FORCES POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY JOURNAL Whole …...provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing

FORCES POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY

JOURNAL

Whole Number 285

Autumn 2010 Vol XXIX No 3

ISSN 1752-0975

© Forces Postal History Society and Authors

From Gerald Ellot. Here the censor has obliterated the slogan “Buy National War Bonds”.

Any theories as to why? Or was it just some Jobsworth earning his keep?

Journal No 285 Autumn 2010

Contents

WW1 censored cover: Gerald Ellott 69 Tatty but Interesting: Colin Tabeart 70 - 71 The First Maori War: Gerald Ellott 72 Government Advice: Jim Findlay 73 BFPO Closures 74 Members’ Queries: Messrs Gillham & McGaw 75 - 76 Feedback: Messrs Gould, Swarbrick, Kennedy, Evans 77 - 79 British Internees in Holland: Andrew Brooks 80 - 88 Air Mail Postcard: Peter Burrows 89 Ceylon Air News Letter: Peter Burrows 90 Klip River Camp 1903: Jim Findlay 91 - 92 Go Out and Do It Again: John Leathes 93 - 95 Simi, not Rhodes: Philip Kaye 96 - 100 A Japanese Naval Censor: Kiyoshi Kashiwagi, CCSG, and Nick Colley 101 - 102 The Bombardment of Acre: review by Nick Colley 103 Why I like this one: Nick Colley 104

Editorial Another 36-pager with, I hope, something for everyone. This time there was very little in

way of colour in the various articles, certainly not enough to justify a 4-page colour section, so we are back to mono for this edition.

I keep banging on about this, but it is important. Would authors please give full chapter and verse to those previous authors or documents that they quote in articles? It is quite useless to say, for example, “Proud states …”. Mr Proud has written many dozens of publications and the same can be said about most of the authors frequently quoted. If you do not give full details, how can a reader check on your quote, which should always be possible? You may have misquoted, or misunderstood. It is sloppy and unprofessional not to give other readers full access to your sources. For a classic example of how to do it see page 100. End of sermon.

Editor’s Contact details: Colin Tabeart, 238 Hunts Pond Road, Fareham. PO14 4PG. [email protected]

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Tatty but Interesting – an 1851 piece carried by HMS Calliope Colin Tabeart

The illustration shows what remains of an outer wrapper from Australia to New Zealand

in 1851. Despite its ghastly condition in the eyes of pot hunters it has a PAID SHIP LETTER SYDNEY stamp dated 24 Nov 1851 and an AUCKLAND arrival datestamp of 20 Dec 1851. It is also endorsed “per Shamrock via Sydney”. I bought it at London 2010 because, despite its poor condition, it showed a Sydney departure date, an Auckland arrival stamp, plus the name of the ship, Shamrock, and it was a relatively early item of mail from Australia to New Zealand. So I thought it should be easy enough to research … wrong!

Careful checking of the contemporary Australian newspapers on the excellent Australian Government website1 proved only that the Shamrock, a paddle steamer belonging to the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, was engaged in the inter-colonial trade, operating at 1 http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

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mailto:[email protected]


that time on the Melbourne-Sydney route. The dates of her arrivals and departures at Melbourne and Sydney respectively left no time for her to have taken a mail to New Zealand. So how did it get there? I had missed a trick by thinking that the named ship (Shamrock) was the ship that was nominated to carry the letter from Sydney to Auckland – fortunately I referred the cover to our expert New Zealand member, Gerald Ellott.

Gerald quickly confirmed the status of the Shamrock as a coastal steamer operating the Melbourne-Sydney run and went on to explain that the dates shown by the Sydney and Auckland stamps coincided exactly with the departure from Sydney and arrival at Auckland of the 28-gun frigate HMS Calliope as recorded in the New Zealander newspaper dated 21 Dec. So we now have a good itinerary: Shamrock left Melbourne 20 Nov and arrived at Sydney on 23 Nov, whence Calliope took the letter on 24 Nov to Auckland, arriving on 20 Dec.

Postage rates consist of 5d prepaid in red (at right) and 2d collect. The 5d rate was made up of the 3d outgoing NSW ship letter rate plus the 2d intercolonial rate from Melbourne to Sydney. Although Victoria had separated from NSW a few months before this letter was sent the postage rates remained at 2d for the Melbourne-Sydney leg for a period after separation. On arrival at Auckland the letter was charged 2d, the standard New Zealand inland rate at the time.

HMS Calliope was a 28-gun frigate built at Sheerness Dockyard in 1837. She played an active part in the first Opium War 1841-2, and in the first Maori War 1845-7, for which she was awarded battle honours. She ceased active service in 1860 and was finally broken up at Devonport in 1883. The picture shows a typical 28-gun frigate of the period. Although she is pierced for only 11 guns on the broadside on the main gun deck the remaining 6 guns would have consisted of bow and stern chasers.

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The First Maori War 1845-1847 Gerald Ellott, RDP

Below is a page from Gerald’s collection featuring the frigate HMS Calliope, reproduced by kind permission.

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Government Advice – 3 units of alcohol per day? A Snapshot from Jim Findlay

By Ed: this item from Jim is not in any way postal history, but I could not resist it, so here it is. I

consulted with an eminent US naval officer to ask if it might cause offence – he felt not. I asked Jim for a reference, but he was unable to supply.

The USS Constitution (Old Ironsides), as a combat vessel, carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators (i.e. fresh water distillers – not surprisingly – they had yet to be invented).

According to her ship's log, “On July 27, 1798, the USS Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum.” Her mission: “To destroy and harass English shipping.” Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum aboard each. By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home. The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February 1799, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky, and 38,600 gallons of water.

By Ed: Analysis. Rough sums indicate a net intake to the ship of 251,000 gallons of alcohol over a period of about 200 days, or over 2½ gallons per man per day. Since the vast majority of the reported alcohol intake was strong spirit such an intake surely cannot be possible. One also has to ask why she was tasked “To destroy and harass English shipping” since the US and the UK were not at war with each other in 1798. I rather suspect the date of 1798 should read 1812. Comments please!

USS Constitution, the oldest warship still afloat

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BFPO Closures – BFPO Announcement (Originally published in The Sustainer, Journal of The Royal Logistic Corps (Feb 2010) (Vol 18,

No 1))

“Please be advised that the MOD has instructed the closure of some Forces Post Offices (FPOs) that provided support to the UK elements of NATO HQs as a manpower cost saving together with the savings made due to the cost of the contracts for the movement of mail. These savings have to be realised by 30 Sep 2010 and as a consequence the closures will unfortunately have to be made before or around this date. The following BFPO locations will be affected:

SHAPE BFPO 26 Brunssum BFPO 28 Ramstein BFPO 109 Stavanger BFPO 50 Karup BFPO 150 Rome BFPO 65 Milan BFPO 61 Lisbon BFPO 6 Valencia BFPO 62 Norfolk VA BFPO 63

It is with regret that the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) has been instructed to take

this course of action and please understand that this is not a decision made by us but one that we have to adhere to. For further information regarding these closures please contact the Defence Media Centre at MOD Whitehall.”

Resulting from the announcement a petition was sent to Downing Street. The result is given below, the usual Whitehall flannel:

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Members’ Queries Query 343. From John Gillham

At page 22 of his World War II Censor Marks John Daynes wrote: “During the early part of the war some old First WW censor marks (Type CM7) were brought into use. Military use is recorded from Scotland on naval mail (No 2486) and Gibraltar on mail from Government House with the cachets of the Assistant Military Secretary and the Comptroller (2378). Some active service mail was censored with No 2414 in May and Jun 1940. Civilian uses were from Ascension Island (2428) and in the UK on civilian telegrams (Nos 2326, 2329, 2339, 2411, 2421, & 2434).

The cover shown below is from Reykjavik, Iceland, with FPO 306 dated 30 JY 40, re-censored in the UK with GBC 2a “2318”2

Observations

1. The date 30 JY 40 extends the period of use recorded by Daynes. 2. No 2318 is not recorded as used in WW2.

Question

Where was No 2318 applied? At Inverness, or in Northern Ireland?

