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Winter 2016 Newsetter
THE RED CROSS POSTAL MESSAGE SCHEME
IAN JAKES
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been passing messages between relatives and prisoners of war held in enemy territories since the 19th century. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Red Cross workers passed short written messages between these groups. The practice continued in the Boer War, in WWI and in the Spanish Civil War, the procedure becoming more sophisticated with the passage of time and continued use.
At the beginning of WWII in 1939, a convention was entered into by many of the countries engaged in warfare, including Germany, France and the UK (but not USSR or Japan), with ICRC to govern the role of the Red Cross in the war. Article 79 of the Convention allowed the Red Cross to pass information or enquiries about POWs. The WWII postal message scheme came into being.
The scheme provided for the general public to purchase Form 61 (in the UK from post offices at one shilling each). Form 61 appeared in many different formats throughout the world. The head of the form provided space for the name and address of the person to whom the form was to be sent, The common theme was that the outgoing message to the addressee must be printed in block capital letters in either English, French or German on the front of the form and must not exceed twenty-five words in length. Form 61 was then delivered to the Red Cross office nearest to the writer of the message.
An example of the next stage of the postal message scheme is shown on this 1943 cover from the British Red Cross Council in Trinidad and Tobago addressed to the Red Cross HQ in Geneva, Switzerland. The words ‘Postal Message Scheme’ and the Red Cross marking are on the front of the cover. The usual procedure was to place the completed Form 61s, in this case delivered to the local Red Cross office at Port of Spain, Trinidad, in an envelope for onward transmission to Red Cross HQ in Switzerland. Like all international mail in wartime, this cover has been opened and inspected by a postal censor, in this case by examiner 4969, as evidenced by the censor label, which has resealed the envelope.
The Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Council hand stamp is on the reverse of the cover, where the letters ‘AX’ in red in a circle suggest the work of a second censor. Probably, the requests for information in the envelope were about missing persons or addresses to West Indian POWs.
Each Form 61 received by the Red Cross in Geneva would be sent by them to the Red Cross Office nearest to the addressee. Once received by him, a reply not exceeding twenty-five words in block letters in one of the three authorised languages would be completed on the back of Form 61 and sent back to the enquirer, in a reverse of the procedure described above. Several months could elapse before a reply was received,
The postal message scheme was financed partly by the sale of Forms 61, partly by national governments and partly by donations. Trinidad & Tobago, in fact, advertised for donations. This cover, locally used in Trinidad, bears an economy envelope label so it could be reused on official mail addressed to Australia. The label has a request for donations: ‘THINK OF THE WOUNDED and help them now/ through the RED CROSS’, followed by ‘Cheques to the Colony Treasurer, British Red Cross Society, PO Box 357, Port of Spain’.
The use of these labels was a common practice in WW2.
VELOPOST
SANDRA POOLE
Velopost, set up in late 2011, is a postal delivery service that operates in Bristol, Bath and Edinburgh, Originally, mail was collected just from businesses and organisations, sorted and stamped and then delivered by bicycle to addresses within that area. An electric Nissan Leaf is used to transport mail between Bristol, Bath and Edinburgh and for bigger jobs In February 2015, the first collection box in Bristol, bright red and green, was installed in the Tourism office at the Waterfront. This allowed the non-business user or small trader to take advantage of the service. Other letterboxes have been set up since in October and November at five other locations where stamps may also be purchased. Letters are charged according to size and weight, and must be able to pass through standard letterboxes (no thicker than 20mm). There are three stamps available, no value indicated. The small letter charge is 42p, the large 63p and a packet 96p. The stamps are not cancelled. When a letter is addressed to another area, the price is 49p and Royal Mail is used for onward delivery.
The green stamp should be on top cover (local). The pinkish stamp should be on bottom cover (national). The top letter was incorrectly charged at the national, 49p rate.
