- £225.00
Eritrea. (Algeria - Italian Occupation of Eritrea). 1944. Air Mail envelope addressed to the 'French Consul, Dire Daoua, Ethiopia' bearing Algeria Yvert 173, 50c brown-red, Yvert 176, 60c rose, Yvert 180, 2f 40 rose, Yvert 182, 4f blue, Yvert 183, 5f green and Yvert 199, 1f50 indigo tied by Alger date stamp '29th Feb 44' with matching registration label 'Alger R.P.' and 'Par Avion' label with 'Controle' censor label tied by oval 'Ouvert/ Par L' Autorite Militaire/ TA. 316' on face and reverse with circular '22' hand-stamp on reverse and hand-struck '2' on face (struck twice), routed via Eritrea with Asmara Ferrovia (railway) Raccomandate transit '25th Mars' with framed '(Crown) Passed/ zz 2' Eritrean censor hand-stamp in blue on face with Adidis Ababa '30/3' and Dire Daoua arrival '1st Avril 44' on reverse.
With the Italian Occupation of Eritrea and subsequently Cyrenaica a branch of the British censorship was established in Asmara. Mail from North Africa was intercepted and examined by the Eritrean censors.
Listed by John Little as Hand-stamp V111 this is the only Eritrean censor to carry the Eritrean Empire Code "ZZ". Censor hand-stamp number '2' is not recorded by John Little
