The only recorded pictorial Boy Scout V-mails and Airgraphs By Hallvard Slettebø

During World War II, there were many problems associated to sending mail to and from troops far away from home. The amount of mail was huge, and mail transport from one continent to another was difficult. The allied countries developed a special postal service to reduce the mail volume. The English version of these sheets is called Airgraphs, while V-mail was the US system.

Illustrated sheets were handed out to the troops and their folks at home, where the sender could fill in name and address to the receiver. The forms were sent to dedicated V-mail stations, or photo stations, where they were photographed (16 mm film), and the film was sent to a photo station on the same continent as the addressee. There the pictures were processed and enlarged, and were mailed to the addresse by ordinary mail. The original forms were 21 cm wide by height 28 cm, while the processed forms are 10.5 by 13 cm. On the same side as the written or drawn message was space for name and address to sender and receiver. On the other side of the form were printed instructions for use, and space for address to the V-mail station. This side was not photographed. Personnel in the armed forces were allowed to send the forms postage free to the photo station, while civilians had to stamp their V-mail forms. The processed V-mails were sent postage free from the photo station to the receiver.

The sheet was folded after processing/enlarging, and placed in a special purpose window envelope, so that the receiver's name and address was shown through the window. All processed V-mails have therefore a horizontal bend slightly above the centre. The envelopes are not very exciting for thematic collectors, but on the V-mails and Airgraphs one can find many fine illustrations. The illustrations are considered to be fully postal, and can be used in a F.I.P. competitive thematic exhibit. Most common was the use of sheets with pre-printed text and illustrations, but there was also a possibility for writing and illustrating the sheet yourself. The sheets often show religious illustrations, such as Christmas or Easter greetings; caricatures or war scenes.

I have for some time been scouting around for a Scout related Airgraph or V-mail, and in 1995 I discovered a wonderful Scout V-mail at a US postal history auction. The illustration is hand drawn by the sender, and shows the Chinese Scout badge. This V-mail is now one of the gems of my Scouting collection.

For security reasons, the soldier was only allowed to write his address by means of a military post office number, but on this particular V-mail, he has written on the illustration "Somewhere in China along the Stilwell Road". It is sent 22 June 1945, to USA.

The original forms were supposed to be destroyed after receiving confirmation that the photography was successfully developed. A few forms have survived. Two original forms with Scout illustrations showed recently up on another auction, and I was lucky to have successful bids for both. They are sent to the post office in San Fransisco, and they are both sent towards the end of the war. The reason why they have survived will probably never be known, but either have somebody at the post office put them in the pocket, or they were stored until the war ended, and then nobody cared to destroy them. They are both sent by a civilian, and addressed to a soldier, and they are therefore stamped. The first V-mail form has a fine illustration in pencil and ink that shows a humourous caricature drawing of hiking Scouts. The other form shows a far more primitive drawing of Scouts crossing a barbed wire fence, and it looks like this drawing is made by using carbon paper to copy another drawing.