A VERY GOOD FRIEND
MINOU BUTTON
I am lucky in having three very good Japanese friends, Sachiko, Kimiko and Akiko. I have known Sachiko for some 20 years, may be more, and we met through lace-making circles. She speaks no English, I speak no Japanese and French is out of the question, but we communicate extremely well when we are together and never have a dull moment. About once a year, unannounced, she appears on the doorstep always accompanied by a companion and a driver; she even came with a grandson and a granddaughter once. She is not young and neither am I, and the last time she came, she cried when she left, which worried me greatly. But all is well, her Christmas card arrived today, contained in a padded envelope, with a cancellation- 10. XII. 15 JAP. She knows Bryan and I collect stamps and on one occasion when she came, she offered us two stamps and sang them- she even inspired Douglas Harvey to do a musical display with others, The envelope has many stamps on the front. Inside the envelope, was the Christmas card and envelope- all written in Japanese- and a little packet of stamps she collected for us, contained, of course, in a little Japanese silk bag she made herself by hand. It is lovely to know she is well and has cared enough to collect these all year long. A very good friend indeed.
THE CHURCH LADS' BRIGADE
CHRIS TENNANT
On behalf of one of our members, I recently sold on eBay, a previously unidentified 'Cinderella' stamp/label.
Printed in pale green, it is inscribed 'Fight the Good Fight' and 'One Penny' with an overprint in black reading 'C.L.B. Prisoner of War Fund' Research has revealed that C.L.B. stands for the Church Lads' Brigade, which was formed in 1891 and still exists today with many branches around the world.
It was founded by Walter Mallock Gee who was, at the time, Secretary to the Junior Division of the Church of England Temperance Society. Originally the St.Andrew’s Lads' Brigade based in Fulham, the company became known as the Pioneer Company of the Church Lads' Brigade. Walter Gee had always indended that the Brigade would be wholly part of the Anglican Church, rather than interdenominational like the already established Boys Brigade.
By the end of 1892, further companies had been formed in Winnipeg, Canada and in Newfoundland and by 1908, there were some 70,000 members in 1300 companies. With the outbreak of the First World War, it is estimated that 250,000 Brigade members enlisted, while here, the Brigade contributed two entire Service Battalions (16th and 19th) of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, which became known as the Churchmen’s Battalions.
During the War, some 20,000 Church Lads were killed, with a further 20,000 wounded. More than 1,000 medals for bravery, including 21Victoria Crosses, were awarded to CLB members. I have not been able to establish whether the Prisoner of War Fund was intended for prisoners taken during the first World War or the second.
Incidentally, the stamp sold for £16.
LOST IN TRANSLATION
DAVID SHIPSTONE
I came across this gem as I was struggling through an article in Archiv für deutsche Postgeschichte (Archive for German Postal History) Vol.S/84, a German philatelic periodical, which can be a wonderful resource – but published in German. At least I can always look at the illustrations and, very helpfully, since this volume stems from the 1984 UPU Congress in Hamburg, each is accompanied by a caption, which is translated into both French and English. At first, though, I was quite taken aback by the English caption below this picture of a Danish mail coach: ‘Spherical Danish mail coach.
‘Spherical Danish mail coach. The Danish postal administration had mail coaches built in this shape at the end of the 18th century to prevent blind passengers from travelling along ’
Obviously this would have worked because they would have found it hard to climb on and could easily have fallen off. But surely the Danes wouldn’t have treated their blind people like that, would they? Of course they wouldn’t. The German version of the caption actually refers to ‘blinden Passagieren’, i.e. stowaways – passengers who couldn’t be seen, not passengers who couldn’t see! And this appeared long before we ever had Google Translate. Still, easily done! (You will no doubt remember that this coach appeared on a stamp, Winter 2015 NL, Ed.)
MEETINGS REPORTS
"Overprints and Errors": David Gabe and Brian Phipps, 22 January 2016
David Gabe opened the evening with many examples of stamps with overprints. These included currency surcharge or revaluation, country reassignment and official or specific purpose usage. Brian Phipps followed with examples of used G.B. stamps with overprints. The first part concluded with some interesting examples of forgeries, including some recent fake G.B. Machin stamps.
