- £250.00
The steamer ‘Kingstonian’ was torpedoed by the German submarine U-68 on 11 April 1918 in the Mediterranean while sailing from Alexandria to Marseilles. Badly damaged she was towed into Sardinia where the mail, about a fortnights correspondence from Egypt and the Palestinian Front, was offloaded. On leaving Sardinia, the ‘Kingstonian’ was again torpedoed, this time by the German submarine U-48, and was sunk. Recovered mails were given either a cachet, label or a manuscript explanatory marking. In total, nineteen different ones have been recorded. This water damaged Australian Y.M.C.A. cover has a violet boxed 'DAMAGED BY IMMERSION / IN SEA WATER' cachet. An ARMY POST OFFICE SZ27 21 MR 18 datestamp is on the front of the cover. This A.P.O. was in GAZA, PALESTINE, at that time.
