HC Deb 06 May 1943 vol 389 c325W
Winǵ-Commander James

asked the Postmaster-General the purposes of Statutory Rule and Order, 1943, No. 580?

Captain Crookshank

Statutory Rule and Order, 1943, No. 580, has been made in accordance with the Post Office Act, 1908, to give statutory authority for (1) the institution of the airgraph service, (2) the introduction of the air letter service to the Forces, and (3) certain postal concessions granted in respect of correspondence sent to and from men of the merchant navy. As regards (3) the concessions have been granted so that merchant seamen may, as far as practicable, have the same postal facilities as are enjoyed by the Royal Navy. The concessions are, mainly, as follow:

  1. (i) Reduced postage rates on letters posted in Great Britain addressed to the crews of any British merchant ship abroad, namely, 1½d. for the first oz. and 1d. for each additional oz. (postcards id.).
  2. (ii) Free postage in respect of letters not exceeding 2 oz. in weight, and postcards, addressed to Great Britain and Eire posted on their ships by
    1. (a)the crews of all British merchant ships abroad employed on Government non-commercial service;
    2. (b) the crews of all British merchant ships employed on ordinary commercial service provided the correspondence is posted on the high seas and handed over at Empire ports or at ports in the U.S.A. or Egypt.