Rhode Island Around the World - International Mail
July 22, 1852 Letter via British Packet Niagara July 24
From Oxford, England to T. A. Hunt - Providence, RI
(Scroll Down for Background Information and History)

The cover above was mailed on official stationary, "On His Majesty's Service," but sent and paid for as personal mail. It was canceled in Melbourne, Australia on August 22, 1940 and sent to a Mr. L. Vanaudenhove in Pawtucket, RI. The stamp is the 3-Pence Ultra Armed Forces commemorative stamp issued on July 15, 1940, (Scott #186) and depicts a soldier, sailor and airman in the forefront with a nurse in the background above.

The cover was mailed when Australia was, (as were the rest of the British Commonwealth countries) at war with Germany, but not yet at war with Japan. Australia declared war with Germany on September 3, 1939 and with Italy on June 6, 1940. Japan declared war with Great Britain and the Commonwealth Nations on the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor; December 7, 1941.

Laurent P. Vanaudenhove was born on September 12, 1913 and died on February 12, 2003 in Pawtucket, RI. The family name is Belgian in origin and was originally spelled van Audenhove.