Weekend Away - Peterborough

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend away in the cathedral city of Peterborough. Although numbers were small those that did attend nevertheless had a thoroughly good time with plenty of material on display and plenty of time for chatter, banter and an exchange of information and views, whether it be in the meeting room or over dinner. It was also a wonderful opportunity for us from the London area to meet members from the East Midlands and Yorkshire areas (and in one instance further a field). Thank you to John Daynes for suggesting the hotel and location and a big thank you to the efforts of Nick Martin for the hotel liaison, frames and helping to ensure the weekend was a great success. Others to thank include Stephen Dunderdale for organising a very successful auction on the Saturday, assisted by Alistair Kennedy and to Michael Goodman who travelled up for the day on Saturday with a selection of material for sale and last but not least to Peter High for the large selection of books - many of us went away with bargains galore!

It is not possible for me to describe all the displays and there was plenty of fine material to view. The following descriptions are but a small selection of the material put on show and those displaying may have shown other items at the same time:

Keith Tranmer showed items from the Austrian naval base in Venice - the Venetians rebelled against Austrian occupation and took over a number of Austrian naval ships in the harbour which they renamed. When taken back the Austrians either scrapped or gave them different names. This was a precursor to moving the naval base to Trieste and Pola and the replacing of Italians officers with Austrian officers. The crushing of the revolt was led by Marshall Radetzky. Michael Dobbs showed a selection of British Fleet Mail postmarks from the end of the war including 6 (1945 San Francisco); 10 (1950-53 Malta); 12 (1946 Sydney); 20 (1966-68 Singapore also including a cover commemorating the closure of the BFMO on 1 November 1971) and various offices in Germany: 30 (Cuxhaven); 32 (Minden) and 40 (Kiel).

In describing his display Barrie Jay commented that members were unlikely to have seen any items before and he started off with an item from the 100 years war (a conflict between England and France 1337-1453) in 1440. Also shown was a letter giving an account of the attack on Bergen as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-67) between England and the United Provinces. For many of the items displayed it was the contents rather than the postal markings that were of interest. In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) the two main battles in which the British were involved were at Dettingen and Fou. Shown was a collection of letters from an officer in the British Army during the period 1742-45. Barrie commented that it was the late Martin Willcocks who talked him into buying the lot from a Sotherby's books and letters sale in July 1975 ! Andy Brooks displayed items connected with Sidney Turner - a conscientious objector who, incidentally, knew the late George Crabb very well. On show were letters from Sidney Turner sent from various barracks in WW1 where he was held prior to his incarceration in Wandsworth jail.

Ian Muchall displayed items connected with his service in the RAF, in particular his time at RAF Majunga (BFPO 91) - the Madagascar government wouldn't allow a BFPO to be established and so BFPO 91 was not brought into use. The RAF supported the Beira Straits patrol. Alistair Kennedy in his first display of the weekend showed early British pre-stamp mail. This included the British campaign in Flanders 1793-95 with a letter from a soldier with 3rd Regiment of Guards at Orque near Tournai dated 30 April 1973; 1799 Army Bag mark; 1803 Seamen's Penny concession rate from a sailor onboard HMS Zealand.

In fact Alistair showed a number of items of the Soldiers' and Seamen's penny postage concession 1795-1920, including breaches of privilege (Gosport Barracks and Glasgow Barracks both 1825); India 1859 and 1888; Unpaid India with two pound charge 1847; Foreign transit charge Bermuda to UK via USA 1887 form a solider with 2nd Battalion, The West Riding Regiment.

One of the standalone background displays was from Steve Dunderdale appropriately called "Steve's Choice - a selection of picture postcards of the damage caused to Scarborough during a bombardment from German ships in 1914. Peter Burrows showed a large and fascinating selection of V-mail from the US Naval Construction Battalions (or SeaBees) - initially naval construction works was carried out by civilian contractors in non-combatant areas and he showed mail from a number of these. The main display consisted of V-mail from individual NCB units which the US Navy had started to form and train in 1942 to meet a growing demand. All the V-mail displayed were specially designed and printed by the individual units or else were official V-mail forms altered.

