1949 internal army mail via Army & civilian postal services to JERUSALEM

Description: 1949 internal army mail handled by the Army Postal Service: stampless miniature envelope on brown army-type postal stationary handstamp-endorsed "Official Mail" on lower-front, addressed to a civilian (Joseph Oplatka) at post office box address in JERUSALEM with an additional unit notation below referencing army postal unit 241 and "AKA" (the manpower directorate of the Army - the addressee may have been a soldier on leave) & tied 2x on back by 12 June 1949 dated boxed datestamp "Air Force Office Post | High Command" (Doar Misrad Cheyl Avir - MAFRASH [Mifkada Rashit]); the back is tied by a partial "NIVDAK" ('Inspected') censor handstamp; the cover was sent as registered mail & bears a registry label of APO 3 (TEL AVIV) - the district army post office, of the Army Postal Service, which would have served the Air Force's high command; the front is tied by a 12 June 1949 APO 3 dispatch postmark & tied by the same on the back (as done on registered mail). The cover probably transited the APS's regional hub at BASE ALEF in TEL AVIV and was then transferred to the civilian postal service by way of the TEL AVIV head post office: the cover is subsequently backstamped 12 June transit by the civilian postal service postmark at JERUSALEM-1 (head post office) & next day JERUSALEM-3 (registry division) transit. The Israeli Army in the period of the War of Independence operated two different postal services: an internal inter-unit mail service (generally called army "official mail") managed by the Operations Directorate, and a postage-free soldiers' mail operated by the Army Postal Service subordinated to the Quartermasters Corps; from September 1948 the APS began to handle the receipt and delivery of internal army "official mail" of the lowest secrecy and urgency priorities; the internal army mail service only handled mail to civilian addresses if these were of the highest authority. Here, this cover was not handled by the internal army mail service albeit it originates from there on account of being endorsed "official mail" and not bearing an army postal unit number ('KABA') associated with the sender (as these were issued by the APS). Here this cover was handled by the APS about 2 weeks before that service's closure, on 24 June. Slit open at right. --- Most of our merchandise ships out from Israel | orders are combined | additional items are charged 75c: DOMESTIC services available are Registered mail (default) and courier mail. Please contact us if you desire courier mail. BUYERS IN ISRAEL: eBay does not recognize Israel as being a "domestic" mailing destination - please contact us to be invoiced and charged $5 for registered mail. --- OVERSEAS services available are Priority ECO Post registered airmail (default - $15 flat fee) and express EMS mail (3-day / 5-day to-door delivery - $40 flat fee). These options can be selected on check-out. We recognize that the shipping overseas is expensive - only ECO Post shows tracking up to delivery; for less expensive purchases on the understanding of the customer that tracking is not available we can user $5 standard registered mail overseas - please contact us so we can invoice you at this rate. --- Prospective buyers in countries without postal relations with Israel can receive orders via a third country. Please contact us for this option. --- To see higher end specialized philatelic items + materials from countries which cannot be displayed on ebay, add d o t com to our our handle name

Price: 69 USD

Location: Jerusalem Israel

End Time: 2024-12-09T14:04:50.000Z

Shipping Cost: 8 USD