Please note: The FPHS Newsletter is compiled by the Hon Secretary (Michael Dobbs) Comments / submissions to him please (address on page 2) or by e-mail: Michael.dobbs@ntlworld.com

Affiliated to The Association of British Philatelic Societies

Editorial Another eight pages packed with reports of meetings, including our Annual General Meeting (see page 4) and membership changes, also important dates both in the Society calendar and wider philatelic world.

Subscription Renewals for 2014 A reminder

A reminder that if you have not already responded then your subscription for 2014 is now well overdue - please complete the renewal form and send it to our Hon Treasurer as soon as possible, or make the appropriate PayPal payment. For those who use a Standing Order please make sure that it reflects the new rate (£20) otherwise you will be chased up for the underpayment by our Treasurer. Paperless Subscriptions

The following announcement was made in our Winter 2013 Journal and will be reflected in the subscription renewal form which accompanied that Journal and Supplement:

Our Committee has set the level for paperless subscriptions only at £15 for 2014, or £16 if paying by Paypal. This represents a saving of £5 for UK members and a very significant saving for overseas

members. It also reduces the workload on our dispatcher, Alistair Kennedy, and will save several trees in due course. It would greatly help the management to have timely advance warning of members intending to go paperless so the print run of the Spring 2014 edition can be adjusted downwards, saving money, so please do e-mail our Treasurer at scapabaker@btinternet.com as soon as you read this Journal if you wish to go paperless for 2014 onwards.

Please also note that those who pay for their paper copy will still be able to access the online version through our Discussion Forum.

MEMBERSHIP CHANGES

New and re-joined members - we extend a warm welcome to the following new members:

1477 Dr B (Brian) Robertson 248a Shawfield Road, Ash, ALDERSHOT GU12 5DJ Ambulance & Hospital Trains, all countries, all periods

1478 Mr Ho Hon Keong 11-2 Jalan Solaris 3, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia British Malaya, Malaya Forces Mail & Field Posts

1479 Maj A L (Almyr) Bump 247 Rand Road, Rindge, NEW HAMPSHIRE 03461, USA The story behind WWI & WWII Forces Mail; Military mail from Imperial Powers & rarely seen countries

1480 Mr M (Matthew) Gibbs 14 Grange Road, Dacre Banks, HARROGATE, North Yorkshire HG3 4HA Indian FPOs, Commonwealth censored mail, forces PS

1481 Mr A (Tony) Warren 14 Glendale Close, Chapel Park, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE5 1SD FPOs, Greece

1482 Mr P (Peter) Grimley 7 Main Street, Queniborough, Leicestershire, LE7 3DB Registration Labels, RAF Stations

Changes of address: 1469 Chris Green to 1-88 Powell Avenue, Ottawa ON K1S 2A1, Canada

Lapsed / Resignations / Non-renewals: 0297 Ivan Learmouth; 0464 Reg Patchett; 1349 Colin Hepper; 1472 Peter Lyons; 1462 Howard Fisher;

Deceased: 1331 James Buchan; 0887 Donald Farmborough

FPHS Newsletter No 300 Summer 2014

DATES 2014 14 June 2014 - Falkland Islands & Ascension Island - a display from Wilf Vevers 18-20 July 2014 - Weekend Conference at the Holiday Inn York, incorporating the York Stamp & Coin Fair 9 August 2014 - War & Philately at Banstead Community Hall, Banstead, Surrey SM7 3AJ 13 September 2014 - Europe at War - Medical Facilities, Hospitals, etc - Members’ displays 11 October 2014 - ALL DAY Meeting: A Memorial Meeting to the late Martin Lynes featuring a display in the afternoon of a general collection of British Forces mail through the ages.

Note: this is a change to our advertised programme 15 November 2014 - By popular demand by both societies another joint meeting with the Postal History Society.

