British franks on WWII era Mandate civilian mail: unusual 5 JULY 1946 printed matter cover all in Arabic from Kibbutz MISHMAR HAEMEK (return addressed "Ibrahim Nemery Al - Qantar" - KANTARA) to "Dear Sir Mordechai Presker, HaShiloach Street 9" HAIFA, franked 3m using Mandate pictorals stamp + single British 1d stamp (valued at 4x 1m) for a total of 7m - 1m overfranking for double 50g period printed matter rate of 3m. Although British stamps were authorized for military forces' mail in WWII, unclear how this was accepted so late, especially at an all-Jewish locale as Mishmar HaEmek (the home-base of the Palmach): the cover was tied by 2 strikes of the local skeleton postmark (Dorf-1), once on the franks & once in the field; unsealed per printed matter regulations. The manuscript notations in English & German (printed matter/mixed franking) on the top of the front may have been added by the local postal clerk to facilitate the delivery.
Highly unusual circumstance & correspondence: the sender was likely part of a British force sent to the area in response (Operation Agatha/Black Sabbath - 29 June) to the "Night of the Bridges" underground Zionist/Haganah operation of 16-17 June 1946, during the 1939-48 Zionist insurgency, to destroy 11 bridges linking Mandatory Palestine to the neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan & Egypt, in order to suspend the transportation routes used by the British Army. The sender may be from KANTARA Egypt or Lebanon (the latter possible, as in close proximity to this region of Israel).
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Product Tags: Egyptian, Mandatory Palestinian, Lebanese, British, Philately - Postal Covers, Palestine Mandate and Postal History from Egypt, Palestine Mandate, Lebanon, Great Britain, and from 1939-48 Jewish Insurgency in Palestine, 20th Century, 1940s, 1945-1949 Postwar era, which are Philately - Significant franks on covers, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Small Locales, Philately - Significant Rates/Periods, Philately - Printed Matter mail, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings, Unique/Discovery Piece, Object Related Specifically to a Personality or Key Event
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