At page 24 of his work, Daynes wrote: “Another main type of army censor mark was introduced in October 1940 in the UK, where it was used up to the end of 1941. The mark was also used in the Soudan (1940 – 42), Malaya (1940 – 41), West Africa (1941 – 42), Dutch West Indies (1941), Gibraltar (1941 – 42) and in the Middle East. Exceptional usages include Ceylon and India (1942) and CMF (1943).

The illustration below shows a cover from Reykjavik with FPO 306 dated 13 AU 41 and with type A200 censor no 2840. I have a similar cover from Akureyri, Iceland, with FPO 304 dated 30 DE 41 and type A200 censor no 1861. Observation: Type A200 not previously recorded used in Iceland in 1941.

75 2 By Ed: I enhanced the “2318” on the scan so it could be seen easily


Query 344. From Nigel Mc Gaw

The postcard illustrated has the adhesive

cancelled “FRANCE”.

I have never seen this before and wonder the meaning and significance? The naval censor mark is not recorded by Dr Gould in his book on

the subject, so we do not know from what ship it came. I discussed the item with Frank Schofield, who had not come across it before. There were many shipping movements across the Channel to France at this time so the French connection is clear, but why apply a country handstamp instead of the usual security dumb / Krag machine cancels?

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Feedback Cyprus FPO 187 – Journal 284. From Dr Michael Gould

The Cyprus cover shown on page 36 of the Summer Journal was routed through London, which explains the delay. The Postage Due marking is a standard one of the London Foreign Section. I understand 19½p was the European rate from the UK from Feb 1982. That the shortfall is given as 16½p (i.e. allowing the 3p prepaid) suggests that this was treated as a redirection to abroad charged at a single rate. And from Mike Knott

I was stationed in the Suez Canal Zone in the early 1950s and FPO 187 was then at El Ballah (MELF 12). The two datestamps held at the APO were quite distinct – one was a typical Type 1 (DR, thick bars), the other was a variation of this with extra long bars and a centralised date – the one used in the cover illustrated. One cover has a 10 mills Egyptian definitive addressed locally – all camp Pos had a stock of this value for local mail to Egyptian addresses – ours also had the Kink Farouk one as well as the Egypt and Sudan and bars overprints. This is dated May 1951. As time went on less and less mail was sent to banks, hotels, clubs etc in Cairo following redeployment to the Zone and I was the only one to buy them from our camp PO much to the amusement of the postie …

Other covers from El Ballah have the Type 1 dated 23 May 55 and the long bars dated 4 Mar 53. Later I have the long bars type on a registered cover from RAF Nicosia dated 23 Nov 64 and another with type 1 “A” above date for 17 Nov 64. My notes state at RAF Nicosia for a short time then to UNFICYP. I have the long bars from 1153 MCU RAF Limassol dated 15 Mar 68 and from HQ Akrotiri dated 10 Apr 68. During my stay there the official envelopes were stored in a cupboard for use with the economy labels. This was a rich source of FPOs – many of which I sent to John Smith who then persuaded me to join the FPHS.

Query 335 and Feedback at page 38 of Journal No 284. From Bob Swarbrick

Andrew, you write about the hand stamp "Army Signals" in the FPHS Journal. I can remember buying one from a Manchester shop, specialising in ex military gear, it cost 5/-, and was in a neat green tin box, complete with ink pad, bottle of ink, the hand stamp, and something else which I can not now remember, it looked new, and unused. I showed it to a meeting of the Roses PS, whereupon somebody pestered me to sell it to him, which I did, thinking I can always pick up another; sadly, as so often in life, I never went past that shop again. It was at the bottom of Deansgate. After the war, countless shops opened up flogging ex service gear; they were a Mecca for enthusiasts!

Query 340 in Journal 284. From Alistair Kennedy

When “Kennedy & Crabb” was published in 1977 it was not possible to include more information on this interesting provisional combined post and censor mark. I had seen relevant files in Post Office Archives (now BPMA), ref POST33/1640.

Lt DK Hopkyns was appointed an Assistant Director of Army Postal Services, Base, Overseas, on 21 February 1915. The postal address was to be “B.E.F. Mediterranean”. He pointed out to Home Depot that this address was likely to lead to miss-sending of correspondence, and the address was in due course altered to B.M.E.F. or simply M.E.F. Lt Hopkyns, with one clerk, embarked on HMT Dunluce Castle at Avonmouth (with other Base HQ details), sailing on 27 February. He organised a service of collections and despatches on board, in spite of the absence of postal stocks and stores, although stores were eventually obtained from post offices at Malta and Alexandria. A combined date and censor stamp was constructed out of rubber type lent by the ship’s purser. For military reasons (i.e. security) the date was indicated by cipher letters. The key to the dates and places of despatches was communicated to the Assistant Controller of the Inland Section (GPO London) on 15 May, however this information was presumably not considered worth keeping for posterity!

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The journey was: 27 Feb Departed Avonmouth. 7 Mar Arrived Malta 2100 items despatched. 11 Mar Arrived Mudros, there to 25 March. Postal despatches made as opportunity offered. 27 Mar Arrived Alexandria. 3 Apr rest of postal staff (2 NCOs and 12 sappers) arrived 4 Apr Improvised PO on Dunluce Castle closed. 5 Apr Base APO Z opened ashore in Alexandria.

It is clear that March despatch A must be from Malta. B would have been the first despatch from Mudros, on or soon after 11 March. C would have been from a later despatch from Mudros. D could have been either last despatch from Mudros (by 25 March) or first from Alexandria (27 March). I think probably Alexandria (see next para). A in April not recorded, but would have been from Alexandria. B in April would have been the final despatch from Alexandria on 4 April (this assumes no C despatch).

D MR was more likely to have been Alexandria than Mudros on evidence of a correspondence where addressee recorded date of receipt: A (Malta 7 Mar) received 13 Mar (6 days); B Mudros c 11 Mar) received 30 Mar (c19 days); D (if Mudros 25 Mar) received 5 April (11 days), (if Alexandria 27 Mar) received 5 Apr (9 days); BAPOI Z (Alexandria) 17 Apr received 26 Apr (9 days).

The designation B.E.F.M. was used for the March despatches, changed to M.E.F. for B Ap (and presumably also A Ap). Firebrace records colours as black or violet, however all seen by me and recorded were violet. Has anyone seen a black example (perhaps C Mr despatch?) I cannot explain the PAQUEBOT mark on Roger’s cover – it does not appear on the two other covers I have recorded for this despatch, or any other despatch.

A postcard of HMT Dunluce Castle posted on board “off tonight” and postmarked

AVONMOUTH 24 FE 15.

Cover showing the M.E.F. post/censor

stamp for B Ap.

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Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka. From Alistair Kennedy A few years ago I bought a small group of Indian FPO covers, which the vendor had

helpfully attributed to various locations in Sri Lanka. These were:

FPO 630 23.5.88 UC W1-140 Karavadi FPO 769 3.7.88 UC S- 27 Valacheaarai FPO 873 1.7.88 UC E2-306 Trincomalee FPO 949 21.10.88 UC S- 5 Trincomalee FPO 1685 15.12.88 UC E1-169 Mannar

I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the attributed locations - all covers are

addressed to the same army officer in India. Blackwell Cancellers. From Martin B Evans

With respect to the item by John Sims at p 35 of Journal 284, Martin reports that Blackwell was the name of the manufacturer of rubber stamps used by the Post Office. A Post Office form dated Apr 1949 lists several types of Blackwell handstamps that could be ordered by post offices.

