South African Collectors’ Society

Zoom Meeting, 14th September 2024.

This Zoom Meeting was hugely enjoyable and instructive. It emphasised the social (internment of enemy aliens), stamp design and postal history sides of our hobby. The smiling faces of those who sat through the 2½ hour top quality session was evidence of their enjoyment, as was their congratulations to the presenters at the conclusion.

Those who missed this Zoom Meeting will have a chance to catch up with a little of what the lucky attendees viewed in full on the day in a report appearing in the next copy of The Springbok magazine. Make sure you get it. Click here for details on how to join SACS. Alternatively, read below.

But, as they say …. there’s no substitute for the real thing!

This was a wonderful, erudite and comfortably delivered presentation that began with a solid overview of the start of WW1 in Europe and its implications for South Africa, a divided country whose ex-Republican states had conceded defeat to Britain just
twelve years earlier.

The internment of enemy aliens, some of whom were German or Austrian, even Turkish, military reservists, took place under the darkening cloud of the pro-Empire invasion of German South West Africa and the Republican Rebellion.

Initially internees were held in different locations, like Milner Park in Johannesburg (Agricultural Showgrounds); Roberts Heights in Pretoria (Army Camp); Beaconsfield in Kimberley (Wessleton Mine); Tempe in Bloemfontein and Fort Napier in Pietermaritzburg (both army camps of the Imperial Garrison recently departed to fight in France).

Photographs taken by an internee, Mr Lodemann, recorded the daily life and routine of the internees in Milner Park, Roberts Heights and Fort Napier. Over time, most civilian internees were transferred to Fort Napier while military POWs went to the now conquered SWA.

This presentation displayed a wide range of internee mail from the camps to varying destinations, including both the Red Cross and the International Peace Bureau in Berne, Switzerland at the 2½d rate for mail under a half ounce.

We saw different types of censor postmarks and sealing tape on a variety of covers, one addressed to ‘Refugee Camp, Pietermaritzburg’ with an uncommon censor label in English and Dutch. This cover (above) also had a purple single word CENSOR mark with manuscript ‘P.B.C. (Passed by Censor) 14 / 10 / 14’, probably applied at Fort Napier. The cover was offered as evidence of internees being held at Fort Napier before other internees were moved there from Roberts Heights on 23 – 25 October 1914.

Another curiosity was an OHMS postcard from Defence Headquarters that suggested that some internees continued to run their businesses while confined to Fort Napier. This was in contravention of South African ‘Trading with the Enemy’ regulations.

The cover above is addressed to Robert Schurig, a well-known businessman and resident of Luderitzbucht. He was the recipient of POW mail from those Germans held in the camp at Aus. This cover shows that he had been held in Fort Napier before being transferred to Kimberley and later to SWA where he was presumably paroled in Luderitzbucht.

The display was supported by some wonderful watercolors painted by Frederic Butzbach, an internee at Fort Napier.

The internees were released in August / September 1919 after the formal German surrender at Treaty of Versailles which was officially signed on 28th June 1919.

The social side of the postal history of South Africa seldom gets better than this.

Rob Lester offered a personal view of what he considered to be the most unsuccessful RSA stamp of the 20th Century ’from a designer’s point of view’

Rob’s presentation was based on the original artwork produced by Sheila Marion Nowers, the well-known South African stamp designer, who designed about 30 commemorative stamps in the 1980’s. The set of stamps Rob considered was the most unsuccessful design was the Bible Society of South Africa set, issued on 19 November 1987.

The presentation showed hand drawn images in pencil, on tracing paper, of the artwork proposed for the four stamps including handwritten notes made by the designer giving instructions to the printers on type face, size of script and general design. All four of the initial designs included a 30c value tablet. Later images were in colour and the value was changed to 25c.

Rob explained the design intent of each of the four proposals and then compared them to the four stamps that were issued. Only one of the proposed designs was used, that being the 16c ‘Bible translation in 75 languages’,  with two of the designs,  the 30c and 50c, being replaced with well-known Rembrandt pictures and, of course, the infamous ‘Word of God’ 40c stamp which was withdrawn by the post authorities before the sale date.

Rob explained the design of the ‘Word of God’ stamp included Koine Greek and Hebrew text, the language of the New and Old Testaments respectively. The Orthodox Jewish community complained that the imagery and use of them was a serious transgression of Judaic law by using the phrase in a non-worship setting. The postal authorities quickly withdrew the stamp from circulation.

However, it is believed that a few smaller post offices ran short of 40c stamps and opened the new issue which were used before they received the order to return them. It is said about 1,275 copies, 51 sheets, were sold over the counter. The remainder of the stamps are believed to have been officially destroyed in Pretoria. Today, the withdrawn 40c ‘Word of God’ stamp is one of the most sought-after RSA stamps.

