Journal Articles Archive - Page 154 of 231 - Channel Islands Specialists’ Society

A major discovery on Chausey Island

In response to this illustrated article on page 30 of the last Journal by Henri Chartier, Geoff Cory writes to say “I am sure that others, particularly Don Somerville, will have comments to make. I have been aware of the 1914 Camp on Chausey for many years, although from my research it is fair to say that little has been written about it.

The French Authorities decided in August 1914 that Germans and Austrians in particular, who were resident in the area of Manche, should be arrested on the basis that they were potential enemies of the State. They were transported to a number of isolated coastal areas and prominent among these was the ancient Fort on Chausey. This effectively became an Internment Camp, housing anything from three to six hundred Internees until 1919. In his article Henri describes “German Prisoners”. I can find no evidence that Chausey was used to house Prisoners of War captured during the many battles in Northern France, but Belgian troops were certainly stationed in both Granville and Chausey and might well have been used to supervise Internees.

The Camp was the responsibility of the French Ministry of the Interior. I have a postcard dated 30.12.1914 from Austria, routed through Munich, that was written to a Frank Koblitz and addressed to the Swiss Red Cross for onward transmission to Koblitz at, ‘Iles Chausey, durch Granville, Manche’. This clearly was from a close relative as it commences ‘Dearest’. I have also found an official record from the Vendee Region which shows that Frank Koblitz was transferred to an Internment Camp in that Region and that he remained an Internee until 1919!

Although this card is the only WW1 item in my collection addressed to Chausey, I am aware of other covers that refer to “Franchise Postale Interne Civil” and “Depot des Etrangers Iles Chausey”, have 1915 or 1916 Granville postmarks and large circular red Cachets that read, “Ministere de L’interieur, Depot D’Austro/Allemands de la Corderie Granville et de Chausey”.

I certainly agree with Henri that this is an unusual and interesting area for future study.

The Commando who came back a Spy

Illustrated are two rather ordinary looking POW postcards the first shown above from Oflag VI/B (Warburg) is dated 1st June 1942 and the second shown below is from Oflag VII/B (Eichstatt) dated 20th March 1943.

Both cards are from Lieut Hubert Nicolle to Mr V Coysh in Poole Dorset. Lt Nicolle was a Guernseyman serving in the Hampshire Regiment at the time the Germans occupied the Channel Islands on the 30th June 1940. He was summoned to the Admiralty in Whitehall, London on the 5th July 1940. There he met Major Warren of Combined Operations who had been instructed to find out what was going on in Guernsey by Churchill.

A plan codenamed Operation Anger was hatched and Nicolle was warned that if caught he would be out on his own and shot as a spy.

In the early hours of 8th July Nicolle was landed at Le Jaonnet, Guernsey, having crossed the Channel in a submarine, H43. He stayed three days at his parent’s home and gathered significant intelligence on the German dispositions at that time.

A second spying operation ensued and on the 4th September 1940 Lt James Symes and Lt Nicolle were landed from a motor torpedo boat. The mission was to again gather evidence of troop movements, gun emplacements, defences and the well being of the Islanders.

They were due to be collected by the same MTB three nights later, but it failed to show. For a further two nights they returned to the pickup point, but the Royal Navy did not show. Symes & Nicolle were in civilian clothes in German occupied Guernsey relying on friends and family to hide them until an escape plan could be devised. The risks were high for all involved and the Germans were becoming increasingly suspicious of some senior Island officials after various reports were received from anonymous sources.

Guernsey Militia uniforms were found in storage and purloined. British Army buttons sewn on and then Nicolle & Symes surrendered to the Island police on the 21st October 1940. In the ensuing German investigation fourteen friends and family were arrested. Nicolle and Symes were both court martialled and stood trial in their prison cells without any legal representation and found guilty of spying. They were sentenced to death.

Fortunately after intervention from the German Commandant in Guernsey, they were eventually treated as Prisoners of War.

Interestingly one of the fourteen civilians arrested by the Germans was a young lady called Jessie Marriette. She was Nicolle’s girlfriend and a cousin of Victor Coysh, who was also Nicolle’s best friend!

For their actions in this commando raid Nicolle and Symes both later received the Military Cross. There is, of course, much more to this story, all of which can be found in the book ‘The Commando Who Came Home to Spy’ by William Bell.