Query 341. Triangular Censor Marking. From Alistair Kennedy

The triangular censor mark illustrated in "K&C" page 254 as ICM3 is most definitely not a “simplification” but a painstaking tracing of the original by George Crabb - which he did for many illustrations in that book and also for FPHS Newsletters and British Postmark Society Journals, in the days before easy access to photocopiers! I attach a scan of the cover (unfortunately a little age weary), the postmark being FPO F.D.1. dated 8FE18, located in Northern Italy. I have been able to identify the censoring officer, RBR Ashworth, as an officer of the RNAS. Ted Coles had a cover with a similar style of triangular censor stamp, with words "PASSED" and "CENSOR" inside the left and right sides respectively, and "BY" at the apex, with an asterisk or star below "BY". The postmark is APO S100 dated 8AP18. This is illustrated by Gould as Type 8A40.

Tony's example is different from both of these. There was a strong RNAS presence in Southern Italy, so perhaps there could be a connection.

And from Dr Michael Gould.

This is not the same censor as is shown in my book but comes from the same stable. Paymaster PJ Curd was with 6 Wing RNAS – the RNAS Lists do not give first names.

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British Internees in Holland and Switzerland 1914-18 Andrew Brooks

Shortly after the

outbreak of war in 1914 the British Government decided to intern all men of a military age (17-45) who were residing in Britain and who belonged to any of the opposing belligerent nations. They were held in a variety of places including racecourses (Fig 1) until, as winter approached, they were moved out of tented accommodation into more substantial surroundings. Some went into passenger liners requisitioned by the Admiralty. An internee on HMS Saxonia, Michael Stuch, sent a

postcard (Fig 2) to a Mr Joseph Coates of North Shields. It was a request for magazines on Naval Engineering and Naval Architecture and one wonders if this raised any suspicions from the censors.

Fig 1

When the ships returned to normal duties in 1915, Stuch was moved to Lancaster, a camp that was only for internees until the last months of the war. Another postcard (Fig 3)

was sent from Germany to Herr Julius Ivanowski on HMT Canada, Quarantine Anchorage, Ryde, Isle of Wight. The Saxonia was part of the Leigh Channel Squadron and the Canada was part of the Solent Squadron. There were many other camps for civilian internees such as Douglas (Fig 4) and Knockaloe on the Isle of Man and Lofthouse Park near Wakefield (Fig 5).

Fig 2

Fig 3

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Fig 4 above

Fig 5 Right

Fig 6

below

Germany interned some

British males in early August 1914 but if they had been domiciled in the country before the outbreak of war they were released under police supervision. However in November 1914 the situation changed and they were re-interned and many spent the next few years at camps such as Ruhleben, a former racecourse on the outskirts of Berlin (Fig 6). All the civilians mentioned so far regarded themselves as internees or POW and during the course of the war some

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would probably be transferred to a neutral country such as Holland or Switzerland. Towards the end of September 1914 there was concern by the British Government that

the German advance would threaten those Channel ports which were necessary to supply the British Expeditionary Force. A decision was taken on 2 Oct to help the Belgian Army who were defending a line to the east of Antwerp. The Marine Brigade of the Royal Naval Division (RND) already in France was ordered to Antwerp and reached there at 1 a.m. on 4 Oct. They then joined the Belgians on the front line. The rest of the RND consisted of two untrained Naval Brigades still in England. They managed to arrive at Dunkirk by 12 noon on 5 Oct and arrived in Antwerp in the early hours of the 6th. At this stage the order was given to withdraw to the line of the inner forts (Fig 7) and the situation remained stable until 5 p.m. on 8 Oct. when it became obvious that Antwerp could not be held and the order was given to retire across the River Schelt. This was when a fatal mistake was made, as the order did not reach Commander Henderson of the 1st Naval Brigade.

Fig 7

The other two brigades met at the rendezvous point and entrained at St. Gillaes-Waes at 9a.m. on 9 Oct and successfully escaped. The 1st Brigade did not start to retire until after 10p.m. on 8 Oct and some of the battalion had to cross the river by boats as the bridges across the river had been destroyed. They reached St. Gillaes- Waes between 11.30 a.m. and 3.45 p.m. on 9 Oct. A report reached them that the Germans had cut the railway line at Moerbeke (not true at this stage), a station a little way down the line. At 8 p.m. the 1st Brigade crossed the Dutch frontier preferring interment to becoming POW in Germany. Their rearguard (Portsmouth Battalion) and 600 stragglers managed to entrain at Kemseke but the train was derailed at Moerbeke and 7 officers and 950 men were captured. Most of these men spent the war in Doberitz POW camp.

The men of the 1st Naval Brigade were disarmed and spent their first night by the side of the road. They were then taken to Terneuzen by train and crossed to Flushing by boat. From here they made the journey to the north of Holland. One group of 500 men went to Leeuwarden and a 1,000 to Groningen (40 miles to the East). After a fortnight the two groups were amalgamated at Groningen. It should be remembered that thousands of Belgian civilians and 40,000 members of their armed forces crossed into neutral Holland during this period. In the confusion at least 7,000 Belgian soldiers dressed in civilian clothing managed to escape to England.

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Between their internment in mid-October and January 1915 the men of the RND were not idle. They worked on the erection of a new camp (‘Timbertown’, Fig 8) because the Dutch needed their own barracks returned. In the days leading up to Christmas 1914 a wagon arrived every day with over 3,000 letters and over 1,000 parcels.

Fig 8

Throughout their stay in Groningen the internees enjoyed good relationships with the local population. They had daily route marches around the town and played regular football matches with teams from Groningen and the surrounding area. At some time the officers must have been removed and sent to Fort Wierickerschans a camp near Bodegraven. The reason for this was that the officers would not give an undertaking not to escape. Lord Kitchener had made it clear that he expected all officers to try and return to Britain and it was not until his death in 1916 that the situation changed and the officers returned to Groningen. Mail is quite common from Groningen during 1914-16 but the author does not have any examples of officer mail from Bodegraven.

In late 1914 the International Red Cross asked the President of Switzerland to agree to sick and wounded POW being interned on Swiss soil. In December 1914 the belligerent nations were instructed to negotiate between themselves and the Swiss government so that prisoners could be treated in conditions more akin to a hospital rather than a POW camp. France and Germany opened talks in 1915 but Britain and Germany did not commence negotiations until much later, a source of much comment in the British Press.

Fig 9

By early 1916 there were 1,500 internees in Switzerland, 500 German and 1,000 French. This discrepancy was simply because the Germans held a lot more French POWs than the French and it was accepted by both sides that large areas of France had a climate more suited to invalids than did Germany. Twenty examining commissions went round the camps and selected the men using as their criteria a list of twenty recognised medical conditions - T.B being at the top of the list. A final examination of the selected men was made in Lyons and Constance and it was possible for someone to be turned back at this stage. The French were interned in five or six districts e.g. Montreux, Interlaken, Montana. (Fig 9). The Germans were sent to eastern

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Switzerland around Lucern and Davos. (Fig 10). When the British finally did arrive they were often found in the same villages as the French- but never with the Germans.

Fig 10

During this period it seems that three main cachets were used on the internee mail. The first type was a dual language cachet. I shall call this Type A; ‘Internment des Prisonners de Guerre en Suisse / Kriegsgefanggenen-Internierung in der Schweiz’. I do not have an example in my own collection. I think that when the British arrived this cachet was dropped and Type B and C were introduced. I have no positive proof of this. B and C include the name of the town or village:

Type B ; ‘Internment des Prisonners de Guerre / Berne –Suisse’, was used on both French and British mail.

Type C ; ‘Kriegsgefangenen-Internierung / Stansstad-Schweiz’, was used on German mail.

So far I have identified thirty-five towns and villages with cachet Type B and nine with Type C.

On the 30th of May 1916 the first British contingent of 32 Officers and 304 Other Ranks were welcomed at the village of Chateau d’Oex. (Fig 11). This village had requested to take the British as soon as it was announced they were coming and the second contingent of 150 wounded and sick POWs also went to this village (13th June). Throughout the war it was the main centre for the British. Most of the third contingent (12th August) went to Murren and this became the second most important centre for the British.

Fig 11

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When Lord Northcliffe visited the two villages in the summer of 1916 he noted the only complaint made by the Other Ranks was that they missed their wives and he suggested the British government should pay the £12 to make this journey possible.

