A remarkable wartime cover carried from one of the most remote post offices in Canada to East Africa is among the highlights of Garden City Philatelic Auctions’ upcoming Postal History of the World sale on July 4.
Offered as Lot 699, the censored registered cover was mailed from Craig Harbour, N.W.T., on Ellesmere Island on Sept. 8, 1940, and addressed to Ngomeni in Tanganyika Territory, East Africa. Its extraordinary journey took it thousands of kilometres from the High Arctic aboard the Eastern Arctic supply ship Nascopie before continuing through Montréal, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, ultimately reaching its destination in January 1941.
The cover bears a complete set of Canada’s one-cent to five-cent Mufti stamps, tied by Craig Harbour datestamps, along with multiple transit and receiving markings documenting its lengthy voyage. Adding to its appeal are Canadian and African wartime censor markings, including a blue “Opened by Censor” sealing tape and two separate African censor handstamps.
Perhaps most unusual are three signatures appearing on the cover, including those of the “Bishop of the Arctic,” the ship’s purser and the Post Office Department representative aboard the Nascopie. Together, they provide a tangible connection to the people involved in maintaining communications with Canada’s remote northern communities during the Second World War.
Garden City describes the cover as a rare destination item with an unusual routing. Its combination of Arctic postal history, maritime mail, wartime censorship and African destination makes it a standout offering in a sale filled with specialized material from around the world.
The July 4 auction, which begins at 11 a.m. Eastern time on StampAuctionNetwork, features the next instalment of the Rob Leigh early Canadian postal history collection along with material from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, Small Queen postal history, Canadian military mail, semi-official airmail covers, Japanese internment camps in British Columbia, Royal Flying Corps Canada, Hong Kong airmail and Queen Victoria-era Toronto postal history.
Collectors can view and place advance bids online before the live sale, which will be conducted using StampAuctionNetwork’s AutoHammer platform.