July 2018 - Sneak Peek

Dear Mr. Achard, I was very pleased to receive your letter
dated November 13, which arrived with my first letter from
home. I don’t think it will be necessary to send a special message
to my father, but I would welcome a parcel containing
reading matter of any sort and if possible some chocolate or
sweetstuffs. Please note my new address. Yours Sincerely, Donald
Currie
The second postal card continues:
Figure 1.
sage side: one in dark
blue similar to the
first postal card, and a
second, longer, brush
stroke in a fainter colored
liquid, from the
bottom left upward and
to the right.
Is it possible that individuals
involved in Rotary
International, such as
Mr. Trolle, may have been
co-opted to engage in espionage
against the Nazis,
and that his card contained
some sort of cryptic note?
Was the postal card to Mademoiselle
Achard also a vehicle
for information hidden
in code? Most of the time, with philatelic mysteries such as
these, we never know the truth; however, there is a high degree
of certainty that there was furtive activity afoot, at least
in the case of Mademoiselle Achard, if she was a mademoiselle,
or even a real person for that matter.
The fronts of two Italian prisoner of war (POW) postal
cards from the same sender, Donald Richard Currie, are
shown [Figure 2]. The War Forces Records database confirms
that Currie was a gunner in the South African Army
being held in Italy as a prisoner of war at Camp 65, Cressina,
in Gravina Altamura, postal code 3450. This was a transit
camp near Bari, from where prisoners were sent to other
camps in Italy; it was in use from April 1942 to May 1943.
Both postal cards were sent to Mr. E.P. Achard, at Borsenstrasse
21, Zurich. Each card bears various Italian censorship
markings in violet, and can be dated from unofficial
receipt markings, most likely applied by the addressee.
The backs of the cards [Figure 3] show they were received
on February 22 and March 29, 1943, respectively;
four months prior to the Lisbon postal card. In the first
card, Currie writes:
Dear Mr. Achard, This will be my 2nd card to you to confirm
receipt of your letter dated Nov 13. As I said before I
would welcome a parcel from you containing reading matter
of any sort and I would greatly appreciate some sweetstuffs,
too, if you can send those out of the country. Since last writing
I have received two letters from my father and one from
my mother. My best wishes for Xmas and the New Year.
Yours, D.R. Currie
It is often asserted that there are no coincidences
in life. Such is almost certainly the case with this remarkable
series of correspondence. The occupants of
21 Borsenstrasse, Zurich, were in communication with
at least one POW and concurrently in touch with an
individual in Lisbon requesting “favors” for mutual
acquaintances. It is not difficult to imagine that the
Figure 2.
648 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / JULY 2018