My reason for writing this article stems from a small group of cards in my collection. In the summer of 1914 Pte. James Smith of the 3rd South Lancashire Regiment attended the summer camp at Brackenby Moor near Appleby, Cumbria. He must have been a Reservist i.e. someone who had been a Regular and had recently left the army. He did not go to France in August 1914 but was sent with a draft of men to join the 2nd South Lancs on 15 September. This information came from his Medal Index Card ( MIC ) along with the information that he was discharged from the army on 11 October 1917. James was wounded and captured and after spending time as a POW he was interned as part of the first party to arrive at Murren. It was a card sent to his wife from the Hotel Eiger that intrigued me, (Fig 12&13). Addressed to Mrs Ellen Smith, 20 Duke St. Fitzwilliam, Hemsworth, Yorks, England and dated 14 August 1916, he writes;

Dear Wife, This is the Hotel where I live, I have marked my room. You can come if you like, bring plenty of money. Hurry up. 345 Sgt. James Smith, South Lancs. Eiger Hotel ,Murren, Switzerland. One would have thought that it would have been impossible for his wife to make the trip across France in the middle of the war (the Battle of the

Somme was only a few weeks old) never mind the expense she would have incurred. However as a result of Lord Northcliffe writing in his newspaper many Regimental Associations and other war charities were quick to provide the funds. The first party of wives arrived at Chateau d’Oex and Murren by October. I do not know if Mrs Smith was in the party but other cards suggest that James was expecting her to make the journey. Another card sent to a friend indicates that he must have been captured almost as soon as he arrived in France.

Fig 12

Fig 13

Dear Joe, I have got away from the Huns at last and to one of the most beautiful parts of the Alps. The contrast with the other Horrible thing still makes me light headed, I have everything I want here except a little money to buy a pint, only 7d. a pint, but two years teetotal makes it easy, however if you could scrape a few together from the boys, I should be glad, James.

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Figs 14 and 15

Eddie Firth sent a postcard to his sister from Chateau d’Oex on the 24th August 1916. (Fig.14 & 15) Hotel La Soldanelle Prisoner of War Chateau d’Oex Interned in Switzerland My Dear Sister, Will you accept this little card, it will give you some idea of the hotel. I am alright now and in good health. Remember me to mother and do not forget Gus Best Wishes your loving Brother Eddie xxx

The card was addressed to Miss Reany Firth in Handsworth, Birmingham and has the usual Swiss civilian postmark, an internee cachet and a London Paid for August 29th 1916. Eddie was another selected for early internment and his message that he was in good health would have been an attempt to allay their worries. Certainly many in these early groups were not in good condition.

James Wishart of the 15th Canadian Battalion arrived at Chateau d’Oex as a member of the second party. It mentions in ‘The Times’ that a couple of Canadians were in this group. He was captured between the 24/29th April 1915 and sustained severe gunshot wounds to his left thigh and the lower part of his right leg. After treatment at a hospital in Hamburg he was then sent to Gustrow Kriegsgefengenen Lager in 1916. James was quickly transferred to Switzerland before eventually succumbing to his wounds. He died on the 18th February 1916 and is buried at Vevey. The cards and covers in my collection are addressed to his mother and relatives in Scotland. (Fig 16)

Fig 16

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According to my records, British internees sent mail with cachet Type B from Chateau d’Oex, Murren, Interlaken, Grindelwald, Gunten, Vevey, Wengen, Fribourg, Montreux and Leysin.

Parties continued to arrive in Switzerland throughout the remainder of the year and well into 1917 before the situation changed. Needless to say the French and Germans reached agreement before a meeting between the British and the Germans in The Hague (July 1917) confirmed similar conditions. Terms for internment and repatriation were relaxed but the real breakthrough came with the ‘Barbed Wire Fever’ clause. This was now on the list of illnesses and to become an internee a POW need only to have served 18 months in a camp. However it only applied to Officers and NCOs. Other Ranks were not included and the British gave out the reason that the Germans would not release the men, as they were needed to work on the farms and in the mines. Officers and NCOs could not of course be made to work according to the Geneva Convention.

Parties of men continued to flood into Switzerland but it was late 1917, early 1918 before the first men arrived in Holland. Apparently Britain, Holland and Germany could not agree which ports and sea route should be used. Boston and Rotterdam were agreed upon and eventually the Dutch and Germans agreed on the sea route. Perhaps the dispute was over finding a route through the North Sea minefields. The first party to arrive in Boston in January 1918 contained some Boston fishermen who were captured and interned in the first weeks of the war. On the return journey to Rotterdam one of the ships carried Captain Muller of the Emden.

An announcement in December 1917 stated the first party of 300 would be quartered in hotels at The Hague and Scheveningen. 15 houses in The Hague, each adjoining, were inspected by the British and they accommodated 450 NCOs. Two large hotels were made available in Scheveningen to take 2-300 in each. The Hotel des Galeries was for the NCOs and the Hotel Royal was only for Officers.

A cover was sent by Lt Col James Alex Charles Gibbs (Commanded the 2nd West Riding) from Scheveningen on the 6th of March 1918. It has the usual postmarks and the cachet ‘Portvrij Franc de Port Militaires Etrangers Internes dans les Pays-Bas.’ Gibbs was captured near the

River Aisne on 10 September 1914, interned in Holland on 29 December 1917 (i.e. the first party to arrive) and finally repatriated to Britain on 16 August 1918. It is interesting to note that on his M.I.C. is written

‘Exonerated Officer’. Officers were interviewed regarding their capture by the

Germans to ascertain if they surrendered too easily! ( Fig 17).

Fig 17

Captain Walter Harold Wilkin of the 2nd Sherwood Foresters was captured near Armentieres on the 20th of October 1914. His battalion was attacked by the German 6th Army and after 48 hours fighting and sustaining heavy casualties many were taken prisoner. He sent a series of postcards from Sheveningen and it can be seen that he was billeted in the Hotel Royal. (Fig 18)

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Fig 18

A second Hague conference was held on the 10th of June 1918 and the main outcome

concerned the release of all civilians. Germany wanted an ‘all for all’ but as Briton held 21,000 to Germany’s 4000, it was resolved proportionately, with Germany getting a better deal. All the men in Ruhleben were released but Britain still held firm on submariners and insisted they had to spend at least 18 months in captivity before being allowed internment.

It should be remembered there were approximately 50,000 British POWs in Germany in March 1918. The German offensive in that month added another 100,000 to the number and very few of these men were ever considered for internment. Also in the remaining months of the war the process of internment slowed owing to the increasing difficulties within Germany.

Tailpiece: “An internee’s view of Christmas” a picture postcard of 1917 (at

left). References:

1. Mark, Graham: Prisoners of War in British Hands during WW1: The Postal History Society.

2. Bachenheimer, Frank: The Ruhleben POW Camp 1914-1918; The German Philatelic Society Inc. Library Booklet Series No.6.

3. The Times Newspaper Digital Archive.

4. Jerrold, Douglas: The Royal Naval Division

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Air Mail Post Card Peter Burrows

An Air mail post card produced by Lion Brand for the new 3d “thin postcard” service to

members of HM Forces serving in the Middle East, was introduced on the 2nd April 1941. The first despatch was made on the 12th April 1941 to the Forces in the Middle East, comprising 102,000 cards. The Air Ministry had initially agreed to carry 340kgs (102,000 cards) but the cards were so popular that they increase the load carried when they could.

Band with revised service to members of the East African Forces and in Malta, also to HM Ships in the Eastern Mediterranean. The first load of 77lbs cards were sent to Malta during week ending 17th May

Last band with revised service to members of H.M. Army and RAF serving with the

Middle East Force, and the Eastern African Force, and to Abyssinia, Aden, Burma, Ceylon, Eritrea, India, Iran, Iraq, Malta, Somaliland (British) and Somaliland (Italian), and also to personnel of HM Ships (including Royal Fleet Auxiliaries and Merchant Navy vessels employed on Government non-commercial service, whose address is c/o G.P.O. London), in the Eastern Mediterranean Command (including Malta, and the Red Sea) and on the East Indies Station (including the Persian Gulf).

