PoW postcard with Canadian Stamps attached
Front and back scans of a prisoners of war postcard from Ahmednagar camp India addressed to Canada are shown below. A two cent Canadian stamp was applied prior to the cancellation in Canada. I am working on an exhibit of Ahmednagar material and would appreciate some guidance on the Canadian war tax stamp usage. I thought the mandated period ended Dec 1916, but this postcard is from 1917. Did the post office apply the stamps or was this done by a censor office or someone else? Thank you and best wishes for the holiday season. I have similar postcards without the Canadian stamps.
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The PoW was German, held in India. About 2500 Germans and Austrians spent some time at Ahmednagar PoW camp. All enemy nationals of military age were subject to internment. The older and younger males were held in civilian controlled camps. The postcard was likely to a relative or friend. 40 to 50 days from India to Canada was typical time for postal transit. Ships had to be careful because of German u-boat activity. Steam driven and coal fired, the freighters generally made about 10km per hour.