US Army Franzensbad Overprints

At the end of WWII, the U.S. Army occupied Franzensbad, Czechoslovakia (modern Františkovy Lázn#283;), as well as the neighboring towns of Eger (Cheb), Falkenau (Solkolov), and Wildstein (Skalná).


Due to a lack of Czechoslovakian postage, German stamps (MiNr 886, 888-893) were overprints by the U.S. Army. They were never authorized by postal authorities, and sale to the local civilians was prohibited.


The overprint is "value / U. S. ARMY v C.S.R. / 18. IV. 1945#8243;.

Total printed were 1,250 of the MiNr 888-893 overprints, and 1,000 of the MiNr 886 overprint.

Postmaster, do your resources give any indication of the motivation of the U.S. Military personnel who created these stamps? In other words, does it appear that they are certain that the intention was to create provisional postage?

If so, it appears that there was lack of communication, or certainly a misunderstanding.

I've seen conflicting information on these. Michel states:




However, the set shown above came with a photocopy of a notice purporting to be from the Allied Expeditionary Forces Military Governor. According to this, they were authorized by the local government on 26 May 1945.


There's no explanation for the date in the overprint (18 April 1945), which predates the American entry into western Czechoslovakia by a month.

Thanks. Very interesting. It sounds like the U.S. Army brass were talking to the wrong people. When I was in the service, I believe this was referred to as "snafu".

I don't know how quickly the Sudeten Germans were expelled from this part of annexed Czechoslovakia, and I'm not familiar with the status of ethnic Czechs who remained after it was made a part of Germany. Late May of 1945 must have been a very strange and unsettled time in this area.

Found this on e bay...So, it's an expensive set that is..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Czechoslov...322929611846

perf12,

Thanks for that. Time to dig through the boxes in my attic and find my copy of the May 1972 German Postal Specialist.