2023 News
Text Box: Henley and District Philatelic Society Members’ Postcards Display 13th December 2023 Ian, Chairman, opened the meeting by inviting the 8 members present to join in raising a glass of Port to toast to the dear memory of our late Club President, Dave Armit, who died recently after a sudden illness. All present gave their tribute to Dave, who had been such an active and valuable member of the Society, sending condolences to his widow, Claire. Members had been invited to the funeral to be held at Brightwell Baldwin on the 20th December and to sign a card from the Society. Consideration was also shown to other members whom had been unwell, including Jill, who was slowly recovering from intensive care treatment. Best wishes for her continued recovery were also sent. The subject of the evening’s presentations was postcards. Ian explained that he had extended this remit to include picture letter cards, presenting an impressive display of over 30 pre-paid letter cards from Argentina, dating from the early 1900’s. Traditional Argentine scenes included “Cascada Del Iguazu” and “Calle Reconquista Y Piedad, Buenos Aires” Steve followed with a complaint about the Post Office who had charged him the outrageous amount of £5 postage due for the delivery of a Christmas card envelope, which had been posted without a stamp. He wondered if Dave had been responsible from the heavens, given that his favourite stamp interest had been Postage Dues! Steve also showed a picture post card of the Argentine “Belgrano”, dating from 1896. His presentation of picture postcards included London Bridge, Prisoner of War mail from Germany to England and Denmark, where customers’ retails bills were routinely sent out on Postcard to request payment. Edward followed with examples of pneumatic postcards. The Paris pneumatic post was a pneumatic tube message-carrying service that operated in the French capital from 1866. A similar mail system was set up in Vienna in 1875. Edward gave examples where goods have been requested for delivery the next day and a University professor was given notice to start a course in 2 days’ time! This demonstrated the reliability of the mail systems. Edward also displayed a series of picture postcards of dubious quality, to his eyes, including Saltsburg City Centre, May 1910, and Austrian railway tunnels, where pictorial scenes were crudely printed. Anne gave her display, which to no one’s surprise, she featured the theme of Gold. Picture postcards featuring South African gold mining included a group of “Mine Boys” and pictures of the impressive Winding Gear, where a winding stationary engine was used to control a cable powering the mining hoist at a pit head. Anne also displayed extensive sets of cyanide tanks, where a sodium cyanide solution was commonly used to leach gold from ore. The members expressed concern about the miners’ health due to their constant exposure to cyanide! Finally pictures were shown of the Robinson Deep Gold Mine in Jonesburg and Kimberley Gold Mine. Shirley, a new visitor from Benson, was warmly welcomed. Shirley had responded to a notice promoting this evening’s postcard event, because she had inherited a significant quantity of family postcards, all of which she had brought for the members’ interest. A wealth of material was presented, with 3 main themes: Cartoon postcards dating from the early 1900’s, the majority of which were now considered to be risqué, but gave those members present great enjoyment rather than offence. Landscape and city / town pictures, including the demolishment of Worthing pier in 1913, the Moat at Hampton Court , Houses of Parliament and the 6 Wonders of the Isle of Wight Birthday family postcards, including her mother’s 1st birthday in 1920 and her wedding anniversary in 1941 Shirley was warmly thanked for her exhibits and encouraged to attend future meetings. Malcolm then concluded the evening by explaining that the pre-paid letter card has gained rapid popularity because it cost half the normal letter rate and already included the stamp and the stationary letter / envelope. The next development occurred in 1885 when the Austrian Post Office succumbed to popular demand to allow pictures to be printed on postcards. This phenomenon spread through Central Europe, where the rise in the wealthy middle class taking holidays was accompanied by their sending picture postcards to illustrate their new travel locations to friends and family. Malcom gave examples of the opening of the Eiffel Tower, Paris in 1893 which created a surge in sending picture postcards of the new tower, heralding the “Golden Age of Post Cards”. Malcom explained that the GB Post Office had been very resistant to this trend but relented in 1895 with the introduction of slightly smaller sized “Court Cards”. In all cases, the address had to be written on one side and the picture, together with any message, was confined to the reverse. In 1902, the “Divided Back” post card was introduced, where the address was on one half, and the message on the other, allowing the reverse to show a picture. This generated another surge in postal activity, where London, for example, was noted for allowing 8 deliveries a day due to popularity of sending messages. In 1904 Kodak’s popular photograph system allowed the transfer onto postcards of photographs, heralding an epoch of picture postcard production, both commercially and private. The next member’s event will be on 10 January, where a Philatelic Workshop evening is devoted to “ironing out problems”, inspired by the late Dave Armit’s expertise with using an iron to straighten out twisted stamps. Members' Power-Point Displays 22nd November 2023 Ian, Chairman, thanked the 5 enthusiastic members who had gathered to explore the use of PowerPoint and overhead projector to display their stamp interests. Unfortunately, Ian announced that the Zoom event on Brazil scheduled for 29th November was to be rescheduled to later next year due to illness. Colin, to his surprise on being first selected, began the evening’s display by showing a recent acquisition. Members may remember that Colin gave a wonderful presentation last year on his Newfoundland collection which was marred by having an empty stamp space on one page. He explained that he had been searching in vain for a 5 Cents Black Seal stamp to a high specification in order to fill the gap. Steve and Terry put him in contact with some reputable Canadian stamp dealers, from whom Colin eventual made a successful purchase to fill the gap, although as Colin ruefully explained, “it was quite expensive!” Bob gave a detailed presentation on “Fly Spec Philately”. This showed the benefits of Power-Point in magnifying the view of stamps to examine flaws and errors in great details. His display included the O Flaw, Double D, Reworked P to an R, Broken lines, frame breaks, 5d Die I vs Die II, KGV Green 1/2d Die A vs Die B. Bob explained that it was almost impossible to see any of these errors or flaws by the naked eye, proving the value of this display system. He ended by pointing out that there may well be differences in the number of fish scales shown on the 2 versions of KGV Green 1/2d, but that counting them all was a task not for the faint hearted. Terry gave a short display on recent acquisitions on EBay, where purchases already scanned in could be easily displayed in PowerPoint. He showed a 12 mark stamp from 1922 Germany, of which 8 Marks was designated for “Old people and new children”. The attractive postmark cancel from Karlsruhe could clearly be seen in the display. Next, he showed stamps from the city of Danzig (later to be renamed Gdańsk, Poland) where hyperinflation in 1922-23 had led to overprinting very large denominations. An example was a 1 million Mark stamp overprinted to 10 million marks, which had the equivalent value of a loaf of bread at the time. In 1920 German Memel Territory was placed under French administration by the Treaty of Versailles. 1920-23 Memel stamps were displayed, with French stamps were overprinted “Memel” with German values. Malcom made the interesting observation that most overprinting occurred where higher value stamps were overprinted with new lower vales to discourage forgeries. Terry explained that the majority of the Memel stamps he displayed actually had low French original vales, but were overprinted with higher German values. This added to the suspicion that these were, in fact, forgeries. A series of 1948 stamps, including extensive Post Horn overprints, from the English Zone in Western Germany, finished the display. Ian showed Argentinian stamps that were well suited to the Power-Point display, commencing with a beautiful Rosario Port scene. Rosario is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located 300 km (186 mi) northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Next Ian showed a scene from the famous Iguazu Falls. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River rises near the heart of the city of Curitiba. For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil; however, most of the falls are on the Argentine side. Below its confluence with the San Antonio River, the Iguazu River forms the border between Argentina and Brazil. Disappointingly, the stamp Ian selected was in printed in poor focus, printed in low definition and failed to showcase this spectacular river. Ian explained that the power of magnification in Power-Point showed off the importance of high quality definition. Ian then gave a number of examples of definition ranging from 200 DPI to 1200 DPI to demonstrate the significant differences in definition achieved. Ian next showed an extensive series of stamps featuring the “Próceres”, effectively the worthy Argentinian well-noted citizens, both civil and military. Ian explained significant but minute different between different stamp printings, where variation in printing showed differences in for example, collar shape, necktie, accent on wording and frame borders. Steve took the opportunity to display the work of the famous Polish postal stamp engraver Czesław Słania. Słania was born in Kraków, Poland on October 22 1921 and came to Sweden in 1956. From 1959 he worked for the Swedish postal service as an engraver and later the Danish. Słania was one of the most prolific of all stamp engravers, with over 1000 stamps to his credit. He was noted for unobtrusively inserting the names and faces of his relatives, including picturing himself as a car assembly worker in Zeran, Poland. His 1000th engraved stamp, the painting "Great Deeds by Swedish Kings" by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl (2000), is in the Guinness Book as the largest engraved stamp ever issued. His early school years were noted as a forger of tickets, but his final stamp was for Sweden with the portrait of Elvis Presley issued on 2 October 2004. Malcolm gave a presentation on Sarawak (Formerly British Borneo, then East Malaysia).He gave the example of the stamp from Sarawak Malaya 1889 of Sir Charles Johnson Brooke Overprint 2c on 8c original values to demonstrate a wide variety of handstamp errors, including double printing and missing values. Ian ended the evening by reminding members of those missing tonight due to ill health, including cases of extremely serious illnesses as well as those who had unavoidable diary commitments. All members joined in giving fellow members in poor health their very best wishes The next event will be 13th. December, Members evening to show Postcards President’s Evening “GB Postage Dues on Cover” - presented by Dave Armit 8th November 2023 Ian, Chairman, thanked the 12 members braving inclement weather to attend this special president’s evening. He mentioned forthcoming events, including on 22 November the Members’ Projector Evening. Members are invited to hone their electronic skills and to use the club’s projector for displays. This was to be followed on 29th November by a Zoom display by Janet and Nick Nelson on ”Brazil” which has a very interesting early postal history. Ian then welcomed Dave, President, to begin his presentation on “GB Postage Dues on Cover” by asking how he had become involved in this specialist area? Dave explained that in the early 1970’s he was a member of the Wembley Philatelic Society, where he had become fascinated by the fact that a postage due on cover actually told its own story. You could tell where the envelope originated from, where it was going and why it had been surcharged for insufficient paid postage. Dave advised that there were many reasons for such surcharges, as he would demonstrate, but that the Post Office took every opportunity to raise additional funds, sometimes for even the flimsiest of reasons! Dave explained that he then toured stamp fairs and dealers stores in pursuit of Postal Dues on Cover in what had become an obsession. He quickly found that availability was scare and prices were rising. His interests led to him becoming a founder member of “The Postage Due Mail Study Group” at the start of 1997, which has brought together collectors and researchers all over the world. Current membership is 110 – with a quarter overseas. Dave’s library includes every single edition of the Postage Due Mail Study Group newsletters. A fellow founding member was Michael Furfie, who has published a distinguished book on the subject “British Postage Due Mail. 1914–1971 - A Study of Uses of the Pre-Decimal Postage Due Stamps” in 1993 and once visited Dave’s home in Oxfordshire to examine his extensive and rare collection. In the meantime, Steve distributed a gift from Dave to all members present of 2 booklets each of 10 x 1st class stamps, which he assured us was still legal for posting, despite no bar code! Dave’s first display was of a cover posted 29th July 1862 with a 1d red QV but hand written with “Above ½ ounce”, with a surcharge of 2d owing. The next stamp dated 5th March 1886 had a similar warning but by then the Post Office had developed a rectangular hand stamp showing “Above weight - More to pay”. Dave showed a succession of such surcharge overprints, including a circular hand stamp “EC 1d” meaning Extra Charge, “Out of Box”, and “Contrary to Regulations” where a postcard was fractionally too large. A postcard was over-printed with a rectangular “Liable to Letter Rates 125” because the front of the postcard had traces of Christmas tinsel which the Post Office had judged to be a health hazard to the Postman in case he cut his hands whilst handling the slightly rough surface! Another postcard had a picture of a lady wearing a large hat, embossed with felt and ribbon. This also fell victim to “Liable to Letter Rates” for being a health hazard! Dave showed a very unusual envelope made of leather posted from Switzerland in 1911, over-printed with a large “T” and 3d to pay. The “T” was the surcharge mark for international mail. The Universal Postal Union Convention of Paris of 1878 required that short-paid international mail between member nations be marked by the originating country with the letter "T," which stands for the French word "taxe," to warn the receiving country that postage due was to be collected from the recipient. The Post Office’s propensity to surcharge was illustrated by Dave’s example of a cover sent by a serviceman in 1914 marked “On active Service – no stamps available”, which was cruelly judged with 1d to pay. In 1914, the Post Office decided that a new services of Postage Due stamps would be printed instead of continuing to hand stamp mail with messages demanding extra payment. A single simple Postage Due design was chosen with the different colours of Green, Red, Agate, and Brown. These four denominations were issued on 20 Apr 1914: ½d (return-to-sender rate), 1d (double the postcard rate), 2d (double the letter rate), and 5d (double the foreign letter rate). This new system had the added benefit that the surcharge collected by the postman upon delivery could be accurately accounted for. These were followed by a blue 1s label in 1915 (for parcels returned from abroad and for batches of charged packets). Rate increases created the need for a 3d label in 1918, and a 4d label in 1920. The 1½d label was needed after the 7th UPU congress in Madrid (1920) agreed a minimum international surcharge of 30 centimes (1½d). The rate was effective 13 June 1921, but a 1½d label was not available until 10 Jan 1923. The rate was reduced to 10 centimes (1d) four years later at the 8th congress in Stockholm (1924); hence, the 1½d label was withdrawn in 1925. The UPU further reduced the rate to 5 centimes (½d) at the 10th congress in Cairo (1934). Dave’s extensive display included all variations of these range of new Postal Due stamps on cover, including very rare combination values such as 3 green x 1 ½ d plus ½ d to make the required 5d in value. His display included the additional messages “Insufficient pre-paid”, Gone Away, “Unpaid 2d posted too late”, “Undelivered for reason stated-Return to Sender”, “Imperfect Impression”, “Property demolished”. Of great interest was a series of 4 postcards posted from Hamburg, Germany 22-25th August 1924 to London, where each postcard had been numbered 1 to 4, showing a message continuing across all postcards. All had been surcharged with the new postage due stamp “1 ½ d to pay”. Dave explained that he bought no. 1 and no. 2 postcards together in a stamp fair, and then years later bought no. 4. One year later, after endless searches, he discovered no. 3. He often wondered if there had ever been no. 5 and no. 6 postcards. Of particular interest was a large envelope dated 1926 covered with 47 blue x 1/- Postage Due plus 2d and 5d. Dave’s only explanation was that this significant payment must have covered a large batch of surcharged mail. The Postage Dues of King Edward VIII continued on from those of King George V, with the exception of the change on Royal Cypher from GR to ER. Dave showed exceptionally rare examples of covers showing a King Edward VIII postage stamp 1d red together with a red 1d Postage Due. Another example showed a King Edward VIII ½ d green postage stamp with a red 1d Postage Due, both dated Oct 1937. It transpired that Dave had an essay published by Stanley Gibbons showing the relative values of Postage Dues on Cover, proving that the highest values were from the short period of King Edward VIII. Finally Dave showed an extensive series of international mail surcharged Postage Due. Pride of place went to the example in 1970 of the new Southern Rhodesian Stamps, following UDI. The Post Office determined that these new Rhodesian postage stamps were illegal and so surcharged 2 x 5d with the message “More to Pay”. Dave believed this example was quite scarce and valuable. Dave was strongly supported by his wife Claire in providing food and refreshments, as customary on President’s evenings. Sadly, Dave also had allowed the news to be given that he was suffering from a terminal illness, with a very short life expectancy, this stamp presentation being the last one he would be able to deliver. Led by Chairman Ian, all members joined in with heartfelt thanks not only for such a magnificent postal history presentation but also in recognition of the many years’ service Dave had given to our Stamp Society. Peter Wood—"It’s an Irish World" 25th October 2013 15 members gathered at Bix for the presentation by Peter Wood on “It’s an Irish World.” Ian introduced the evening and reminded us that the next meetings, the first being President’s Evening at which Dave will present a collection of GB postal due covers and the meeting on 22nd November, at which we are asked to bring any material that can be projected on to the large screen by the projector. It was a great help that Peter had a brief description on his first page and the plan of his display on the second. “It’s an Irish World” is described as the story of the people from a small nation at the edge of Europe who have spread around the world and often found fame. Peter then went into detail of how this has happened, with many examples from various categories. He set out the display generally under 4 sections :- A Separate Culture, displaying the language, symbols, geography and industry. A History of Ireland, before the Union, the Victorian era, the fight for independence, the Republic and Partition. The Irish: Religion and Service, Science and Exploration, Arts, Sport and the British influence. The Diaspora, being the effects of migration to all parts of the World. Peter was able to show his material of stamps, covers, postal franking, adverts, bottle labels etc. in a fun and informative way that made it an interesting evening. I did like the way