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SOCIETY Officers

Other dates of interest

11-14 July 2014 - Philatelic Congress of Great Britain 2014 To be held in Ypres, Belgium, in commemoration of the beginning of World War I. Arranged jointly by The Royal Philatelic Society London and the l'Académie de philatélie de Belgique

18-19 July 2014 - York Racecourse Stamp & Coin Fair, Grandstand, Racecourse, York YO23 1EX

17-20 September 2014 - Autumn STAMPEX, Business Design Centre, Islington, London N1 (Germany and Colonies 50th Anniversary and Centenary of the outbreak of World War One)

Advance Notice:

Wed-Sat 13-16 May 2015 - London 2015 Europhilex Exhibition - see website for further information: http://www.london2015.net/

SOCIETY Displays 8th February 2014 - “The Post Office Went to War” a display by Christine Earle, FRPSL

Fortified by lunch across the road at the Auberge and introduced by our President, Peter High, Christine opened with a question - why did she start the collection ? Her answer was because she was a post-war baby (with plenty of comments as to which war !). She also said that she was a thematic collector and that her collecting interest was archery. As regards World War Two, she knew nothing about it (being a post-war baby) but she knew that there was a great deal of information and material about and she became interested in the Home Front and in particular the Post Office captured her imagination. Christine explained that there were three main areas in which the Post Office was involved in WW2:

• Maintaining communications during the war - the Post Office was the largest employer at the time and it included telephone communications.

• Promoting the domestic war effort (in other words propaganda).

• Supporting military operations.

Christine started off her display with items relating to maintaining of the Home Front - over 1¼ million people were evacuated from vulnerable areas. One of the first things that happened was that there were over 1 million cards or letters sent through the post to parents or loved ones. In addition the Post Office distributed leaflets to get information to people on Civil Defence dealing with evacuations. The Post Office also dealt with mobilisation - call-up papers, pensions and allowances as well as letters home from those called up. The Post Office had to deal with all of this with a reduced manpower as their workers were called up for service in the Forces. She showed a variety of Civil Defence and Post Office leaflets and instructions as well as mail, private and official, handled during this period.

PRESIDENT: Peter High VICE PRESIDENTS: Ed Hall & Robin Davis Hon Secretary Michael Dobbs 52 Leamington Avenue, Bromley, Kent BR1 5BL Email: michael.dobbs@ntlworld.com Hon Treasurer Alan Baker 5 Dark Lane, Sunningwell, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 6RE Email: scapabaker@btinternet.com Journal Editor Colin Tabeart 238 Hunts Pond Road, Titchfield Common, Fareham, Hampshire PO14 4PG Email: colintabeart@btinternet.com Librarian Nick Martin Angel House, Station Road, Sutterton, Boston, Lincolnshire PE20 2JH Email: njm.angel@btinternet.com Membership Secretary Martin Hopkinson Trewinney Barton, Mevagissey, St Austell, Cornwall PL26 6TD Email: martinhopkinson@hotmail.co.uk Packet Secretary Ian Muchall Holmegarth Louth Road, North Cockerington, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 7DY Email: ianmuchall@aol.com Postal Auction Manager Geoff Hanney 14 Allington Road, Orpington, Kent BR6 8BA Email: geoff.fphs@btinternet.com ‘Live’ Auction Manager David Pearce 20 Dene Road, New Southgate, London N11 1ES Email: dmpearce2003@yahoo.co.uk London Meetings Organiser Peter High 94 Winkworth Road, Banstead, Surrey SM7 2QR Email: peter.high94@hotmail.co.uk Publicity Officer Peter Harvey Malt Shovel Cottage, Walcote Road, South Kilworth, Leicestershire LE17 6EQ Email: peter.harvey@militarymail.co.uk Journal Distribution Alistair Kennedy 48 Grange Bottom, Royston, Herts SG8 9UQ Email: akennedyroy@hotmail.com

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Christine had material from the ss Canterbury, the last vessel to leave Dunkirk. She also likes to collect specific covers from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) - those whose datestamps were destroyed at Dunkirk. She also displayed a fascinating and wide variety of leaflets on gas masks and how to use them; advertising ARP blackout material; what to do about gas, fire precautions, etc, etc. All these were sent out through the post. There was also a cover caught up in the Sheffield blitz, a badly damaged house and returned to sender. Following the Dunkirk evacuations there was a fear of invasion and Christine displayed a number of notices “If the invader comes what to do”. Then there was the LDV - Local Defence Volunteers or Look, Duck and Vanish to many - and the leaflets issued by them on what to do if the enemy invaded. She added that the public most hated the blackout, the ARP, the regulations and having to carry gas masks.