Vale Road, Guernsey Type 2 single circle datestamp

I write further to Nick Stuart’s article in the September 2021 Journal together with updates by Bob MacDonald and John Triggs FRPSL in the December 2021 Journal regarding the earliest known use of the above datestamp.

I have recently acquired on eBay, a rather nice locally addressed cover with a QV 1d lilac cancelled by a Guernsey squared circle on June 15th 1898 and this is shown below on the next page.

On the reverse of the cover shown on the next page is the Type 2 single circle datestamp for Vale Road used as a backstamp. This is, therefore, almost two months earlier than the item recorded by John Triggs.

The backstamp is also shown below on the next page and although the year date is distorted it is quite clear in the squared circle used to cancel the QV 1d lilac stamp on the front of the cover. I have shown the entire back of the envelope depicted on the next page so that readers can see the distorted year in the back stamp which is clarified by the enlargement beside. As said the year date is clearly confirmed by the squared circle cancellation of the QV 1d lilac above.

With appointment of this office as a Money Order and Savings Bank Office from the 3rd August 1897 it is conceivable that the datestamp may have been brought into service earlier than the earliest date of use recorded so far?

Has any member even earlier examples of the use of this interesting datestamp?

Jersey in November 1944: Radio Message Card sent by the Fortress Commander Oberst Heine – who later signed the instrument of unconditional surrender

Radio Message Cards for the occupied Channel Islands were issued in Wilhelmshaven from the end of September 1944 onwards. Various types are known and they are much appreciated by specialist collectors whom usually go for these various types and try to get a complete set of these rare cards.

However, it is sometimes worth having a second look at these cards. Identical types of cards can be of different significance for the specialist collector. One of these examples is shown here.

This illustrated card is listed as ‘Heimann 1.07a’ and the type dates from November 1944 and is among the more common types, although needless to say, Radio Message Cards are among the scarcer items in the occupation field.

I was about to lay the card aside when suddenly the name of the addressee caught my eye and then I realized that the sender was not just anybody in the German army, it was the Fortress Commander of Jersey himself!

Oberst Siegfried Heine sent a message to his beloved ones in Küstrin, a town on the river Oder. Küstrin became a fortress later in January 1945. After heavy fighting the town was wiped off the map and the family moved to Berlin for the rest of the war. His wife was Charlotte von Rußdorf and on the card he calls her by her nickname “Lotti”.

Towards the end of February 1945 Oberst Siegfried Heine came to Guernsey and was promoted to Generalmajor. He acted as chief adviser to the new commander Generalmajor Wulf, who had followed von Schmettow. It was Heine who signed the instrument of unconditional surrender on board HMS Bulldog in the morning of 9th May 1945!!

The 1913 St. Andrews, Guernsey skeleton datestamp

In David Gurney’s “The Postal History of the Guernsey Sub-Post Offices”, he records that ‘two rare examples of a 31mm skeleton datestamp are known’ used in November 1913. One has an * asterisk code and cancels the adhesive stamp on a local postcard and this is in my collection. The other example has no code and again cancels the adhesive stamp, but is only on a piece. In both cases, the dates are not discernible.

I was therefore very pleased to acquire at the CISS October postal auction another example on the postcard which is illustrated above. This has been sent to St. Saviours, Guernsey and shows on the front of the card the S.S. Ballarat. The KGV ½d stamp has been cancelled by a PAQUEBOT. PLYMOUTH double circle datestamp for the 22nd November 1913 together with a 1d/620 surcharge mark.

In addition, used as an arrival mark on this occasion, is the rare 31mm skeleton datestamp of ‘ST ANDREWS/GUERNSEY without an * asterisk code used on the 25th November 1913.

Thus, this is therefore the only skeleton postmark from this office, used as an arrival datestamp and where the date is reasonably discernible.

Can any member report another example please?

The Parcel Post of the United Kingdom Vol.1. an update

This is an example which we were unable to show in our book at the time of publishing and which has come to light in an auction of January last year.

It was inaccurately described and in fact is in a blue green colour and was printed by De La Rue.

Guernsey Handstruck Numerals

The Uniform Fourpenny Post was introduced, on an experimental basis on 5 December 1839. It lasted only until 9 January 1840 when the Uniform Penny Post was introduced, a charge of one penny then being levied per half ounce letter irrespective of the distance to the delivery address. In the early 1840s, wooden handstamps began to be introduced with marks to signify that the one penny postal charge had been prepaid; however, prior to their introduction, manuscript markings were applied as illustrated by the example at Figure 1, on an entire letter (a letter folded in on itself to create its own envelope) to London in 1841.

