Lot 231

Offices in China, 1935 (November 18), Yangtze River gunboat Balny to St. Pierre, Ile d'Oléron, France, cover struck with violet circular cachet MARINE FRANÇAISE / SERVICE A LA MER and two-line unit cachet CANONNIÈRE FLUVIALE "BALNY," reverse with large three-line violet cachet FORCES NAVALES EN EXTRÊME-ORIENT / FLOTTILLE DU YANG-TSI-KIANG / CANONNIÈRE FLUVIALE "BALNY" and St. Pierre arrival c.d.s. ("8-12-35"), some staining along edges, but a scarce example of mail from this French gunboat.

The Balny was one of the longer-serving French gunboats on the Yangtze, in service with the flotilla from 1930 until the French withdrawal from China in 1943; mail from these river gunboat units is scarce.