NZSCC Stamp News On Line

NZSCC Stamp News On Line - MARCH 2002

March Daytime Meeting

To be held on Wednesday, 6 March from 1pm to 3.30pm in the Philatelic Centre, 67 Mandeville Street, Riccarton. Please ring your friends to remind them about it.

Buy, sell or swap Bring your spare stamps or money. Don Walker is bringing the Exchange books.

Raffles Don will have some items to raffle.

News from here and there

Up to forty people attended the February evening meeting, which was an informative one. We had an alternative seating arrangement – to complement Graeme Muir’s talk on Alternative Postal Systems. He is finding that there are setbacks as well as rewards in collecting material produced by ‘philatelic amateurs’.

Shirley Bone was unable to attend the meeting but sent some of her Royalty postcards and the raffle prizes along. It was sad to think of the late Princess Margaret’s decline in health while looking at the display of picture postcards that showed her as a vivacious child or as a beautiful young woman. I looked after the raffles table and enjoyed talking to people as they bought tickets. John Wilson told me that Sir Valdamir Skellerup did not found Skellerup Industries as we had stated in a news item – his father did! Valdamir was five years old at the time.

Steven McLachlan had quite a time going through all the items of interest, which included the Dutch fishing licence stamps shown in last month’s STAMPING AROUND. Ron Bax spoke about these items and said that they weren’t postally used but were stuck on card and stamped. The low value stamp was for juvenile licences and the high value one for adult licences. Among the non-philatelic items were photos of Freda Clark with snakes around her neck. She enjoyed being called a snake charmer!

Thank you to a couple of our club members who have assisted committee members recently - Ross Stanton and Barry Olsen. Ross is now collecting the newsletter envelopes from Shirley and taking them into the Stamps Centre to be hand stamped. Barry is one of the people who help Don to check the circuit books.

There is a stamp issue of native fungi due out on Wednesday 6 March. For electronic images of them, visit www.stamps.co.nz. Three pictorial date stamps will be issued for the 25^th anniversary of the North Shore Philatelic Society on 5, 6 and 7 April. If you want them: post stamped addressed envelopes in an outer envelope to Northpex Exhibition, Stamps Centre, NZ Post Ltd, Private Bag 3001, Wanganui for receipt no later than 13 March 2002.

The Saturday Fairs held in the Church Hall on the corner of Papanui Rd and Rugby St are doing well. Most of the traders at the fairs are local folk but some travel from places out of town such as Ashburton or Amberley. In a rash moment, I bought a box of NZ postcards - multiples of unused ones. Let me know if you want some of them.

We hear that Joe Noon is off to England for a long holiday. His son lives there so Joe will be catching up with him.

Fred Saunders’ latest auction catalogue lists items from the Boar War! Isn’t it politically incorrect to talk about the ‘Boer Wars’ these days? One should avoid trouble by saying the ‘South African Wars’ or the ‘Anglo-Boer Wars’.

Harry Freese is saving the 1892 Second Side Face advert stamps. He wants to complete the second settings - both the top and bottom settings. What he desperately needs are 9 Cadbury’s advert stamps. Can you help him? If so, please phone him at 343 5574 or send an email to freese@es.co.nz

Allan Berry apberry@wave.co.nz asks me to draw your attention to two publications.

A Postal History of the Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees in East Asia During the Second World War, Volume 1, Singapore &Malaya, 1942-1945 The Changi Connection, by David Tett. It is the latest publication from the Stuart Rossiter Trust. There is a very strong NZ connection, as David Nelson of Invercargill was the Officer who kept the records of all inmates. These were of inestimable value in tracing the fate of the Prisoners in the area.

Aspects of Collecting New Zealand Stamps, has contributions from members of the New Zealand Society of Great Britain and is published to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Society. There are 16 contributions, including four by members resident in New Zealand and one by a member resident in Canada.

Details of how and where each publication may be ordered, together with cost, can be found below

A POSTAL HISTORY OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR AND CIVILIAN INTERNEES IN EAST ASIA DURING WORLD WAR TWO VOLUME 1 SINGAPORE & MALAYA 1942-1945 THE CHANGI CONNECTION

By David Tett

Published to mark the 60th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore

in February 2002

The ability to communicate with their relatives is one of the precious lifelines for the prisoners in any war. In East Asia in WW2 it was especially critical. It literally provided for many the will to live and the tenuous hold on life in those desperate years.

This book provides for the first time a history of communications between the prisoners and their families.

It is more than just a book on postal history. It provides an insight into the meaning and importance of these communications to those at home and those imprisoned.

In the words of Martin Bell in the foreword to this book ‘this is a goldmine - the stuff of history - a priceless and universal appendix to so many singular stories’.

The work covers all aspects of the mail to and from the prisoners of war and civilian internees:

arrangements in Australia and Britain for the despatch of mail;
how the mail was forwarded and distributed;
the role of the Red Cross;
the Japanese markings;
the work of the censors;
how the prisoners were able to send messages to their families and friends;
undelivered mails; and
wreck covers.

The hardback book is co-published by The Stuart Rossiter Trust and BFA Publishing, and contains 400 illustrations on 400 pages with 8 colour plates.

The cost of the book is $95 AUD (inc GST)

Post and handling $25 AUD (Air); $21.50 AUD (economy)

Cheques or drafts should be made payable to Dickon Oxenburgh and sent to him at: - Dickon Oxenburgh, 22 Selbourne Street, Hawthorn 3122, Australia

ASPECTS OF COLLECTING NEW ZEALAND STAMPS

"A COMMEMORATIVE PUBLICATION FROM

THE NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN

TO CELEBRATE THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE SOCIETY"

EDITED BY DEREK DIAMOND AND ANDREW DOVE

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SOCIETY MEMBERS

ISBN 0-9514667-2-0

This 38-page spiral bound A4 book contains articles on aspects of collecting New Zealand stamps from 16 members of the New Zealand Society of Great Britain. The illustrations are in colour.

Copies may be purchased from: -

John Watts, 463, Glenfield Road, Glenfield, Auckland.

The price is $25-00, plus postage and packing estimated to be $1-00.

Copies of the book will be available at NORTHPEX 2002 from John Watts.