Wartime Mail

Wartime Mail

Wartime reference books are divided into 3 groups
1) Before the Great War (upto 1913)
A: Non-Philatelic
B: Philatelic
2) The Great War and Middle Years (1914-1938)
A: Non-Philatelic
B: Philatelic
3) WWII and beyond (1939 - onward)
A: Non-Philatelic
B: Philatelic

1) Before the Great War (upto 1913)

A: Non-Philatelic

Indian Campaigns 1778-1914: A Chronology of the Military and Naval Affairs of India, published by Spink in January 1, 1974.

Diaries of W.T. van Sommeren and A.B. Thompson by D.N. Jatia and Published by Philatelic Congress of India, Calcutta in 2000.

The British-Indian Army 1860-1920. by Peter Duckers, Published in 2003.

The Anglo-Boer War in 100 Objects by Published by War Museum of the Boer Republics in 2017.

B: Philatelic

C.E.F. - The China Expeditionary Force 1900-1923. C.E.F. is the postal story of the Force that was sent from India in 1900 to join the massive international force assembled in North China to relieve the foreign legations in Peking and suppress the so-called Boxer Rebellion. By D.S. Virk, John C. Hume, Derek Lang & Gerald Sattin, Published Jointly by The Philatelic Congress of India (PCI) & The Army Postal Service Association in 1992.

The Anglo-Boer War Philately Society Publication No.2. The Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902. Philately of the Boer, British Prisoner of War camps Part B and Prisoner of War camps overseas.

2) The Great War and Middle Years (1914-1938)

A: Non-Philatelic

Booklet on The Bombay Docks Explosions. Since the cover page is missing we do not have a title, author or year of publication for this. A very interesting read along with lots of information, photographs and drawings.

Across the Black Waters. this book describes the experience of Lalu, a sepoy in the Indian Army fighting on behalf of Britain against the Germans in France during World War I. By Mulk Raj Anand, Published in 2008, by Orient Paperbacks, New Delhi.

Indian Voices of the Great War. this book describes Indian story of the First World War soldiers speaking in this collection of letters sent by them while they served in France. by David Omissi, Published in July 27, 2014 by Penguin Books Limited

The Indian Corps on the Western Front. This book seeks to fill gap and to provide a broader view of the Indian Corps, ranging from its origins and organization in the Indian subcontinent, including its experiences in France, Belgium and England, and encompassing a summary of the other theatres to which its constituent battalions moved at the end of 1915.

The Great War: Indian Writings on the First World War. As the First World War was referred to, saw the service of over 1.3 million Indians, of whom 74,000 never made it back home. For their families, the War was something they could not fully fathom. By Rakhshanda Jalil, Published in 2019, by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Indians in the First World War: The Missing Links. This is book is about Indian participation in the First World War and significant Indian Military contributions and causalities that are largely unheard of. by Aravind Ganachari, Published in 2020, by SAGE Publications.

B: Philatelic

A Catalogue of Indian Censorship 1914-1920. by Alan Baker & Charles Entwistle, Published in 1994.

Covers of the Royal Air Force. this is Field Publication RAF Airmail Baghdad Cairo etc, by John C.W. Field.

Indian Censorship Series - II. By Manohar Lal.

The Postal Message Scheme of the French Red Cross in France & Its African Colonies in World War 2 by David Trapnell, The Stuart Rossiter Trust.

3) WWII and beyond (1939 - onward)

A: Non-Philatelic

First Report of the Commission of inquiry Bombay Explosions. Published by the Manager of Publication, Delhi. Printed by the Manager, Government of India Press, New Delhi, 1944.

Martial India - The Story of Two Million Volunteers. This book describing the arming and training of India's two million volunteers the greatest colunteers army ever to be assembled under any flag. F. Yeats-Brown , Published in 1945, by Eyre and Spottiswoode Limited

Red Cross & St. John War Organisation 1939-1947 - The International Red Cross Society operated a Postal Message Service for civilians and prisoners of war. This book has useful information on some of these services, Published in 1949 and complied by P.G. Cambray & G.G.B. Briggs.

The Great Bombay Explosion. This is one of the great natural and/or man-made disasters. This time the disaster is definitely attributable to man. On April 14, 1944, the British cargo ship Fort Stikine, carrying approximately 1400 tons of high explosives, one million pounds sterling in gold bars, and several more thousands of tons of various inflammables, exploded in Bombay harbor. By John Ennis and Published by Duell in 1959.

Qantas Empire Airways Indian Ocean Service 1943-1946 by Barry Pattison and Geoff Goodall. Published by the Aaviation Historical Society of Australia in 1979, this book records the extraordinary service using the Catalinas to connect Australia with India and other westward destinations when the eastern leg of the Horseshoe had collapsed in face of the Japanese onslaught.

