Members’ Displays - any subject, any period
Our meeting was originally intended to be a display of Army Officials 1896-1904 by David Milsted FRPSL. However, due to personal circumstances David Milsted reluctantly had to withdraw from displaying to us on that day. Instead we opted to hold an open meeting whereby members could bring along any military-related items from their collection – up to 30 sheets (i.e. two frames). In addition there was industrial action taken by one of the rail unions (i.e. banning overtime working – an action short of a strike) from Monday 3rd to Saturday 8th July inclusive but we decided to go ahead with our meeting as, in the majority of cases, trains would still be running, albeit some may have been on a reduced timetable. We had 10 members in total turn up (it should have been 11 but one member had been bitten on his foot which resulted in him being unable to walk and so could not attend - I don’t know who bit him!). 8 out of the 10 who did turn up had material to show and so we had a wonderful diverse afternoon of displays - thank you to all who attended and supported us. Now to the rest of you or more importantly those living in the London and surrounding areas within easy travelling distance of the Union Jack Club in Waterloo: why don’t you join us - we are a friendly Society and very informal, you will be made most welcome even if you don’t display. We are here to answer your queries and questions on any subject.
First to show was our President, Robin Davis (only because he was sitting on the front row and got in first!). He put up five sheets, but only one cover, connected with the 1963 RAF Amateur Radio Society Expedition to the Kuria Muria Islands, which lie about 40km off the off the south eastern coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea. The others were an article on the Expedition which appeared in the February 1964 edition of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) Bulletin.
Michael Dobbs was next to show with a two frame display of WW1 APO ‘S’ series cancellations (datestamps, Krag machines and skeleton datestamps) mainly from France, but also Italy and Germany. These were on both covers and postcards and the display also included many picture postcards of the areas where the APOs were located.
Then it was the turn of Peter Burrows with a small selection of Donald McGill “censored” comic postcards of WW1 in both English and French. However, his main display was a selection of WW2 labels of various types and wording, including Naval censors and items from Malta and India. There were various labels inscribed “Examined for Flag Officer in Charge Liverpool” and Base Censor Forwarded unopened to London FS as well as another one with two copies of the A600 type censor 12136 applied. He also included a WW1 parcel censor label from Egypt.
The contribution by Peter High was essentially about two WW2 covers connected with his collection of Italian hospital ships. Two such ships (Gradisca and Aquilea) were seized by the Germans in September 1943 following the surrender of the Italian forces. Both ships then became German hospital ships. Both previously worked on the Libya to Naples route and were also involved in the Spanish civil war. The cover was addressed to an officer with the French Azzure Division and was accompanied with various photographs and mail connected with that Division. He also showed material from the British hospital ship HMHS Maine which was also involved in the Spanish Civil War.
He was followed by Lorraine Maguire who showed a miscellaneous selection of WW2 covers sent by NZ personnel serving in the Army, RAF and naval services back home to NZ. They were cancelled with a variety of FPO datestamps, including NZ FPOs in Egypt. Many of the envelopes were from various organisations such as the National Patriotic Fund Board, YMCA and Church Army.
Then it was Peter Burrows again who showed a second display (he simply turned around the sheets on his first showing!) and continued with a variety of naval censor labels, including more from Naval Control Liverpool and Naval Censorship London; Canadian and Australian censor labels, some handwritten or typewritten; Indian WW1 censors and RAF censor labels and finally a selection of his Boer War censor labels.
He was followed by Geoff Hanney with a showing of Indian FPOs and British FPOs allocated to Indian units in WW1. The display included a selection of covers from the Western Front and a few from the IEF in Egypt. A second frame was from WW2 which started with a few picture postcards of Indian soldiers in uniform from one individual (a Chaplain - the Rev F.R. Taggart) writing to his daughter. He had travelled from the UK to Egypt, Syria and South Africa and then back to the UK.
Tony Stanford was the last but one to show with British stamps used on mail during the Boer War the majority of which came from the late Ken Griffiths collection (a former member who left the Society in 1977 and sadly died in 2006, an avid collector of all Boer War material!); there was a selection of mail which included parcel labels, book post, parcel wrappers, luggage labels, etc. The display also included ship letters written by soldiers on their way to the Boer War and posted in Malta with various receiving marks in the UK. Also shown were covers with cork NFF cancels of the Natal Field Force and later octagonal cancels.
Finally it was the turn of Nick Colley who put up a small selection (four sheets) of RAF POW items in WW2 which included a Polish airman and a Canadian airman. He also showed a civilian cover from Czechoslovakia addressed to a Czech airman in No 311 Squadron RAF in Prague.