On 7th December 1942 a 6d Air Letter service to the Middle East and beyond was introduced, and the 3d airmail postcard service was withdrawn, except to Malta.

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Ceylon Air News Letter Peter Burrows

Royal Air Force Air Mail News Letter sheet, size 184 x 420mm, to be folded three times,

with sealing flaps, sent to Leeds from SEC X. H. Ceylon, dated 7th February 1944. Cancelled with RAF #7 Base Post Office type D2 handstamp, Sheet originally printed with 1941 date [not listed by Lee or Kessler].

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Klip River Camp 1903 Jim Findlay

[First published in The South African Philatelist, Feb 2010 and reproduced by kind permission]

Introduction

After the Anglo Boer War ended in 1902 British occupational forces were garrisoned throughout the Transvaal and Orange Free State with the objective of maintaining law and order and assisting with the reconstruction of war damage in these territories. British forces were also deployed in the Cape Province and Natal in smaller numbers. To maintain these forces in training, together with the newly formed Transvaal Volunteers force, a military field exercise was planned to be held. With Martial Law withdrawn in the Transvaal from 19 November 1902 (Ordinance no.38 and 39 of 1902), the holding of such a field exercise in peacetime had to be legalised by the Military Manoeuvres Ordinance (no.25) of 1903, assented to by Lord Milner, the Governor of the Transvaal, on 30 April 1903. This Ordinance allowed the Lieutenant-General in Council to authorize military manoeuvres within specified limits and during a specified period, subject to stipulated regulations, provided the intention was published three times in the Government Gazette and in at least one newspaper in the district concerned. Accordingly, Proclamation no.15 Admn 1903, gazetted on 29 May 1903, provided for Military Manoeuvres to “take place during the month of September next dating from the first day thereof” within the tract of country specified by the outer farm numbers; this Proclamation was repeated in the next two issues of the Gazette. During the manoeuvres, the Transvaal Post Office provided a special post office for the participants, designated Klip River Camp.

Imperial Forces This first military field exercise in the Transvaal after the Anglo Boer War was based at

the Klip River Station, 13 km south of Alberton on the farm Brockhurstfontein. The General Officer Commanding in Chief of Imperial Forces in South Africa was Lt Gen The Hon Sir Neville Lyttelton, KCB, who was in overall command of the exercise. The Imperial forces participating in this exercise were Royal Horse Artillery (‘N’, ‘S’, ‘T’ and ‘R’ Batteries), 14th Royal Field Artillery (84 Battery, Middelburg; 85 Battery, Potchefstroom), the King’s Dragoon Guards, 7th, 8th and 11th Hussars, The Bays, 6th Regiment Mounted Infantry, the Welsh Regiment, the Leinsters Regiment, the Royal Irish Regiment, the Inniskilling Fusiliers, the Scottish Rifles, the Royal Engineers, the Royal Medical Corps and the Army Service Corps. This gave an estimated total of 6,000 troops according to the diary of William Drury, a chaplain during the exercise.

The Transvaal Volunteers The Transvaal Volunteers had been proclaimed and formed on 12 December 1902. A

contingent of Transvaal Volunteers from the three infantry units (Central South African Railway Volunteers, Transvaal Light Infantry and the Transvaal Scottish Volunteer Regiment), under the command of Lt Col Gordon Sandilands, Commanding Officer of the Transvaal Scottish Volunteer Regiment, participated in the military exercise from approximately 15 to 20 September. This was the first time South African forces combined with Imperial Forces on an exercise in South Africa after the Anglo Boer War.

Klip River Camp Post Office Putzel (1987) describes this post office as a ‘temporary post office during military

manoeuvres; opened 12 August 1903; closed 1 October 1903. Extremely rare’. This office probably opened earlier than the manoeuvres to accommodate preparations that were being made. The head office for this post office was Heidelberg, Transvaal. Reisner (1978) lists various military manoeuvre temporary post offices but does not include this one.

Illustrated is a cover posted at the Klip River Camp Post Office, dated 14 September 1903, from Brig Gen JF Burn-Murdoch, CB, the officer commanding Imperial Forces at

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Standerton, Transvaal, to his wife in Sevenoaks, England, where it was forwarded to Dunkeld. It has the following datestamps on the cover (i) KLIP RIVER CAMP 14 SEP 1903 (opened from 12 August to 1 October 1903); (ii) SEVENOAKS 4 PM OC 3 03 (single ring); (iii) SEVENOAKS 9 PM OC 3 03 (double ring); (iv) RIVERHEAD 7.30PM OC 3 03 and (v) DUNKELD 118 A OC 5 03 (arrival). The cover has the red embossed ‘War Office’ emblem on the reverse.

From enquiries made to other specialist Transvaal and South African military mail collectors there would appear to be only two other known examples of the Klip River Camp datestamp. One of them is from the same correspondence dated 21 September 1903. This post office was open for 49 days and there were approximately 6,000 troops involved in the manoeuvre. The scarcity of this datestamp can only be explained by few letters having been posted together with a low ‘retention’ rate.

References

1. Putzel, RF: The Encyclopaedia of South African Post Offices and Postal Agencies, Volume 2 (F-M). Published by Ralph F. Putzel, Tokai, South Africa, 1987. ISBN: 0 620 11476 3.

2. Reisner, HO: The Special and Commemorative Postmarks, Cachets and Covers of South Africa 1892-1975. 2nd Edition 1987. Published by Collectors Mail Auctions, Bergvleit, South Africa. ISBN 0 620 03202 2.

3. Transvaal Government Gazettes, 1902 and 1903 4. Diary of William Drury

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“Go Out and Do It Again” John Leathes

Nick Colley's series on “The US Navy in Europe” has made interesting reading and

touches on the effect that the US deployment had on U-Boat operations especially in UK coastal waters. Coastal convoys were by the autumn of 1917 up and running but as ever there was a serious shortage of suitable escorts. The US destroyers were therefore particularly welcome. One such vessel was USS Fanning, a pre-war 1912 build of destroyer commanded by Lieutenant Commander Carpender.

On 17 November 1917, in company with her sister USS Nicholson, she was escorting a convoy of 8 westbound merchantmen down the Irish Sea. Ten miles South West of Milford Haven they were attacked by U58 (Lieutenant zur See Amberger). Fanning counter-attacked with depth charges and forced U58 down to 85 meters (250 ft), way past her safe diving depth. She was then compelled to surface and abandon before she sank. Apart from two unfortunates, all the crew were picked up by Fanning and taken prisoner. This was the first success of the US Navy in European waters and caused the US Admiral Sims to signal Fanning “Go out and do it again”.

U58 was launched on the day of the Battle of Jutland (31 May 1916) and was commissioned into the II U-Flotilla in October. Amberger was her fourth Commanding Officer and up to her demise she had accounted for 21 ships totalling 31,000 tons. Figure 1 shows a cover sent from her by Oberbootsmaat (Chief Petty Officer) Singer with the MarineSchiffPost Number 468 of the Second Flotilla. This was held in the Depot Ship Irene based at Heligoland from October 1916 to the end of 1917.

Figures 2 and 3 show the back and front of a POW letter from one of the survivors, Obersteuerman (Chief Quartermaster and Navigator) Röhskl, when he was at Camp Stobs near Hawick in Scotland. Unfortunately neither of these two men appears in the crew lists for U58 (which only show 12 names out of a crew of 44 anyhow) and so far no further information has come to light. The translation of his letter (figure 4) makes interesting reading and one wonders whether he ever got to America.

Fig 1

A copy of the original letter is available if anyone would like it but the originals will, I hope, have been auctioned off in Germany with the rest of my WW1 U-Boat collection by the time you read this. Indeed a member might have seen it and already be its proud new owner - I hope so.