The second part was devoted to errors. Brian Phipps opened with some remarkable printers' errors in GB stamps. He also showed a few examples of thematic collections which he had initiated. David Gabe then took designers' errors as his theme, with examples of inaccuracies in stamp design. These included incorrect music, wrong cartography and portraiture error. Mick Inger thanked the speakers for producing an evening of great philatelic entertainment. (D.H.).
"Denmark in the World Wars": Chris and Birthe King, 8 January 2016
The first part of the evening was a taken up with an illustration through postal history of the effect of World War 1 on neutral Denmark. In a PowerPoint presentation, Chris King explained that, because of the vicinity to the German state of Schleswig Holstein, Denmark was inevitably involved. The state had a high proportion of Danish-speaking men, who were conscripted into the German army and Danish was disallowed in correspondence. The display of censored letters from soldiers, prisoners, nurses and volunteer servicemen was complemented with other interesting postal items from the Danish West Indies and Internment camps in Denmark.
In the second part of the evening, Birthe introduced her Open Philately display of Denmark in World War II, by giving members some details of the requirements which have now been set for National Open Class competitions. Together with a 50% philatelic content, the display frames included postcards, newspapers, posters, identification papers, badges and arm-bands. On a more personal note, her late father had been involved with the anti-nazi resistance movement in Denmark. Mike Siverns thanked the speakers and commented on the excellence of the displays. (D.H.).
East Essex Scout Mail and Africa": Sandra Poole and Gerry Rose, 4 December 2015
The first half of the evening was taken up by Sandra Poole's display of East Essex Scout mail. The Scouts' and Guides' Christmas mail delivery service commenced in 1981 and in the following year, Beacon Hill Scouts issued a set of attractive stamps. These were initially priced at 5p for local post and 10p for further afield, The tariff increased during the 1990's. Some covers were shown, many of which had high quality cancellations. The delivery service became widespread in Essex, with mail originating in several towns. Some interesting varieties of stamp design were shown. Some stamps were perforate and some were overprinted. Colour variations in printing were also evident.
In the second part, Gerry Rose presented a display of stamps from Africa. Starting with the pre- Union of South African States stamps, a tour of the continent followed, including examples of the Crown Agents classics. More recent stamps had interesting thematic designs. Chris Tennant thanked the speakers. (D.H.)
"An Evening with John Jackson", 20 November 2015
Curaçao and Suriname have been Dutch from the 17th century. In 1870 Royal Mail provided the shipping connections. These were taken over by the Dutch KWIM company in 1883, which also brought mail from Haiti. Other countries' shipping companies operated through the last century and provided a more international service. The display featured covers with cancellations from a variety of ships. John Jackson then introduced a collection of postal communications from prisoners and internees of the two world wars. In World War I, some internees suffering from ill health were transferred to Swiss hotels and their correspondence received local cachets. Postcards of the hotels and photographs illustrated these covers. Finally, in World War II, correspondence from Dutch prisoners in Borneo and Japan was featured. Allen Wood gave the vote of thanks and commented on the high quality of the display material. (D.H.).
"Mainly Black"; Mike Brindle, 6 November 2015
This was a display of a thematic collection of black stamps. The choice of black as a colour for a stamps was originally obvious, as illustrated by the penny black and the Brazilian 'bullseyes', but its limitations became apparent with cancellations in black and overprints, also in black. Mike Brindle's collection has a wide range of exhibits, some unusual, but all of which have black as the dominant colour. Printing techniques and paper selection can affect the appearance, and the inclusion of a second colour as background or border can produce enhancement. Black is for mourning and traditional photography, but it has also been chosen by a wide range of postal administrations, including GB, for the dramatic effect which can be produced. A most intriguing display. (D.H.)
MISCELLANY
German Picture Postcard, 18.12.1918, from somewhere in Germany to Wolverhampton in Great Britain-
Bryan Button
This was the winning entry in the 2015 Christmas Social Egg Cup competition.