that he was able to have a joke about some of the rules of competition and how it illustrated that sometimes it is best to break the rules to keep the story true. Peter explained the story of how the motor racing fraternity got the “Racing Green” and the joke of how Wimpey were given the acronym of “We Import More Paddies Every Year.” Peter had some very interesting material and as we studied it after his talk we were able to appreciate some of the quality and rarity. Members on the subject “Ephemera” 11th October 2023 It was a cold, wet, dark night, although warm in the hall and only eight of us were brave enough to combat the weather. The subject for the night was “Ephemera”, which did raise a few eyebrows. If you look in the dictionary, the meaning does not make it clear on how it would relate to Philately. Malcolm did try to help to explain what it meant; slowly the penny dropped a little and the fog started to clear. After seeing all the displays, I found we had very useful evening and had learned a great deal. Dave gave us a display of GB postage due stamps on cover that was a teaser for what will be displayed on President’s Evening. Some of the covers were those which were the result of the situation in Rhodesia in the 1960’s with the proclamation of UDI. Also in the display Dave showed a commercially used five pound postage due, which was felt to be very unusual. Terry introduced some very interesting stamps from a country that most of us had never heard of and lead by a leader who was from the wrong side of the tracks. He also showed some Revenue stamps from Argentina that raised a laugh and that I am sure Ian would have liked to have owned. One of the areas of interest Terry has, is for Telegraph revenue stamps that he was able to display. Brian brought in a selection of commercial letter heads from companies in the mid 1700’s to the early 1900’s, including a company named “Owens” who were in the steel industry and “Lister”, who we know become engine manufacturers. This display highlighted how graphic design has changed and how companies used their letterheads as a means of advertising. Anne carried on the theme from Brian, showing documents from various companies with the common theme of gold and precious gems. One area that Anne explained was the upheaval which happened in Australia in the mid 1800’s over the mining licences issued and how the miners had to riot to obtain a better and fairer deal - which ended with a new system named as “Miners’ Right”. This gave them a lot more civil rights, including the right to vote. Steve showed a mix that included wax letter seals from Norway and a lottery ticket issue in the 1960’s from Norway which included a section for use of postage. He then showed Covers that included various labels and Cinderella stamps. Malcolm concluded the evening with a selection of materials including a Sun Life insurance certificate, a large advertising leaflet, an early Christmas card from the Metropolitan Police, an old and interesting map of Oxfordshire and, last of all, a Post Office counter sheet to register who was in control of the counter of the Post Office. Kim Stuckey, Chairman, Falkland Islands Philatelic Study Group “Falklands War” 28th September 2023 Ian, Chairman, thanked the 13 members attending. Bob was thanked for distributing to the members a quantity of stock books from the late Tom Carpenter’s collection. The next meeting is on 1th Oct on “Ephemera”, a subject which remains a complete mystery to many members. Dave advised that preparations for the next Auction in March 2024 were going well, where plenty of material would be available, but preference would always be given to members seeking to sell unwanted materials. Kim Stuckey then presented a magnificent display of postal history on the “Falklands War”. He began by outlining the early history of the islands and explained why Argentina felt they had a legitimate claim on the Islands. The English captain John Strong made the first recorded landing in the Falklands, in 1690, and named the sound between the two main islands after Viscount Falkland, a British naval official. The name was later applied to the whole island group. Britain, France and Spain all had completing settlements on the Islands during the 1700’s. Spain bought out France’s interest and in 1820 the Buenos Aires government, which had declared its independence from Spain in 1816 in the “Union of the River Plate”, proclaimed its sovereignty over the Falklands. In 1831 the U.S. warship Lexington destroyed the Argentine settlement on East Falkland in reprisal for the arrest of three U.S. ships that had been hunting seals in the area. In early 1833 a British force expelled the few remaining Argentine officials from the island without firing a shot. In 1841 a British civilian lieutenant governor was appointed for the Falklands, and by 1885 a British community of some 1,800 people on the islands was self-supporting. Kim displayed early and rare naval despatches from this period, including an account of the murder of Captain Matthew Brisbane, Agent for the Falkland Islands on 26th August 1833 which was sent several days later. The despatch was received by the Admiralty in London on 18th July 1834! Kim explained that the close proximity of Argentina to the Falklands has slowly led by the late 1970’s to close ties between the 2 countries, where Argentina provided all fuel, petrol, diesel and portable gas supplies, ran ferries and regular air transport, children could go to Argentina for secondary education, medical facilities were available on the mainland. However, Argentina continued to maintain their claim on the islands and the Argentine Post Office didn’t recognise mail from the Falklands bearing Falkland stamps, treating them as postage due, with Kim displaying excellent examples of such surcharges. The same fate awaited mail from Great Britain, for example, stamps bearing the 1933 Centenary of British Administration in the Falklands were deemed not valid and also surcharged. Falkland Island stamps celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953 were treated the same way, again with well documented postal history displays. Kim showed mail from the hijacking of an Air Argentina DC4 plane with 26 passengers in 28th September 1966 to raise awareness of Argentina’s sovereignty claims. The plane was forced to land in the Falklands, despite there being no airport! Stanley Racecourse was the scene for the forced landing. Kim displayed fascinating mail from this period, when the plane was made airworthy again and took documented mail on its return flight On April 2, 1982 Argentina’s military government invaded the Falklands, embolden by the British Government’s withdrawal of its naval protection vessel the previous year. Kim showed photographs of the largely conscripted young Argentinean solders, who mistakenly believed they would be welcomed as liberators by the Islanders. He displayed numerous examples of letters home from the solders, who were cold, bored and homesick. Examples were shown of the solders using old aerogrammes and obsolete stationery, which were soon exhausted. The Port Stanley Post Office was opened under Argentine military control 6th April, but had no Argentinian stamps, forcing all to use Falkland Island stamps initially! Any incoming mail bearing the English words “Port Stanley” or “Falkland Islands” were defaced by the Argentine Postal office, who superimposed “República Argentina”. Kim had an excellent example of an envelope defaced in the way, although the reverse showed a sticker “Keep the Falklands British” which had escaped censorship. Kim also displayed a fascinating open letter to the Falkland Islanders, explaining that the lands were taken away from Argentina by force in 1883, but that the Islanders are actually Argentinian in origin and were welcomed to join together to support building a better country for all to live in. The Argentinian military commander was General Mario B Menendez. Signs bearing his name on buildings which had been requisitioned showed “Propiedad Privada, Jurisdicción Militar” Mail from the British forces was then displayed, with Kim explaining how the nearby Ascension Islands with its extensive military facilities, long runway and long distance cable communications became the logistical hub to support efforts to retake the Islands. The 2nd Postal & Courier Regiment Royal Engineers, based at South Cerney in Gloucestershire, were deployed with the Task Force in 1982 on Operation Corporate to retake the Falklands. They were based initially at the Ascension Islands before moving to the Falklands, following our forces successful ending of the war 10 weeks later with the surrender of the Argentine forces at Stanley to British troops. The story is told in diary format by their commander Major Ian Whitfield RE(PCS) in “Posties go to War” Kim showed an amazing collection of postal history from our naval forces, listing the roll call of ships from the engagement, including HMS Hermes, Sir Galahad, HMS Plymouth, Uganda Hospital ship and the ill-fated Atlantic conveyor. He also reminded us that QE2 had been commandeered, with examples of Cunard postal stationary in much abundance. Port Stanley’s Post Office reopened 19th June 1982, after a major clean-up and regular mail deliveries were resumed, some by unusual methods. “Snatch mail” involved stringing mail bags on a wire between 2 scaffolding poles so that the hook trailing behind a low flying Galaxy cargo plane could “snatch” it up. Of equal interest was the overprint HDS for “Helicopter Delivery System” where mail was delivered and collected by helicopters on and off ships. Kim ended his fascinating presentation by reminding that the Government had promised the islanders their right to determine the territory’s political status. In a referendum held in March 2013, islanders voted nearly unanimously (99.9%) to remain a British overseas territory. Ian thanked Kim, commenting that it was a unique experience to receive such an outstanding postal history presentation about a war that was still in living memory. Kim was fittingly given an Argentinian bottle of red wine for his well-deserved efforts. Latest Acquisitions 13th September 2023 Ian, Chairman, thanked the 17 members attending the 1st event of the new season. He introduced the new