Alan Whittaker

Ten members attended the meeting, possibly caused by a clash with the Cup Final. We started as usual with coffee or tea, giving members a chance to catch up with each other.  The meeting started with a 50-lot auction, with bidding on many, and a high volume of sales.  Our President,  David Laurillard started the displays with an interesting collection called Fun with Covers including material of all the Islands. Bryan Elliston showed Victor Hugo, The Man and his Island Home. Mike Moody’s display showed the Bureaucracy of Liberation with Christmas cards and programmes of Liberation shown with original material. On return from an excellent lunch in a local pub, Nick Stuart showed Forwarding Agents mail, a remarkable collection of very early covers, as well as an 1840 Penny Black cover sent from London to Sark.  Alan Whittaker followed with a frame entitled A Five-Year Honeymoon. A couple came to Guernsey as the islanders were leaving for England before the Germans arrived.  They had to remain on the Island, and after two years, they went to Internment Camps, arriving back to the U.K in 1945.  Our Chairman, David Winnie, gave the closing displays, Guernsey Wartime Sales Tax Stamps, which were produced by the local newspaper in letterpress, creating many variations, and Guernsey Air Letters, showing the way they changed over the years.

Even though there were only eleven members present, an excellent variety of material was shown. Next year’s meeting will be on Saturday 22 May 2027.  Any members living in the South, or further afield, would be most welcome to join us.

Sixteen members and guests attended the meeting. We started as usual with coffee or tea, giving members a chance to catch up with each other. The meeting started with an auction of  50+ lots, with keen bidding on many, and a high volume of sales. Our President, David Laurillard, started the displays with two frames of superb WWI material. These were the frames that he had shown in the Society’s 75th Anniversary display at the Royal. Alan Whittaker showed original International Red Cross message forms sent to and from the Islanders, which included Navy during Dunkirk. RAF at Biggin Hill during the Battle of Britain, and a soldier captured during the battle to hold back German tanks at Dunkirk. After a break for an excellent lunch, David Winnie showed two frames of Krag machine cancellations and their uses. Nick Stuart followed with an excellent display on Victor Hugo and his house in Hauteville, consisting of a remarkable collection of early postcards. Mike Moody showed Occupation material and WWI silk cards. Our final display was by Alan Whittaker. I purchased a U.K. to Jersey Message form dated 14 January 1941 with the rare cachet Type M.27 as in David Gurney’s book. With the help of Gerald Marriner, I spoke with the Jersey Archives, and I took out a twelve month pass to use all of the material held in the Bailiffs of Jersey’s Occupation files. This led me into the study of the cachet. Records show clearly that the cachet in question was designed, and a rubber stamp made, on the orders of the Bailiff. Also, that the German Officer, Field Command 515, ordered that the Red Cross be removed as there was not a Red Cross Bureau in Jersey. It would be nice if more people brought material to display, or items they would like help with; lots of brains to pick!

All members agreed that the day had been a success and would like to see the meetings continue.  Any members living in the South, or further afield, would be most welcome to join us.

I am also hoping that one of the local members will be able to help me with the organisation of the day.  Please contact me for details – alan.whittaker3@ntlworld.com

The next Chandlers Ford meeting has been arranged for Saturday 16 May 2026.

I purchased this rather tatty message form from Jersey as it had a number of differences that I could not recognise.

The message form was sent from Frau Cawley in Jersey to Gerald Cawley in Germany.  It is undated, but bears the British censor cachet and passed P.77. At the top right is the alpha-numeric date stamp used in Germany between March 1941 and January 1942, dated 16 June 1941 printed in black; no reply on the reverse.  It has a number of changes to the previous forms. Changes in type size and weight, rows of dots for messages to be written on are two dots, 5mm apart, this does not appear on any of the forms used in David Gurney’s book, Red Cross Civilian Postal Message Scheme with the Channel Islands 1940-1945.

After a lot of help from a dealer friend in Jersey, who also stated it is a very early German Form, it eventually became clear.  Frau Cawley has obviously been informed that Gerald had been captured, so was writing to the British Red Cross, hoping they could help finding his address.

The letter was sent to the U.K. with the address CC–17042/Hw, standing for Cas civil (Civilian case) 17042 (reference  number), Hw (Heimwacht – German Home Forces).

The next line adds Schreiben des I.K.v.R.K. vom 2.1.41 (Internationales Komitee vom Roten Kreuz (ICRC) posted on 2/1/41).

