Spain - mysterious "X" 1940

[michaeldeery]

Obtained a cover posted May 21, 1940 Spain to France with a large "X" on the front. I have not seen this marking before on a WWII cover. Would this be a censor marking? or a violation marking indicating address not complete? Any help would be appreciated. Also Spain censor marking on back - tough to read, but have a weak scan.

[jmgarcar]

Hello to all members

I´m pretty sure that the "X" is not a Spanish mark (postal or censorship).

The Spanish censorship mark on the back reads "CENSURA GUBERNATIVA DE COMUNICACIONES / GRUPO C / VALENCIA DE CID", meaning (more or less) "Government censorship of (postal) communications / Group C / Valencia del Cid". Valencia del Cid is nowadays the city of Valencia.

As you know, the French censor was in Carcassonne (PB code) and the number is one of three assigned to that station.

Controle postal France.jpg

Regards.

José M.

[LuzA]

Good evening

PB - Carcassone

X - there is a similar X, next to a french censor cachet WI411 [Nice}, in the following article:

JULVEZ, Jean (2001). "Censures Postales des "Autorités de Contrôle" de l'État Français 1940-1945". In Clube Marcophile de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale nº60, Décembre 2001, page 11.

There is no picture of the cover/card, or any other elements about this X, in this study.

[legrell]

Hello All,

I am pretty sure that this X is the examiner personal mark. See attached another example from Carcassonne, posted one day later. This time there is a Q on the front side of the cover (source: sold on Delcampe website).

I hope this helps, regards.

Laurent Le Grel