Offices in China, 1934 (February 14), French naval cover to the
ship "Ville d'Ys" at Shanghai, struck with circular unit cachet
FORCES
Offices in China, 1934 (February 14), French naval cover to the
ship "Ville d'Ys" at Shanghai, struck with circular unit cachet
FORCES NAVALES D'EXTRÊME-ORIENT / FRANCHISE MILITAIRE and octagonal
maritime TPO strike KOBE A MARSEILLE / No. 1 (4 Mar), enclosing
full two-page letter on "Dumont D'Urville" stationery datelined "En
mer le 14 Février 1934," addressed "Aviso 'Ville d'Ys", quite
fresh, fine-very fine and scarce. The enclosed letter from
Guillaume Le Bigot, later ministerial delegate for the Navy, to
Émile Piquet describes a "magnificent tour" of the Philippines and
the Dutch East Indies, contrasting the freedom of those "oceanic
natures" with conditions in China, where French sailors lived
"locked in concessions by the force of things," and recounts
internal frictions aboard ship, including a second-in-command who
"disorganized the services" and "sowed discord."