In English "Somewhere in Germany" In French: 18 December 18 To you and Grandmother Happy Christmas and best wishes for happiness, health and prosperity for the New Year. Robert Deweert 291.E.M Belgian A(rmy)
Cachet in French and Dutch 22-23 XII Military Post Belgium
Addressee: Mademoiselle G. Rigler 25,Crowther Rd, Wolverhampton Angleterre (England)
Early Telephone Kiosks in Copenhagen - Sandra Poole
In the previous issue, I showed a 1913 postcard of Lille Triangel, with kiosk in situ, and wrote that I couldn’t reconcile this with what we saw there. However, since then, I have purchased a picture that matches my photo perfectly. The photo shows the modern replacement. Progress?
Trollope- Sandra Poole
As you all know, Trollope was responsible for the introduction of the first pillar boxes to the Channel Islands in 1852 and Carlisle in 1853. Pillar boxes were erected on five streets in London in 1855 and, as I wrote, Royal Mail was commemorating his bicentenary by attaching a special plaque to a postbox on each of these streets.
Danish labels to ensure collectors’ stamps are carefully postmarked- Sandra Poole
I wrote about these in the Summer Newsletter. I now know that there are two types of these labels- one in pink that ensures the postmark appears on one corner of the stamp, one in blue for a centred postmark. They were available in blocks of 25, but I am not sure if they are still used.
Post Office Van with Star Wars Stamp- Sandra Poole
I spotted this on November 2nd 2015 and took the photo. The stamp issue was on 20th October 2015.
Local Scout Christmas Posts Update- Sandra Poole.
Derby Scouts are still working their way through the million stamps they had to purchase all in one go in order to keep their costs realistic.This was in 2013.
Bingham had been using the same design since 1991, until it was changed in 2014. This was used again this Christmas- see below. The stamp shown is actually scanned from a cover sent from Bingham to Radcliffe-on-Trent, which is outside their delivery area. R-O-T also receive mail from Bingham. However, both groups have an agreement to swap this ‘outside delivery area’ mail with each other.
Radcliffe-on-Trent have been operating a Christmas post since 1981, the year they were legalised. They have again used the stamp that was first issued in 2012. This was shown in the Winter 2015 Newsletter.
Keyworth introduced a new stamp this Christmas; the charity benefiting from their generosity is Maggie’s.
Tollerton Scout Post: 1999-2014 I found, when I visited Tollerton, that the post was not running this Christmas, and phone calls to the group’s chairman and treasurer confirmed that it would probably not run again; it had made just £35 last year, whilst a recent bonfire night had raised £2,000! The service was started in 1999 by the then Group Scout Leader, now Treasurer, Peter Foale, who got the idea from R-O.T. Scouts. His purpose was to raise the profile of the village and to make money for Group funds. He created the stamps and printed them himself, starting when the rate was just10p’ The post was used mainly by the elderly, for whom it provided a real service, but usage had dropped from 3-400 down to c.100 last year. The Secretary, Peter Mawer, had done a lot of the delivering himself and it was a lot of effort for little return. Thanks to Penny Mawer and P Foale for the information they gave me for this item.
Clever at Cancelling- Douglas Harvey
Looking at our Christmas post, I noticed that Royal Mail has some clever software, which is now used for cancelling the stamps. Not that they actually cancel all the stamps, but when they do, the wavy line always gets the exact position of the stamp. In the illustration, the Christmas card envelope was correctly addressed with the stamp in the top right corner, but the envelope was inserted sideways into the canceller machine. The machine interpreted the stamp to be on the left side of the envelope, where it received the wavy lines.
Commemorative Airmail Etiquette- Sandra Poole
I received this etiquette commemorating 100 years of Air Mail in Australia this Christmas. Wikipedia tells me that the actual date it started was 16-18 July 1914 and yet, despite receiving several letters a year from there, this is the first one I’ve seen (and this one came from a friend,) I am presuming it must have been available for just a short time.
‘Lest we Forget’- Sandra Poole
Connsidering how few and far between stamped letters are nowadays, I was very lucky to receive this special slogan postmark sent on 9.11.2015 and delivered on Remembrance Day, 11.11.15.
Self-Adhesive Stamps- Sandra Poole. Still having trouble removing paper from the back of self-adhesive stamps that you want to mount in your collection? Douglas Harvey has found a solution in ‘De-Solv-it Sticky Stuff Remover’. This is a light petroleum liquid that softens the adhesive, allowing stamp removal (not to mention chewing gum, wet paint and tar!). I got mine from Lakeland.
