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Self-addressed cover sent from Berlin to Hannover. Featuring the lesser seen S40 combination of Mi.454 + X (Hindenburg medallion). Taken from sheet MHB15 (1932). Also featuring the commemorative cancellation for the 12th German Radio Exhibition. Ref: 22.08.1935 22nd August 1935 12th German Radio Exhibition 22.08.1935 S40 reverse.jpeg 22.08.1935 S40 reverse.jpeg 1/1 Self-addressed cover sent from Berlin to Hannover. Featuring the lesser seen S40 combination of Mi.454 + X (Hindenburg medallion). Taken from sheet MHB15 (1932). Also featuring the commemorative cancellation for the 12th German Radio Exhibition. Ref: 22.08.1935 British Pathé news reel about the radio exhibition and subsequent fire. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

5th June 1940 Focke-Wulf Fw 200 'Condor' 05.06.1940 Condor reverse.jpeg 05.06.1940 Condor reverse.jpeg 1/1 Postcard depicting a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 'Condor'. Note that the swastika on the tail has been partially obliterated. Featuring to the reverse a lesser seen Luftwaffe emblem in a triangular vignette. Ref: 05.06.1940 Link to Luftwaffe Eagle vignettes Focke-Wulf Fw 200 'Condor' The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor , also known as Kurier (German for courier ) to the Allies, is a German all-metal four-engined monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime patrol aircraft led to military versions that saw service with the Luftwaffe as long-range reconnaissance and anti-shipping/maritime patrol bomber aircraft. The Luftwaffe also made extensive use of the Fw 200 as a transport aircraft. It achieved success as a commerce raider until mid-1941, by which time it was being harried by long-range RAF Coastal Command aircraft and the Hurricane fighters being flown from CAM ships. The Fw 200 was operated by Deutsche Luft Hansa, DDL and Luft Hansa's Brazilian subsidiary Syndicato Condor. Dai Nippon KK of Japan also ordered Fw 200 airliners. These could not be delivered to Japan once the war began, so they were delivered to Deutsche Luft Hansa instead. On 14th April 1945 an Fw 200 flew Luft Hansa's last scheduled service before the end of World War II, from Barcelona to Berlin. Other airlines continued to operate the Fw 200 after the end of World War II. The first prototype, the Fw 200 V1, upgraded with extra fuel tanks and re-designated Fw 200 S-1, made several record flights. It was the first heavier-than-air craft to fly nonstop between Berlin and New York City, about 4,000 miles (6,400 km), making the flight from Berlin-Staaken to Floyd Bennett Field on 10th-11th August 1938 in 24 hours and 56 minutes. The return trip on 13th August 1938 took 19 hours and 47 minutes. These flights are commemorated with a plaque in Böttcherstraße, a street in Bremen. Beginning on 28th November 1938 it flew from Berlin to Tokyo via Basra, Karachi and Hanoi. The German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, used a specially outfitted Condor 'Grenzmark', on his two flights to Moscow in 1939, during which he negotiated and signed the 'Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union', better known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. His aircraft bore the German civil registration of D-ACVH. A Danish-owned Fw 200 aircraft named Dania was seized by the British at Shoreham Airport after Denmark was invaded by German forces in 1940. It was subsequently operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and was then pressed into service with the Royal Air Force. It was damaged beyond repair in 1941. The Luftwaffe initially used the aircraft to support the Kriegsmarine , making great loops out across the North Sea and, following the fall of France, the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft was used for maritime patrols and reconnaissance, searching for Allied convoys and warships that could be reported for targeting by U-boats. The Fw 200 could also carry a 1,000-kilogram (2,200 lb) bomb load or naval mines to use against shipping, and it was claimed that from June 1940 to February 1941, they sank 331,122 tonnes (365,000 tons) of shipping despite a rather crude bombsight. The attacks were carried out at extremely low altitude in order to 'bracket' the target ship with three bombs; this almost guaranteed a hit. Winston Churchill called the Fw 200 the 'Scourge of the Atlantic' during the Battle of the Atlantic due to its contribution to the heavy Allied shipping losses. Following the debut of what would become the Luftwaffe's primary seaborne maritime patrol aircraft, the rival trimotored BV 138C flying boat in March 1941; from mid-1941, Condor crews were instructed to stop attacking shipping and avoid all combat in order to preserve numbers. In August, the first Fw 200 was shot down by a CAM ship-launched Hawker Hurricane, and the arrival of the U.S.