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The
Worthing Regional Meeting
September
12th 2009
A note &
pictures from Susan McEwen
A detailed account
from our Special Correspondent Dominic Morris follows the photographs.
The
Regional MSG meeting at East Worthing community centre, was on a bright
day, Saturday 12th September. We were delighted to have such an excellent
turn out, slightly more than last year we are pleased to say. There was
a very good range of displays. Some of the participants are shown in these
pictures. After a full day of philately 9 adjourned to the Imperial China
restaurant for dinner and social chat.
Peter
Cockburn, holding the MSG 50th Anniversary Plaque, presented to the Group
at the celebrations in Penang in August 2009.
Rob
Holley presenting his display
Mac McClaren describing his frames
Len
Stanway's Jap Occ Display
Len
Stanway 's second display
Mike Ludlow's
display included Kensitas State Flags and postcards
WORTHING 2009
From our Special Correspondent,
Dominic Morris
Another fine year: for
the weather, for the company and for the philately. A new venue: in Pages
Lane. It may not be as fine as Field Place, but since the latter have
dumped philately for civil weddings and the corporate hospitality wagon,
we were pleasantly surprised by the light, airiness, good parking and
helpfulness of the new venue. (Also with the decent and keen-to-please
pub nearby for lunch- home made Scotch eggs and omelettes definitely a
plus). A good turn-out of members too (esp. for a new venue): around 20
members plus ‘regular’ spouses- Jane, Diane, Anne and Brenda-
who always enliven and lift Worthing. Also very welcome were a couple
of members whose first meeting this was. We hope to see them back again
in future.
The proceedings started with a moment of reflection and thanks for the
life of Gaden Robinson, a key member of the Group and a wonderful man
and good friend to many. Gaden died – far too soon- on 7 September.
His parting leaves a hole in our hearts. But he would have been even crisper
(and indeed gruffer) than usual if we had ‘gone all Victorian’.
“Just get on with it and enjoy the stamps- and by the way that one’s
got an inverted watermark” were words that seemed to float around.
Can’t think from where.
The day of displays itself opened with a full round display from Keith
Elliot on Negri Sembilan. Keith had evidently read carefully the reports
of the members’ display day earlier this year of Sungei/ Negri (which
he had been unable to attend) because this was a wholly complementary
display. It was, as ever from Keith, both superbly informative and ravishing
to the eye. There were postcards of the 1899 Yam Tuan; many lovely examples
of the 1899-1901 shortage period; Negri used in Perak, Selangor and Straits
used in Negri. He showed a 1907 Kwala Pilar to Mombasa cover: a full 12
years earlier than Proud’s earliest recording; plus a 1929 cover
and letter recording the drought and water theft. Pahang 1941 8c used
in Negri (a nice example, though not inherently rare, but to show how
rare the 8c Pahang used in Pahang was).
Other notable items in the display were: 1892 Registered Parcel Block
of 13 of the 2c; a Straits franking on cover (when Sungei was not in the
UPU); 1892-99 Straits used in Sungei; an 1893 1c used NS prepay card (being
the top half of a reply card); a 1931 FMS prepay 4c envelope cover at
the correct 12c UPU rate; some lovely 1934 Survey Department Essays, including
the long 50c Pale Green and Black; 1935-37 issues including missing stop
etc; the 1938 proof strike of the ‘Neo-post’ meter mark cover;
striated paper 1941 issues, the 1941 shortages; some nice tied ‘Patriotic
Fund’ labels on cover and, of course, the only known and recorded
version of the 8c scarlet 1941 Negri. No others bar this pair yet known
to exist. Thanks Keith, a lovely display.
Mike Ludlow followed with a fascinating display of postcards, hotel and
Victoria Hall ephemera, including a Flying Boat Corrio used first flight
postcard, postcards mint and used of the Singapore Philharmonic (Philatelic?)
Orchestra, plus programmes etc. Mike’s display concluded with some
authentic (if dodgy) postcards showing Sir Ralph Hone (then Gov-Gen Borneo)
and the Rt Hon Malcolm MacDonald (Political Resident General, Ramsay’s
son and all-round politician/ nuisance in Malaya in the early Emergency)
floating around off the official launch in Malayan waters. Tarka the Otter
this ain’t!
Peter King showed Maritime Covers, including Japanese postcards used with
maritime cancels and Dutch East Indies used with Singapore Paquebot marks;
covers of the SS Andorra (a fridge ship for Argentine Meat later used
as a Malaya passenger ship: presumably the Aircon was still working!),
British Air Fleet Mail (with cachets hitherto only recorded on Australian
Mail) a ‘ShipSocFin’ cachet from KL to London (This is..?
Answers on a postcard or email please); a Derek Clayton (to himself) 9d
cachet ‘Victualling Store Officer’ 1967 recorded at sea by
helicopter Penang paquebot mark. Almost certainly unique if Derek had
anything to do with it. Nice one Peter. Peter’s round finished with
a 1919 FMS card from ‘Bousted Hampshire and Co Ltd’. We believe
these were agents for the China Nautical Steam Navigation Co. But a rare
mark.
Over the lunch hour Joe
Robinson showed ‘volume 2’ of his photos and memorabilia of
his Wartime experiences on HMSs Scylla and Sirius including the June 1944
moment when the ship hit a mine showering Joe with spuds and water from
the catering tub hanging over his bunk; plus postcards and photos of the
re-conquest of various Greek Islands- very Captain Corelli.