programme card and highlighted forthcoming events, including 27th September when Kim Stuckey presents “Falklands War” stamps. Ian then started the member’s recent acquisition event by presenting a comprehensive series of Municipal Revenue stamps from Buenos Aries, Argentina. Dating from 1896 to 99 , the stamps gave legal effect to the slaughterhouse transfer lists, bills of sale and transfers of animals. The colourful revenue stamps were produced by initially by Guillero Kraft and then by the American Banknote Company with the contract alternating periodically between them over successive years. The stamps depicted different types of animals, including beef cattle, horses and pigs, with control serial numbers, control panels, and perfins. A later series 1904 to 1913 related to various transaction for livestock, including a receipt for 2,000 kilos of meat. Ian advised that he intended to extend his collection over the coming years! Simon then explained that his recent collections of West Indies stamps had been extended to include a display envelopes of different sizes, including: Small sizes -B & F, with QV and KE 7th examples Long sizes -H2 & H, which were very long and thin - examples included 1899 dated with a seal Big envelopes -I & K which were uncommon. Examples included Grenade QV & GV Dave gave a characteristic display of stamps which he had recently acquired, complete with notes /prices saving him the bother of writing it up. They featured an amazing collection of Albanian stamps, all beautifully set out on Hangers. Pride of place went to 1913 double-headed Albanian Eagle overprint on a Turkish stamp SG5 Mint with a catalogue value of £4,500! Dave explained that he continued to purchase lots from ex-dealer’s stocks, most of which was not carefully scrutinised, and so the materials were full of such delightful surprises. Colin, the Artist, presented a Lake District landscape painting which he had recently bought from auction, painted by Douglas Falconer, which displayed an attractive Lake Buttermere scene, featuring an amazing shaft of light. Colin, the stamp collector, gave an eclectic display, featuring errors. He showed a series of QV Official Army stamps issued in September 1896 for use of local correspondence without postage charges. However, there were many variations and errors due to broken or repaired dies / type. He also had purchased a series of Scottish River Wildlife Stamps 1st class stamps that had only 1 phosphor bar instead of 2. The Royal Mail had written to him, admitting the error and invited him to return the stamps free of charge. Colin advised that he was perfectly happy to keep the stamps together with the “error” letter as an example of provenance! He finished his display with examples of Canadian stamps featuring Lake Huron and the ferry MS Chi-Cheemaun, or 'The Big Canoe' Brian introduced the Saar Land with its intricate history of stamps reflecting the constant tussle of possession between Germany and France. Brian began in the aftermath of WW1 in 1920, when the League of Nations’ Treaty of Versailles granted France occupation. Existing German postage stamps were overprinted SARR. In the 1930’s the population voted in a referendum to join Germany, which resulted in German postage stamps until after WW2, when in 1947, the Saar Lands were part of the Allied Zone . On 1 April 1948 the P.T.T. Saarland issued a new series inscribed "SAARPOST", followed by another in 1949 inscribed "SAAR". The P.T.T. Saarland issued a few commemoratives each year through 1956, punctuated by a definitive set showing buildings of note. After the 1955 Saar Statute referendum failed, France accepted the prevailing preference of the Saar population to return to Germany. So following that, mail to West Germany, East Germany or either part of Berlin was charged again with the domestic postage. On 1 January 1957 the P.T.T. Saarland was transformed into the Oberpostdirektion Saarbrücken of the Deutsche Bundespost. The return of the Saar Area to German control was commemorated on 1 January 1957 by special stamps, followed by definitives with the profile of President Theodor Heuss, and inscribed both "SAARLAND" and "DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST". The numerals did not indicate a monetary system, but were implicitly francs; later in 1957, the stamps were reissued with a small "F" after the numeral to clarify that the values were French. Dave complained that the Saar series was noted for the scarcity of the highest values. Brian agreed and said he had experienced such a difficulty when completing the presentation Terry introduced Telegraph stamps, explaining that over 15 private companies had operated within GB during the period 1850 to 1870, some with varying commercial success, but all had introduced their own private stamps to indicate payment for transmission. He displayed a range of very colourful and quite rare stamps including: Bonelli’s Electric Telegraph Co 1861 /62 – a commercial failure and its stamps were scarce The London District Telegraph Co – 1862 with examples of 3d, 4d, 6d all with control numbers and showing the signature of Alfred Oban, Secretary The Universal Private Telegraph Co, set up in 1861 by the famous scientist Charles Wheatsone. The company was very successful and its 6d and 1 shilling stamps were more common, but with a great permutation of colours for control numbers. Terry showed unmounted mint stamps, which were rare In 1870 the Post Office privatised all telegraph communications, using ordinary postage stamps until 1876 when it introduced specially printed Telegraph stamps, starting with 1d, 3d, 1 shilling. Additional values up to ten shilling were then printed, together with a scarce orange half penny, all of which Terry displayed. The highest value was an orange £5 printed in 1877, which now commanded very high prices, but Terry freely admitted that his orange £5 example was a forgery! The Post Office abolished Telegraph stamps 1st November 1881, allowing usage of ordinary postage stamps once more. Jill gave a display of Welsh Country definitives, featuring local flowers including, of course, the daffodil. A beautiful display of endangered species followed, finishing with stamps featuring Beatrix Potter. Anne explained that she was currently extending her Gold Thematic display and showed a number of items of great interest, illustrating the importance and opulence of Gold, including Postmark from Odin, Illinois: Odin, a Norse God who possessed the Draupnir gold ring that had the power to multiply itself 8 times every 9 nights and was a symbol of abundance Postmarks from Ophir New Zealand and Ophir California, Ophir in Old Testament times was a port or region where gold and wealth could be found and where King Solomon’s Mines were attributed to but actual whereabouts unknown Letter card to The Gold Nugget Magazine from 1895 complaining about the non-delivery of the magazine! Stamp with ‘The Kiss’ by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) the Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objects d'art. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. His most famous work, “The Kiss”, was widely regarded at the time as scandalous because it was thought his mistress may have been depicted as the female. Steve explained that over the summer, he had begun developing displays telling stories with stamps. He showed the story of Otto Sverdrup who played an essential role in supporting his fellow Norwegian explorers. Born in 31st October 1854 on a farm, but was interested in sailing. By 1875 he had passed his Shipmaster examinations. Otto helped the famous Norwegian Frtidjof Nansen to design and build “the Fram” to withstand the rigours of polar exploration. In 1893, the ship sailed from Christiania for the North Pole via the NW passage, encountering heavy ice, but recorded the furthest latitudes position to date. Steve’s display featured a wide range of materials, illustrations and stamps, including a very large print from The Illustrated London News dated 1902, featuring Otto in a ship board scene with Sleigh dogs on the Fram entitled “The Return of the Svedrup Exhibition” Otto Sverdrup continued to have a distinguished polar exploration career, having several islands named after him, one in Greenland, another in the North-West territories of Canada and in the Kara Sea of Russia. Julian Bagwell—British Post Offices in The Levant 28th June 2023 Ian, Chairman, thanked the 12 members and guests who gathered at Bix for our last event in the programme year for a presentation by Julian Bagwell on ”British Post Offices in The Levant”. Ian confessed that he was a failure in History at school, but after taking up the study of Philately, he had significantly broadened his understanding of history and geography. He hoped tonight’s presentation on “The Levant” would have a similar affect, enabling us to see and understand world events better through the prism of stamps. Julian opened the presentation by first explaining what and where The Levant is, to the obvious relief of the members present. The word “Levant” means “Eastern” and applied to the Eastern Mediterranean and the coastal areas of the former Ottoman Empire. Julian reminded us that the original Roman Empire had become too large to govern and so in the 3rd Century AD it was spilt in two, the West based at Rome and the East at Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople after Emperor Constantine in 4th Century AD Julian explained that Great Britain and other Western European powers were acutely concerned about the Ottoman Empire’s decline (The sick man of Europe) during the mid to later 1800’s, fearing that Russia might exert even greater influence. This explained why it became common practice for Western European nations, including Great Britain, to open their own Post Offices, in the face of weak Turkish resistance, a move described as “the capitulations”. The relevant period for British Post Offices started in 1857 after the end of the Crimean War, until 1923 which saw all foreign post offices abolished in the new Republic of Turkey. A civilian British Post Office was first established in Constantinople in 1857, a year after the closure of the Army Post Office - set up during the Crimean War. In the following years, four more offices were opened in the Levant: Smyrna in 1872 (now Izmir in Turkey), Beirut in 1873, Stamboul in 1885 as a Constantinople sub-office and Salonica in 1900 (now Thessaloniki in Greece). 