-built Grumman Martlet, operating from the Royal Navy's new escort carriers, posed a serious threat. The six Martlets operated by the Royal Navy from the first escort carrier HMS Audacity shot down a total of seven Condors while escorting three convoys during her short career in the final months of 1941. On 14th August 1942, an Fw 200C-3 was the first German aircraft to be destroyed by USAAF pilots, after it was attacked by a Curtiss P-40C Warhawk and a Lockheed P-38F Lightning over Iceland. The Fw 200 was also used as a transport aircraft, notably flying supplies into Stalingrad in 1942. After late-1943, the Fw 200 came to be used solely for transport. For reconnaissance, it was replaced by the Junkers Ju 290, and even some examples of the Heinkel He 177 Greif bombers serving with Kampfgeschwader 40. With the Allied advance into France, maritime reconnaissance by the Luftwaffe became impossible as the Atlantic coast bases were captured. Production ended in 1944 with a total of 276 aircraft produced. Several damaged Fw 200s landed in Spain during the war. In the beginning, they were repaired and returned to their bases in France. After Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of French North Africa), the Spanish government interned four aircraft that arrived on Spanish territory (although their crews were still allowed to return to Germany). Since the aircraft could not be used, they were sold by Germany to Spain. One of the three flyable aircraft was then operated by the Spanish Air Force and the others used for spares. Because of damage and lack of spares, and for political reasons, they were grounded and scrapped around 1950. Some Condors also crashed in Portugal. Their crews were allowed to return to Germany while the British authorities were allowed to inspect the aircraft and accompanying documentation. Some crew members died in these crashes and were buried in the civilian cemetery of Moura in Alentejo Province, Portugal. The aircraft that crashed in Spain and Portugal had been based in Bordeaux-Merignac, France since 1940. Before then, the operational base of the Fw 200 squadrons had been in Denmark. At the suggestion of his personal pilot Hans Baur, Adolf Hitler specified a modified and unarmed prototype Condor, the Fw 200 V3, as his personal transport, as a replacement for his Junkers Ju 52. Originally configured as a 26-passenger Luft Hansa transport (Works No. 3099), it was reconfigured as a plush two-cabin airliner. Hitler's armchair-style seat in the cabin was equipped with a wooden table, seat-back armour plating, and a parachute in the seat cushion, with an escape hatch in the floor. In line with Hitler's aircraft preferences, it carried the markings "D-2600" and was named 'Immelmann II' in honour of World War I flying ace Max Immelmann. As the war progressed it changed designation to 'WL+2600' and finally '26+00'; it was destroyed at Berlin Tempelhof Airport in an Allied bombing raid on 18 July 1944. FW 200s of various types were configured as VIP transports, for the use of Hitler and his staff, and also other aircraft assigned to Heinrich Himmler, Albert Speer, Hermann Göring, and Karl Dönitz. Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm pilot Captain Eric Brown's plane was attacked and seriously damaged by a Condor in 1940, and he narrowly survived. After this, he studied the design of the Condor seriously for some time. He managed to work out that the forward firing machine gun positions could swivel, but could only fire in a certain arc otherwise they would hit the fuselage of their own plane. Brown worked out where the arc was, and realised this was a blind spot, if one attacked the front of the plane. He used this to successfully destroy a Condor, then informed his fellow squadron pilots who used the tactic to destroy others. Source: Wikipedia Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

