Description

Undated but almost certainly mid 1943 Australian Red Cross, c/o Japanese Red Cross Society Tokyo POW printed 3 thin bars stationary stampless envelope without postal markings to T.X. 5325 Pte R.E.Shegog, A Company, 2/40th Battalion, A.I.F., Australian POW, Timor from Evendale, Tasmania & censored at Melbourne with violet framed 3 /Passed /By /Censor /398 handstamp, blue crayon 6 deleted & 7 placed alongside & with red Japanese Censor mark reading Ken’etsuzumi (Censored) with smudged oval censor’s chop of Suzuki inserted with above violet framed Java Fu Honshu (Java POW Headuarters) followed by 425 being POW number of Shegog & on reverse 3 Opened By Censor label in two oppossing lines tied by censors handstamp….2/40th Bn. comprising 944 men together with other units including some British making a total of 1500 + was formed as “Sparrow Force” in late 1941 to defend Timor. 2/40th were stationed at Koepang & were surrounded by the Japanese who landed on 20 Feb ’42 & they surrendered on 23 Feb. In September ’42 the POW’s were taken on Dai Nichi Maru to Soerabaja, Java & remained or later were dispersed to various other camps. No mail is known from or to the POW’s whilst they were held on Timor. See Proud Australian Military Postal Services & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparrow_Force