75% of all British Post Office mail was routed via Constantinople, with Smyrna proving the next most popular location. Examples of early mail in 1820’s sent from this region prior these Post Offices included via French Ships to Marseilles, British packet ships to Malta and in the Diplomatic bag of the British Embassy in Constantinople. Post during the Crimean War used the original British Army Post office with 1d rate using British Warships or 3d for French ships via Marseilles, which was a far faster route. The new Constantinople cancellation was known as the “killer Large C” between 1858 and 1880 and a small “c” between 1880 and 1893. Julian had amassed an incredible display of the main varieties of GB stamps from this period with their values and plate numbers showing these Constantinople cancellations. He even showed a large “C” cancellation dated 1881 on a 1d Lilac, despite the GB Overprint Society advising that such cancellations stopped in 1880! In 1875 an unusual postage rate occurred. Postage rates for postcards were declared at 1d 1 farthing. GB domestic examples abounded but foreign use is scare to find. Julian displayed rare examples with a Smyrna cancellation dated 18th September 1875, followed by a Constantinople cancelation on postage to Sheffield dated July 27th 1877. In 1878, the UPU Congress set postage rates of printed paper, letters and postcards at prescribed rates, converted from Gold. The host nation, Turkey had the right to round down all conversions, taking this opportunity to sell stamps at 4 times the printed rate, rather than 5 times for all Foreign Post Offices, including Great Britain. This event led to local purchases of stamps 25% cheaper which were then send back to GB at a profit. As a consequence Great Britain then overprinted stamps with “PARAS” local currency in 1885, stopping such speculation. Additional overprints occurred in the Jubilee issues of 1887, with all stamp varieties displayed. 1902-1905 saw the new Monarch King Edward VII issue both local currency “PARAS” and “Levant overprints” with additional reprinting in 1906, to be replaced in 1908 by GB issues and then local currency “PARAS” dated in 1911. King George V soon replaced all these stamps with his own local and GB issues dated 1911. Julian displayed all the stamps from this era with the matching overprints, many of which are well known to GB collectors. He showed equivalent stamp issues for the region from many other European countries dating from this period, including Russia, France and Germany. The outbreak of WW1 in 1914 saw the temporary closure of all foreign Post Offices, known as the “Abrogation of capitulations”, signified by an overprint issued by Turkey in 1914. In 1916 a leading Philatelist, Army Lieutenant Commander, Pirie Gordon, decided to issue his own overprinted “Levant” local stamps in Salonica. An article in the Daily Telegraph alerted the King Gorge V, a known philatelist, who then requested samples. Disaster resulted once the forgery was discovered, but a semi-official status was subsequently conferred upon these stamps. Wartime issues included Hospital ship varieties and Russian Army stamps. 1920 saw the reopening of the BPO Constantinople, with printed, Levant and local currency stamp usage abounding. Unfortunately, these local conditions soon attracted forgeries, especially with the Levant overprint attracting higher values. Many variants were detected; both crude and fine. Julian displayed all known varieties. 1923 saw the Treaty of Lausanne where all foreign Post Offices were closed, symbolised by a Turkish commemorative issues in 1924. Unfortunately, even this final issue was plagued by crude forgeries, bringing this fascinating period to an end! Julian was warmly congratulated for producing a display to the highest order, with many scare examples of stamps varieties and matching unique postal history. Julian said he had been collecting this specialist area for the last 6 years but had not yet exhausted the subject. The members present certainly showed their deep appreciation for his remarkable efforts. Presentations from Camberley & District Philatelic Society 14-6-2023 Ian, Chairman, thanked the 15 members and guests who gathered at Bix, on a very warm summer’s evening. He reminded the members that our last event in the programme year as the visit by Julian Bagwell on ”British Levant”. Our first speaker was Alan Matheson presenting stamps from Nova Scotia. He explained that Nova Scotia was first discovered by Europeans during Cabot’s 1497 voyage on the ship “Matthew of Bristol”. The territory was hotly contested between France and Britain due to its maritime significance including its famous harbour Halifax, the capital. In January 1848 Nova Scotia became the first colony in British North America and in the British Empire to become self-governing. Soon after the American Civil War, Pro-Canadian Confederation premier Charles Tupper led Nova Scotia into Canadian Confederation on 1 July 1867, along with New Brunswick and the Province of Canada. Alan’s first item was a ships letter dated 4th June 1806 addressed to West Hoathly, Sussex, bearing the marking “Ships Letter Halifax”, bearing a letter from a privateer boasting of capturing a Prussian vessel laded with spirits! Another item was mail from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia dated 2nd August 1853 bearing a rare New Brunswick 3d stamp cancelled with an oval grid. On 19th October 1854, the transatlantic rate was raised to 7 ½ d, despite their being no stamp of this value printed. This situation accounted for the famous bisected stamps. Alan showed an example of a dark 6d stamp, a 1d stamp and then a bisected 1d to achieve the required rate. Only 4 examples of the bisected 1d are known to exist. Another example was a packet letter sent 8th August 1858 bearing a 6d yellow green with a bisected 3d to achieve 7 ½ d. In 1680 decimalisation caused the rate to be 5 c per ½ oz. Alan’s example was of a cover bearing 2 x 2cents 12 perf N.S. stamps plus a bisected 2c cancelled with an A92 strike. Only 10 copies of this type are known Of great interest was a cover postmarked Liverpool 1867 to Halifax N.S. carried by SS China which was the first screw steamer Cunard packet ship. A cover was displayed sent from Melbourne, Victoria 23rd February 1879 to Halifax N.S. via San Francisco, arriving 6th April with Victoria stamps to the value of 11d. Mail miss-sent to the wrong destination caused great interest. A letter from Morell Prince Edward Island dated 5th October 1879 to Halifax, Massachusetts and bearing a 3c cross border stamp was wrongly sent to Halifax N.S. before being forwarded to Halifax, Massachusetts. The envelopes transit cancels show Charlottetown P.E.I. and Halifax N.S. J.J. MacDonald’s book “The Nova Scotia Post” says that that no know examples exist. Alan had proudly copied this extract comment alongside his cover! One display featuring the different postmarks of Halifax N.S. caught attention, bearing a wide variety of oval grid, squared Circle, Duplex Roller No and 4 in bullseye cancellations. Alan showed details of the explosion of 6th December 1917 during wartime caused by a fire on board the French ammunition ship SS Mont-Blanc killed over 2,000 people and severely damaging the much prized harbour facilities of Halifax. Many members commented during the ensuing break on the magnificence of this postal history display containing such scare and interesting items. Our second speaker was John Hayward, President of British Thematic Society & Camberley & District Philatelic Society. John had entitled his presentation as “Oops, featuring unintended errors and deliberate mistakes”. He began with the story of the Panama Canal. In 1900, when the location of the canal across the isthmus was being decided, a French engineer by the name of Philippe Buanu-Varilla decided to lobby Congress on location of the Canal. Nicaraguan 10c stamps were sent to members of Congress featuring the smoking Mt. Momotombo in the background. The intention was to discourage building the canal in Nicaragua with its active volcanoes in favour of Panama, which proved to be the case. John then gave over 20 examples of errors on stamps, including: Saint Kitts and Nevis 1903 stamp printed in London. It shows Christopher Columbus, who peers into the distance using a telescope. However, this device was invented only a hundred years later! The 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s discovery of North America on the ship “The Mathew” was marked in 1897 with a 10-cent stamp issued by the Newfoundland Post Office. However, the Santa Maria ship was pictured instead! The HMS Glasgow error is a 6d postage stamp error produced by the Falkland Islands in 1964. It commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 1914 Battle of the Falkland Islands. The error featured the incorrect ship, HMS Glasgow, instead of HMS Kent, which should have been used The Stock Exchange forgery was a fraud perpetrated at the London Stock Exchange during the years 1872 to 1873. It involved forged postage stamps that were applied to telegraph forms and it was only detected over 25 years later, due to the wrong combination of letters in each corner of the stamps showing their precise location on printing plates. In 1996 the annual "Health" issue was printed and about to be issued by New Zealand Post. That issue consisted of the usual two stamps and a miniature sheet, all items with a charity surcharge. The domestic letter rate 40¢ (+5¢) value was at the very last minute discovered to have a major design fault. The stamp showed a baby child in a child restraint, alongside a Teddy Bear, who was wearing the car seat belt. The stamp showed a baby child in a child restraint, alongside a Teddy Bear, who was wearing the car seat belt. It is clear from the design that the child and teddy bear are in the rear seat of the car, and facing toward the front, i.e. the same direction as the driver. In New Zealand this is not permitted. Amended design stamps were issued on June 5th 1996 During WW11, new stamps were required whilst under German occupation. A patriotic motif was introduced by Mr Blampied in his