A question related a French miltary Censored cover to China

[XiaoH]

I ask you for help.
------Where was this envelope sent from France?
------Why is this envelope not stamped?
-------Is it military free mail?
-------What does the three-line blue stamp on the cover mean?
------- Was this envelope finally returned to France by China?
-------- Where are the French check strips and inspector stamps posted and stamped?
Hear from you soon
Kind regards

[XiaoH]

Which friend can answer my question? Looking forward to...

[dannmayo]

Hi,

Sorry for the slow response.

The Barbotan return address and partial postmark indicate Barbotan-les-Thermes, in the Gers department of France. This makes sense as the site of a military hospital as it is a spa town known for its hot springs.

There is no postage stamp because the French Post Office recognized the FM (Franchise Militaire) endorsement at upper left. I thunk this may have been in error, as military mail abroad should should not have been sent free, but perhaps because it was going to an official address in China they let it pass.

The 3-line handstamp is the handstamp of the military unit in which the sender of the cover was assigned. I believe that the unit handstamp is necessary on French military mail to obtain the free mail privilege.

I see no evidence that the cover was returned to France by China.

The cover was censored in Marseille, which was assigned numbers 301-350. I reead the nimber in the handstamp here as 314.

Dann

[XiaoH]

Dear Sir
Thank you very much for your reply and answers. During World War I, free military mail sent to China by the British and French front-line troops was forwarded by China Post for free after arriving in China.

[XiaoH]

Do the words and symbols in the red circle represent the return to the sender?

[dannmayo]

Hi,

I had read the word and arrow that you circled as "rare," pointing to the Handstamp. While I have no idea whether the handstamp is rare or not, I still think that is what was claimed by some seller.

I definitely do not read it as "retour."

Dann

[XiaoH]

Dear Mr. Dann, thank you very much for your answers, I very much agree with you