1917, From Rouen to Le Havre, stampless envelope sent by Belgian
military personnel, addressed to the Belgian Minister of War at
1917, From Rouen to Le Havre, stampless envelope sent by Belgian
military personnel, addressed to the Belgian Minister of War at St.
Adresse (Le Havre), France, bearing large violet cachet HOPITAL
ANGLO-BELGE ROI ALB., arrival 11. DECE 17, used as sender marking
in place of postage, military handback or courier mail under
Belgian-French hospital agreement, with manuscript underlined C. M.
B., historical item linked to Belgian exile government
infrastructure in northern France during WWI, rare internal
hospital-origin soldier correspondence, military post emanating
from the Hôpital Anglo-Belge Roi Albert established in Rouen,
operating under joint Anglo-Belgian authority as part of the Allied
medical network, primarily treating wounded Belgian soldiers
repatriated to France, cachet HOPITAL ANGLO-BELGE ROI ALB. used in
lieu of franked postage according to wartime military-postal
conventions, addressed to Saint-Adresse, the temporary seat of the
Belgian government-in-exile from October 1914 until the end of
World War I, where prominent political figures such as Prime
Minister Charles de Broqueville and War Minister Armand De Ceuninck
coordinated military affairs in close cooperation with the French
and British governments, manuscript C. M. B., likely denoting Corps
Médical Belge or a named officer of similar rank, indicative of
intra-hospital correspondence or official dispatch to central
wartime command structures, a poignant artifact reflecting Belgian
sovereignty in exile, diplomatic resilience, and Franco-Belgian
military cooperation, representing the unique postal byproduct of
geopolitical displacement and field medical operations during the
First World War, ex Kugel, XF! Estimate 800€.