15th March 1939 Vorläufer (tolerated ČSR) 15th March 1939 Vorläufer (tolerated ČSR) 1/1 Postcard sent through the feldpost service to an address in Osnabrück. The photograph depicting the town of Holešov in Bohemia & Moravia. A 'Vorläufer' postage stamp: The tolerated use of a Czech stamp (Mi.349) following the creation of the Protectorate. Ref: 21.03.1939 Vorläufer Note: Michel list the use of Czechoslovak stamps between 15th March and the 12th April 1939 as 'Vorläufer' (forerunners - after the creation of the Protectorate and before the first issue Mi.A1 - definitive depicting President Masaryk) and 'Mitläufer' (co-runners - used after Mi.A1 and before 15th December 1939). Stefánik 1936 Mi.V349 (60H - Štefánik 1936). Ref: 21.03.1939 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Kriegsmarine U-Boat vessel directory Kriegsmarine U-Boat vessel directory 1/1 Kriegsmarine U-Boat directory U-Boats Miscellaneous Submariner uniforms Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

Propaganda postcard featuring the image of Adolf Hitler, sent from Vienna to Burghausen. Featuring mixed postage stamps, including the Austrian Mi.567 & 600. Ref: 04.04.1938 Stamps of Austria 04.04.1938 Austria mixed franking front.jpeg 04.04.1938 Austria mixed franking front.jpeg 1/1 Propaganda postcard featuring the image of Adolf Hitler, sent from Vienna to Burghausen. Featuring mixed postage stamps, including the Austrian Mi.567 & 600. Ref: 04.04.1938 AUSTRIA - stamps within the Brief History collection Mi.508 - 50 groschen (Landscapes, 1930). Ref: 02.01.1933 - 14/54 Mi.567 - 1 groschen (Tradition Costumes, 1934). Ref: 04.04.1938 Mi.600 -15 groschen (Aircraft over Landscape, 1935). Ref: 04.04.1938 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

4th April 1942 Barlog 8701 1/1 Barlog cartoon postcard depicting a soldier laden horse drawn cart. Bestell-Nr.8701 (italic numerals). Ref: 04.04.1942 The speech bubble reads: Translation required Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

10th September 1942 'Heilbronner Tagblatt' 10.09.1942 Heibronner Tagblatt reverse.jpeg 10.09.1942 Heibronner Tagblatt reverse.jpeg 1/1 Self-addressed reply envelope for the 'Heilbronner Tagblatt' newspaper. Ref: 10.09.1942 Heilbronner Tagblatt From Wikipedia.de The Heilbronner Tagblatt was a regional daily newspaper published in Heilbronn from 1932 to 1945 that belonged to the NSDAP and served as a mouthpiece for the National Socialists. It was founded in January 1932 by the Heilbronn NSDAP in order to have its own daily newspaper and had been published daily since 5th March 1932. From the fall of 1932 (until 1938), the publishing director was the Heilbronn NSDAP district leader Richard Drauz. After the seizure of power, the Tagblatt publishing house was able to use reprisals to force all other Heilbronn daily newspapers out of business and take them over by the end of 1934, especially those of the bourgeois publisher Viktor Kraemer Jr., whose printing and publishing house had been bought cheaply by the National Socialists. Kraemer's Neckar-Zeitung continued to appear under the NSDAP for some time, from 1st January 1935 under the title Heilbronner Morgenpost , but was then discontinued on 31st July 1937. At the time of National Socialism, the Tagblatt had a newspaper monopoly in Heilbronn and reported in line with the party's wishes until its collapse in 1945. Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

24th February 1940 24.02.1940 LUTY reverse.jpeg 24.02.1940 LUTY reverse.jpeg 1/1 Feldpost cover (FPN removed) featuring a dated hand-stamp stating '24 LUTY 1940' (Luty being Polish for February). Unusual use of a Polish date stamp for the German feldpost system. Ref: 24.02.1940 Contact Brief History to inform us of additonal information regarding this page

1st September 1941 1st September 1941 'Spot them in the Air' (c.1940) Aircraft Identification (Aug.1940) 'Spot them in the Air' (c.1940) 1/2

14th July 1941 JB: Merzig 14th July 1941 JB: Merzig 14.07.1941 Merzig reverse.jpeg 14.07.1941 Merzig reverse.jpeg 1/1 Registered cover sent from Frankfurt to Merzig. The cover includes the address 'Horst-Wessel-Strasse'. The street has since been renamed 'Forest Road'. The Merzig special cancellation to the reverse was the only one used by the town during this period. Ref: 14.07.1941 MERZIG cancellation as featured in the Bochmann catalogues (1952) In use 1935 - 1944 JB:Merzig1/533 - 'Das Tor zum/ romantischen/ Saartal'. Ref: 14.07.1941 Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page

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6th November 1945 Horst Kemp cover labels 6th November 1945 Horst Kemp cover labels 1/1 Horst Kempe cover. Featuring '10b COSWIG IBZ DRESDEN' date cancel and various Soviet Zone stamps. To the reverse is a descriptive label with reference number 'K 746'. Ref: 06.11.1945 - 17/5 Horst Kempe descriptive labels (Translations may need expert consideration) 'A philatelic rarity! To remedy the shortage of postage stamps in autumn 1945, the OPD. Dresden decreed that in addition to the few remaining Dresden stamps, the issues of other cities and provinces of the Russian occupation zone in Dresden also had franking value. Occupation zone had franking value in Dresden. Mixed frankings of the remaining single values of the Dresden I issue cut or cancelled with single values of the precious issues of Meissen, Glauchau, Löbau, Görlitz or Niesky etc. were therefore not gimmicks, but are valuable covers of the first Saxon city stamps on genuinely used registered covers and interesting contemporary documents for the serious collector.' ( K 746 - found on 6.11.1945 - 17/5) Contact Brief History to inform us of additional information regarding this page