PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (U.S. Admin) to HONG KONG - World War I Prisoner of War Mail 20 December 1914, UPU 4c blue postal stationery card of the
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS (U.S. Admin) to HONG KONG - World War I Prisoner of War Mail 20 December 1914, UPU 4c blue postal stationery card of the Philippine Islands, using "PHILIPPINE ISLANDS - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", sent from Manila to Hong Kong, addressed to: Robert Gützschow Esq., Prisoner of war (13), c/o Provost Marshal, Hongkong Card bears a clear "MANILA DEC 20/1914 duplex cancel with barred numeral "5" killer, and on the left, a large violet oval cachet reading: "PROVOST MARSHAL / HONGKONG/No.......", denoting official handling by the British colonial military authority supervising POWs in Hong Kong. The addressee, Robert Gützschow, was a German national interned in Hong Kong as a POW during the early months of World War I, shortly after war broke out in August 1914. Hong Kong, as a British colony, interned enemy nationals (especially Germans and Austro-Hungarians), and mail to or from them was typically routed via military authorities such as the Provost Marshal. This card represents early WWI prisoner correspondence, with routing via U.S.-administered Philippines - then a neutral party. The Philippine Islands, under U.S. administration from 1898 to 1946, issued their own UPU stationery.
