Auxiliary handstamp, PASSED BY NAVAL CENSOR

1941-1945

During World War II a censor used this rubber auxiliary stamp to endorse an envelope that had its contents reviewed. The censor applied a marking to the envelope and then added his initials. If the contents passed, the army post office or fleet post office personnel forwarded it to the addressee. Censorship insured that sensitive material was excluded from correspondence and could not be passed back to enemy forces as military intelligence.