Article by Bob Ingraham entitled 'The Channel Islands at war — the Red Cross Message Scheme'
Red Cross Message Bureau Guernsey - message number two
1943Messages on an official Red Cross Message Bureau form sent between Arthur Jaffrot and his wife, Queenie, and his parents and sister Armandine on Guernsey in 1943.
The form is cream in colour with red and black printing. The official letterhead with a red cross appears at the centre top - 'War Organisation of the British Red Cross and Order of St. John'. It is addressed to the International Red Cross in Geneva.
The form number 'HN724' is stamped in red ink in the top right corner.
There are several section headings including the sender, message and addressee, which are all in three languages - English, French and German. There are 4 ink stamps on the front including the International Red Cross, the German Red Cross and two British stamps, one of which is that of the Censor.
The information and message has been typed and the message dated 28 August 1943.
A thick blue diagonal line crosses the upper part of the message.
The reverse has the return message and a further three ink stamps - International Red Cross, the British censor stamp, and the States of Guernsey Red Cross Bureau.
The dated message receipt has been signed in ink by M.M. Jaffrot on 13 December 1943.
A red date stamp reading '7 Fev. 1944' is in the bottom right corner.
When the Channel Islands were under German occupation during World War Two, the usual mail service stopped. The Red Cross set up a Message Bureau to facilitate communication bewtween family members living on the islands and those elsewhere.
A history and detailed explanation of this process is included as a supplementary file.
This letter was sent by Arthur and Queenie Jaffrot to his parents and sister, Armandine, in Castel, Guernsey. It bears a number of ink stamps showing the different times it has been handled (from August 1943 to February 1944), and also has the blue line, indicating it has been swiped with a chemical to reveal possible hidden messages.
Despite being limited to 25 words, there appears to be humour and perhaps hidden meaning in the words chosen.
Details
Details
Message from Arthur and Queenie:
Dear Mum, Dad, Mandine
All well, hope same with you. Still
busy at job. Longing to be with you all.
Chins up. Love,
Arthur, Queen.
Return message:
Dear Queenie, Arthur,
All well. Received
good news from Family. Have fine
spiders awaiting your return.
Keeping Chins down.
Very cold. Love Mum, Dad, Mandine.
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