JANUARY 2016 63
http://www.stampandcoin.co.ukPOSTAL HISTORY
1
The postal stationery
envelope with embossed
stamp had an additional 1½d
stamp added for its journey
from London on 13 May, 1897, as
shown by the three handstamps.2
The letter was sent via
Gibraltar and Malta and on
to Port Said, where a Suez dated
handstamp on the reverse shows
arrival on 20 May.3
The cover with letter
lingered on in Egypt trying
to locate Hubert, as shown by
a Sawakin handstamp of 5 June
and an Alexandria handstamp
of 24 June.4
The letter was redirected via
Aden, to Simla, where arrival
was on 28 June.5
A second re-direction did not
find the addressee, as he had
gone on to be with the Lahore
Division in Dalhousie, the letter
having already passed through
there on 4 July.6
A second Dalhousie
handstamp is dated
20 August.7
An arrival handstamp
of Murree on 22 August
and departure handstamp the
following day shows that the
cover was sent on to the place of
the last known sighting of Hubert
Earle with the Peshawar Battery.8
Someone wrote ‘Left for
England’ in red ink on the
front and placed the letter back
into the postal system.9
The next journey was via
Lahore on 8 September and
arrival in Bombay on 12 October,
both placing square Dead Letter
Office handstamps to show
arrival and passage.8
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