Christine Earle, FRPSL There was also censorship. Censorship came into being almost as soon as war started. Letters were opened and sealed with labels. Around 1940 it was recommended that censorship should move from War Office control to the Ministry of Information and the wording changed to something less dramatic: “opened by examiner”. Christine showed censored and various labels which contained instructions or listed prohibited items: you couldn’t send photographs, you couldn’t re-use envelopes to overseas addresses and you couldn’t send stamps out of the country. However, following an outcry from stamp dealers the British Philatelic Association (BPA) was allowed to set up a philatelic censorship organisation and effectively self-censor material.

The Post Office promoted the war effort and Christine had a fascinating display of material to illustrate this aspect. For example Postal Information Leaflet No 4 on how to deal with food rationing books. Ration books

were extremely important, but they had an official paid medallion and were simply sent through the post as is - no outer envelope and they were delivered and she had a number on display. The Post Office was also involved in promoting the Home Front by the use of slogans in postmarks and she showed a variety. There was a leaflet on sending eggs through the post. There was also a war salvage scheme for such items as waste paper, bones, metal and rags and this was promoted through postal slogans and leaflets. She also showed use of various re-sealing labels, in particular used by French volunteers and water companies. Other economy measures included making envelopes out of sugar packets, maps, etc, while the Post Office reduced the quality of colour in stamps, postal stationery, etc. It also reduced the size of greetings telegrams until they ceased altogether and came down to an economy telegram. The Post Office also encouraged everyone to become involved in savings campaigns with “Salute the Soldiers” leaflets and other for the Royal Navy and RAF, including a “Spitfire” fund. Anyone donating received a letter from the Minister of Aircraft.

The last section dealt with supporting military operations: the postal service was vitally important to both send and receive letters. Christine showed part of a correspondence she had collected from a Mr Bob Strauss in the Army Catering Corps (ACC). This correspondence included ordinary covers, field service postcards, honour envelopes, airgraphs and air mail letter cards and stretched in time from the Battles of Narvik in April-June 1940 to Operation TORCH - the Allied invasion of French North Africa which started on 8 March 1942. He then landed in Sicily and moved up into Italy. During all this time he wrote home to his wife in Worthing; by this time he was a QMSI (Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor) in the ACC. The next two frames of material were a tribute to Prisoners of War (POWs) in Italy and Germany - it included interesting items of stationery, postmarks and recovered mail with cachets. Likewise the following frame was a tribute to POWs incarcerated by the Japanese. It included returned to sender handstamps, postal stationery and Japanese postcards. There were also POW oath letters to swear that they could not escape and Red Cross letters; Christine also displayed nine covers sent to a POW L/Sgt in the RAMC held at Malai Camp in Malaya - it is not known if these were received by the individual.

Lastly - the end of the war: the Home Guard were stood down; there was the Victory Bells slogan and the 1946 “Peace and Reconciliation” stamps (otherwise known as Victory stamps). All-in-all a superb display of postal history and ephemera with just a touch of postage stamps - thank you Christine for such a marvellous display and interesting talk. 8th March 2014 - 16-sheet competition - “John Daynes Plate”

We had as good turn-out with 23 members and guests for this meeting and a total of 7 entries this year - a disappointingly low number compared to a record high last year. Nevertheless all the entries were of a high

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standard and diverse in nature ranging from the Boer War to more recent times in the 1990’s.

The winner was last years’ runner-up Jeremy Piercy this time with an entry entitled “Boer Wear Returned Mail”. This was a selection of mail from the Boer War returned to the sender for a variety of reasons, such as interruption of communications, addressee not found, gone away, invalided, repatriated, deceased and so on.