In this study, all examples and illustrations are referenced to the Stanley Gibbons Channel Islands Postal History Catalogue, 1991.

From the early 1840s, Guernsey had its own distinctive 1d paid handstamps in two forms, the first being used from 1843 to 1848 (G10) and the second from 1843 to 1849 (G10a). Both were struck in red. The first form of the handstamp is shown at Figure 2 on an entire letter to Paris in 1847.

The second form of the handstamp (G10a), longer and thinner than the first type, is shown at Figure 3 on an entire letter sent to Manchester in 1844.

From the early 1840s, in addition to the 1d paid handstamps, Guernsey also had its own distinctive 2d unpaid handstamps (2d being the rate for mail between ½oz and 1oz). There were four different types for the 2d rate, all struck in black: the first (G11) was used from 1842 to 1843; the second (G11a) was used in 1843; the third (G11b) was used from 1843 to 1847; and the fourth (G12) was used from 1843 to 1849. Illustrations of each of these 2d stamps are shown below.

An example of the third type (G11b) of this handstamp is shown on the envelope at Figure 4 to Sherbourne in 1844; and an example of the fourth type of this handstamp (G12) is shown at Figure 5 on an envelope to Norwich in 1848.

In use during the 1840s was a handstruck “8″ (G13), which was used between 1844 and 1847 on mail from France arriving in the island unpaid, 8d being the “in all” rate for Ship Letters introduced in 1840. The example at Figure 6 is on an entire letter from France in 1844.

Jersey-France 1904 Carteret Boîte Mobile cover

A cover sent in September 1904 from the Hotel de l’Europe to France using the movable box service appeared on day one of Auktionshaus Christoph Gärtner’s 50th Jubilee auction – which closed on 21st June 2021 – as lot #08979 offered at €250. This attractive cover finally sold for €260.00

Bearing a strip of three KE VII ½d stamps and one KE VII 1d stamp cancelled at Carteret on 23rd September 1904, the cover also shows a superb PAQUEBOT marking. Initially addressed to Blois, where it arrived the following day, the cover was re-directed to Mesland.

Gibbons^[1] records this type of Carteret three concentric circle cancellation as used between 1898 and 1908 on Boîte Mobile mail.

Reference

1. Stanley Gibbons Channel Islands Postal History Catalogue Ringwood & London: Stanley Gibbons Publications Ltd, December 1991.

An illustrated 1841 Letter sheet from Jersey to Leamington

I was very pleased to acquire this unusual illustrated entire lettersheet in the Society Autumn postal auction in October 2021.

This illustrated letter sheet has been franked with an 1840 QV 1d black adhesive stamp and cancelled by the Jersey Maltese Cross in black ink, backstamped with the Jersey dated arc on the 15th March 1841 and a red London transit stamp for the 17th March 1841. Folded inwardly, the illustration of ST AUBINS BAY & HARBOUR./JERSEY is inside within the written part of the Lettersheet as partly portrayed below.

Mystery “WAR DAMAGE DEPARTMENT. 3.MAR.1948″cachet

I recently acquired this interesting post WW2 Builders invoice and receipt for building works. The Builder was C. J. Solway of St Sampsons, his client was Miss Peak of Delancey and the date of the invoice was July 1946. The value of the invoice was £19.6.0 (approximately £800 in today’s money) and both the invoice and receipt have appropriate Sales and Revenue Tax stamps attached. To the bottom right of the invoice a circular cachet has been applied in purple reading “WAR DAMAGE DEPARTMENT. 3 MAR 1948” and it is this hand stamp that is of particular interest shown more clearly below in this enlargement of the covered lower part of the receipted invoice.

While I am aware that the States of Guernsey did set up a Rehabilitation Compensation Scheme in 1946 and terminated the scheme in 1953, I was unaware that a formal War Damage Department existed to deal with such claims. It appears likely that the purple cachet was applied to the invoice to confirm that it had been seen by the States Department and that it was agreed as a War Damage Claim. I would be very interested to know if this assumption is correct, if other Members have similar receipts with this cachet and any knowledge concerning the hand cachet itself. For example, was the cachet produced and used exclusively on the Island or was it provided by the British Government as part of a wider post war Compensation Rehabilitation Scheme in which the British War Department was involved?