Keith Klugman is better known as an authority on the early postal history and stamps of Natal. He has arguably the finest early Natal collection to be found. What he showed to us was an accumulation of the earliest recorded dates of use of early Union stamps, starting with the King George V definitives of 1st September 1913, the so-called ‘King’s Heads’.

“Stanley Gibbons have the dates wrong for some issues”, he said. He then showed us what he meant with examples. (It is incredible that Stanley Gibbons have stuck to these dates for so long in their catalogue. Perhaps the knowledge is no longer in the company to confidently change this. Ed.).

According to Keith, FDCs (First Day Covers) of King’s Heads issued on 1st September 1913 “are hard to find!”. He showed a Registered Pretoria local cover with values up to 6d. He said that the 1/- King’s Head is not known on a FDC at all. With the £1 not being issued until July 1916, the highest value found on a FDC is 10/-.

Keith displayed a FDC from Queenstown that included among others a 2/6d, 5/- and 10/- stamps. He also showed a 1d PC Krugersdorp local FDC; a Registered FDC from East London with a 2d King’s Head with 3d Transvaal to Johannesburg at 5d rate; a Bloemfontein local cover with two ½d pairs; and a Port Elizabeth machine cancelled cover with ½d and two 1d pairs to Switzerland aming up the correct 2½d rate to Europe.

After the King’s Heads Keith presented the 1925 Airmail stamps of 26 February. These stamps pay the Airmail rate only. Keith showed a group of ten postcards. All but one are to a Mrs Robinson in Durban all sent on 26th September with 1d Airmail stamp, a 1d King’s Head and the orange bilingual ‘BY AIRMAIL’ label.

These were followed by the ½d Springbok, the 1d Ship London definitives, as well as the triangular 4d of 1926. Both Stanley Gibbons and the SACC (SA Colour Catalogue 2008 / 09) state that these stamps were issued on 2nd January. Keith provided FDC examples from Benoni and Bloemfontein that were postmarked the 1st January, New Year’s Day.

Keith explained that “it is possible that Stanley Gibbons assumed that SA post offices would be closed on New Year’s Day”. Clearly they were open. Keith was also able to show other examples from Sea Point, Walmer, Rondebosch, Pretoria and Western TPO 2. proving conclusively that many South African post offices were open for business on 1st January. Six examples were shown of the 6d Orange Tree used on 1st May 1926.

Stanley Gibbons gives a date of 1st March 1927 for the London printing of the 2d and 3d stamps. Keith has found no examples showing 1st March 1927 use.

The earliest date of use in his opinion is 2nd March. One cover from March 4th states ‘Day of Issue’ but this cannot be right as earlier examples exist, Keith said.

Stanley Gibbons gives a date of 3rd May for the Voortrekker Memorial Fund. However, Keith provides two examples from Observatory and the House of Assembly (the South African Parliament in Cape Town) that show use on 1st May 1933.

Some Conclusions

1.] In contrast to the 4th November 1910 commemorative for which FDCs have been recorded for perhaps 100 or more towns, the 1st September 1913 defintive (aka King’s Head) on FDC is a great rarity with no examples of the complete issue on cover and just six recorded FDC’s of any values to date.

2.] The 26th February 1925 first airmails are found in single correspondence on postcard with the penny value addressed to Mrs Robinson. Any other values on FDC are rare.

3.] The London printing ½d, 1d and 4d were issued on 1st January 1926 (not 2nd January as per Stanley Gibbons) and despite being the New Year’s Day public holiday, examples are known from various South African towns.

4]. The 6d on 1st May 1926 is recorded from Johannesburg, Dorp Street, Cape Town and Cambridge, East London.

5.] The higher value London printings up to the 5/- have varied earliest recorded dates by town in March 1927 with Pretoria on 2nd, Johannesburg on 3rd and Cape Town on 7th with the 2/6d values on 16th March.

6.] The rarest KG V FDC surprisingly may be the 1st May 1933 Voortrekker Memorial Fund stamps (not 3rd May per Stanley Gibbons. These were unpopular with collectors.

7.] A Silver Jubilee set of 4 pairs on a FDC of 1st May 1935 is scarce.

If you are unhappy with this report’s lack of detail please make an extra effort to attend future Zoom meetings in order to benefit directly from the experience of philatelic experts such as these. This was a hugely enjoyable Zoom meeting, one not to be missed!

Read about other past philatelic / postal history events

Comments on this report.

“I’ve been looking for first day cancels on King’s Heads for almost twenty years and I’ve never found one – I have a stock card with the early dates I’ve found, two 4^th September 1913 are the best I can do!  1913 dates would appear to be scarce; I believe a lot of offices were still using up the provincial KEVII issues.  Contrast with the Rhodesian Double Heads issued in November 1910, I think I’m up to three finds now.  I wasn’t aware that there were six SA covers known with first day usage, I knew of the two multi-franked (philatelic) covers.”

Simon Peetoom,
Africa Stamps.