The Postal History of World War II Mail Between New Zealand and Switzerland
The Postal History of World War II Mail Between New Zealand and Switzerland by Robin M. Startup FRPSL FRPSNZ and Charles J. LaBlonde CPhH; ISBN 0-9085887-3-9; soft cover spiral binding; iv + 131 pages; published 2005 by the Postal History Society of New Zealand Inc, PO Box 99673, Newmarket, New Zealand.
This book deals with the transmission of mail between New Zealand and Switzerland, commencing with the immediate pre-war situation and following through the developments influenced by the course of World War II. Switzerland played a vital role in maintaining communications links between belligerent countries through the International Committee of the Red Cross, with its headquarters in Geneva.
Although the subject matter of this book appears narrowly focused, it is a broader picture of wartime communication. Mail from Australia and other countries in the Far East and the Pacific region exhibit much of the same postal attributes as New Zealand mail. In terms of Red Cross handling, New Zealand mail was no different to that of any other country in the world communicating with Switzerland. The in-depth coverage of New Zealand-Switzerland mail links does not diminish the significance of this book for students of World War II global mail links, and particularly for Australia’s postal historians.
The book essentially follows a chronological path, commencing with general descriptions of surface and air mail arrangements applying in New Zealand and in Switzerland before the outbreak of war and during the course of the war. There are chapters dealing censorship practices followed in the two countries. Another chapter provides a very interesting description of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Switzerland. The Red Cross built up a card index of 36 million names of POWs, civilian internees and displaced persons in Europe and handled over 60 million enquiries between 1939 and 1947.
The longest chapter, occupying 24 pages of continuous text, is titled “Integrated Chronology – the War and the Post”. This provides a chronological account of the various wartime developments and their effects on the transmission of mail between Switzerland and New Zealand. This is a very significant coverage and it would be most useful if someone were to transcribe this information to present the Australian connection with Switzerland. A real sense of understanding the unfolding mail links is gained by studying this description of war developments and their effects on the mails, both surface and air.
The book illustrates 69 covers as same-size black and white images, with detailed captions describing the covers’ routes and rates involved. The covers are a helpful way of illustrating the points made in the text. Also, the spiral-bound format allows the text and pictures to be studied leisurely.
Appendices summarise in table format New Zealand’s and Switzerland’s rates of postage for letters and postcards, and the general arrangements published by the British Post Office concerning communications with POWs held in Europe, as well as in Japanese-occupied territories. A 10-page bibliography concludes this fine book.
Published by kind permission of the author
First published in Philately from Australia (September 2006)
