12.1917 U-boot station Hercegnovi to U-boat 31 in Rijeka. SUBMARINE MAIL!

 05.12.1917 picture posted as feldpost card from U-boat station in Hercegnovi in Bay of Kotor to U-boat 31 in Fiume(Rijeka). Text is in Croatian, sender notes his address as "c. i k. Podmornička stanica , Ercegnovi , Dalmacija" or k.u. k. submarine station Hercegnovi, Dalmatia. Red cancel reads k.u.k Ubootstationskommando Golf v. Cattaro - Zensuriert. Card was rerouted from U-boot 31 in Fiume to S.M.S Alpha in Pola ,  a ship of  torpedo training school. U-boot 31 sunk by crew error on 29.10.1917 in port of Rijeka(Fiume), ship was raised from the sea the next day but  repairs lasted until 1.1918. This card was mailed during this period of repairs while the receiver was transferred to SMS Alpha. Arrival cancel Fiume 09.12.1917, also present is purple cancel in hungarian "hadlszolgarat portomentes" meaning "military service, free of charge", this was probably added in Rijeka as Hungarians controlled the city then. Photo is possibly from inside of an submarine, but i can't verify this.

K.u.K navy entered the War with 6 submarines, during the conflict another 21 submarines were added to the fleet, giving a total of 27 units, of which 8 were lost. Average crew was 15-20 men hence mail to and from U-boots is very rare.

THIS IS THE FIRST FELDPOST FROM AN K.u.K U-BOAT WRITTEN IN CROATIAN I HAVE SEEN!!

I know that Croatian sailors served on the KuK submarines as Georg von Trapp writes in his memoires ' To the last salute' that he had Croatian speaking sailors on his Uboot-14. This is a great book, you can find english copies online.

9.1943 - 373.Croatian Infantry division to Wien, Reich

 27.09.1943 Official registered feldpost letter from Fp.01728 - Kommandeur der Infanterie-Division Nachschubtruppe 373.(kroatisch) to Wehrmeldeamt in Wien, Reich(command of supply column of 373. Croatian division to draft board in Vienna, Austria). Feldpost cancel and Registered label have visible Kenn number K-349 used by Feldpostamt 373 for registered mail of 373.Croatian "TIGER" division. Present are multiple feldpost(postal) and units cancels, arrival cancel Vienna 02.10.1943  is on the back of cover.

10.1942 letter from Pisarovina to 11.infantry regiment in Sisak , special UNS censorship.

 

17.10.1942 cover of a letter mailed from Lučelnica via Pisarovina post office(cancel) to a soldier serving with 15.stožerna satnija 11.pukovnija, Sisak (15.Hq company of 11.infantry regiment in Sisak). Arrival cancel Sisak 20.10.1942 is on the backside of cover. 11.infantry regiment(Sisak) in June 1943 became 11.mountain regiment of 3.Gorski Zdrug(mountain brigade)

Really interesting is very rare censor cancel in black on left bottom corner. Cancel reads PREGLEDANO / UNS URED III . (EXAMINED/ UNS OFFICE III). UNS is short for Ustaška Nadzorna Služba or Ustaša Surveillance Service this was state secret police service.  This special cancel was used only for mail sent from Pisarovina and Zdenčina. Pisarovina is a  small palace around 30 km from Zagreb, in this area a  safe zone for prisoner exchange between Germans, Croats and Communists Partisans was formed and used until the end of the War. Hence UNS performed additional censorship of mail from this area.

The best book about Croatian censorship in WW2 is "Poštanska cenzura u NDH"(Postal censorship in Croatia) written by Berislav Pervan and Predrag Zrinjšćak , it is a trilingual book in Croatian,English and German. The above letter was published in this book  on page 137 , see scan below. You can order the book from author berislav.pervan@gmail.com

2.1917 - K.u.K 72. Infanterie Brigade to Zagreb, Croatia.

20.02.1917 KuK feldpost card mailed from 72. Infanterie Brigade via Fp.634 to Zagreb. Fp.634 replaced Fp.44 on 06.02.1917 as feldpost of 36.Infantry division. 72.Inf.Brigade was part of 36.Inf.division during the whole war. While division was mostly Croatian, Brigade  made up of Croatian  53.Inf.Regiment(Zagreb) and 16.Inf.Regiment (Varaždin) and was almost purely Croatian unit. In 02.1917 division was on the Russian front in Galicia. Card has purple 72. Inf.Brigade cancel and  Fp.634 cancel but has no visible censorship. Text is short greeting in Croatian language.

1.1943 letter to Zagreb from 369.kroat.inf.div. mailed via 7.SS Prinz Eugen division

 

21.01.1943 letter mailed to Zagreb via Fp.47444 - 2. Sanitats Kompanie SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen (7.SS). Sender writes his Fp.number as Fp.13549 E used by 12.Kompanie Grenadier-Regiment 369 of 369.(kroatische) Infanterie Division.

Text in Croatian is very interesting. Soldier writes  "thanks to the Lord i didn't go to Russia, but Im in village Letovanić 50 km from Zagreb.. here we are training and going to the forests to hunt  Partisans , we caught just a few of them... I command a mortar crew of 6 men...". 

This letter is from the beginning of operation White - fall Weiß 1, both 369.kroat.inf.div and 7.SS division were stationed in and near Banovina area at the start of operation, hence this soldier from 369.inf.div used nearby 7.SS divisions feldpost to send mail.