Australia - War and recovery: 1939-1957.
Urgent delivery form: AW-DU-10.

 
General characteristics:

Heading and notes: Form number T.G. 42A.
Heading is URGENT TELEGRAM.
Advertising box for MONEY ORDER TELEGRAM in the top left corner.
Message area: Blank.
Reverse side: URGENT TELEGRAM in red.
Colours (text & form): Red on cream.
Size of form overall: 99 (to 103) × 188 (to 191) mm.
Distinctive characteristics of this form:

 Although it is thought that another Urgent Rate delivery form was printed in 1958 with the Australian Post Office heading, such a form has not been cited. Hence this format is the last of the delivery forms printed in Australia for Urgent Rate telegrams. URGENT labels were then affixed to ordinary rate forms. Urgent rate transmission forms were, however, printed until 1972.

AW-DU-10A
Printed in October 1941 - the same printing number as the previous form (AW-DU-9B).
AW-DU-10A.

Cooktown, Qld to Hindmarsh, S.A.
(12 May 1944).

Characteristics:

  • printed on cream paper with pink band over text;
  • URGENT TELEGRAM reverse printed on back in a pink band;
  • size 103 × 190 mm.
  • formatting the same as for AW-DU-9B.

This form was an emergency war-time printing because of the difficulty in obtaining pink paper.

AW-DU-10A_rev

AW-DU-10A (reverse).

Reverse side of above delivery form showing reverse printing in pink.

AW-DU-10B.

Non-disclosed location because of the War to Townsville, Qld
(11 August 1944).

Characteristics:

  • printed on cream paper with pink band over text;
  • URGENT TELEGRAM NOT printed on reverse side although there is a printed pink band;
  • no schedule number;
  • size 101 × 184 mm.
  • formatting the same as for AW-DU-9B.
AW-DU-10B (reverse).

Reverse side of above delivery form showing printing of band in pink but no letters.

 

Only two examples recorded with this possible error in the printing.

AW-DU-10B
Printed in 1942.
AW-DU-10C.

St. Kilda Rail, Vic to Yerong, Qld.
26 September, 1944.

Characteristics:

  • printed on cream paper with orange band over text;
  • reverse side has the orange band across form but no text;
  • schedule number is very different format - 42/68141.

Clearly an urgent, economy printing during the War.

 

Details of use and rarity.

Form
sub-number
Schedule number Earliest recorded date Rarity rating
DU-10A Sch. C. 3458 - 10/1941. 15 January 1943 at Liverpool NSW. RRR
DU-10B No Schedule number. 11 August 144 at T.O. Townsville, Qld RRRR
DU-10C 42/68141 26 September 1944 at Yerong, Qld. RR