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Jan 10
Though perhaps not as well known as the other campaigns of World War II, the African theatre is no less worthy of study. In West Africa, the conflict centered on two German colonies – Togoland, and Kamerun.
Several factors conspired to leave both colonies in a precarious situation; not only were their defenses
German Prisoner from the Cameroon campaign.
weak, but they were surrounded on all sides by colonies of Germany’s enemies – the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium.
Kamerun, in particular, was defended by only 1,000 German soldiers, bolstered by a few thousand native Schutztruppe. Though an initial British attack from Nigeria was repelled, a combined Belgian/French incursion from the Congo in the south was more successful, eventually leading to the fall of the capital, Douala, in September 1914. A defeat of the garrison in Garoua followed in June 1915, while the last significant holdout, the city of Yaounde, was conquered shortly thereafter, when the remaining German troops retreated into neutral Spanish Guinea.
Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly recounts these events in his Military Operations: Togoland and the Cameroons. He writes:
“On the 17th of February, at the request of the Govenor-General of Fernando Po, General Dobell forwarded a telegraphic message from Ebermaier to the German Government, reporting that lack of munitions had obliged him to abandon the Cameroons and take refuse in the Spanish territory with the entire German force, including all his sick and wounded…the German numbers which passed the frontier…totaled about 945 Germans, of whom some 400 were non-combatants, and 14,000 natives.”
These troops were interred by the Spanish, and were moved throughout the following years
Price: $250
to prisoner camps in Spain. The card offered here is from just such a soldier.
An attractive picture postcard depicting the Entrance to the Audience Chamer inZARAGOZA, to OSNABRUCH from a German Prisoner of War from the Cameroons shipped to Spain, showing SPAINISH RED CROSS “croix rouge espagnole/correspondance des/prisonniers de guerre/franc de port” and “oficinas de la cruz roja/paseo del ebro, 85/zaragoza” hands tamps in red, as well as “Internation
ales Friedensbureau” handstamp in violet. Also bears French oval censor cachet and clear Berne transit cds.
A scarce card, ex-”Wilkin”
Price: $250
Oct 28
Pan American World Airways – Pan Am – was the most significant international player in the US airline industry throughout most of the twentieth century. Collectors are perhaps most familiar with the Clipper service, inaugurated in August 1934 with a flight from Miami to Buenos Aires, Argentina by a Sikorsky S-42 “Flying Boat.” Names like the China Clipper, Southern Clipper, and Caribbean Clipper would become famous throughout the 1930s.
Pan Am’s service, however, was not immune to the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour as the cover shown here exemplifies.
Rated $1.50 and tied by PENANG 2.DE.41 cds, this cover was to be sent by airmail to Montreal, Canada (as per typed notation at the left). It was not posted early enough to be carried on the Pan-Am Clipper flight of November 29, and no further flight took place before service was suspended on December 7, 1941. It appears the alternative route was to send the letter trans-pacific by sea, as it has a SAN FRANCISCO RESEALING TAPE at left over the brown MAYALA censorship tape (and violet CENSOR 6 handstamp). From San Francisco it traveled to its destination, where it received three MONTREAL STATION H arrival backstamps.
A clean, sound, and scarce cover. Available on eBay here.
Jul 24
To me, among the most fascinating areas of postal history are the colonial campaigns of the European powers. While I have traditionally focused on the British (and German) colonies in East Africa, this particular find had me reading up on French colonial history.
The Spahis were light cavalry regiments of the French army, composed principally of native Algerians. They were active in the French rule of Algeria, the early days during which this cover was sent. Guillaume Stanislas Marey-Monge (1796-1863) – the likely “Monsieur Marey” to whom this letter is addressed – was a significant figure in the French conquest of Algeria. A senior military commander during the 1830s, he was named Officier de la Legion d’Honneur in 1835, and was appointed to the rank of Colonel in 1837. Though he returned to France shortly thereafter, he found himself once again in Algeria in 1841 to take command of the 2e Regiment de Chasseurs d’Afrique in the Second Algerian Campaign. A nice clean cover to an influential figure in French colonial history.
Stampless folded letter, without contents, rated with 11 script notation. Postmarked with CHANTILLY cds, addressed to MONSIEUR MAREY the COLONEL OF THE SPAHIS REGULARS (Colonel des Spahis Reguliers) in ALGER, with clear ALGER / POST / F AFR cds arrival backstamp.
SOLD
Mar 10
On October 11, 1899, the Second Anglo-Boer War broke out, with Boer incursions into the British territories of Natal and Cape Colony. The ensuing disruption of mail service required the creation of various handstamps to be applied to mail that could no longer be delivered.
Price: SOLD
One type is recorded having been used in Durban: it is a two-lined boxed marking “Stopped by Censor, Return to Sender.” A second, recorded as used later in the War (1901), is a rubber “Communication Suspended” handstamp with an accompanying “Undeliverable at” marking, followed by “a manuscript word, as well as the returned letter-postmarks of Bloemfontein and Natal.” (Rich, Philately of the Anglo-Boer War).
Shown here is the most well-known of the handstamps, though nevertheless an uncommon strike.
The cover is franked with a 1p QV definitive, cancelled with a DURBAN 30 OC 99 cds, addressed to HEIDELBERG, Transvaal. It bears the violet boxed MAIL SERVICE SUSPENDED handstamp, with a RETURNED LETTER OFFICE 16/11/99 cds. There is a small adhesion at left, but it is otherwise sound.
An attractive and scarce Boer War item.
PRICE: SOLD
Dec 16
I’ve been told that I seem to have an affinity for “ugly” covers, though I find this suggestion rather misleading. I prefer instead to think that I have a soft spot for covers with “character.” Truthfully, these can sometimes be one in the same- take the example shown here, for instance.
It is a well-traveled cover, franked with 3c KGV Admiral issue, addressed to Pte Gordon Parker, whose enlistment papers inform us was born in Newport, Hants, Nova Scotia but at his time of enlistment in 1917 was living in Whitinsville Massachusetts, USA.
The cover was addressed to him at Bramshott Camp, which, along with Bordon and Whitley, was one of the three camps in the Aldershot Command Area. As the Canadian Postal Corps apparently did not find Pte. Parker in camp, the cover was redirected to the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the British Expeditionary Force in France, finally makings it way back to Dudley Avenue, Whitinsville, USA. The notation “ADD[RESS] UNKNOWN” was crossed out and ENGLAND written over it, but it appears unlikely this letter ever reached its intended recipient. It bears two unclear backstamps and an oval Halifax marking on the front, though as there are no apparently DLO markings, it is possible that Pte. Parker was found after all.
Pte. Parker does not appear in Canada’s Book of Remembrance, and as the cover lacks the dreadful KIA or MIA acronyms, we can be optimistic that he survived the war and returned home.
Perhaps not the most aesthetically pleasing cover, with typical faults as expected, including missing piece at upper left, but for a collector looking for a striking example of the trials and tribulations that accompanied mail delivery during wartime, it is a lovely piece.
Price: $60