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Figure 2 (above) and 3 (below)

USS Fanning

References 1. Compton-Hall, Richard: Submarines and the War at Sea; Macmillan 1991, ISBN 0-333-44345-4 2. Conway: All the World's Fighting Ships; 1985 ISBN 0-85177-245-5 3. Tarrant, VE: The U-Boat Offensive 1914 to 1945; US Naval Institute Press 1989, ISBN 0-87201-764X

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4. "Ubootwaffe.net" 5. Leathes, JA de M: Postal Markings of the U-Boat Arm 1914 to 1918, Postal History 2000,

1997, ISBN 1-902101-00-6

A translation of the letter is given below.

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Symi, not Rhodes Philip Kaye

I bought this cover dated 9 APR 45 in March 2007 at the first sale of material from the John Daynes collection at Cavendish. It was described as from Rhodes and on the reverse the sender had printed “ I.A. 725 N.J.G. JONES” and he had also signed the front of the cover as censoring officer.

I had no suspicion that the cover might not be from Rhodes until May 2009 when I read in Storia Postale Del Dodecaneso: “The Indian military post, which was in the HQ suite, probably began to operate in Karpathos and Symi, to move then in Rhodes in May 1945”. By coincidence, I was on holiday in Symi later in May 2009 and found there the building in which the Germans had surrendered all of the Dodecanese islands to the Allies on 8 May 1945. There is a plaque recording this in the building which is now the Restaurant Catherinettes, where the beautiful Marina and her charming parents George and Julie, will serve you with delicious meals. The fact that the surrender had been made on Symi strongly supported the idea that the Allied HQ (and, with it, Indian FPO 90) had been on Symi on 8 May 1945.

It was only in January 2010 in correspondence with Robert Wightman that I learnt: “The last incoming flight with field-post from Germany landed on Rhodes on 3 May 1945 and the Germans were still very much in charge. However, there is no mention of any German units with field-post numbers on Symi”. Clearly, Indian FPO 90 was not on Rhodes on 9 April 1945 and I was convinced my cover was from Symi.

I contacted Edward Proud to ascertain whether he had received information since publishing his books, which had shown IFPO 90 as being on Rhodes and FPO 375 as being in Egypt on 9 April 1945. He had not, but kindly suggested that I should look at the Public Record Office for the War Diary of the Advanced Headquarters. Before I could do this, I met Alistair Kennedy and asked if he could shed any light on the location of these FPO in 1944-5. Whilst he had no record that either had been on Symi, he was most helpful in providing information and dates of other locations for these two offices in 1944-5 which was not inconsistent with their having been on Symi from December 1944 to May 1945. He also gave me surprising information.

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I therefore paid my first visit to the National Archives with optimistic expectations. I found the War Diary so detailed and fascinating that I had to return the following day to complete my researches. The War Diary of HQ Force 281, Brig. J Moffat commanding, commences at Cairo on 8 Sep 44 and sets the scene by including “to plan the occupation of the Dodecanese Islands. The policy being that occupation would only take place in the event of enemy surrender or evacuation.” Another entry in the War Diary at Cairo on 13 Sept 44 includes “Lt. Col. Jones 1 Bhopal Inf called to Cairo, to confer with Comd and Col. Baird (2 I/C).” (It is clear the sender of my cover was involved at an early stage of the planning).

Force 281 Op Instr No 1 dated 11 SEP 44 includes “In Sep – Nov 43 the islands of Castelorizo, Symi, Cos, Calymnos and Leros were occupied for various periods. Castelorizo remains in our occupation but the civilian population has been evacuated to ME.”- and - “The first stage of the op will be the occupation of Rhodes. When this is complete, Leros will be occupied” The Distribution list for the order included “90 IND FPO” and “14 L OF C Postal Unit”. Unfortunately the Germans were not prepared to oblige us by evacuating Rhodes first.

The War Diary for September 44 was from various places in Egypt and Palestine but for the whole of October it was from Haifa. For 27 Oct it included “One Coy Gwalior Inf sailed to occupy Scarpanto.” Oct 29 included “Signal received from Scarpanto announcing safe arrival of party”.

HQ Force 281 Adm Order 4 dated 25 Oct 44 included, on the subject of Postal matters: “Outgoing mail will be collected by OC Tps and del to the first available vessel returning either to HQ Force 281 or to GHQ. HQ Force 281 will arrange del of mail to tps in Scarpanto by every available opportunity”. HQ Force 281 OO NO 3 also of 25 Oct 44 included “The Islands of Carpathos (Scarpanto) and Caso have been vacated by Axis forces”.

HQ Force 281 Op Instr No 4 dated 2 Nov 44 included “The enemy remains active in the Dodecanese and on Oct 28 recaptured the island of Piscopi which was lightly held by elements of Force 142 and BMA personnel. The War Diary for November is from Haifa up to Nov 20, from Amiriya commencing 21 Nov for the rest of the month. On Nov 6 it records “Scarpanto grn to be called BAIRFORCE”.

At no time did the HQ move to Scarpanto. The wording of Adm Order 4 dated 25 Oct 44, particularly when contrasted with the wording of Adm Order 8 of 20 Dec 44 shown later below, makes clear that Indian FPO 90 did not go to Scarpanto and suggests there was no intention to supply any FPO to Scarpanto in October/November 1944.

HQ Force 281 Adm Order No 7 on 11 Dec 44 suggests a possible need for an abrupt change to the purpose of the Force. “Personnel, veh and stores as at Staff Table at Appx A will be prepared to move overseas immediately to come under comd Force 142 for security role Mitilene, Samos and possibly Khios”. This alert must have been of very short duration in view of the entry in the War Diary of 17 Dec 44 below and subsequent events.

The War Diary for December 44 continues from Amiriya up to 3 Dec, then is from Beni Yusef from 4 to 21 Dec, Amiriya on 22 Dec, Alexandria on 23 and 24 Dec, then Symi on Dec 25 until the end of the war. On 17 Dec it records “C.R.E., OC Bhopal Inf and 269 Town Major proceeded to port of embarkation for preliminary recce of the island of Symi.” On Dec 23: “ Force 281 embarked at 10.00 ……..sailed for Symi at 13.15 hrs.” On Dec 24: “Remainder Force 281 embarked on the Manuela”. On Dec 25 “HMS Wheatland arrived Symi 06.30 hrs and Comd Force 281 went ashore 06.40 hrs”

HQ Force 281 Op Order No 5 dated 20 Dec 44 included “Move to and immediate occupation of Symi. The island is unoccupied by the enemy. A patrol of the Greek Sacred Regt, a recce party of Force 281 and some BMA personnel are now on the island.” “Bhopal Inf with adv parties of Force HQ and Services will arrive in the island on D day”. “Codename for operation SINBAD”

HQ Force 281 Adm Order No 8 also dated 20 Dec 44 and issued in conjunction with it included the following on Postal matters :

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“Organisation: An Indian APO with a British element will be located at Symi. The facilities provided will

be identical with those at present existing in the ME. Delivery of Mail. Mail will be collected from the APO at Symi by HQ units and by HQ

Force 281 in the case of units using the Force address. These HQ will be responsible for disposing of correspondence to their dets wherever located.

Outgoing Mail. Units in Symi – will be handed to the APO.” HQ Force 281 OO No 6 dated 1 Jan 45 includes “Lt. Col. N.J.G Jones OC Bhopal Inf

ISF apptd Comd of Symi defences.” The War Diary includes: 4 Jan 45 Trawler Wolborough arr with mail. R.F. (= Raiding

Forces) recce patrol left for PISCOPI at 16.00 on HMS Marne. 6 Jan 45 R.F. Sig patrol left to visit WT Stns at Nisiro, Amorgos and Stampalia 8 Jan 45 R.F. patrol with WT left for Calino 10 Jan 45 R.F. sent patrol of 23 all ranks to Patmo, Lisso, Archi and Pserimo to cover the

discharge of caiques taking relief to civilians. 11 Jan 45 Calchi patrol returned not having delivered food as unable to contact any civilians.

14 Jan 45 Two ML’s had a short engagement with 2 German PL boats off east coast of Calino at 19.00. Several hits claimed and one ML received superficial damage from shore gun.

