Ponape Buried Mail of August 1914
Apr 17, 2024 13:52:33 GMT -5
kacyds, Philatarium, and 1 more like this
Post by PostmasterGS on Apr 17, 2024 13:52:33 GMT -5
Received another of these this week.
This is a private cover sent by Georg Unkelbach, a Torpedo Boatswain's Mate assigned to the 2nd Company, II. Division, aboard S.M.S. Gneisenau, to his sister in Straßburg.
The letter was kept with the cover. It was written in two parts. The first was written when the ship was in Saipan, which would have been late June 1914. The two Kiautschou stamps were presumably attached around this time, as 4 cents would have been the correct pre-war letter rate. The second part was written on 1 August 1914, while in Ponape. The cover was postmarked 5 August 1914 aboard S.M.S. Gneisenau, with "Feldpost" added to indicate that postage was no longer required due to the war.
The letter reads roughly as follows:
Unlike Kirchhoff, Unkelbach survived the sinking of S.M.S. Gneisenau. He was captured by the British, and appears to have survived the war.
By the time delivery of this letter was attempted in 1923, Straßburg was no longer German, having been ceded to France under the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of WWI. The French post office in Strasbourg received the letter, but marked it for return to sender. At some point, a note was added indicating that the sender could now be located at the Zollamt (customs office) in Lingen, Germany.
This is a private cover sent by Georg Unkelbach, a Torpedo Boatswain's Mate assigned to the 2nd Company, II. Division, aboard S.M.S. Gneisenau, to his sister in Straßburg.
The letter was kept with the cover. It was written in two parts. The first was written when the ship was in Saipan, which would have been late June 1914. The two Kiautschou stamps were presumably attached around this time, as 4 cents would have been the correct pre-war letter rate. The second part was written on 1 August 1914, while in Ponape. The cover was postmarked 5 August 1914 aboard S.M.S. Gneisenau, with "Feldpost" added to indicate that postage was no longer required due to the war.
The letter reads roughly as follows:
Dearly beloved sister,
Some time has passed since I last wrote to you. Yes, I travel around the world, seeing this and that and the days just fly by, but there is one thing I’m missing and that is home. I don’t get any mail, newspapers, or anything else to read here. When we were in Tsingtau we usually had leave. From there we went to Nagasaki, Japan. Here we were paid, then left for the South. After five to six days we reached the first island under German ownership. Her name was Uracus. It is a mountain that rises steeply from the sea and reaches a height of 308 m. It is an active volcano that is always smoking. We traveled past various small islands like this and came to Pagan. Very beautiful little island, also of volcanic origin. This is where I came ashore. There were bananas, pineapples and coconuts in abundance. It was a plantation. The black people were very friendly and gave us everything. There is also a volcano that smokes. We continued on again and came to Saipan. This is a bigger island. A district magistrate lives here. The capital is a large Negro village that is beautifully laid out. Some Samoans are also exiled here.
We have been in Ponape since the 17th. The world situation has gotten worse and I want to write this quickly before we go to sea. So we made the ship ready to fight. Everything unnecessary has been taken off board and we’ll probably leave on Monday, to where we can’t say. What will happen to us during this time, we cannot say. I hope in time that we will be protected on our war journey and that we will return happily. Our mail is left here on land and I don’t know when it will be sent to the authorities there. Dear sister, I close my time and send you a thousand greetings and kisses.
Your dear brother Georg.
I have also written to Father and Luise. Should it happen and I don’t return, keep me dear, because I belong only to you.
Some time has passed since I last wrote to you. Yes, I travel around the world, seeing this and that and the days just fly by, but there is one thing I’m missing and that is home. I don’t get any mail, newspapers, or anything else to read here. When we were in Tsingtau we usually had leave. From there we went to Nagasaki, Japan. Here we were paid, then left for the South. After five to six days we reached the first island under German ownership. Her name was Uracus. It is a mountain that rises steeply from the sea and reaches a height of 308 m. It is an active volcano that is always smoking. We traveled past various small islands like this and came to Pagan. Very beautiful little island, also of volcanic origin. This is where I came ashore. There were bananas, pineapples and coconuts in abundance. It was a plantation. The black people were very friendly and gave us everything. There is also a volcano that smokes. We continued on again and came to Saipan. This is a bigger island. A district magistrate lives here. The capital is a large Negro village that is beautifully laid out. Some Samoans are also exiled here.
We have been in Ponape since the 17th. The world situation has gotten worse and I want to write this quickly before we go to sea. So we made the ship ready to fight. Everything unnecessary has been taken off board and we’ll probably leave on Monday, to where we can’t say. What will happen to us during this time, we cannot say. I hope in time that we will be protected on our war journey and that we will return happily. Our mail is left here on land and I don’t know when it will be sent to the authorities there. Dear sister, I close my time and send you a thousand greetings and kisses.
Your dear brother Georg.
I have also written to Father and Luise. Should it happen and I don’t return, keep me dear, because I belong only to you.
Unlike Kirchhoff, Unkelbach survived the sinking of S.M.S. Gneisenau. He was captured by the British, and appears to have survived the war.
By the time delivery of this letter was attempted in 1923, Straßburg was no longer German, having been ceded to France under the Treaty of Versailles at the conclusion of WWI. The French post office in Strasbourg received the letter, but marked it for return to sender. At some point, a note was added indicating that the sender could now be located at the Zollamt (customs office) in Lingen, Germany.