Wartime Christmas airgraph from R. C. FitzSimons, Canadian Army overseas, to Mrs. J. P. Walker
Book 1, Page 471 ·1943–1945
Transcription
A printed airgraph (Canadian Army overseas Christmas form) addressed to Mrs. James Pickens Walker.
Censor’s panel (top):
Write the address in large BLOCK letters in the panel below. The address must NOT be typewritten.
TO:— Mrs. J. P. Walker, 3647 Richmond St., Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.
[A violet rubber-stamped roundel at the upper right: PASSED BY CENSOR No 7994, signed by the censor in blue ink. Serial number 50032 in the lower left of the panel.]
Write the message very plainly below this line.
Sender’s address line (printed across the top of the illustrated panel):
Sender’s Address: B-88147 PTE R. C. FITZSIMONS
Handwritten unit notes flanking the printed illustration:
[Upper left:] 5th Cdn. Armoured Capt. R.C.A.S.C.
[Upper right:] Div. Transport Canadian Army Overseas C.M.F. Best wishes
Printed illustration (centre):
A silhouetted crusader-period knight on a rearing charger, lance levelled, the knight’s shield blazoned with a cross; below him an army jeep, also marked with a cross, with a driver inside. A castle turret rises at the lower left. The artist’s signature RUSHTON is printed at the lower right of the image.
Xmas Greetings.
Footer (printed):
This space should not be used. MAKE SURE THAT THE ADDRESS IS WRITTEN IN LARGE BLOCK LETTERS IN THE PANEL ABOVE.
AI Notes
A wartime airgraph (V-mail) Christmas greeting card mounted on the album page. The card is a printed black-and-white illustration by the artist Rushton showing a knight in crusader armour mounted on a charger above a military jeep (the knight bearing a cross-marked shield, the jeep also marked with a cross), with the caption ‘Xmas Greetings.’ At the top of the form is the censor’s panel with the recipient’s address handwritten in large block letters and a violet ‘PASSED BY CENSOR No 7994’ stamp with the censor’s signature. Beneath the censor’s panel the sender’s address is given as ‘B-88147 PTE R.C. FITZSIMONS’ with handwritten unit details to either side of the illustration. The form bears the serial number ‘50032’ at the lower left and the standard airgraph footer instructions. The handwritten left-side unit caption ‘Cpt. R.C.A.S.C.’ is inconsistent with the printed ‘PTE’ rank — possibly a current promotion to Corporal (Cpl.) at the time of writing, or a unit/troop designation rather than a personal rank.
The abbreviations identify the sender as a serviceman of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, Divisional Transport, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps, serving with the Canadian Army overseas in the Central Mediterranean Force (Italy) — placing this airgraph in the 1943–1945 Italian campaign.