FPO - Can Anyone Help?

I bought this cover today at the Barrie show. I thought I would be able to locate this Field Post Office, but, I can't.

I can only assume now that this was used for the forces in the Rhineland for a short period after the end of WW I (?)

It appears to be F.P.O. #P.B. 11 and is dated April 13, 1919.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Chimo

Bujutsu

It's British, isn't it?

Could very well be. It is possible that some of the Canadian personnel were connected to British unuts. What I am also wondering is where this FPO was located at this time as well.

Chimo

Bujutsu

See bottom of page 3/top of page 4 at this link. If this is accurate information, FPO PB 11 was located in Northern Russia (Sorokka) on the railway, about 400 miles south of Murmansk, from December 1918 to July 1919:

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00076781/00010/5j

I say that because the FPO cancel looks very British in format, especially with the "A" time code. Excuuuuuuse me if that's not a time code.

Interesting to see that both the American and Canadian YMCA envelopes have the same signature on them... officer in charge?

Thanks all for your input.

I also found out in another forum that this FPO was applied in Soroka.

I guess I got a better bargain than I thought because I got this cover for only $3.00 at the show yesterday in Barrie. As soon as I saw the FPO, I knew I didn't have it in my collection but wasn't sure at all where it was located at the time.

This url was given to me today as well -

http://www.russianstamps.com/results.cfm?gp=PH8
http://bnatopics.org/journals/1983/...o.%20393.pdf

As a rule, anything military from Canadian forces in Russia sell for much higher prices.

Scotzm, yes it is quite interesting to see the name of the same censoring officer. Officers of a certain rank up to the top could censor their own mail too as well as those from other senders.

wt1 - thanks for that url too. I will have to delve into this one deeper as well.

Thanks again all.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I wonder if this is relevant to our discussion: a partial review of the book "The Ignorant Armies" by E. M. Halliday, describing the intervention of U.S. and British forces in northern Russia at the end of World War I.

"...The Russian leadership must have been confounded by the message sent by President Wilson to the first All-Russian Congress in March of 1918, considering the fact that before the end of that same year American troops would be fighting them on Russian land. In Wilson's message, he stated that the United States "will avail itself of every opportunity to secure for Russia once more complete sovereignty and independence in her own affairs . . . The whole heart of the people of the United States is with the people of Russia in the attempt to free themselves forever from autocratic government and to become masters of their own fate." Two months after that message was issued; American troops were landing at Murmansk Harbor. Halliday points out that from the first landing of foreign troops on Russian shores and the subsequent months, the Bolsheviks learned that the Allies and Americans had a much different definition of intervention.

Fifty five thousand American troops represented the bulk of the fighting force in Northern Russia with the mission, as far as the Bolsheviks were concerned, to be a defensive security force for the Allied military supplies in the region. Eventually, American troops found themselves fighting hundreds of miles south of where they expected to be. The British commanders, with the support of the American Ambassador to Russia, David R. Francis, redefined the interpretation of President Wilson's guidance for the use of American forces in North Russia, to include offensive actions along a southward route to link-up with the Trans- Siberian Railroad (73-98).

Several hundred soldiers died, Allied, American, and Bolshevik, during those winter months. The Americans were continually told that their actions were somehow in support of the War in Europe. After armistice was signed by Germany on November 11, 1918, the American contingency in North Russia believed they were to come home soon, only to be told by their British commanders and still supported by Ambassador Francis, that they were to continue the fight. This created confusion for these American troops as to, "Why are we still here?" For the Bolsheviks, there was only the issue of fighting for their land and their civil war to secure the new government's place. Anyone not Communist, Red Army, Bolshevik was in fact the enemy. Therefore the Americans in North Russia were definitely the enemy as far the Bolshevik was concerned. There was never a declared war or conflict with any element of Russia. And yet, battles were being fought..."

Very few Americans know about the U.S. interactions with the Red and White Armies of the Soviet Union during this period, and I expect the postal history and markings are fairly rare.

Bujutsu

This is a cover from Northern Russia, probably correspondence from a member of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (Siberia).

See this site for information dealing with the Siberian Expeditionary Force:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadi...ionary_Force


You hit the jackpot with this cover!

From Bailey and Toop The Canadian Military Posts Volume 1:

As well, the Canadian Overseas Ministry was asked to supply military instructors for a special mobile winter operations group-Syren Force- in training at Soroka on the Murmansk-Murman Penninsula. This cadre of 18 officers and 74 NCO's arrived in the Murmansk area in October 1918 and used the postal facilities of British Army Post Office PB1 and Field Post Offices PB 11 and 15; these covers are extremely scarce. This force was commanded by Lt. Col. John E. Leckie and did not leave Murmansk until 21 Aug 1919.

PB = Polar Bear



The British North American Philatelic Society has published the following:

A Canadian in Siberia 1918-1921
CAD$28.95
A Canadian in Siberia 1918-1921, 1999 by Smith, Robert C.. An exhibit showing Siberian Expeditionary Forces postal history through a selection of covers from Sargeant-Major Douglas Brown. BNAPS Exhibit Series #12. Cerlox bound, 102 pp.

BNAPS website: http://www.bnaps.org/

In June 2010 at one of the BNAPS regional meetings (Southern Ontario) Henk Burgers presented "The Canadian Expeditionary Forces to Siberia", based on his exhibit.

This is a very nice cover.

Handsome cover Bujutsu! Very nice. Glad you found some decent stuff yesterday.

My previous posting was composed and posted before I read the informative information posted by other forum members. My posting was therefore redundant. The 1983 Topics article is an excellent source of information.

Again, thanks to all of you.

Lorddenning, nothing is redundant in here <G> - thanks ofr your efforts. From what I am reading in here, it struck out real lucky yesterday.

Jamesw, it was nice seeing you again yesterday as well and I enjoyed our chat together. I hope to make it to the Barrie auction in December.

Chimo

Bujutsu

What a great thread for one of the strangest political and military events in the last 100 years. Kudos to the posters for the work they put in to this. Hopefully Bujutsu will change the title to something more appropriate for future searchers. Makes me want to watch Doctor Shivago and The Russia House again and to re-read Pasternak. Anyone interested should search Siberian Expeditionary Forces on Google Images.