Rhode Island Around the World - International Mail
1942 New Caledonia Censored Cover from Pat McKenna
to Miss Jean Grant in North Providence, RI
(Scroll Down for Background Information)

The cover above was mailed in 1942 during World War II by an American soldier, Pat McKenna while serving in an Artillery Division stationed in New Caledonia to his lady friend, Jean Grant in North Providence, Rhode Island. The cover is franked with the 3 centimes Bay of Paletuviers Point definitive issue. (Scott #136 issued 1928 -1940). The Circular Date Stamp (CDS) is too faint to make out, however the purple Censor stamp at bottom left is quite clear. 

New Caledonia was settled by Great Britain and France during the early 1800s. The French took total possession of the island in 1853 and it served them as a penal colony  from 1864 to 1900. The Island is still administered as an overseas territory of France to this day.

It is located in the Coral Sea east of Australia and is part of the Melanesian group of islands, which includes Fiji, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Maluku, and the Torres Strait Islands. New Caledonia is one of the largest islands in the Pacific and contains over 25 percent of the world's known nickel resources.

During World War II, American Forces were stationed on New Caledonia to guard the eastern approaches to Australia. Japanese forces came within striking distance of the island during the spring of 1942 when they moved into the southern Solomon Islands, but their initiative stalled after the Battle of the Coral Sea and they failed to advance any further.

Jean F. Grant was born in North Providence in 1922. I could find no further record her her by that name or by McKenna and must assume that Jean and Pat did not get together after the war. There are two Patrick McKenna's born in 1922 and 1924 in the Providence area and either one could have been the soldier writing to Jean.