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Description

A legal-size preprinted envelope used by a German POW.

Franz Remki. Prisoner of War Enclosure Number 1, St. Pierre des Corps, France via APO 717]. Undated but circa 1918-1919.

This partially-printed legal-size envelope from Remki was sent from Prisoner of War Enclosure Number 1 (PWE #1) at St. Pierre des Corps, France which was controlled by the A.E.F.’s Prisoners of War Company No. 1.

“Prisoner of War Letter” is printed along the top edge of the envelope. Although it bears no postmark, official A.E.F. documents report that PWE #1 was located at St. Pierre des Corps, and its mail was processed via Army Post Office (APO) 717 at Tours, France. A standard violet censor stamp is in the lower left-hand corner, and a German “Gepruft / Uberwachungsstelle” (Censored / Monitoring Agency) handstamp is in the upper right corner.

A partially printed message on the reverse reads, “From (Serial) No. 7162 Name Remki Franz / Prisoner of War Company No. 1 in France, care of the / Prisoner of War Information Bureau A. G. O. American E. F. / H”

(For more information, see G.H.Q.A.E.F.’s Prisoners of War: Regulations and Instructions, 1918, and “Part IV-C Prisoner of War Division” in the A.E.F Commander-in-Chief’s Report: Report of the Provost Marshal, both online.)

This is, perhaps, the only extant example of a partially-printed POW envelope from an American POW camp for German soldiers; at least it is the only one that we have seen, and nothing similar is mentioned in Van Dam’s The Postal History of the AEF, 1917-1923. At the time of listing, no other PWE #1 mail is for sale in the trade, and there are no auctions recorded at the Stamp Auction Network, Worthpoint, or the Rare Book Hub. Neither does OCLC show any institutional holdings.
         
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About Us

This is a Read'Em Again Books & Paper sale.  

In addition to a nice selection of Americana, diaries, journals, photograph albums, other unique personal narratives, and postal history, we often have a small stock of children's books, illustrated books, and unusual non-fiction as well as ephemera, prints, sheet music, maps,  postcards, and antique toys & games.

Read'Em Again Books & Paper is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA), the National Stamp Dealers Association (NSDA), the Ephemera Society, the Manuscript Society, the American Philatelic Society (APS), the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, and the Military Postal History Society. 

We hope that you'll take some time to visit both our eBay store and our larger Read'Em Again Books & Paper online store. We think that you'll find our prices to be very competitive with other internet book and paper sellers.