Unusual French VE-Day mail: 9 MAY 1945 Vichy-era postal card with French message from CASTRES to TEL AVIV, franked 2.40F pr period surface rate using mixed franking of pre-printed Petain 1.20f frank & French liberation period franks - untaxed/un-obliterated & rare as such since [collaborationist] Petain stamps were banned as of 1 November 1944 - ironic here as used on VE Day; tied by 2x cachets of the French censor; docketing mark on the reverse indicates the card arrived on 20 June (and replied to on the 26th). 'Victory in Europe' Day (VE Day) took place between 8-9 May as the Armies of the Third Reich surrendered in 3 separate acts of capitulation (at Reims, Flensburg & Berlin) - the chief of which, in Berlin, occurred on the 9th.