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An afternoon of members' displays on the events of 1945 as reflected in its postal history and related ephemera. Turnout was low for this meeting and I am well aware that a number of our regulars have been ill in recent months / weeks with serious complaints and are recuperating and taking matters slowly. On behalf of the Society I wish them all a speedy recovery and a warm welcome once they feel able to make the journey to the UJC once again. Peter High started the proceedings with a display of - yes you've guessed it - hospital ships ! As usual Peter's display and write up were to a very high standard. The hospital ships featured in to-days offerings were in the main those engaged in repatriation duties - bringing former POWs back home. The display included covers, radio messages, photographs and menus. Included was the Dutch vessel Oranje, a number of Commonwealth vessels: Empress of Australia, HMZHS Maunganui, HMAHS Wanganella together with HMHS Oxfordshire. He had a large display of US material featuring USS Mercy / Hope (in the Philippines) / Samaritan (at Sasbeo with that location in the postmark killer) / Rescue (with a Tokyo Bay cachet) and Tranquillity. He also showed items from USAHS Louis A. Milne. John Daynes had such a pot-puri of material that it is difficult to describe in detail - starting with a signal message from 44 Group RAF notifying the ending of the war other items included a locally produced unofficial "Victory in Europe" cover produced by 3rd British Division with a German stamp overprinted with 'V' with 1945 above; Indian FPO 32 in England during 1945 with large photograph of Indian troops; an air letter with FPO 134 of 19 MY 45 written on 11 May from a soldier with the Partisans in Yugoslavia; German mail censored and delivered by the Allied occupying forces. There were also item from Rhodes in 1945; items from HMS Swiftsure, including a commemorative booklet of HMS Swiftsure (printed in 1946); damaged by fire mail recovered by the APO; air mail letter from Military Liaison HQ (Albania) written on 22 January 1945 together with mail from Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and German POW mail from Norway back to Germany. Lastly on display were items from the Far East, including mail from Malaya following re-occupation and cards from POWs of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force after liberation and postmarked on 27 August 1945. Keith Lillywhite had a couple of items - a postcard from the Military Government HQ Berlin District (British Element) with FPO 740 of 2 MY 45 waiting to go to Berlin and mail from the "General von Steuben" used as an accommodation ship for German Naval personnel. Nick Colley chose his favourite subjects - RAF and Navy - for his offering. This included the British Pacific Fleet 1945 and a number of Tokyo Bay cachets on such ships as HMAS Shropshire and Hobart as well as HMNZS Gambia. He also showed naval mail destined for Gibraltar that was hidden in France until the liberation; 2nd Tactical Air Force items from NW Europe (Denmark, Holland and Norway) as well as Force 1354 in the Channel Islands. Alistair Kennedy showed items from Burma and more Tokyo Bay cachets as well as mail from released POWs and internees from the Far East and Middles East. He also showed mail hidden by French Post Office workers in Paris until the spring of 1945 - a large number of bags were involved and the majority of mail was from Switzerland and also a variety of items connected with the liberation of the Channel Islands by Force 135 including an item from 20 Civil Affairs Unit and a POW letter from an individual in 801 POW Camp. Other material shown included items from Czechoslovakia (including the Czech FPO), Yugoslavia (Russian FPO 18032) and items concerning the return of Cossack POWs to Russia (mail from British Forces involved in the forced repatriation from Austria). Peter O'Keeffe showed a variety of British FPOs used in 1945, including a number from 8 Base Army Post Office with a variety of machine postmarks; RAF Post India; RAF PO 004 in the Azores and V-mail with a "lipstick" kiss on the back ! Lastly Michael Dobbs showed extracts from his researches, in particular the arrangements made for the split between British and American control upon the termination of combined command and the formation of the Combined Administrative Liquidating Agency (CALA) in Versailles and also the Field Information Agency Technical (FIAT) in Frankfurt; also covers postmarked FPO 764 in Frankfurt. In addition his researches into the British Army organisation in Southern France and the introduction of the MEDLOC overland route for service personnel go to/from Italy, Middle East and North Africa. Also covers from FPOs established at Toulon and Marseilles to support this route. |