PITCAIRN 1944 MISSIONARY STATION INWARD CENSOR TO MYRTLE WARD VIA N.Z.

Description: **** P I T C A I R N I S L A N D S **** [LX] 2 8 M A Y 1 9 4 4 RARE AND UNIQUE SURVIVING INWARD CENSOR COVER FROM S.D.A. MISSIONARY STATION ADDRESSED TO MRS F. WARD (MYRTLE WARD, WIFE OF PITCAIRN PASTOR, FREDERICK P. WARD) ---------------------------------------- ORIGIN: MOORE (AUSTRALIA) SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST MISSION STATION 28 MAY 1944 TRANSIT: WELLINGTON (NEW ZEALAND) OPENED BY EXAMINER D.D.A./65 LIKELY WARTIME ROUTE: SYDNEY - WELLINGTON - PANAMA CANAL - PITCAIRN LIKELY CARRIER: M.S. CITY OF CANBERRA - CALLED AT PITCAIRN 25 JUNE 1944 - FROM PANAMA CANAL, BOUND FOR NEW ZEALAND - BRINGS MUCH-AWAITED (CENSORED) MAIL VERY GOOD / VERY FINE / CLEAN CONDITION / SOME WRINKLES Single Franking Australia Sc.#194, S.G. 205 CONDITION: FINE/VERY FINE - 80-year old cover with some wrinkles at upper center (not detracting from this spectacular survivor of two crossings of the Pacific Ocean!). Opened and resealed on left side by the Censor in Wellington, N.Z., and neatly opened at the base on arrival in Pitcairn. A scarce and unique inward cover to Myrtle Ward (wife of the Pitcairn Pastor, Frederick P. Ward), mailed from the Seventh Day Adventist Missionary Station in Moore (New South Wales, Australia) to Pitcairn Island, on 28 May 1944. The cover was censored on arrival in Wellington, New Zealand, being "OPENED BY EXAMINER D.D.A. / 65" . "65" was one of several numbers assigned to postal censors in Wellington during WWII (see 3rd & 4th images to verify censor office). Note: The 3rd, 4th and 5th images are for ILLUSTRATION ONLY. They are not offered here. • Fred and Myrtle Ward were Australian Seventh Day Adventist missionaries who were just completing their first 5-year tour of duty at Pitcairn. They arrived in the Shaw, Savill & Albion liner "Mataroa" on 3 July 1938, he to be the Island pastor and schoolteacher, and she to be the medical officer and nurse. • They left Pitcairn in 1944, when Pastor Donald Watson arrived for his tour of duty. After the War, the Wards volunteered for a second tour at Pitcairn, arriving on the New Zealand Shipping Co.'s passenger-cargo liner "Rangitata" on 19 May 1947, and serving until they boarded the same vessel for home on 5 October 1951. • Apart from duties as the medical officer and nurse, Myrtle Ward was also in the group which helped prepare Pitcairn's first stamp issue, which was released on 15 October 1940. THE LAST IMAGE (Parker cachet type 24) shows this group in front of the Pitcairn Post Office -- Myrtle is standing alone on the left, in the black dress. • The Missionary Station at the village of MOORE was in the Tamworth Region of northern New South Wales, about 400 miles (625km) north of Sydney. • Unknown censor mark - 3. in circle - perhaps applied in Australia? NOTE: This is a RARE and IMPORTANT item of Pitcairn's social and postal history. It highlights the extreme difficulties of correspondence during the War in the Pacific. In 1944, only a dozen ships were diverted to Pitcairn, three of which were calls by U.S. War Shipping Administration vessels. GALASALES USES "Q.I.K.S." ™ - ¤ QUALITY ¤ INTEGRITY ¤ KNOWLEDGE ¤ SERVICE ¤ Please view all Pitcairn Islands and other items offered in our eBay Store, including British Commonwealth QEII Definitive sets, Topical stamps, and Ship Postcards. 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Price: 99.95 USD

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

End Time: 2024-06-10T13:37:20.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3 USD