Following up on the success of his epic multi-volume Postal History of the Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees in East Asia during World War II with Volume 6 (Japan, Korea, Manchuria and Borneo 1942-1945) being jointly awarded the Harry Cope medal for 2013 came David Tett, FRPSL as runner-up with his “War Prisoner’s Mail Borneo 1942-45”. In setting the scene for his entry David wrote British North Borneo, which comprised Brunei, Labuan, North Borneo and Sarawak, fell to the Japanese in late December 1941. The small defence garrison fought a rear guard action into Dutch Borneo, but were taken prisoner when it, too, fell a few weeks later. POWs were transported to Borneo from Singapore and Java to build airfield and undertake other labouring tasks. On 8 July 1942 ‘B’ Force (1,500 Australians) left Singapore destined for Sandakan. On 9 October 1942 a group of 1,886 British and Dutch from Java were taken to Kuching, 800 of these men went to Jesselton. A small group of 104 left Singapore on 3 February 1943 and on 28 March 1943 ‘E’ Force (500 British and 500 Australians) left Singapore for Kuching. Meanwhile civilians taken in Borneo has been interned and transferred or held in Kuching. Prisoners were frequently moved around the country to where the labour was required. Most officers were held in an officers’ camp in Kuching, along with other ranks, male and female civilian internees all held in separate compounds at the camp, which was located at Batu Lintang, five kilometres from Kuching. Other POW camps were located in Sandakan, Jesselton and Labuan. In 1945, when the island was being threatened by the advancing American and Australian forces, the 2,200 men from Sandakan were either marched out or slaughtered in the camp. Of the men who marched out, six managed to escape into the jungle and somehow survived. There were no other survivors. The surviving POWs and internees in Kuching were liberated in August 1945 by Australian forces. The POWs were taken to Labuan and the internees to Singapore to recuperate prior to repatriation.

In joint third place came Peter High and John Leathes. Peter High with his entry “Russo-Japanese War - Russian Military Mail” explained that the only way for the Russians to reach the front was by train. His entry showed covers from various Russian squadrons en-route to Manchuria. There were also covers from Russian hospital trains which were kept very busy during 1904-05. Note that several of the hospital trains were sponsored (and named after) members of the Imperial ruling family. John Leathes with his entry “The Norwegian U-Boat Bases” explained that the three main U-Boat bases were at Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik. Mail from these ports and their associated commands, flotillas and U-Boats were shown and backed up by relevant

collateral material. Examples of registered, official and private mail were included using both the naval and army feldpost systems. Also shown were rate items from the midget submarines deployed to the Norwegian command for operations against the Russian arctic ports.

Other entrants were as follows (in alphabetical order): Michael Dobbs with his entry on “British Forces Post Office ‘Meter Style’ Machine Postmarks” which illustrated new machine postmarks introduced at British Forces Post Offices world-wide (but mainly in Germany and Northern Ireland with the only other locations being Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands) from around mid-1994. These were referred to as "meter style" machine postmarks as they closely resembled meter marks in general, but were used to cancel postage stamps, in the main. The entry showed most locations at which these were used, together with the many variations, including the use of red ink, slogans used on the BFPO 26 machine, the incorrect spelling of “Rheindahlen” on its first die and use with or without wavy killer bars. These machines went out of use around 2004.

Tony Eastgate entered “Cyprus Internees and early Courier Mails to Israel” which covered the period in Cyprus 1947-48. Prior to May 1948 and independence for Israel, the British Government interned ships carrying Jewish refugees and only allowed quotas to enter Palestine each month. From April to August 1948 postal services were seriously disrupted into and out of Israel and various couriers were used to speed up the mail; usually Cyprus was the transit port for such mail. Edmund Hall with his entry entitled “Yugoslavia Disintegration” - the title referred to the break-up of the Yugoslav Federation in 1991/92 first with the declaration of independence by Slovenia and Croatia on 25 June 1991 followed by Bosnia & Herzegovina on 15 October 1991. Serbia strongly disapproved of these declarations and expressed concern over Serbian nationals living in Croatia and Bosnia. As a consequence the split cause civil war in both countries as the Serbian populations wanted to become part of a “Greater Serbia”. The UN became involved and sent a peacekeeping force (UNPROFOR). The entry showed covers of the Croatian forces, together with UNPROFOR contingents from Ukraine, Slovakia, Belgium and Nepal. Also included were Operation Deny Flight covers (NATO air operations enforcing the UN "No Fly Zone") from Britain, Germany and the USA as well as a cover from the Swiss HQ Support Unit that supported the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission. Later UNPROFOR was replaced by the NATO-led Peace Implementation Force (IFOR) for Bosnia & Herzegovina 1995-96 with covers from British, Russian, American, Belgian and Turkish forces. IFOR was in turn replaced by the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) 1996-2004 with covers from the German and Russian contingents. 12th April 2014 - Notes of the 62nd Annual General Meeting

The AGM started with the President (Peter High) welcoming those present to the meeting, in particular to Ulf Sjoeden from Sweden. He then led a moments

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silence in the memory of members who had died during the year, in particular Stephen Dunderdale, Derek Brook, Ged Taylor and Martin Lynes. On a proposal by Robin Davis, seconded by Ed Hall and agreed by all those present, the Minutes of the 61st meeting were approved with no matters arising. Apologies were recorded in the attendance book.

