Censorship in England

It was in the middle of the First World War that Mr. Ruys de Perez from Bloemendaal wrote a letter to Harmer, Rooke and Co. in London. The registered letter was sent on January 28, 1916. The firm held stamp auctions in Fleet Street, had existed since January 1, 1909, and had built up a good reputation since then.

The collaboration between Ernest George William Harmer (pictured behind his desk) and Mark Rooke proved very successful, as 24.736 lots went under the hammer as early as 1910.

Now back to the letter. The envelope was purchased at the post office, where the 12½ cent stamp was already pre-printed. Called a postal stationery by collectors. The rate for a letter at the time was 12½ cents. The sender had already applied an impression of a REGISTERED stamp as well as the date January 28, 1916.

A 10-cent stamp was affixed by the sender as a registration fee. It was a registered letter, so the postal official wrote the weight (11 grams) next to the stamps. A registration slip from Bloemendaal was affixed. Subsequently, the stamps were cancelled with Bloemendaal's long bar cancellation number 1 on January 28, 1916, between 4 and 5 p.m. The letter arrived in London bearing an imprint of a REGISTERED stamp in red ink.

Subsequently, the letter was handed over to the censorship service, which opened the envelope and, after inspection, sealed it with a gummed censorship strip. The strip bears the number 55, likely the number of the person who carried out the censorship. The full text can be read on the strip on the back of the envelope: Opened by Censor 55. The sender! Mr. PJB Ruys de Perez, a very well-known name from the Second World War. Was it the 'Boy' Ruys de Perez, who was commander of the 1st JaVA at Ypenburg airfield at the outbreak of the war on May 10, 1940? The First Lieutenant-Pilot who participated in the air battles with his fighter aircraft, a D-21 with number 222, but unfortunately could not accomplish anything due to a malfunctioning machine gun? No, that could not be, because he was born in Bloemendaal on June 7, 1909. Then it must be his father, who had the same initials as his son. Pierre Jean Baptiste Ruys de Perez, who later joined the resistance, was arrested and sentenced to death. He died before a firing squad on August 15, 1942, in the dunes near Bloemendaal.