Sadly we only had three entries for the President’s Cup Competition this year (one less than last year!), but nevertheless they provided three clearly distinct topics and were well presented and written up. The winner was Richard Berry with his display of “The Illustrated Christmas Postcards of St Denis Civilian Internment Camp in France (1940-1943)”. The civilian internment camp (for adult males) at La Grande Caserne (large barracks) at St Denis in north Paris opened in August 1940. It was used initially to intern men of British extraction living in the Paris area and the départements of Seine, Seine et Oise and Seine et Marne. Shown in the display was the complete series of Christmas (and New Year) greetings postcards designed and printed by internees at the camp - the displayer is only aware of a maximum of four of the individual cards and for most far less were known. Also shown were two hand-painted (unique) Christmas images on official postcards. The cards often showed images of the main barracks building. As the camp population increased (from an initial 600 to just over 2,000) later cards showed additional accommodation huts on the parade ground at the front of the camp. Cards were printed for the Christmas’ of 1940 to 1943. The camp was liberated on 26 August 1944 therefore no cards were produced for Christmas 1944 onwards. Shown is one of the two designs for Christmas 1941. It shows both the main barrack building and the huts built onto the parade ground.
Second was Lorraine Maguire with her entry on “No 2 New Zealand General Hospital in WW1 at Walton-on-Thames”. In June 1915 the War Office offered the Mount Felix Estate to the NZ War Contingent for use as a Military Hospital with 350 beds. Lorraine showed postcards and told the story of the treatment of NZ soldiers there and at Oatlands Park, until its closure in 1920. In those five years over 27,000 soldiers were treated there, usually by NZ staff. In the St Mary Churchyard 22 soldiers are remembered on the nearest Sunday to ANZAC Day, but it is thought many more are buried there but remain unnamed.
LM1 - In August 1914, after the declaration of war, the War Office requisitioned the Mount Felix Estate at Walton-on-Thames to house British troops. It contained a large Italianate villa in extensive grounds between Walton Bridge and the River Thames. In June 1915, after the British troops moved out, the War Office offered the estate to the New Zealand War Contingent Association for used as a military hospital with 350 beds and an operating theatre. It was officially opened in August 1915 as No 2 New Zealand General Hospital and within two days of its opening the first patients arrived from Gallipoli.
LM2 - In August 1914, after the declaration of war, the War Office requisitioned the Mount Felix Estate at Walton-on-Thames to house British troops. It contained a large Italianate villa in extensive grounds between Walton Bridge and the River Thames. In June 1915, after the British troops moved out, the War Office offered the estate to the New Zealand War Contingent Association for used as a military hospital with 350 beds and an operating theatre. It was officially opened in August 1915 as No 2 New Zealand General Hospital and within two days of its opening the first patients arrived from Gallipoli.
LM3 - A postcard showing a view of a ward at Oatlands Park, during Christmas 1917 and written on 17 February 1918.
Third was Peter Burrows with his entry on “US Mine Force WW1”. During February 1918 Rear Admiral Joseph Strauss was given command of the Mine Forces of the Atlantic Fleet, whose job was to lay mines in Area A of the North Sea Barrage [the largest middle section]. He set up his headquarters in Inverness, Scotland. The mine parts were manufactured in the United States with a special plant at St Juliens Creek, near Norfolk Naval Base, where all the necessary material was received and the mines filled with TNT. A special fleet of 24 Lake cargo carriers was assembled to transport the material across to the eastern coast Scottish ports of Kyle of Lochalsh & Carpach, at the western end of the Caledonia Canal. Half the transport ships crossed in conveys from Norfolk, and the rest from Halifax. Only one of these ships was lost, Lake Moor was sunk by a U-boat off Ireland on 11 April 1918. Over 1,100 American sailors at each base in Inverness & Invergordon, handled 2,000 mines per day under Commander Murfin. After two days laying up to 5,500 mines, the fleet would return to port for their next load. Due to their greater laying capacity they also operated in the British Areas B & C. The American fleet consisted of two protected cruisers USS San Francisco, the flagship under Captain R R Belknap, and USS Baltimore, converted into minelayers, plus 8 purchased converted merchant steamers: USS Roanoke, USS Housatonic, USS Canandaiga, USS Canonicus, USS Shawmut, USS Aroostook, USS Quinnebaug and USS Saranac. They sailed in May 1918 via Halifax, Lamlash, Greenock for Inverness, and began operations in June. The British had started laying mines in Areas B & C in March. A British Destroyer Squadron provided the fleet with an escort from the entrance of the Cromarty Firth to the minefields where they were guarded by a squadron of battleships or battle cruisers. No enemy attack ever occurred, but two U-boats were spotted. Area B was only 10 days from completion before the Armistice. The Americans had laid 56,611 mines out of the barrage total of 70,263.
After the competition the three members gave a few words of explanation on their entries. Then Michael Dobbs gave a display on a small collection of numbered A.C.N. cachets he had acquired over the past couple of years. A.C.N. stood for Allied Censorship Netherlands and he explained that he had such a cover for a number of years but knew nothing about it, so a couple of years ago he started to undertake research online and as a result of that came the article published in our Autumn 2023 Journal (Issue No 337). Since then he had acquired a few more covers and the range of numbers seen now extends from 3002 to 4023. He wondered why there needed to be such a vast range of numbers and a member responded by asking if there was indeed a full range or if the cachets had ad hoc numbers? Richard Berry followed to fill a frame in the last round of the day and showed a few purchases he had made at the Ardingly Stamp & Postcard Fair. Included were an unusual fold out pocket envelope for official sending of Army photographs by the Signal Corps of the US Army during WW2, some censored Spanish civil war mail from 1937/8 with Mallorca labels and some WW1 French illustrated military letter-cards and lastly a bag label sent from the Air Staff at the British Defence Staff Washington (BFPO 2) by surface mail.