Peter High showed us even more hospital ships but this time from some unusual areas or conflicts: Italian hospital ships and cards connected with the war with Turkey in 1911 and all the way through to WW2; several posted in Malta from ships involved in the Gallipoli period; hospital ships involved in the Spanish Civil War.

Nick Martin showed items of the Belgian theme - German censored mail 1940-43 as the Cologne censor covered Belgium; mail from Belgian civilians to British troops 1944/45; Allied censor marks used in Belgium during WW2; Belgian censored mail following liberation. Also a large selection of mail addressed to Belgian POW in Germany, together with volunteer and forced labour cards (Belgian workers in Germany) 1944. An exceptional items was a cover to a Belgian internee in Spain at the Miranda de Ebro concentration camp (a Belgian refugee trying to escape to England interned by the Spanish) in May 1943.

Keith Tranmer displayed a miscellany of items including material from the Austrian navy in Peking during the Boxer War 1901-06; the bombardment of Alexandria in 1881 by the Austro-Hungarian Navy - this was a cover from the frigate Laudon and was posted at the Austrian PO in Egypt; the blockage and invasion of Crete - a cover from the Austrian Army 1897/98 and an entire from the Field Post Office at Mainz in both 1832 and 1847.

Peter O'Keeffe showed economy envelopes made out of old paper or maps and even a sheet of music - he has not yet identified the tune ! The earliest was from 1920 and there was also 1943 map of Holland used in 1945. Steve Dunderdale showed post-war items from Ceylon including a 1946 SEALF Christmas card and 1948 mail with cachets of HMS Uva (the naval rest camp at Diyatalawa, mainly official mail or mail with unit cachets; there were also a number of QSL cards from members of the RAF Amateur Radio Society in Ceylon. He also showed a 1948 Christmas card from HM Wireless Station Anderson as well as an Army Signals cover with the code CBO for Colombo used in 1952.

Andy Brooks displayed cards and correspondence from British POWs 1914-18, including correspondence on the Officers' Parcel Scheme and lists of shops authorised to despatch parcels, also lists of items not authorised. He also had a list of standard parcels of food.

Ian Muchall showed NATO cards and covers with NATO operational and commemorative postmarks from various locations, including NATO HQ, NAMMA, NAMSA, SHAPE Technical Centre and JHQ Rheindahlen. He also put up a number of covers with showing Iraq postal rates and RAF censors, including the period of the rebellion and change of command to India Command.

Another showing from Alistair Kennedy celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the Victoria Cross with a small display of correspondence and covers addressed to holders of the medal and giving details of their citations. This included Lieutenant Arthur Martin-Leake and Captain Charles Foss.

Michael Dobbs showed a selection of Army Signals covers that included an actual Army Signals handstamp - and no, he did not produce any contrived covers as has been done by other notable rogues in the past ! Part of the display also included a Naval Signal form from 1914, Army Telegraphs datestamp of 1916 and a Message Form with datestamp used on exercise in 1937.

Click thumbnail to see full size images from Michael Dobbs Army Signals and British Fleet mail covers

Peter O'Keeffe put up a selection of airgraphs from overseas senders to overseas addressees (including Australia, Canada, Egypt, India, Rhodesia, South Africa and South East Asia). This included an item addressed to an RAF officer with HQ Balkan Air Force in December 1944.

Presidents Cup Competition 2006 took place on Saturday 7th October:

Michael Dobbs came first with his entry "Ben Ferguson - Royal Engineers (Postal Service) 1945-47". The late Ben Ferguson was our Editor and live auction manager for many years. After leaving school he had one job but soon moved to the General Post Office where he was called up for National Service at the end of WW2. After training he was posted to the RE(PS) and served in Algiers, Italy, Trieste and then Germany. This entry reflects mail he sent and received during this period together with ephemera connected with his time in the Army. Equal second was Andrew Brooks with "Remembering 1914-18" using traditional and modern methods of postal history, etc to identify those who died in the Great War and Colin Hepper with "WW2 German POW Camps" through postcards and letter sheets to and from German POW Camps.