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Les Congolâtres

Fig. 8 B. Congo to France ~ Returned from England
Fig. 8 Du Congo Belge vers la France ~ En retour via l'Amérique

Another unusual registered cover is illustrated in Fig. 8. This was posted from Kamituga, a town close to the
eastern border of Belgian Congo. It was addressed to Vergt in France. It was posted on 20 June 1940 and
sent airmail. The correct postage rate was 8 Fr 50.

Une autre lettre peu courante est illustrée à la figure 8. Elle a été postée le 20 juin 1940 à Kamituga, une ville
proche de la frontière orientale du Congo belge, à destination de Vergt en France par poste aérienne. Le tarif
postal était de 8,50 Fr.

The international surface rate was 2 Fr 50 and the airmail supplement to France was 3 Fr 50. The registration
fee was 2 Fr 50. Unfortunately, a 5 Fr stamp is missing. The contents were not censured in Belgian Congo
nor on arrival in France. The cover arrived in Vergt on 5 July ~ only 2 weeks in transit. Unfortunately, Mr
& Mrs Laurent had moved to Paris. They then moved again without a forwarding address. A framed
handstamp ‘INCONUU’ (Unknown) was applied to the reverse of the cover. Two further cachets were
applied in Paris – ‘RETOUR A L’ENVOYEUR’ (Return to sender). The second seldom seen cachet was
applied in red – ‘RETOUR a L’ENVOYEUR/ RELATIONS POSTALES / INTERROMPE’. The cover was
then returned to Belgian Congo. Unusually the cover was returned via Marseille and New York. There is a
transit handstamp for Marseille on the reverse of the envelope for 31 October 1940. Was this letter
forwarded to New York by sea or air? There is a New York transit datestamp on the reverse for 29 July 1941
~ 9 months after leaving France. A two lines cachet – RETURN TO SENDER/ SERVICE SUSPENDED –
was applied in violet in America. Cover was eventually returned to Elisabethville on 6 November 1941 and
then forwarded to Costermansille, arriving on 14 November 1941. This was the nearest city to Kamituga.
This cover had taken over 16 months in transit. Strangely, this cover was not censored at any stage of its
journey.

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