The Military Postal History of the New Hebrides
During the Second World War

Efate - The US Navy

The first Navy Post Office to be established on Efate was given the designation "Base Roses" Branch. It opened on 2 October 1942, using a dedicated window within the APO 932 building in Vila but was soon shifted to the wharf at Havannah Harbour on the north of the island, where the island's main naval seaplane base was. On 2 September 1942, Navy 156 was assigned as the Fleet Post Office for naval forces on Efate. The Base Roses Branch was closed on 31 December 1942.

On 1 January 1943, Navy 156 opened in the premises on the wharf at Havannah Harbour. For the duration of the war, it was the main Navy Post Office on Efate.

In September 1942, Efate had been given the code-name of Navy Advance Base 206. When the Navy 206 Post Office reached Vila, however, it was surplus to requirements. Navy 156 was more than adequate to meet demand and the Navy 206 post office was thus assigned to service Base Hospital No 2 on the island.

Other Navy Post Offices to be assigned to Efate included Navy 600. This was originally intended for Base Hospital No 2 but was never formally created because of Navy 206. It can be found as a return address on registered mail posted through Navy 206.

Navy 8015 (attached to the 1st and 2nd Detachments of the 1st Construction Battalion) and Navy 8016 (attached to the 3rd Detachment of the 1st Construction Battalion) were both in use on Efate during the short-lived trial of the "8000" series code-names in early 1943. These are rare, as is the use of Navy 9927 (briefly assigned to replace BASE ROSES but discontinued in favour of Navy 156 - Jersey records no known covers). Other Navy Post Office Branch numbers in use on Efate (but usually only seen recording the postage of registered items through Navy 156) were Navy 10547 (attached to the 511th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit), Navy 10836 (attached to the 539th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit) and Navy 10913 (attached to Fleet Air Base 5).



Base Roses

5 October 1942 - Roses as the return address, to Tacoma, Washington, posted only three days
after the post office opened.


Navy 156

8 November 1943 - Navy 156 was the main Fleet Post Office on Efate.


11January 1945 - One of the Units served by Navy 156 was the 569th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit,
which was based on Efate from 1 July 1944 to 20 February 1945. Here, the writer has simply given
CBMU 569 as his return address - hardly helpful to the post office staff in San Francisco.



15 November 1943 - A "sea air-lift" cover, of which only two are known. It had been mailed by registered post
(the extra 18c for a $200 indemnity) in New Orleans on 8 November 1943, addressed to a military doctor
with the 18th Marines in Wellington, New Zealand. It reached San Francisco on 9 November 1943 and
was carried by a NATS PB2Y3 Catalina via Hawaii (Navy 128) and Efate (Navy 156), reaching
Wellington (Navy 133) on 25 November 1943, 15 days in transit. In fact, Dr Oakley was with the
2d Marine Division on Tarawa at the time and received this letter on return to Wellington.



Navy 206

25 February 1943 - A cover posted at Base Hospital No 2, using the Navy 206 return address.


28 August 1943 - Just to confuse matters, Navy 156 was also susceptible to being used
by servicemen at Base Hospital No 2, notwithstanding the secondment
of the Navy 206 Post Office to the hospital!.



The 1st Navy Construction Battalion - Navy 8015

4 July 1943 - A postcard from Andy Yalch, the postal clerk for the Ist Construction Battalion. Note that
he has inadvertently given the recipient's address instead of his own.


10 January 1944 - Following the abandonment of the 8000 series numbers for the Construction Battalions,
they reverted to giving their Unit name as a return address.



The 511th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit - Navy 10547

6 August 1943 - The 511th CBMU was assigned the Navy 10547 Post Office, which operated from 7 July 1943 to
8 November 1944. Because the cds carried no post office number and part of the 511th CBMU was based
in Tonga, the only way to distinguish its mail from Efate is by the distinctive censor strike.



The 550th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit

6 August 1943 - The 550th CBMU was based on Efate from February 1944 to late December 1944.
It did not have a particular post office number assigned to it.



Fleet Air Base Unit (FABU) No 5 - Navy 10913

17 June 1943 - Fleet Air Base Unit (FABU) No 5 was formed to operate an air base unit on Efate,
arriving in April 1943 with its own post office, Navy 19013. FABU 5 became Carrier
Aircarft Service Unit 12 (CASU 12) in July 1943, only three months
later. Covers with the return address of FABU 5 are thus rare.


The reverse of the above cover, showing two strikes of the cancel of Navy 10913 at point of despatch.