Conspiracy of Silence - Japanese Prisoners of War in India 1942-1946. The book presents documents on the capture, treatment and mental outlook of the Japanese POWs, who were picked up by the British forces in Burma and kept in POW camps in India during 1942-1946. by T.R. Sareen, Published in 2010 by Life Span Publishers and Distributors.

The Second Homeland: Polish Refugees in India. The book includes a historical perspective culled out from archival documents in India, UK and Poland. This is a unique mix of a diary, oral history and historical viewpoint placed adjacent to a compilation of archival personal photographs. The book beautifully brings out a little-known aspect of European exiles in India during WWII. by Anuradha Bhattacharjee, Published in November 2012 by SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd.

A Guide book to Calcutta, Agra, Delhi, Karachi & Bombay.
Published by The American Red Cross of the China-Burma-India-Command.

B: Philatelic

Indian Airgraphs by Manohar Lal.

Naval Air Transport Service. Flight Schedule, South India and Ceylon, June 1945.

Indian Army Post Offices, Location and Movements 1939-1947. by Brigadier D S Virk and Joint editors: Alan J Brown & William Garrard, Published in March 1973 by The Forces Postal History Soc. London.

Civil Censorship in the United States During World War II. by Wilfred N Broderick & Dann Mayo, Published in 1980 by Civil Censorship Study Group and War Cover Club.

Postal Censorship in India 1939 - 1945. This book describes only with Postal Censorship which covered articles sent through the post as well as letters and printed papers carried across the borders by travellers and messengers. By Brig. D.S. Virk, Published in 7 Oct., 1983, By Philatelic Congress of India.

Wartime Postal Stationery. A Priced list of Forces Postal Stationery used by British Empire and Allied Forces. by John Daynes and Published in 1986 by the Forces Postal History Society.

Wartime Airmails - The Horseshoe Route. The story which is to unfold will recount how the mighty rivers, great lakes and inland seas were combined with the sea ports of the world to allow Britain to remain in touch with her vast, sprawling. By Chavril Press, Published in 1992.

Wartime Airmails - The Trans-Pacific Route 1942-1945. This book describes the trans-Pacific airmail services operated by various military forces during the 2nd WorldWar. Covers the Trans-Pacific Military Air Service, Intra-Theatre air services in the South Pacific & Central Pacific, a bibliography and maps of the air routes.

History of the RAF Postal Service overseas 1942-1957. Volume I & II, by W Garrard. Published in 1992 by Chavril Press. Click here to know more.

Report on the progress of Civil Aviation 1939-1945. The wartime postal history collector's answer to a thousand questions.

British Empire Civil Censorship Devices, World War II. Section 4, British Asia, by Konrad Morenweiser. Published in 1997 by the Civilian Censorship Study Group.
Click here to know more

Airmail Operations During World War II. This book describes the major features of the World War II air mail operations. by Thomas H. Boyle Jr., Published in July 1998, by American Air Mail Society.

Wartime Airmails - The Locally Registered and Foreign Air Services of British Africa. This booklet aims to highlight the routes flown by locally registered Empire carriers within British Africa and those foreign companies that provided services to, from or through the region. It will show how a network of routes provided services that would reduce the pressure on over stretched routes and provide feeder services linking countries to the main arteries of the airways. By Chavril Press, Published in 1998.

Wartime Airmails - Great Britain Transatlantic & Beyond. This book now turn our eyes to the west to recount the British struggle to maintain a Transaltantic service. By Chavril Press, Published in 1998.

Wartime Airmails, The Locally Registered and Foreign Air Services of British Asia. Published in 2001 by the Chavril Press. Information on domestic airlines, routes, aircraft etc. in India before and during the war. also on the Airgraph service.

Bridging the Continents in Wartime by Hans E. Aitink and Egbert Hovernkamp. Published in 2005, and reprinted in 2013, this book has the most detailed information on flights covering all important airmail routes during 1939 - 1945. A must for anyone interested in studying routes and rates, of simply making sense of wartime mail to and from India during this period.

An Article on THE WAICHOW INCIDENT – IMPERIAL AIRWAYS “DARDANUS” FORCED DOWN BY JAPANESE FIGHTERS By Ken Sanford La Catastrophe in 2007.

The Postal History of Prisoner of War Camps in India in WW2 and Indian Prisoners of War Overseas. by David Trapnell, Published by India Study Circle, UK in 2016 and based on the collection of Mr. Raj Sukhani.

World War Two Censor Marks. Second Edition. A price list of censor marks and labels used by the British, Empire and Allied Armed Forces in Exile, edited by Nick Colley, Published in 2016 by the Forces Postal History Society.

Catalog of Postal Stationery Airgraphs - First Edition. by Wayne Menuz, FRPSL and Published by The United Postal Stationery Society (UPSS) in October 2020. This book has details information about the Airgraphs, as Airgraphs are a fascinating field within philately as they were an innovative solution to a need for rapid communication by air during WWII.

Air-India Collector