In his opening address President (Peter High) said this was his final day as our President, his second period of office in that role. In handing over the role to Edmund Hall he did so in the knowledge that the Society would not only be in very capable hands but that it was in a sound financial position with an enthusiastic membership. He remarked that our prime communication with the membership, the Journal, had gone from strength to strength with a good range of interesting articles in a modern format. He congratulated the Editor, Colin Tabeart, on a superb publication. He then made reference to the Society News Supplement with its new name of Society Newsletter and a new format and again congratulated its editor, Michael Dobbs, for his hard work not only for his role in producing the Newsletter but also in his wider capacity as Secretary. He then thanked and praised our two Auction Managers (Geoff Hanney and David Pearce) as well as to Ian Muchall, our Packet Secretary. All their efforts generate much welcome extra income for the Society. Two more “back room” boys that deserved a mention were Nick Martin, our Librarian, and Peter Harvey, our Publicity Officer. Another loyal servant of many years standing was our Despatch Manager, Alistair Kennedy. Others deserving of praise were Martin Hopkinson, our Membership Secretary, Ray Downing who maintains our membership database and produces the address label and last but not least, Alan Baker our Treasurer. All these jobs take time and effort and Peter wanted to let them know how much they were appreciated.

Hon Secretary (Michael Dobbs) reported that as usual he had produced four 8 page Supplements produced along with monthly emails (mainly to remind members of the next meeting, but with various news updates). The one difference was that the first “Supplement” of 2014 was in a new format with a new name - the Newsletter. I hope you enjoy it. He also mentioned that he forwarded other emails received, mainly connected with such organisations as ABPS, Stamp Active Network, British Postal Museum & Archive and the Royal. In addition he liaises with our Webmaster to keep our website up-to-date and also contributes to the Discussion Forum wherever possible. He was glad to see that there had been some new contributors to the Forum during the past year. As always he handles a number of enquiries received, largely from our website and hoped that he had dealt with them satisfactorily. Lastly, on top of his Hon Secretary duties he also contributes to the Journal with matters of more modern Forces Postal History.

Packet Secretary (Ian Muchall) reported that the year ending 31 January 2014 had been a very poor as far as the Society is concerned, once again due to lack of material. Only five packets were completed during the year and £84.27 was made in respect of commission and a further £37.50 in donated sales. He had,

however, put three packets into circulation this year and sales were looking up. He remarked on the increasing cost and changing conditions for sending packets through the post and made a plea for more material as his cupboard was now empty. He was prepared to soldier on, but after more than 20 years in the post he would happily fade into the background and let a younger member take over.

Librarian (Nick Martin) reported that requests for book loans and for information had been steady but not overwhelming and he felt that the Library continued to be a worthwhile asset for our members. He had sent out or given by hand 32 books, and numerous scans of articles or individual pages from books during the past year. Whilst scans can be time-consuming to make, we know that the books concerned are kept undamaged and safer from loss, and that there is also a considerable saving to the members concerned in postage costs. Loans this past year had been made to 24 borrowers. This contrasted with 39 loans to 17 borrowers the previous year.

He mentioned that the journals we receive still remained a problem as, until he can find the time to properly index them as they come in, they remained a “hidden asset” as clearly our members cannot benefit from our large stocks of journals if they are not indexed. Whilst he had already designed a cumulative index of the journals we received, ready for conversion into an on-line searchable database, adding new journals as he received them was another matter. Nick was still concerned about the number of journals which the Society received on an exchange basis due to the cost to ourselves and to the societies with which we exchange journals, to the lack of access to an index, and to the sheer volume of journals which he receives on behalf of two societies. Nick was not convinced that this exchange system was really worthwhile (enjoyable as it may be to the receiving librarian) and considered that the societies concerned may need to review their policy. As an adjunct to this, he was now receiving at least three journals electronically in PDF format and thought that, in the long term, this would be the best method of dissemination. He added that if any member felt that they had the time, inclination and space to deal more effectively with hard copies of journals he would be very pleased to co-operate to develop an effective way of doing so. It would not be an arduous task, but required more personal organisation than he could currently give - it would keep you away from the TV and your bedside table loaded up ! Lastly, Nick took the opportunity to remind members that there was an excellent (although in his view somewhat unwieldy) cumulative index of books and journals held by the RPSL and he recommend that members use this as much as possible http://www.rpsl.org.uk/library.asp.

