Charler LaBlonde's Favorite
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:19 pm
The letter is dated 22 August 1942, sent from Portuguese India (Goa) to the Geneva Red Cross.
In the early months of World War II four Axis merchant ships (three German, 1 Italian), operating in the
Indian Ocean, sought safe refuge in the harbor of neutral Goa. Germany took some care of their stranded
crews but Italy ignored their seamen. Thus the Italians quickly turned to the Geneva Red Cross for help.
The letter is from the First Officer of the Italian Ship Anfora, Captain Guido Visintini. Surface postage to
Geneva was 2 1/2 tanga. All mail out of Goa was censored by India in Belgaum, Code DHG/1. Transit
time from Goa to Geneva was of the order of 130 days via Bombay - Cape Town - Lisbon - Paris.
The Nazis censored this mail in Paris, either full or pass censorship.
For the complete and fascinating story of this very scarce mail see the CCSG Bulletin, January 2017.
The story is also a movie called “The Seawolves” starring Gregory Peck & David Niven.