design for the 3d stamp, whereon the Royal cipher, GR, appears in the scroll-work in the base of the triangle which encloses the 3d. This “deliberate error” remained undetected by the German Authorities! Members’ Displays— North America 24th May 2023 Ian, newly re-elected at the preceding AGM as our Chairman, invited the 11 members present to display any stamps relating to North America. Ian explained that since he only collected Argentinian stamps, he had overcome this challenge by showing Argentine stamps printed by the American Banknote Company, followed by displaying Argentine stamps featuring USA presidents, including Roosevelt and Kennedy. Finally, Ian showed USA printed stamps featuring José Francisco de San Martín, who is regarded as a national hero of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, a great military commander, and one of the Liberators of Spanish South America. Terry presented 2 different types of USA revenue stamps that has recently come into his possession. He explained that “recently” was actually only 10 minutes before the start of this evening’s meeting, with thanks given to Dave. First he showed 2 special tax receipts, authorising a pharmacy via an annual licence for 1962 and 1963 to sell Opium, Coca leaves, Marihuana etc. Next he showed Cigarette and Cigar US revenue stamps arising from the Stamp Act of 1883. The cigarette stamps are overprinted A.T. & C. (American Tobacco Company?) with dates running throughout the 1890’s. These stamps are "tax-paids," a phrase used when the denomination is expressed in units rather than money. Cigarettes were taxed at a rate per thousand. Rather than levying the tax on the farmer, the Internal Revenue Department charged the manufacturer who processed, blended, and added flavourings to the tobacco. The stamp would often be placed over a seal on the container, so that the stamp would be torn if the seal was broken, making these undamaged stamps quite rare. Colin introduced stamps from Newfoundland, which was the last province to be incorporated into Canada in 1949. Prior to this, Newfoundland had been very active in printing their own stamps since 1858, making it a very rewarding areas to specialise in. Colin explained that in 1497, the Italian navigator John Cabot became the first European since the Norse settlers to set foot on Newfoundland, working under commission of King Henry VII of England. In 1865, a commemorative set of stamps celebrated typical Newfoundland stamps, including 2c codfish and 5c Brown Harp Seal. Colin displayed an empty space, reserved for the 5c black Harp seal for which he had been unable to obtain a suitable high quality example! He went on to show stamps from 1919, under the title “Trail of the Caribu”, displaying the locations where Newfoundlanders were in action during WW1. In 1923 under KG V, a series of landscapes within Newfoundland were displayed and in 1932 a new series celebrated many aspects of Newfoundland life, including 1c Atlantic cod and the famous 14c Newfoundland Dog. Gill first displayed the 25th Anniversary of the Panama Canal with a FDC date stamp 15th August USS Charleston, featuring a portrait of the Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal George w Goethals together with an Air mail Crosby Silver thermograph Canal Zone FDC marked with the Great Seal of USA. Post from KGV’s visit to USA postmarked the Royal Train also aroused great interest. Brian explained that he didn’t collect North American stamps, so he had produced 5 examples of mail sent to America, including a letter sent to a lady, Miss Grace Barret from Suva, Fiji to New York from a sailor J. E. Bourke, a radio operator on board SS Monterey. Unfortunately, the letter was marked “Unclaimed” and “return to sender”, leading to speculation amongst the members present as to the exact relationship between the two parties? Brian also displayed mail to USA from Mafeking to New York and St Paul’s Minnesota bearing 6 stamps from the Transvaal and S Africa. KGV1’s coronation 10th May 1937 was also the occasion for an Anglo-American Goodwill Coronation Airmail post from Hurst Publicity which featured the first commercial return flight postmarked 14th May. Paul Watkins - WW11 – France 10th May 2023 Ian, our Chairman, thanked the 20 members and guests who gathered at Bix, amidst heavy rain. He reminded all that the AGM was on 24th May and that next year’s draft programme had several opportunities for members to request topics suitable for future presentations. Ian then invited Barry Stagg, Membership Secretary, The Association of British Philatelic Societies, and also Chairman of The British Thematic Association, to make an “Award of Merit” to Anne Stammers, recognising her outstanding contribution as “an unsung hero of British Philately”. Paul Watkins, a distinguished member of the France & Colonies Philatelic Society (UK) was then invited to give his presentation on WW11 – France. He introduced his display by explaining it was in two parts. Firstly, the overview of events in France during WW11 and its impact on philately, then the second half featuring all the various stamps issues. Paul blamed the Covid 19 lockdown for giving him the opportunity and the time to assemble what transpired to be a very detailed display, well written up and contained many scare examples of postal history. Paul took the members through the tumultuous events in France starting with the outbreak of war September 1939. We were surprised to learn that France had the largest armed forces in Europe at the time and was regarded as well-organised. Mail between various military units and the French colonies, including Algeria, were shown, with different examples of censorship. Of great interest was the use of “dumb” “Poste Navale” cancellations on Naval military franchise mail to avoid giving information on exact marine locations, which could be of help to the enemy. The preceding Spanish Civil war had led to large numbers of refugees and International Brigade members crossing into France, especially in the South West area near the Pyrenees’ border with Spain, leading to the building of many refugee centres, known as internment camps. Paul showed examples of mail between these centres, where the inmates were entitled to post letters using the postal franchise “90c Paix de Laurens”. The May & June 1940 German invasion of Northern France, leading to the capture of Paris, and then the establishment of Vichy France in the Southern half of France, governed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, occurred surprisingly quickly. The German authorities wanted to maintain postal services in all areas and came up with the idea of using different coloured 1 Franc stamps in the two regions: Red for German occupied Northern France and Green for the Southern Vichy France. Paul dismissed this concept as impractical, although the German authorities persisted in delivery of mail, with scarce examples shown of “Undeliverable” cancellations due to the wartime disruption. The second half of his display featured all the stamps issued throughout this wartime period, both definitive and commemorative, with numerous examples on cover illustrating rare postal history, which was greatly appreciated by the members. Paul began with the Golden Iris definitives. The first series was issued between 1939 and 1944, designed and engraved by Georges Hourriez. Initially, these stamps were printed in Paris, but as the region became occupied by German troops in the summer of 1940, some batches were printed in Limoges. During the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, there were 43 issues of stamps overall. Many included Petain’s portrait, both in uniform and in civilian clothes. The first Pétain stamp issued in March 1941 had a surcharge of 10c to raise funds for the “secours nationalie”. Greater use of surcharges followed, accompanied unfortunately by a rise in Petain image stamp forgeries, including Great Britain’s SOE for use by their wartime operatives. Subsequent wartime stamp issues included: Occupation of France, Alsace territory, with the Germany Hindenburg Stamp set overprinted, "Elsass." Stamps were valid in Alsace, Lorraine and Luxembourg showing the Swastika watermark. French Waffen SS Legion Welfare Issue 1941 Stamps printed and sold by the 'Action Committee of the French Legionnaires to combat Bolshevism;' to raise money to support the Legion and their families, showing a Bomber over Russia and an airplane over Paris with Eiffel Tower in background. Tri-Color Legion, Waffen SS Stamps 1942 set of two, issued to raise money for the Waffen SS, Tricolor Legion. The legion was comprised of volunteers to fight with the German Army on the eastern front, showing Legionnaire and Napoleonic infantry charge. Paul showed rare examples of the late post system called “Hors Sac” where predominately Journalists could hand their latest press articles in at train stations in dramatically coloured red envelopes pre-printed “Hors Sac” for immediate delivery, upon the train reaching its destination. In 1942 a high value stamp 50 Franc was designed and engraved by Charles Mazelin, recess printed in black as a large format stamp. Originally, the stamp had no obvious purpose but from 28-08-42 anybody wanting to buy postage stamps, other than current definitives, had to subscribe to a pre-ordering system, requiring their identification and an annual fee of 50F, displayed upon a stamp passport. Petain stamps were banned after France was liberated, but there were insufficient replacements. Taxed and overprinted Petain stamps were used, in preference obscuring the traitor Petain’s face. There were some two hundred overprints, of which only some were official, with Paul showing scarce example of this fascinating period of postal history. Paul explained why, for many of these stamp issues, the quantities printed were soon exhausted, despite wartime conditions. France had a thriving philately sector before the German invasion. Although the German occupation rules prevented gatherings of the French population, for some unknown reason, stamp society meetings were allowed throughout the occupation, which accounted for a dramatic upsurge of interest in Philately activities. All issues were rapidly taken up and overprinting of old stocks frequently required. This completely explains the rich complexity of this period for the philatelist, despite its bleak wartime setting. Finally, Paul showed example of stamps printed by the USA authorities in preparation for the end of WW11, anticipating incorrectly their occupation of France territory at wrong postal values. A second issue, approved by General De Gaulle was therefore required at correct postal values illustrating the “Arc de Triomphe”. Chris Folland—Pigeon Post Stamps of New Zealand- The 1st Airmail Stamps? 