The letter was then handled by the German Red Cross on 16 June 1941, and passed to the International Red Cross in Geneva on 1 July 1941. They would have all the information of Prisoners of War and their whereabouts.

I have not seen any Civilian Message forms sent from the Islands to Germany.  It would be interesting if any members have found similar forms, or is this a one off ?

In early 2021 I purchased an unused envelope through an online auction bearing a cachet BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY LISBON in red, as shown in Figure 1.

As I am currently researching the British Red Cross and its connection to the IRC Channel Islands Civilian Message Scheme, I purchased the envelope to further my research on the subject, as the cachet is not recorded in David Gurney’s book, The Red Cross Civilian Message Scheme with the Channel Islands 1940-1945. I took the cover with me to a Channel Islands Specialist Society meeting in London to see if anyone present could assist me to identify the significance of the cachet. Although the item was of interest to the members, no one was aware that the British Red Cross had an office or delegate stationed in Lisbon. The general opinion was that the Portuguese Red Cross handled everything.

As the British Red Cross (BRC) head office archives were closed, I contacted the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) in Geneva seeking assistance. The archivist in Geneva was most helpful and sent me a copy of the Report of the ICRC Red Cross Conference held in Stockholm in 1948, listing all details of their assistance to the Channel Islands from 1940 to 1945. Four times there are references made of a British Red Cross delegate in Lisbon. The final one states : “Once more, the SS Vega sailed from Lisbon, on 31 May 1945 for the Channel Islands, this time under the entire responsibility of the British Government. On board was the representative of the British Red Cross in Lisbon and it carried the remainder of the supplies warehoused in Lisbon for the Islands.” (Figure 2)

They also confirmed that Colonel Frédéric Iselin was the ICRC delegate in Lisbon for the duration of WWII, supplying me with a copy of his records card, including his photograph.

After further correspondence with the archivist in the IRC, he also sent me a copy of their records on the British Red Cross in Lisbon. The scan below bears the unrecorded COMITE INTERNATIONAL GENEVE cachet in red, and Copie conforme ARCHIVES DU CICR, also in red. None of these is recorded in David Gurney’s book. This also states that Stanley Rawes was the British delegate in Portugal who took over when Sir Arthur Lawrance retired in 1942. The address was c/o James Rawes & Co. 47, Rua Bernardino, Lisbonne. (Figure 3)

Finally, the cover illustrated at Figure 4 is an original envelope in my own collection, carried on the SS Vega in December 1944, addressed to V. Carey Esq., who was the Bailiff of Guernsey.     It was endorsed in manuscript “Col Iselin per Mr. Callias”. André Callias was an ICRC delegate in Lisbon, in charge of bringing material relief to the Channel Islands in 1944-1945.

Unrecorded cachet in red COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX-ROUGE, DÉLÉGATION A LISBONNE.

All illustrations supplied by the International Red Cross Archives are reproduced with the permission of the ICRC

Seventeen members and guests attended the meeting on 18 May. As at London meetings, we started with coffee or tea, giving members a chance to catch up with each other. The meeting started with a 50+ lot auction with keen bidding on many lots. David Winnie, our Chairman, started the displays with three frames of Occupation PAID rubber handstamps. Alan Whittaker showed original material, copies from the IRCC archives, and material in his own collection that confirmed a British Red Cross Bureau and representative were located in Lisbon, Portugal, for the duration of the war.  After a break for an excellent lunch, John Triggs, who came over from Guernsey to join us, gave a presentation on the Postage Dues of Guernsey. Gerald Marriner showed Mail into the Islands from all over the world. Nick Stuart followed with a display on Forwarding Agents mail, and Roger Harris showed a small selection of postcards dropped and recovered from the 1954 drift experiment. Our President, David Laurillard, showed postcards from WW1 on Island troops. Bryan Elliston closed the displays with an excellent five frames on the Red Cross Civilian Message Scheme forms to and from Guernsey.

All members agreed the day had been a success and would like to see these meetings continue. Any members living in the South would be most welcome to join us. Our Chairman closed the meeting by stating that London meetings attract similar numbers and suggested that other regional meetings around the country should be considered.

The 2025 Chandlers Ford Solent Regional Meeting has been arranged for 17 May 2025.

Despite the national rail strike, 11 members and one guest were able to attend the first south coast regional meeting held at Chandlers Ford, Hampshire. The meeting commenced with a 50+ lot room auction, followed by displays provided by seven members. At the end of the day, all members thought that the day had been well worthwhile and would like to see it become an annual event. Note: The 2024 Chandlers Ford meeting is arranged for 18th May. (Sec.)