London Meeting Organiser (Peter High) explained that he had tried to put together a programme that appealed to a wide selection of the members who are able to attend London meetings. Numbers attending have kept steady with some meetings bursting at the seams. A number of invited speakers had provided variety with some cracking good material to view ! Joint meetings with other societies had provided popular and, again, given us access to some fine

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material. The present year’s programme had both these elements and Peter will continue to approach other societies with a view to agreeing joint meetings.

He was pleased to report that the experiment with organising our own dealer and philatelic society fair and exhibition in ‘War & Philately’ in 2012 had proved popular and this was repeated in 2013, again with success. He encouraged members to come along to War & Philately on Saturday 9 August this year. If members knew of any dealer who might like to take a table please let him know - we have had dealers from Merseyside and Holland at past events. As usual both Epsom & Ewell and Redhill Philatelic Societies will be attending with small displays.

Peter also said that the loss of our Vice President Martin Lynes was felt by us all and his widow, Wendy, wanted us to see some of the material he had been preparing to show us. Therefore the London meeting on 11 October would be a Memorial meeting for Martin and Wendy would be attending when one of Martin’s displays will be shown to us. He hoped members would take the opportunity to attend (but we are restricted by the capacity constraints of the Reserved Bar Lounge). Looking ahead to 2015 Peter hoped to have further joint meetings. Another War & Philately is scheduled as is an exhibition of Dardanelles material to commemorate the anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign. This would be a charity event in conjunction with Help4Heroes and would be held in Banstead Community Hall.

Journal Editor (Colin Tabeart) sent his apologies and with it his report: the last year’s Journals had been printed by our new printers at a significant annual saving of some £1200 to the Society. No special editions were been produced in the past year but we still planned to produce a special edition in the Autumn of 2014 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands. Members may recall that in 2013 we submitted the Journal to the New Zealand National Philatelic Literature Exhibition. We were awarded a Vermeil.

The Journal and Newsletter can now be viewed on our website, thanks to our energetic and highly professional webmaster. There was also a facility to view and bid on auctions on line. Several members had taken up the option to go paperless and so enjoy a reduced subscription. Members who do view on line are able to see all the illustrations in colour (provided they were sent to the editor in colour of course). Members who do not wish to go paperless can rest assured that printed copies will continue to be produced and posted. Lastly he thanked all our contributors, without whom the Journal would not survive, and most importantly Bob Bruce, our webmaster, who does a fantastic job so willingly

Membership Secretary (Martin Hopkinson) was once again sorry that he could not be with us, but reported on another satisfactory year with 18 new members since this time last year. Of these 14 came via the website, and of the other four, two of these were from the Banstead meeting, which further underlines how important the website and the ability to pay by PayPal have become as the route to membership. Actual

introductions to the Society came from a range of sources, but the three key ones were the internet (4 new members), Banstead, our meetings, and joint meetings (4) and recommendations by existing members (4).

Auction Manager (Geoff Hanney) reported that this year had been difficult for postal auctions with the sad loss of Stephen Dunderdale while in the middle of an auction which went out with Journal 296. He added that we needed to thank Peter High for stepping in to try pick up the pieces of that auction, especially as found he did not have all the information, therefore we still had a number of queries outstanding from that auction to resolve. Geoff went on to say that the original intention was for him to take over as postal auction manager after the AGM, but circumstances meant he was asked by the Committee to run the auction which went out with Journal 298. It had taken him some time to work out a system to do the auction as it sounded simple until one actually sit down to do it. It had possibly taken him longer to do than it would do in the future as he was on a learning curve. He ended by saying that he was looking for more material from members for future auctions.

Publicity Secretary (Peter Harvey) sent his apologies and submitted a written report in which he stated that during 2013 the Society had again featured in philatelic magazines within the UK, with a slight increase in the number of articles or meeting notices published. This continues to be a competition for limited space, however, 16 separate requests for free publicity were submitted to the philatelic press. In addition the Society Programme is now published on four ‘Collector’ websites and these all give links to the society website, with the hope of attracting new members.

