Ref: P4801
- £650.00
1916 cover to London with an official ½d and 1d tied by a WELLINGTON 2 JY 16 cancellation. On the front is a red manuscript ‘Matheson, Major, / Comdt. Somes Isl.’ On the back is a fine strike of the extremely rare red boxed INTERNMENT CAMP, / SOMES ISLAND cachet. Only three of these handstamps are known. The cover has a repaired tear at the front that does not detract. Somes Island lies 3 kilometres south of the suburb of Petone in Wellington and the mouth of the Hutt River. During World War I and World War II the island was used as an internment camp for "enemy aliens", including long-term residents of New Zealand who originated from enemy countries. A fine and very rare cover.