26th April 2023 Ian, our Chairman, thanked the 16 members who gathered at Bix to listen to the presentation by Professor Chris Folland. Chris is no stranger to our Society being one of its longest serving members until moving away from the area. He and his wife were warmly welcomed back. Chris introduced this specialist subject by explaining that in 1894, a steamship named the S.S. Wairarapa, en-route from Sydney to Auckland, broke up on a reef near the Great Barrier Island and sank. More than 140 passengers died, yet it took three days for news of the wreck to reach Auckland, the ship’s destination. This delay in communications caused deep consternation. In 1896, a New Zealand Herald reporter who was attending an anniversary service for this tragedy filed his story to the mainland using a pigeon named Ariel. It took Ariel, who was owned by an Auckland pigeon fancier named Walter Fricker, took less than two hours to reach the mainland. This event sparked a long tradition of pigeon mail to the island. Fricker started the “Great Barrier Pigeongram Service” in 1897. Fricker was immediately challenged by J. E. Parkin, who opened a competing ‘Great Barrier Postal Pigeon Service’. However, the authorities challenged the use of “Postal” and it was changed to ‘The Original Great Barrier Pigeongram Service’ which it actually wasn’t. Chris then showed us the original stamps produced in October 1898 for the “The Original Great Barrier Pigeongram Service” with a sheet of 3 x 6 = 18 stamps, all with characteristic plating flaws. The stamps were inscribed “Special Post” and the bird featured was in fact a swallow, not a pigeon! The rarity of these stamps immediately encouraged the production of counterfeits. Chris readily admitted that he had been inadvertently displaying a counterfeit stamp in his 1998 stamp display page for several years and was still searching for a genuine replacement. Not only were the early stamps produced in small numbers, but their survival rate was low. The messages were sent by affixing the stamp to a flimsy translucent sheet bearing the handwritten message, which was then rolled up and attached to the pigeon’s leg: up to 4 at a time. Pigeons were induced to return home by having a mate waiting for them as well as being starved, so that hunger as well as companionship would induce their return! I t was frequent practice to duplicate or triplicate messages to help achieve successful communications. 1898 saw the introduction of a second set of stamps, in sheets 6 x 4 = 24 still bearing the image of a swallow and printed by a local newspaper, accounting for significant variation in colour. In August 1899 the service expanded to the nearby Maratori Island. (Hen and Chicken Island) where copper mines accounted for the need for commercial communications. Green stamps bearing overprinted “Matatori Pigeongram” were printed in very small numbers, soon supplemented by bright Red 1 shilling stamps overprinted “Matatori Island. In the meantime, the competing “The Great Barrier Island Pigeon Agency”, operated by Fricker from 1897, also issues its own stamps in July 1899 which were triangular in shape. Service from Great Barrier Island to Auckland was 6d (printed in sheets of 20) and the reverse journey priced at 1 shilling (printed in sheets of 10). Again, all issues were soon accompanied by numerous forgeries, some of which are almost as valuable as the original stamps. All pigeon stamp services ended by the introduction of underwater Telegraph cables in 1908. Chris then gave an additional presentation entitled “New Zealand overprinted stamps for the 1907-9 Shackleton and 1910-13 Scott Antarctic expeditions”. Shackleton embarked on the Nimrod in 1907 with New Zealand Red Dominion 1d stamps overprinted “King Edward V11 Land” ready for posting from Antarctica. Unfortunately bad weather drove him away from his intended destination and he was forced to disembark at Victoria Island, so all the stamps were incorrectly overprinted, but couldn’t be changed. I n contrast, Scott’s expedition Terra Nova 1910-13 landed as planned in Victoria Island, with the over print of “Victoria Land” on his supply of stamps.: Green 1/2d bearing the profile of the King and Red 1d dominion stamp. Chris explained that there were 2 sets of such 1d red stamps, Waterlow and Royle, of which Waterlow were far scarcer. A guide to differentiate between these 2 sets showed the minute differences involved. The members warmly thanked Chris for both his specialist presentations. The next event planned is May-10 Paul Watkins "WWII - France" Members' Presentation – Cinderellas and Revenues 12th April 2023 Ian, our Chairman, thanked the 8 members who gathered at Bix to share their knowledge of Cinderella and Revenue materials. He opened the evening by displaying Argentinian charity stamps predominantly featuring the campaign against Tuberculosis. This microbe was discovered and isolated in 1882 by the famous scientist Robert Koch, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1905. On October 23rd 1902, at a conference in Berlin, Germany, the Lorraine cross was chosen as the symbol of the global fight against tuberculosis, which featured heavily in Ian’s display. Other charity stamps displayed showed the Argentine national bird The Rufous Hornero, which makes its nest with clay, straw and roots. Examples of postal history were given where the correct postage rate was paid by regular postage stamps and the values for the charity stamps were additional. Ian concluded his section by displaying an electricity bill which had 2 x 10c fiscal stamps. He promised to display Argentinean Death Certificates bearing fiscal stamps on another occasion. Malcom followed up the use of Tuberculosis charity stamps by explaining that they had also been in use in the UK 1920 to 1991, with examples spreading throughout the Commonwealth, including Sarawak. He explained that the Crown Colony of Sarawak was a British Crown colony on the island of Borneo, established in 1946, shortly after the dissolution of the British Military Administration. Turning to Revenue stamps, Malcom advised that 1853 saw the introduction of specialised stamps for revenue purposes within the UK. He raised the practical issue of complexity, where different type of revenue stamps were required, each of which could comprise of up to 24 values. In order to standardise and minimise the extensive use of dies, he demonstrated how De La Rue, upon obtaining the printing contract, prepared one die for each value but then over printed its specific application, such as substituting Contract Note or Foreign Bill in the final stamp. Dave opened his display with an apology. He had inadvertently accumulated extensive quantities of Revenue / Fiscal stamps, treating them with an uncharacteristic lack of interest when compared to traditional postal stamps. Dave put up a series of stock pages which were in no particular order and for which he was unable to give any commentary other than highlighting an extensive set of South African revenues from 1d to £50! Close examination by the members present during the break identified a wealth of Argentinian Consular stamps, Austrian Telegraph stamps, GB revenues as well as Mauritius QV long type revenues. Brian displayed a variety of materials including KGV11 coronation seal stamps, a French stamp advertising Austrian walking holidays and Jill’s grandfather’s birth certificate from 1884 bearing a KGV 1d stamp! The mystery was solved when it was revealed that the certificate was in fact a copy issued in 1919. He also showed receipts from 1961 and Southern Rhodesia share certificates, all bearing fiscal stamps. Steve gave a characteristic Scandinavian display featuring Norway and wartime issues. Norway had remained neutral in WW1 but had raised funds from stamps donated to its Army Medical Corps. 1941 saw Norway invaded by Germany, which resulted in some Norwegians joining the Nazi party, signified by special stamp issues and a rare example of a Nazi party membership booklet. Understandably, after WW11, such materials were immediately destroyed. Steve described the popular mid 30’s Fits Folk newspaper which had started life as communist orientated, but had become more mainstream. He displayed its beautiful newspaper revenue stamps. The Norwegian Legion was formed by the Waffen-SS on 29 June 1941 in German-occupied Norway. They produced some stamps for their own use which were shown along with an unusual cover. The Norwegians were under the control of the 2 SS Infantry Brigade, the Norwegians occupied positions at Krasnoye Selo near Pushkin in February 1942. For the next two months the Legion took part in the siege warfare around Leningrad. In May 1942, the Legion was withdrawn for a rest, returning to the front line in June 1942. It again became involved in major combat in February 1943, as the Red Army mounted an offensive across Lake Ladoga. Ed presented very interesting examples of fiscal stamps used on a Court Summons dated 1872, Processing Commercial note dated 1884 and a fascinating invoice, which developed into a court summons, all with the correct fiscal stamps! Terry began his presentation by displaying the Revenue Society’s handbook “Licenses and Related Ephemera” of GB 1600 to 1939. The front cover displayed the licence for a male servant dated 1937 costing 15/-. This was the last date for such licenses, but Terry showed similar examples for 1871 and 1877. He commentated that during the latter 1900’s, female servant’s licenses only cost 2/6d and dog licences cost more with 1/- registration and 5/- fee! Terry then showed a selection of Austrian Telegraph stamps dated from 1973, explaining that Morse code, which had been invented in 1837 and began international cable communications during 1860’s, had resulted in an explosion in its use. Fortunes could be made from the use of