Whistl Mail- Sandra Poole
This time a year ago, I wrote that I had not received any mail with the Whistl (formerly TNT) logo and an email to their website had elicited the reply that they were, ‘for now’, just using their licence number (002) at the bottom of the Royal Mail indicium. On 30 January this year, I received the above. Any earlier sightings?
SOCIETY AND OTHER NEWS
Results of the Eggcup Competition- twelve members took part in this annual event, with Bryan Button being declared the winner by popular vote. His winning entry appears in this newsletter.
Award-former member and President, Adrian Ritoridis, has received an award for a paper entitled ‘Delayed Mail in Occupied France’.
Members’ Displays to other Societies- Barbara and Mick Inger presented displays to Barnsley PS on 25 November and Mick also gave a display at Alfreton PS on 4 December.
Annual Subscriptions are now overdue- if you are unable to attend meetings, please send a cheque for £10, payable to ‘Notts Philatelic Society’ ,
Forthcoming Displays at our Society:
5 Feb Rumania, 1940-1948 George Kirkham
19 Feb Zeppelin Mail Doug Stubbings
4 Mar Moving the Mails by Rail Yvonne Wheatley
18 Mar Commonwealth Antarctica Brian Clayton
1 Apr Three Times around the World Minou Button
6 Apr Annual Lunch/Dinner
15 Apr AGM & One sheet displays
Displays at the Greater Nottingham Co-operative PS- 7pm start.
10 Feb All Things Military Doug Stubbings
9 Ma Early GB Dennis Boot
13 Apr Terminology or Polish to 1960 Martin Wilson
Displays at Loughborough PS
11 Feb Visit from the Belgian Study Circle
25 Feb Visit from the West Africa Study Circle
10 Mar Five sheets or pay a pound Members
24 Mar TBA
14 Apr the Franking System in 3 Sections John Colton
28 Apr Visit from the Railway PS
Displays at Radcliffe-on-Trent PS
25 Feb Derby Society Visit
10 Mar TBA
24 Mar Three ‘Ts’ Tony Clayton
7 Apr Red, White and Blue Members
21 Apr Commonwealth Antarctic, 1945-65. Brian Clayton
Displays at Derby PS
11 Feb Competition Night
25 Feb Team Visit to R-O-T PS- 4 Displays
10 Mar Bosnia up to WWI John Anthony
14 April Australian Stamps and PH Bill Whitaker
Stamp Fairs at the Nuthall Temple Centre- Nott’m Rd., NG16 1DP. Wed 10 February and 13 April
Phoenix Trophy- 6 May at Shirlands Golf Course, 7pm
The World’s First Cinderella Stamp Congress is to be hosted by the Cinderella Stamp Club of Great Britain from Friday 16 Sep to Sunday 18 Sep 2016 at the Royal Philatelic Society London and other London venues, also celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Baltespanneren,the Swedish Cinderella Stamp Club. It is timed to take place towards the end of Stampex, which will also be featuring Cinderella exhibits. The congress will commence on the Friday evening with a welcoming drinks and buffet reception between 5 & 8pm at the RPSL, with an invited display from members of the CSC and a special souvenir for all attending. The subject for Sat. morning is ‘World Revenues’.The afternoon is hosted by Baltespanneren. A research paper will be presented and their members will also present displays, after which everyone is encouraged to display any aspect of Scandinavian cinderellas. After a refreshment break, there will be a Cinderella and Revenue auction, followed by the Congress dinner. Sunday starts with coffee, followed by a session where the subjects will be poster stamps and locals, with the Meter Mark Study Group holding a separate meeting in the building for those interested. There will be a dealers bourse throughout the day, further displays on subjects not already covered, a meeting of the Lundy Collectors Club. I have missed out a lot- please go to the CSC website for further details.(S.P).
DISCLAIMER: While every care is taken during the production of the reports, neither the editor or Society Officers can accept any liability for views or unintentional publication errors that may occur.