16 Jan 45 Reported 200 Germans landed on Stampalia 14th Jan and looted food supplies. Mayor captured by Germans and taken to Leros.

28 Jan 45 Aerial and Naval bombardment of enemy positions on Piscopi took place. Force 281 Sig Op Instr No 6 dated 25 Jan 45 – Dodecanese island of Castelrosso placed

under comd Force 281 w.e.f. 1 Feb 45. HQ Force 281 OO No 9 dated 27 Jan 45 – Nisiro unoccupied by enemy but may expect

to be raided by enemy for food. HQ Force 281 OO No 10 dated 30 Jan 45 – Island of Caso to be opened and maintained

as a refugee camp … under control of BAIRFORCE. HQ Force 281 OO No 11 dated 27 Feb 45 – Col. IR Baird comd defences of Symi and

Sescli (note – Lt. Col. Jones presumably continued as OC Bhopal Inf.) The War Diary includes : 5 Feb 45. German patrols on Piscopi. 7 Feb 45. Sescli recce for proposed Radar site – 4 Germans from Rhodes there –

captured and sent to PW camp. 8 Feb 45. Caique SAM 29 sailed to Rhodes and successfully discharged civilian supplies

for starving population. 9 Feb. First ENSA party from MIDEAST. 11 Feb 45. 35 Germans landed at Port Palo (on Nisiro) 12 Feb 45. Attacked Germans on Emborio, Nisiro. 8 killed, 7 wounded and 25 taken

PW. 28 Feb 45. Piscopi occupied by 281 Force – 1 German +61 OR and 1 Italian +24 OR

taken POW. 3 Mar 45. Germans reported to have withdrawn from Pserimos on 26 Feb 45 7 Mar 45. Calchi patrol report enemy evacuation 5 Mar. 8 Mar 45. Calchi patrol report 17 Germans on Alinnia. 24 Mar 45. Calchi patrol report Germans on Rhodes raided island on 23 Mar taking 6

Allied personnel PW then withdrew. 8 May 45. German party (Maj. Gen. Wagener and Lieut. Meeske) disembarked at Symi

09.55. GSO II brought them to the Court Room in Municipal buildings where Maj. Gen Wagener signed three copies of the Instrument of Surrender in English and German at 10.10. Maj. Gen. Wagener left at 12.30. General hostilities ceased at 13.00 GMT as laid down in the Instrument of Surrender.

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10 May 45 Main body from Simi sailed to Rhodes (The last entry in the War Diary at Symi )

11 May 45 (First entry in the War Diary at Rhodes) HQ Force 281 was established at the Castello and BMA at the Port Building.

The War Diary contained much detailed information but the few items quoted above will give some insight into what occurred in the Dodecanese after the Force 281 HQ moved to Symi in December 1944. The War Diary is specific regarding Indian FPO 90 being at Symi but I could trace no mention of British FPO 375 – the only reference is to “14 L OF C Postal Unit”. This Unit can only have been the “British element” of the Indian APO referred to in Adm Order NO 8 dated 20 Dec 44 quoted above. On the evidence of the cover dated 9 AP 45, FPO 375 must have been what constituted “14 L OF C Postal Unit – the cover from an Officer in the Indian Army would have been posted at Indian FPO 90 and, because it was addressed to England, promptly passed to British FPO 375, probably located in the same building. It can be deduced that any postmarks of British FPO 375 and Indian FPO 90 with dates of 25 Dec 44 to 10 May 45 were applied at Symi and I should welcome reports of any now found.

I referred much earlier to surprising information from Alistair Kennedy. This was that in a book published in India in 1982 by Brig DS Virk Indian Army Post Offices in the Second World War the narrative included :

“IFPO 90 was allotted to Force 281 when it assembled near Cairo in Sep 44. It moved with advance HQ in Dec 44. After functioning at Castel Rosso, it reached Rhodes in May 45.” It was only the words “Castel Rosso” which I found surprising – the rest is correct. I know of no place on the island of Symi called Castel Rosso. If he intended to refer to the island of Castelrosso, I am sure he is incorrect. I found nothing in the War Diary to indicate this was a possibility. The troops occupying Castelrosso since 1943 were British troops, not Indian. The average daily strength of the troops on Castelrosso in the quarter ended 31 Mar 45 was only 143, which would be unlikely to have warranted the placing of any FPO there. It defies logic that an Indian FPO might have been sent there in 1944. We now know that Brig Virk’s book Indian Army Post Offices Locations and Movements 1939-1947 published by the Forces Postal History Society in March 1973 was incorrect in showing IFPO 90 at Rhodes from December 1944. Another location for this FPO shown there also appears to be incorrect: “SYRIA (presumed): HQ Force 281 19.9.44”. I found nothing in the War Diary compatible with this FPO ever having been in Syria. At no time did it show the HQ as being in Syria – from 8 Sep 44 to 23 Dec 44 it was always at various places in Egypt or Palestine and most of the time at Haifa.

I am not aware of any recordings of either FPO 375 or Indian FPO 90 during the period 8 Sep 44 to 24 Dec 44 so it is possible that neither actually operated with Force 281 until after its arrival in Symi.

The source of the figure of 143 for the average daily strength of the troops on Castelrosso quoted above may be of interest. It was taken from a Medical Report, that of SMO Force 281 Quarterly Report ending 31 Mar 45 showing the average daily strength on the various islands as follows:

Simi 2572 Scarpanto 879 Kasos 130 Castelrosso 143 Rear Force 627 _____ Total 4351 ______ I hope the reader is not

confused by the variety of spellings and names used for the

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same island in the War Diary and elsewhere. Perhaps the following list, which shows first one of the Italian versions of the name followed by various alternatives may assist:

Alinnia, Alimnia Archi, Arki Calchi, Carchi, Karki, Khalki, Halki Calimno, Calino, Calimnos, Kalymnos Caso, Casos, Kasos, Kassos Castelrosso, Castellorizzo, Castelorizo, Kastellorizo, Meyisti Coo, Cos, Kos Lero, Leros Lisso, Lipso, Lipsos, Lipsi Nisiro, Nisiros, Nissyros Patmo, Patmos Piscopi, Tilos Pserimo, Pserimos Rodi, Rhodes, Rodhos, Rodos Scarpanto, Carpathos, Karpathos Sescli, Sesklia Simi, Symi Stampalia, Astypalea I should like to convey my sincere thanks to all those previously named and to Mike

Sanders for the part that each has played in making this voyage of discovery such a pleasant and interesting one.

References

1. Carloni, Maio; Cercena, Vanna: Storia Postale del Dodecaneso Vol.2; Associazione Italiana Collezionisti Posta Militare, 2007, Italy.

2. Proud, Edward B., History of the Indian Army Postal Service Vol. III 1931 – 14 August 1947; The Author, undated.

3. Proud, Edward B.; Gould, Robert W: History of British Army Postal Service Vol. III; Proud-Bailey Co Ltd, 1982

4. War Office: British Forces, Middle East: War Diaries, Second World War: H.Q. Force 281, 1944 Sept.-Dec., The National Archives, Kew, WO 169/15823

5. War Office: British Forces, Middle East: War Diaries, Second World War: H.Q. Force 281, 1945 Jan. – June, The National Archives, Kew, WO 169/19906

6. War Office: Medical Historians’ Papers: First and Second World Wars: Force 281, 1944 Oct. – 1945 Mar., The National Archives, Kew, WO 222/511

7. Virk, Brig DS: Indian Army Post Offices in the Second World War; The Army Postal Service Association, New Delhi, 1982

8. Virk, Brig DS: Indian Army Post Offices Locations and Movements 1939 –1947; The Forces Postal History Society, March 1973

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A Japanese Naval Censor, Malta World War 1 Kiyoshi Kashiwagi, CCSG, and Nick Colley

In Newsletter 189 (1987) one of us (NC) reported on the Japanese naval force stationed at Malta in World War 1. In Journal 278, the same author described an item of mail from this force some months after the end of hostilities. In this note we are pleased to report another item of mail from the force dated during hostilities in 1917. This one carries a naval censor mark in English.

