A picture postcard of the Ely Cathedral with a circular date stamp "Cambridge" of September 7, 1943. This is a very scarce item, possibly written from someone at Cambridge University. Much of the correspondence sent to and from Bletchley Park was destroyed after World War II ended. Part of the correspondence states, ". . . Am very busy with project which is becoming quite exciting . . ." Possibly the Enigma Code?
Front and reverse of postcard.
A "stampless" envelope with "Free" postage marking, this item was sent from the "Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro" (on reverse) to an officer in Arlington, VA. It was sent from Lieutenant Colonel Barclay via the MIS (Military Intelligence Service) Mail Room Pentagon. Note the four line return address "War Department General Staff, Military Intelligence Division G-2, Washington.
Sealed at left side with US Censor tape "EXAMINED BY 2972", this is an example of a rare item from a British Intelligence Officer operating out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Pitcairn Island lays claim to a secret space satellite program featured on a July 7, 2000 souvenir sheet. The accompanying text to the sheet mentions a secret program that was initiated in 1966 to build an airstrip on Henderson Island, a small uninhabited island near Pitcairn. The base was to be used for planes recovering film canisters detached from spy satellites circling the earth.
Although U.S. Air Force planes did indeed catch jettisoned satellite film containers in mid-air over the Pacific for many years, the aircraft were based in California and the idea of an airbase in the Pitcairns was never approved. It is unlikely that the scene depicted on the two stamps—that of survey and supply operations ever took place.
The souvenir sheet was released on the opening day of the World Stamp Expo 2000 show in Anaheim, California. Like many of the other stamps and souvenir sheets issued in conjunction with the World Stamp Expo, this sheet reflects the show's space theme.
In 1962, downed U-2 pilot, Francis Gary Powers, walked past Soviet spy Rudolf Ahel while he walked north across the bridge. In 1985, twenty-five Western agents were traded on the bridge for four East Bloc spies imprisoned in the U.S.
Bridge crossings such as these were dramatized in the cinema. The drama was always intensified by having the spies exchanged at night with shadowy Soviet personnel lurking in the background. It seemed to take forever for the Western individual to come "in from the cold" as the Eastern individual went back south to the Iron Curtain. In fact the "walks" always took several suspenseful minutes even though these exchanges were almost always arranged ahead of time and were usually done in the daytime.
The original wooden bridge was part of the link between Potsdam and Berlin that Frederick William II developed into a weather resistant road in Prussia in 1795. Growing traffic made it necessary in 1834 to build a broader and more solid stone bridge.
The bridge became something of a bottleneck at the beginning of the 20th century and it was replaced by a broader and higher structure made of steel. Officially, the Bridge of Spies was supposed to be called the Kaiser Frederick Bridge, but most still call it the Glienicke Bridge.
The bridge was destroyed at the end of World War II and was rebuilt in 1949 by Brandenburg, the East German land that extends halfway into the river as a gesture toward German unity. Brandenburg even called it the Bridge of Unity.
Before the Berlin Wall was constructed, the East Germans closed the bridge on May 26, 1952 allowing only vehicles of the four occupying powers to pass. The day after the Berlin Wall fell, the checkpoints at both ends were taken away and thus the bridge became a "Bridge of Unity."
Professor Mark Sommer holds a BA in Political Science from Yeshive University and an MA in International Relations from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He teaches at Stevens' Institute of Technology, Humanities Department. His published works in the Intelligence field include "Getting the Message Through: Clandestine Marl and Postage Stamps" for the October-December 1992 issue of MIPB and "Undercover Addresses of World War II" for the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (Fall 1993). He was also a Bibliographic Contributor to The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives on the life of James Jesus Angleton. His memberships include: Association of Former Intelligence Officers (Academic Member), National Military Intelligence Association, Security Affairs Support Association, National Cryptologic Museum Foundation, the Bletchely Park Trust and the Military Postal History Society, http://www.militaryPHS.org.
COPYRIGHT 2005 U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group
In the 1930s, the Jewish community of British-controlled Palestine joined forces to achieve independent statehood, combat Arab rioting, and provide for the general self-defense. One group, ideologically aligning itself with Ze'Ev Jabotinsky's Revisionist Movement, rejected the "Restraint" policy of the Jewish Agency's Hagana forces. The Revisionist forces carried out armed reprisals against the Arabs, and after publication of the British "White Paper" restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine from Nazi Europe, conducted sabotage activities against the British. The underground organization was known as the Irgun Zvai Leumi (Hebrew for National Military Organization) and was headed by Israel's late Prime Minister Menachim Begin.
When Irgun members were caught, they were interned in various prison camps in Palestine (Acre, Latrun, Mazrea, and Sarafund) and in Africa (Asmara, Carthargo, and Gilgal). They were moved frequently to prevent escape, though many managed to do so.
This simple postal item has led to an unusual discovery. Postmarked "May 13, 1948, Minhelet Ha'am Jerusalem" with a Palestine 10 mill stamp, it appears to be completely innocent. Only the fact that the school "Yeshivat Hovevei Tora, Jurusalem" did not exist makes it so intriguing.
After some research and interviews with people who were active at the time, the following story emerged.
The Irgun Zvai Leumi used various institutional envelopes (mostly religious to avoid detection) for sending its anti-British leaflets to local citizens and members as a subterfuge against the British. But when such genuine envelopes were not available, they would print names of non-existent institutions on blank ones--as in this case--a non-existent religious school!
A former professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an Irgun Zvai Leumi commander in Jerusalem, substantiated these facts and said that his wife was among those who prepared and sent these envelopes containing the leaflets.
Only a handful was ever produced and most were destroyed upon receipt due to the obvious dangers of possessing such anti-government material. It is believed that maybe only one other envelope may exist, but unless that can be confirmed, this item is truly unique.
Mark Sommer holds a BA in Political Science from Yeshiva University and an MA in International Relations from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He teaches at Stevens Institute of Technology in the Humanities Department. His published works in the intelligence field include. "Getting the Message Through Clandestine Mail and Postage Stamps. " MIPB, October-December, 1992 and "Undercover Addresses of World War II," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Fall 1993.
COPYRIGHT 2005 U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School
COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group
