F07_P03: Great Britain’s Secret War against the Axis Bletchley Park
1942 June 18, Front side - Envelope from John Richard Perceval to his wife with undercover return address.
Tan envelope (appears yellow via scan) with adhesive stickers in English using black and green ink. At the center is a green adhesive sticker with a "Returned to sender by the censor" notice. Above to the left is cursive handwriting in black ink. Directly above the writing is a black ink overprint cancellation dated June 18, 1942. At the top right is a blue imprinted 2.5-pence stamp depicting George VI facing to the left. The foundation is promptly working to update this scan.
Name/Title
F07_P03: Great Britain’s Secret War against the Axis Bletchley ParkEntry/Object ID
2007.7.3Scope and Content
1942 June 18, envelope from John Richard Perceval to his wife with undercover return address.Context
Bletchley Park, a stately mansion on the outskirts of Milton Keynes about 50 miles northwest of London, was the top secret wartime home of Government Communications Headquarters sometimes called "Station X," where German military codes Enigma and Lorenz were broken. Its undercover address was Box 111 Bletchley. Recently discovered correspondence has revealed additional undercover addresses and layers of censorship to protect its security. Among the personnel assigned to this secret location was John Richard (Dick) Perceval, a linguist and travel writer who had studied at the University of Berlin. There he met and married divorcee Sorina Eiche, the mother of three grown sons, in 1936. Sorina traveled to Switzerland in August 1939 and remained there for the duration of the war, perhaps to avoid internment as an enemy alien. In March 1940, Dick accepted a classified assignment that has never been disclosed. His successive ranks were Pilot Officer, Flying Officer, and Flight Lieutenant in the RAF. This June 18, 1942, cover from Perceval to his wife has a previously unrecorded undercover return address of P.O. Box 444, S.W.D.O., Howick Place, London, S. W. 1. Returned by British censor, contents forbidden, postage refunded.Collection
Nazi Scourge I: Primary ExhibitionCategory
Cover
Philatelic Material