Figure 1 depicts the picture side of the card, showing a view of Fort St Angelo. Figure 2 shows the address side. It bears a 1d Malta stamp cancelled Valletta on May 27th 1917, and the English part of the address shows it is destined for Yokohama. However, the card is actually addressed to Kyoto. The English address "Yokohama" is the name of the port of entry. It was the common way back then, to mention the port of entry, for incoming mail to Japan with the address written in Japanese. The exact address in Kyoto is as follows.

Mrs. J.Kishi, c/o Tadashi Yao Kawabata Higashiiru, Higashi Marutamachi, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

It seems strange that there is no street number, but this style of address is common in Kyoto, even today.

The card is datelined (in Japanese) ‘At Malta, May 25th, 1917’. Regrettably, the text gives no clue as to which vessel (if any) the sender is serving aboard, or any interesting information at all – it is all personal family business and sentiments. However, some successful research by one of us (KK) has brought the following to light:

(1) Sender's Name: Jyouji Yokochi (2) Born in Ishikawa prefecture on 8th December, 1878 and died on 5th January, 1960 (3) Last Rank: Rear Admiral (promoted on 1st December, 1923) (4) The commander of warships : Saga (1/12/1913), Chihaya (12/2/1918), Mishima (5/12/1918), Chikuma (5/8/1919), Katori (1/12/1921) and Hiei (10/11/1922) (5) In May 1917 when he sent the card to Japan from Malta, he was a commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

J. Yokochi, was the commander of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla when he sent the card. He

was promoted to the command of the 11th Flotilla on December 1, 1916. This means he would probably have been on board one of four destroyers: Matsu, Kashiwa, Sakaki ((NB: not "Sakaku" as written in the previous articles, mentioned above) or Sugi.

Figure 3 shows a close up of the censor mark. It is struck in purple and reads in two lines inside a double-lined box:

PASSED BY CENSOR I. J. N.

The dimensions of the box are 48.5mm x 18.5mm overall. Presumably the fact that it is

in English implies that the mail was handled via Royal Naval channels before passing to the Malta Post Office for onward transmission. Note that the I.J.N. letters are slightly smaller than the rest of the letters, so it may be that it is an adapted mark.

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Now that the first example of this censor mark has emerged, hopefully we will not have to wait another 23 years for another to emerge!

Fig 1

Front of card

Fig 2 (above) and Fig 3 (right)

[By Ed: I have darkened these 2 figures so that the marking can be

seen a little better. It is lightly struck slantwise towards bottom left side of

the card.]

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The Bombardment of Acre, 1840. A study in Postal History By V Denis Vandervelde.

Reviewed by Nick Colley

Paperback 20 pp monograph published by the Holyland Philatelic Society, 2010, £15 + P&P

This short monograph describes a few letters, two from a Midshipman Sanford on board

HMS Revenge, and three from a Lieutenant Henderson on board HMS Edinburgh, who were present at this little-known event of November 3rd 1840. There is also a considerable historical commentary by the author – most useful and instructive for those of us (including me) with little knowledge of the broader canvas of history in the Levant at this time. This happens to include a thumbnail character sketch and portrait of one of the senior naval officers present, Charles Napier. While not strictly necessary to include this, it’s a nice-to-have – the influence of individual characters seems to be largely overlooked by most people.

So, let's cut to the chase: four of the five letters had me writhing in jealousy – they are transcribed to save us the trouble of deciphering them, and are very nicely written, for the most part, with some acutely observed detail. However, the first letter illustrated is most unfortunate: it appears to be largely illegible, being horrifically cross-written, and seems to add little of substance to the account. It is from Henderson in Beyrout on 9th October 1840, about 4 weeks before the bombardment.

Sanford’s two letters are the next to be illustrated – nicely detailed text, clear postmarks and m/s postage rates, one of which includes a sketch of the ships’ deployment. Not only is this postal history, it is history in the post. A collector of RN postal history would go through hell and high water to win these two items. Next are Henderson’s other two letters, dated 5th and 18th November. Like Sanford’s, they contain nicely detailed text, and have clear postmarks and m/s postage rates. More hell and high water beckon. A niggle here – the author’s footnotes have been omitted from below Henderson’s letter of 18th November.

Sadly, the monograph ends on a low point by reproducing a letter from Henderson’s aunt to his father in January 1841. I don’t know what this is supposed to contribute, as the text is rambling and seemingly confused – to me, anyway.

There are also transcripts of extracts from the Admiral’s Despatches, although the author refrains from saying from where these were sourced. Also included – for the ‘postal’ part of ‘postal history’, maybe? – are illustrations and descriptions of Hume’s illustrated ‘Acre’ envelope. I didn’t know of the existence of these, so that’s a bonus I’ve obtained from the text.

In summary, if you cut out the padding, we could have had a nice 14-15 page booklet presumably for a little less than the £15 asking price. Tempting. However, the inclusion of some extraneous material leaves me feeling a little irritable. On the other hand, where else would one see the four or five letters for which this publication is supposed to be the showcase?

By Ed:

Here is a picture of HMS Revenge, a 74-gun line-of-battle

ship, built in 1808

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Why I like this Cover Nick Colley

The item is an airmail letter card of innocuous appearance. It is franked with the normal KG VI 3d definitive and cancelled with an inconspicuous FPO (531) dated 3rd August 1943 and carries a run-of-the-mill censor mark, R14/467. However, a moment’s closer attention reveals it is addressed to Swaziland – better than average – specifically a place called Hlatikulu. The addressee (the writer’s wife, I expect) is c/o the A.D.C.: Assistant District Commissioner. So we have a connection to the Colonial Service. This may have some bearing on the tone of the content, which I’ll come to in a moment. The other point of interest on the outside of the item is the manuscript endorsement: “Certified unable to obtain censor stamp owing to Active Service conditions.” I’ve not seen anything like this before. Has anyone else? There is no signature to this, and appears to be in a different hand and ink to the writer of the letter. This endorsement is hard to reconcile with the presence of the censor stamp (which has been correctly endorsed by the writer – he is clearly an officer). The address at the top of the letter is ‘c/o HQ RAF ME’, and is dated 31 July 1943. Proud records that FPO 531 was in Egypt until at least early June 1943, and at Taranto from early October. The text of the letter tells us where the writer is – was the FPO in the same place? The text is as follows: “….. I have now been in Sicily for exactly 3 weeks……. Delighted at the welcome change from yellow sands and monotonous palms. Sicily, as you probably know, is a land of vineyards and red wine, tumbledown squalid buildings of heavy white stone, and illiterate peasantry, and tunny fishing and blue, blue seas. The civil population received us very well and eagerly displayed the V sign. They have no time for fascism and evidently were atrociously neglected by the Fascists. For the most part they are emaciated and since the advent of Allied troops and food have become itinerant scavengers, begging food in a pathetic manner. There are, of course, a few still hostile, some actively so, and in the early stages, sniping became an everyday feature. One of my own men was shot dead by one….. They are an ‘arty’ race, completely lacking in enterprise; they are a decadent crowd by modern standards. On many occasions I have passed a donkey-drawn cart containing a barrel of wine and two grubby Sicilians happily intoning excerpts from high brow opera. Most of them appear to have good singing voices – it’s a sort of racial characteristic and of course the songs are sung in the language, words of which were put to the original composition. Mount Etna is a pretty massive affair…… from Lentina (is that where the writer is stationed ?) you think you could spit on it….. The news of Mussolini’s resignation was received with jubilance by the civilians and equally by the Italian prisoners it seemed….”

Interestingly, 3 weeks prior to 31 July, the date of the letter, was the 10th of July, the date of the invasion of Sicily by Allied forces. Clearly, this means he must have moved to the island on the day of the invasion. Mussolini resigned on 28 July. Personally, I find the combination of the tone of the letter and the apparent Colonial Service connection most revealing of the attitudes of a number of individuals in certain positions in those days. I find myself smiling every time I read this letter.

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FORCES POSTAL HISTORY SOCIETY JOURNAL Whole …...provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing

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