Following the reconquest of Greece by the Allies, German forces stationed on Crete and the Aegean Islands could only be supplied by air.

The army’s field postmaster for these regions decreed that only mail with Feldpost stamps overprinted “Inselpost” should be transported. To accommodate this requirement, 200,000 package stamps (MiNr. 2 B) were overprinted in Vukovar, Croatia, for distribution to the troops.

However, the aircraft transporting the stock of stamps was shot down during a supply flight in October 1944. As a result, until a new supply of stamps (MiNr. 10) could be distributed, several local issues were used. Among these were the February 1945 “INSELPOST” overprints of MiNr. 1 which were used on the island of Leros. A total of 16,000 were printed.

There are four variations of the overprint:

• Type I — “P” with narrow loop, last “S” with even loops
• Type II — “P” with wide loop, last “S” with larger lower loop
• Type III — “P” with narrow loop, last “S” with larger lower loop
• Type IV — “P” with wide loop, last “S” with even loops