After lunch, Len Stanway,
Susan McEwen and Dominic Morris all displayed Japanese Occupation. Len
showed some a half-sheet of the Red Cross overprint, fine upper (why are
they always upper?) panes and half-sheets of the Kolff Pictorial series,
different printings of the 4c red tin dredger prepaid post-card (He’s
right, there are very distinct red/ vermillion shading to crimson prints.
Is there a pattern a la Syonan-to printings of the 2c and 4c Kolffs or
is it just the vagaries of the printers inks available at the time?).
Len finished his display with a fine Perak ‘Map’ Revenue used
on receipt for the Blue Omnibus Co. Len displayed a further round later
in the afternoon on FMS and pre-FMS tigers.
Susan showed postal history
and receipts including bank deposits and all the JapOcc bureaucracy involved
in the authorisation for purchase of a cotton sari- amazing they could
fight a war at all, let alone get to the gates of India! Susan’s
display continued with some fine Postage Dues including diagonal overprints
and covers (one for 16c because two letters enclosed not one), a nice
sheet of the Perak Map Revenue and used on receipt including the much
scarcer red roulette used, finishing as a double act with Dominic with
correspondence to the La Brooey family. Susan showing OGS and Official
to Mr and Mrs La B at Dulcieville Ipoh, Dominic showing covers to Mrs
La B and a postcard from an admirer (young Den) to Miss La B who had by
end 1942 moved to KL. Dominic also showed a range of Dai Nippon printing
bloopers on Perak overprints, one or two scarce, more fun to collect.
Peter Cockburn asked why such a wide variety of bloopers? Answer, local
printers and locally made plates for the genuine bloopers and philatelic
‘requests’ from senior Japanese military and officials accounting
for others.
Andrew Norris showed a wonderful miscellany of postal history including:
an official postcard going to the local militia but also with franked
stamp (there were two names on the address, so it was presumably sent
on, exhausting the ‘official’ postage and thus requiring the
additional stamp); a 1942 ‘Per 34’ Censor-mark, which was
a permit for the BPAS, allowing the export of stamps in war-time; a train
letter mark on airmail cover; a North Borneo cover with manuscript WW1censor-mark;a
Trengganu registered envelope which was a Stanley Gibbons approvals book
returns envelope (which was a cause of SG’s opposition to the all-up
airmail rate’s introduction. They did not like these envelopes going
by plane. SG self-insured: ships didn’t sink but aircraft crashed.
Andrew finished his round with double censored covers from North Borneo
and Straits Settlements and a February 1947 BMA AV2 mark.
Peter Cockburn surprised us by showing us Revenues. In this case the new
1 Ringgit Malaysia Revenues issued in August and the February 2009 issue
of the RM 5, 10, 50, 100 and 250 Revenues, reflecting the shift in responsibility
from the Post Office to the Revenue Department, identical in design save
for the values; plus the previous issue.
Mac McClaren displayed a round of ‘guess-whats?’ from the
small heads series. These included Dutch Pos in Singapore, PO taxe marks
and the occasional 40c used on cover (always difficult in the small heads)
and a correct rate $1.40 ($1.20 for the ½ oz plus registration)
Selangor to St Helena – unusual destination.
Roger Barry showed a frame of Wearnes first flights and material on the
Motor Company History. An interesting conundrum: why more than one ‘official’
design for first flight covers between the same start and destination
points?
Joe Robinson, who despite his recent op had made the effort to get to
Worthing showed what would form the essence of his Postage Dues display
at the RPSL at the MSG’s 50th in October. (It has taken me that
long to write this up that said display has now happened- the display
looked good at Devonshire Place too Joe). This is written up better in
the lovely souvenir brochure of the RPSL display which David Tett, with
superb bandobast, has had produced (and if you haven’t got one,
get one!). Lovely display, Joe; and great for those South Coast members
who couldn’t get up to London to have the chance to see it.
Mike Kingsland showed three frames of the 2005-06 issued stamps used and
the miniature sheets issued in the same period. Another collector, alongside
Len, who can make modern Malaysian issues accessible to the rest of us.
Keith Elliot showed his second round of the day. This one including 1946
airmail covers, one of Keith’s other passions. Again he showed covers
that |Proud claims are unrecorded at that date (09.05.46); the first clipper
cover from Singapore in |May 1941 a never before seen arrival mark and
various other clippers; of the earlier marks there were a rare Endau from
around 1900, the only recorded Siliau in 1904 and ditto a Pulau TeKang
from 1932 (Hope I’ve transcribed that one correctly, Keith)
Rob Holley showed 55 sheets of the Multiple Crown and Multiple Script
issues of the FMS saying how infrequently these stamps made their appearance
at meetings although they were the most easily recognisable to the general
public. He found the listings in Gibbons presented several problems: 1.
How difficult it was to find really black vignettes of a number of values.
2. The difficulty of separating some of the greys from the grey-browns
on used stamps. 3. How oddly scarce some of the chalk stamps were to find,
examples being MCA SG 36a, the 4c grey & rose, SG 39b, the 5c, SG
41ba the 8c, & SG 43a, the 10c. In fact he wasn't very sure he had
found any of them. Had others had the same difficulty? He thought that
trying to put together the make-ups of the 6 different plates would be
an interesting task but had never found the opportunity (or the money)
to do it. The higher values of the Script issue was easier to find on
cover due to the increase in the use of airmails in the 1930s, even the
$2 stamps were possible, and he showed examples of SG 78 & 79.
As usual, the day finished with a walk along the sea-shore to a golden
sunset, a jar in the pub then an agreeable chow- down in the Imperial
China restaurant. This year our Chairman was with us and did the ordering
and (surprise) it worked out so much better. Home to the strains of the
Last Night of the Proms on the car radio. Perfect. Must do this again
next year!
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