the Telegraph with it’s the instant information in the price of commodities and stock exchange shares. The Austrian Hungarian Empire had printed their own Telegraph stamps for receipt of payment in 1873, which were characterised by a multitude of perforation and design changes! Examples of special printings of largely late 1900’s Telegraph Stamps followed from Argentina, Cuba, Columbia, Spain, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Terry also showed copies of New Zealand stamps which he had recently purchased. More sensibly, New Zealand had resorted to using special Telegraph cancellations, than printing special editions of revenue stamps. Terry ended his display with Revenue stamps from USA Civil War 1871, Canada (Ontario) from 1864, 1864 Cape of Good Hope with overprints for Griqualand (G) and examples of ciphers for impressed Duty stamps. Ian raised the recent zoom evening presentation and all agreed that future zoom events should be organised, staring at 2 p year. Dave concluded the evening by confirming that the recent auction had generated a very satisfactory net profit of £484, with catalogue printing costing only £105. Dave said that whilst this was a very substantial contribution to the society’s income, he thought the rate of commission to sellers could be increased up to commercial levels elsewhere, given the professionalism of the processing, including extensive scanning undertaken. Agreement was reached by the members of the Committee present for him to renegotiate auction commission levels. The next meeting was scheduled for April 26th where Chris Folland was presenting “Pigeon Posts of New Zealand” Adrian Pearson—”Crimean War Postal History” 29th March 2023 The Society had resorted to meeting by Zoom during the Covid epidemic. While these meetings did deprive us of some social aspects of the Society, they did have two benefits: continuity, and mastering Zoom and its concomitant skills in electronic presentations. Most of the meetings were devoted to members’ collections, but we did invite two external speakers, one from within the Thames Valley Federation and one from further afield. This evening’s meeting sought to build on that experience and to invite a speaker from even further afield—Preston in Lancashire. An invitation was extended to members of the Federation to join us and a convivial hour was spent listening to the speaker. When the United Kingdom and France declared war on Russia in 1854 to foil the latter’s attempted Russian expansion into the Balkan provinces of Turkey, there was a need to set up a postal service for correspondence to and from servicemen involved in the conflict, which was mainly centred on the Black Sea, but had ramifications in the Baltics and the Far East of Russia. Adrian illustrated the main routes for correspondence: mainly by French ships to Marseilles, then overland to the English Channel, and by British ships taking the longer route through the straits of Gibraltar and on to Portsmouth. There were similar arrangements made for the Baltic Fleet. The concessionary rate for the faster routes was 3d per 1/4 ounce, compared to 1d for the slower route. The total number of pieces of mail carried to and from the war zone was 619,500 in 1854 and 2,724,600 in 1855. To process the mails, post offices were set up in Gallipoli, Constantinople, Scutari, Varna and Balaclava. Adrian’s display included many envelopes displaying a variety of postage stamps, some paid but unstamped, some unpaid, together with an array of British Army backstamps and obliterators. Most UK-bound mail was uncancelled until it reached London. Tim Harrison (High Wycombe PS) - “Estonia Postal History” and “Iceland” 22nd March 2023 9 members gathered at Bix for the presentation by Tim Harrison on “Estonia Postal History” for the first half of the evening and ‘Iceland’ for the second half. Bob introduced the evening and reminded us that the next meetings included the extra meeting next week, via Zoom. Special thanks were given to Dave for his mammoth efforts at the auction and for Claire, who helped the auction run so well and the hospitality both she and Dave gave for the preparation of the auction. The presentation began with a brief history of Estonia, the small, now independent Baltic state with a population of just over 1 million. He highlighted the origins of the nation that had been part of the Swedish Empire, then Russia and influences from Germany. This was made evident by most of the larger towns and cities, having possibly three names based on the population’s origins in that particular area. Tim was able to show cover sfrom 1808, pre-stamp through to just after the Second World War showing the progression of the stamps and postmarks used at the time. It showed how complicated it was through the political upheaval at various times of their history with independent uprisings, invasions from the North, South, East and from the sea. Tim was able to put over the facts and paint the picture as his display showed the turbulent and changing times. The second half last night was a display of some outstanding Icelandic stamps from the very beginning through to the 1940’s including the Icelandic Official stamps. Tim was able to explain many of the variations, including plate errors, perforation changes and some amusing background stories of dodgy philatelic scams that the Icelandic authorities had to suffer and also some of the silly situations the authorities got themselves into. Tim’s displays last night were some of the best I have seen and for me were very interesting as I have just started collecting Estonian stamps and have a small collection of Icelandic stamps. After seeing what Tim has achieved I almost felt like giving up, but it has inspired me to think that I can do better. Thank you Tim for a wonderful evening!! Patrick Reid—"Tasmania" 8th February 2023 11 members gathered at Bix for the presentation by Patrick Reid on “Tasmania” for Chairman’s Evening. Ian introduced the evening and reminded us that the next meeting is the viewing for the auction and that on 8th March we have our annual auction. Ian also made comment of Bob and Anne’s visit to Reading club as speakers representing our Club. It was noted that the two evenings on the programme which were left open, have now been filled by having two guest speakers from Camberley on 14th June and on 28th June, Julian Bagwell from Oxford. Patrick began by thanking the Stamp Club for inviting him to Chairman’s evening. The presentation began with a selection of early postal history covers and the first franked stamps of 1828. These were 2 times 2d newspaper duty stamps, one being red and the other being black. Unfortunately, the black-looking one was originally red but had oxidised, thus over time had turned black. There were then a number of crown stamp strikes showing the development of the mark. In 1853 they started to use numeral franking stamps, mainly in the two main towns of Hobart and Launceston - something up to 400. The first pictural set of stamps issued on 28th May 1900 were show on a first day cover address to Germany and posted from Hobart. Pat then displayed the Mount Wellington 1d stamp and described the vast variations that occurred through the saga of perforations and then the changes of paper. He highlighted the characteristics of the Tasmanian being thrifty and pragmatic in solving a problem at minimum cost, but unfortunately no thought of the long-term philatelic nightmare. We then had a frame displaying the next big design, this being the ’Duck-billed Platypus’. Pat had some very impressive examples, by showing proof sets and the De La Rue varying colours and explaining that they were used for post and revenue. First printed in 1880, re-printed in 1888 and finished in 1900 but the government introduced a new tax, so with the money saving classicistic they resurrected the old Platypus die plates and off they went. These have been found still used up to the 1960’s. The second half started with a display of pictorial envelopes. There was a set of 236 printed; these can be found mint relatively easily, but used is difficult. Pat was able to show part of the only known set, although he had to admit some of his collection was philatelic - but very impressive. We then moved on to postal stationery and the fact that you were able to take your own envelope to the Post Office and have it embossed. This meant that there was a plethora of variations. The frame continued showing newspaper wrappers. Because of the history of Tasmania being a penal colony, there were a vast number of postcards showing the prison at Port Arthur. Port Arthur is on a peninsula, joined by a narrow slip of land guarded by dog lookout towers. They seemed to be proud of the building and showed them with the prisoners working - even chain gangs! The postcards then progressed to the times the building had changed in their use after the prison had closed and then there were a few modern-coloured postcards. Pat finally showed a range of railway stamps and told a good story of how he managed to get a used application of a railway package stamp from a wooden package back to the UK. What a wonderful presentation. I don’t know how Pat has been able to remain sane; the complication and variation of the stamps by the Tasmania’s thrifty approach is mind-blowing. Members' Presentation – Postcards 25th January 2023 Ian, our Chairman, thanked the 10 members who gathered at Bix, despite to very foggy conditions. Forthcoming events include the Chairman’s evening on Tasmania. Preparations for the ever popular Auction on 8th March, commencing at 7.45 pm sharp, continued to go well, with the viewing scheduled for Feb 22nd. Members were asked to attend the auction in strength, given the importance to the Club’s finances. Ian also gave an apology for not advising that, at the previous meeting, where members gave a display over 2 Frames, Anne’s display on “The Seductive Power of Gold” had actually been previously awarded a prestigious Gold Medal, for which she was warmly congratulated by all present. Ian opened the evening with an Argentine postcard in tribute to Dante Alighieri, who wrote “The Divine Comedy”, an Italian narrative poem begun c. 1308 and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. Ian also commented that tonight was Burns’ nights,