 (Addis Ababa, 10.01.1942). Base censor No. V/01 (Type EA B4). This scarce censor mark has been recorded in use at Addis Ababa, 1941-2 (Henning, p.42).
Summary of censor marks used at EA APO No. 58 East African Censor Marks South African Censor Mark Type Number Date Type Number Date B2 07 8.10.1941 101 352 30.06.1941 B4 V/01 7.01.1942 3A 136 2.04.1941 East African Army Post Office No. 60 The 1 st South African Infantry Brigade entered Addis Ababa, Abyssinia, on 5 April 1941. Proud states that South African APO 3, accompanying 1 SA Brigade, opened in Addis Ababa on 5 April 1941, although he indicates no covers have been seen (Proud, 125) It is possible that EA APO 2 accompanied Advance Headquarters, perhaps arriving in Addis Ababa on 10 April 1941 or thereabouts. However, this is speculative and, between 5 April and until the arrival of EA APO 60 in Addis Ababa during early May 1941, little is known definitively about the military postal arrangements in Addis Ababa. It is possible that covers received censorship in Addis Ababa, and were carried by truck to Mogadishu and by boat to Mombasa, and then on to Nairobi, where they entered the postal system for the first time. Rossiter states that EA APO 60 opened in Addis Ababa on 13 May 1941, and remained open until 26 February 1942, a period of eight months. The earliest date of posting we can positively identify is 16 May 1941 (below).
Fig. 35: EA APO 60, 16 May 1941, bearing the boxed Postage Prepaid to A.P.O. in O.E.T. [Occupied Enemy Territory]. On arrival in Nairobi on 20 May, the cover received the thirty cents KUT adhesive. The wavy OAS handstamp and bilingual South African Base Censor No.02 handstamp (Type EA.B1) were probably both applied in Nairobi.
Figs. 36 and 36a: Two OAS covers posted during the first week of June 1941. Note the gap between the month and year slugs. This is the most common type of EA APO 60 date stamp (Type 1). The bilingual SA Sub-Base Censor No. 07 (Type EA B2) was used at Addis Ababa only.
Fig. 37: 7 July 1941 EA APO 60. East African censor No. 635 (Type EA.5B). The following four covers, posted between 14 and 29 July 1941, show the blank slug between month and year (date stamp Type 2) of EA APO 60. Fig.38: 14 July 1941 EA APO 60. SA censor No. 103 (Type SA 100; used by 6 Anti Aircraft Battery, 1 SA Division). Blank slug between month and year.
Fig.39: 19 July 1941 EA APO 60. SA censor 74 (Type SA 100; used by 1 SA Division Headquarters). Blank slug between month and year. Fig.40: 25 July 1941 EA APO 60. EA censor No. 126 (Type EA 3A).
Fig.41: Colourful philatelic EA APO 60 cover, 29 July 1941, bearing EA censor No. 636 (Type EA.5B), double-lined boxed registration cachet, Registration Fee Paid in O.E.T, and bilingual (English/Afrikaans) censor tape (Henning type EAL 500) tied by bilingual SA Sub-Base Censor cachet No. 07 (Type EA B2), associated with Addis Ababa. Incidentally, an anomaly of this cover is that while it indicates that thirty cents was paid at the APO, this was never receipted by means of the application of an appropriate adhesive (usually in Nairobi). The Italian adhesives would obviously be invalid.
Fig.42: 6 August 1941 EA APO 60. A between month and year (date stamp Type 3). Censor Type EA.3A. Fig.43: OHMS cover, using purloined stationery of the Fascists of Somalia, 11 August 1941 EA APO 60. A between month and year (Type 3). As this was inter-unit mail, it was not censored.
Fig.44: Postcard, 13 August 1941 EA APO 60. A between month and year. SA censor No. 103 (Type SA 100) used by 6 th Battery, 2 nd Anti Aircraft Regiment, SA Artillery. The above three items (Figs. 42, 43 and 44), posted between 6 and 13 August 1941, show the A between month and year slugs (date stamp Type 3). The following cover (Fig. 45), posted at EA APO 60 on 27 August, has reverted to date stamp Type 1, indicating that Type 3 was used for perhaps a week only. Fig.45: 27 August 1941 EA APO 60. EA censor No. 20 (Type EA.2B)
Fig.46: Registered, 2 September 1941 EA APO 60. SA censor No. 82 (Type SA 100). Fig.47: Registered, 20 September 1941 EA APO 60. SA censor No. 82 (Type SA 100).
Fig.48: 10 September 1941 EA APO 60. EA censor 123 in black (Type EA 3A).
Fig.49: 11 September 1941 EA APO 60. SA censor No. 353 (Type SA 101) Italian air mail stationery. Fig.50: 16 September 1941 EA APO 60. Italian airmail stationery. EA censor No. 405 (Type EA 3D).
Fig.51: 8 November 1941, EA APO 60, deleted by crayon, and replaced by 8 October