American Forces In Newfoundland? 1941 Cancel

So, here's a plain vanilla cover, no backstamps and no address, so I suspect it was a courtesy cancel. Does anyone have information about this? It pre-dates the US entry into WWII, but perhaps they were stationing troops as a precaution. Seems like a somewhat undesirable place to get sent.

GregAlex

Found this online https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles...labrador.php

No info found on the cancel though.

Gettinold - Great article!

Lawrence Sherman's "The United States Post Office in World War II" is very useful for cover like this. Published by the Collectors Club of Chicago.

I agree, great article and a topic I was completely unaware of. Thanks for posting that link, gettinold! And John, I appreciate the reference info. I'll see if I can find that book.

The American bases in Newfoundland were a part of President Roosevelt's Lend-Lease program. The cancel you show is the first day of use. A substantial amount of philatelic mail was processed at the Newfoundland bases as part of the publicity campaign for the Lend-Lease program. The January 15th cover were postmarked on board the USAT Edmund T Alexander while it was still in New York harbor before sailing for St. John's.

Fascinating. Great stuff.

That really was an interesting summary of what happened. My dad was born in Newfoundland in the 1930s. The closest I've ever been to Newfoundland is Bangor Maine about 25 years ago on my motorcycle.

GregAlex

The Jim Forte Postal History website has 4 covers for sale with the same January 15, 1941 date cancel, and they are labelled as "Philatelic" in nature. I snipped a couple of his images to add to the topic, and thanks everyone for an educational thread.

Linus

Very helpful, Linus, thank you! They seem a bit steep for philatelic pieces, but at least I have a sense of market value now.

And no takers at those asking prices, so perhaps more of a ceiling, indicating the true market value is somewhat less.