War and Philately organized by the President continues to a great success and a headline event for the Society. Both the flyers distributed, publicity in two separate magazines and email advertising proved a great success and a further event again at Banstead in Surrey is planned for 2014. With the commemoration of the First World War now with us and firmly in the press, the Society have had several requests for support with articles requested by the philatelic press. This has been supported with information passed to appropriate members. The society supports MIDPEX and a number of other shows. Any members wanting FPHS information for their own local events should contact Peter Harvey at peter.harvey96@outlook.com .

Journal Despatch (Alistair Kennedy) reported that there had been considerable changes since last year. Members now had the option to pay a reduced subscription and in return receive the Journal and associated papers electronically instead of by post. 49 members had taken this option to date (32 in the UK and 17 in Europe and overseas). In addition the latest despatch (Journal 299) had been sent to 236 members: 151 in the UK, 26 to Europe and other surface and 26 sent airmail; there were 33 given out by hand at STAMPEX or Society meetings. These figures might not be completely accurate because changes were taking place during the course of the posting period. Statutory, complimentary and exchange copies went to 26 recipients. The committee will be reviewing these to

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see if the number can be reduced. Postage rates have again increased, from 31 March 2014. Some saving had been possible by use of stamps purchased at advantageous rates (either brought forward from earlier years or newly acquired), and of course by delivering by hand at meetings as previously noted.

The Hon Treasurer (Alan Baker) presented his report and the accounts for the year 2013/14. He said that income was up by around £1400 almost entirely due to increased subscriptions; packet sales were also higher and auction income has also held up. Expenditure was down and that we were starting to see the full impact of the reduced printing costs obtained by Colin Tabeart. Banstead had run at a profit for 2013. There were also a number of ‘one-off’ expenditures. However, we had reduced our deficit considerably to less than £500. Alan said that there were 20 members whose subscriptions were still outstanding.

The question of interest rates on savings accounts was raised and debated. It was clear that there were higher rates to be obtained, but the amount of interest involved had to be set against the effort involved in opening new society accounts and the terms and conditions of these higher interest paying accounts. Nevertheless our Treasurer undertook to look into the issue.

On a proposal by Nick Martin, seconded by Alistair Kennedy and unanimously agreed, the accounts were accepted.

Our President (Peter High) (left) presenting Ulf Sjödén (right) with the Alan Brown Trophy which he took home to Sweden to show his wife ! The President (Peter High) announced that he had awarded the Alan Brown Trophy to Ulf Sjödén for his article “The Postal System on board Swedish Warships” which appeared in the Spring 2013 Journal (No 295) and took great delight in being able to present the Trophy to Ulf in person. The article was of an unusual subject not previously covered in our Journal and was comprehensively covered and well illustrated. In accepting the Trophy Ulf looked forward to taking it home and showing it to his wife who had proof-read his article and corrected his English. He also looked forward to returning it in person next year.

All officers and co-opted members resigned at the AGM and were eligible for re-election and all current post holders were willing to stand again. Peter O’Keeffe

proposed and Derek Ransom seconded that they all be re-elected en-bloc - all agreed:

Hon Secretary

Michael Dobbs Journal Editor

Colin Tabeart

Hon Treasurer

Alan Baker Membership Secretary

Martin Hopkinson

Packet Secretary

Ian Muchall Auction Manager

Geoff Hanney

Librarian Nick Martin Publicity Secretary

Peter Harvey

Programme Secretary

Peter High

With his three year term of office coming to an end at this meeting Peter High handed over to Edmund Hall, as senior Vice President, who became President for the next three years. In taking up his post Ed thanked Peter for all his hard work during the past three years.

With the appointment of Ed Hall as President and the sad loss of Martin Lynes the Society were left with only one Vice President - Robin Davis. As a result the Committee proposed Geoff Hanney as “third” Vice-President and this was unanimously agreed by those present. This still left a vacancy, but with plenty of time to fill it.

The three existing Committee members (Nick Colley, Alistair Kennedy and Peter O’Keeffe) had also agreed to stand again.

Nick Martin proposed and Tony Eastgate seconded that Ian Muchall be elected as Hon Independent Examiner - all agreed.

The Committee proposed that 16 sheet competition rules to make it a 15-sheet competition to fit in with our display boards. Our display boards held 15 sheets and therefore it was very awkward to display 16 sheets as per our current Rules. There was no discussion and the proposal was carried unanimously.

