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1944
FEBRUARY 24: MANILA to ZENTSUJI, SHIKOKU, JAPAN
From CHARITO DUARTE,
1310 Ilocos Street, Manila. Addressed to Lt. Robert Wm. Studer, assumed
a POW incarcerated in Japan per boxed-in purple marking of "HURYO
YUBIN" (same as FURYO YUBIN) or Prisoner of War Mail.
Figure 2: Handstamped
on the left of the Rice Planter card is the double circle cachet
of "PHILIPPINE RED CROSS". The first word on the bottom is indistinct.
The two last words readable and i will assume that the entire line would
be "NEWS & INFORMATION SERVICE."
The card is
censored on verso, Figure 3. The sender, being a Filipina, most likely
asked A Japanese to write the message in their language which would require
no translation by the authorities in Japan. There is no way of knowing
if the censor mark was applied locally or in Japan. The absence of a censor
chop could be an indication that the marking was applied in Manila. with
the text in Japanese and a censor mark, there is that possibility that
the cover did not require censorship upon arrival since its contents had
to be translated to English (verbally perhaps) to the addressee. Translation
of the message will have to wait as my eagerness to put this item on display
prevails.
Three words
in the message do not require translation: "DEAR BOBB", the addressee and
"CHARI", the sender (upper right side and lower left side respectively
on Figure 4.
Surprisingly,
the card does not bear the Manila foreign mail censor mark which was required
for the duration of the Occupation.
I would think
that this card is one of a kind and therefore unique. The cover is an outbound
POW mail from a local civilian. This is the first time I have encountered
such. Outgoing POW mail was on special "Furyo Yubin" cards, first "distributed
to the various camps around Christmastime in 1942" (Garrett). As expected,
majority were addressed to the U.S. |
