World War II

Registered letter from Sdr. Strømfjord 12 December 1955 to Copenhagen, Denmark. Franked with 5 øre DANMARK BEFRIET overprint INVERTED OVERPRINT and 15 øre Frederik IX and 50 øre Gustav Holm, cancelled with cds ‘SDR. STRØMFJORD 12.-12.-1955’ and registration label no. 283.

Prisoner of war letter from England written by Børresen July 1945, he was imprisoned from 1940-45. He participated in an "expedition" to East Greenland during the II. World War, when the first thing they did upon arrival was to rig a transmitter and send weather reports to Germany. The British sent a warship to catch the expedition members and hold Børresen in a POW camp until after the war. Børresen was convicted of Nazi activities and was imprisoned as a collaborator. Part of the address is crossed out, but Pont Street 10 is the location where Christmas Møller conducted his "government in exile". It became known as Furenak Ekpeditionen in 1940, Børresen became also member of DNSAP (Dänische National Socialistische Arbeiter Partei) 10. August 1939. Børresen was kept in the camp from 1940-1945.

Letter from Ivigtut 18 September 1944 to New York, USA. Two 15 øre King Christian X tied with datestamp IVIGTUT 18-9-1944, US censorship and re-sealing transparent tape OPENED BY - U.S.ARMY EXAMINER and base censor mark PASSED BY US EXAMINER / BASE 1205 ARMY.

Letter sent from “Grønlands Styrelse” in Copenhagen 16 August 1940 to Julianehaab bearing a 20/15 øre provisional tied by the “Grønlands Styrelse” CDS. With Berlin censorship and most likely went via Siberia. Marked on the front “VIA SIBERIA - U.S.A.”. RARE LETTER sent from the administration in Copenhagen.

Letter from Godthaab -9-1-1943 to Malmö, Sweden. 30 øre Polar Bear tied by GODTHAAB 9-1-1943 and opened by US censorship, and transparent resealing tape EXAMINED BY CENSOR 9830, no other censor marks. 30 øre postage to foreign destinations remained the rate during WWII, although the rate actually were increased to 40 øre, but only few were aware of the rate hike.

Letter from Godthaab 8 August 1940 to San Francisco, USA. King Christian X 5 øre, 10 øre and 15 øre tied by CDS GODTHAAB –8-8-1940 and on arrival in US, a straight line cancel ”PAQUEBOT struck on front. 30 øre was the rate to US and Canada during WWII, from July 1940 until May 1945 for letters under 20 gram.

Letter from Ivigtut 8 October 1941 to New South Wales, Australia. Two 15 øre King Christian X tied by IVIGTUT 8.10.1941, Australian resealing tape Opened by Censor 2 and boxed censor stamp 2 / PASSED BY CENSOR 1193. Sent by a Mr. Zielke from San Francisco. Mail from Greenland via US was not censored at this time prior to Pearl Harbor attack December 1941.

Iceland APO 809-a, FIRST COVER stamped 16 March 1942, the number 809-a quite scarce.

Wrapper sheet sent from Uxbridge August 1941 to the Ivigtut Kryolit-mine, Greenland, via the Greenland Delegation, NY. Sent to a seaman Arne Jørgensen onboard LERCHENBORG. Franked with 1/2d green. The wrapper contained three copies of the magazine FRIT DANMARK, Danish Counsil, the Danish excile government in UK. A rare postal document.

Air mail letter sent from Greenland to Denmark 26 October 1940 via USA-Lissabon, German censorship Frankfurt (Hopballe label 34.03), bearing a block of 10 of 1 øre stamps, 5 øre and 1 kr. Polar Bear, overpaying the letter with 10 øre.

Letter sent surface mail from Egedesminde 6 November 1941 to Copenhagen, Denmark. At this time, all mail was sent through US. The letter arrived in NY, there censored and sealed with censorstrip “EXAMINED BY / 6428” and after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 6 Dec 41 and mail to Denmark was then censored, and suspended. NY Morgan Annex 17 APR 1942 on reverse, on front stamped large type “SERVICE SUSPENDED / RETURNED TO SENDER.”

UNCENSORED Airmail letter from Copenhagen 11 September 1940 to Nanortalik, Greenland. Nine 20/15 øre provisional and a 10 øre wavy-line tied by CDS KØBENHAVN 11.9.1940. Rate to Greenland 20 øre, 2x 85 øre air mail surcharge per 5 gram = 190 øre. Passed through the censorship witihout being censored, as the received was a government official at the Colony Nanortalik, postal routing instruction “Greenland” in blue crayon. Few such letters known to Greenland without any censor markings.

Surface letter sent from Ritenbenk to Varde 17 October 1940 bearing 5 and 10 øre Kings issue tied by Ritenbenk CDS. 20 øre letter rate underfranked by 5 øre, postage due double and 10 øre marked on the front. German censorship and line mark “Ohne Inhalt eingegangen”. Philatelic item.