The Secretary reminded the meeting of our York Weekend Away - 18-20 July 2014. The Committee agreed an outline proposal for the York Weekend. The main purpose of the weekend away is to visit the York Stamp Fair with a social gathering. This was later firmed up and sent out to members by email. In summary:

Friday 18 July: Members arrive in the afternoon - some may have arrived the day before and spend Friday at York Stamp Fair. Members and guests to make their own dinner arrangements. We will have informal displays Friday evening starting around 6pm - members can come and go as they wish. Day-visitors welcome.

Saturday 19 July: During the day visit York Stamp Fair. Evening - semi-formal dinner in an area of the restaurant set-aside for us. Day-visitors welcome to attend the dinner in the evening.

Sunday 20 July: Informal displays from around 9.30am until “lunch-time”. Day-visitors welcome

Peter High had already mentioned War & Philately on 9 August 2014 in his report; to be held at the Banstead Community Hall, Park Road, Banstead, Surrey SM7 2AJ (see above).

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Peter High had already mentioned the change of theme for the London all-day meeting on 11 October 2014 - this would be a Memorial meeting for the late Martin Lynes (see above).

Peter High had already given an overview of the 2015 programme in his report (see above).

Finally Nick Martin, with his President of the Belgian Philatelic Study Circle (BPSC) hat on, reminded members of the joint meeting of the Philatelic Congress of GB, the Belgian Académie de Philatélie, and the Royal Philatelic Society, London to be held in Ypres, Belgium in 2014 to commemorate the Centenary of World War One. The meeting would take place from Friday 11 July until Sunday 13 July 2014 in Ypres. There would be an exhibition of stamps and postal history relating to Belgium during WW1 which would be open for viewing from Friday evening until Sunday evening.

Records relating to military mails

The BPMA is the public identity of the Postal Heritage Trust. This charitable trust was established in 2004 to manage the public records of The Royal Mail Archive, and to develop access to the museum collections of the former National Postal Museum. The BPMA is an independent charity but its history is strongly linked with that of Royal Mail Group.

Quite recently via a friend of our Editor (Colin Tabeart) I was made aware of a particular Blog dated 1 May 2014 on the BPMA website (www.postalheritage.org.uk) which related to work carried out in cataloguing a vast quantity of material relating to the “Army Postal Service” and the “Royal Engineers Postal Section” (REPS).

New to the catalogue was the ‘REPS deposit’. This was a large collection of records on the Royal Engineers Postal Section (REPS) and the Army Postal Service.

The material dated from the 1900s to the 1980s, but it was particularly rich in information on the Army Postal Service at home and overseas during and after the Second World War. The REPS deposit was indexed in the early 1980s by Major J G Long (retired), then archivist of the REPCS Officers’ Association. The REPS deposit was only catalogued by the BPMA during the early part of 2014 and has been split into three main areas of the BPMA catalogue:

POST 47 covers public records on the Army Postal Service; the material dates from around 1900 until the 1980’s and is particularly rich in WW1 references from all fronts, between the wars and WW2 with lesser amounts of information up to the 1970’s;

POST 56 which covers records on the GPO’s actions in wartime; and

The remainder of the deposit is mostly non-public records, including Major Long’s own research notes, military publications, and reunion dinner plans. These archives are not strictly postal in relevance but will be of interest to anyone studying the history of the REPS as a military unit. They’ve been catalogued as a separate ‘REPS collection’. Members “Wants” & Small Ads:

► Khalid Omaira is looking for material from the RAF in Sharjah during 1940s to the 1970s.

If you have anything you think Khalid might be interested in please contact him via email at a6zsn@hotmail.com or else write to him at PO Box 28622, ABU DHABI, UAE.

► Peter Grimley has recently purchased a large collection of RAF registration labels or civil registration labels thought to have been used at RAF Post Offices. He is currently trying to research the topic and would welcome any help. At the same time he has a large number of duplicate registration labels (these are labels only - not on cover).

If you are interested in these please contact him via email at grimleyhouse@btinternet.com or write to him at 7 Main Street, Queniborough, Leicestershire LE7 3DB.

When ? Saturday 9th August 2014 10 am to 4 pm FREE admittance Plenty of FREE parking