Channel Islands Specialists’ Society

Founded 1950

Journal Articles

Journal Indexes

News of Members

Congratulations to Jon Aitchison FRPSL who was awarded a Large Vermeil at London 2022 for his exhibits Egypt Cassette Posts and Isle of Man Local Issues (Literature).

Also to Nick Martin FRPSL who was awarded a Vermeil for his exhibit Belgapost 2018 (Literature) and a Silver for the Website of the Belgian Philatelic Study Circle (Literature) and to our President, Gerald Marriner FRPSL who was awarded a Large Vermeil  at HUNFLEX, Budapest for his exhibit German Occupation of The  Channel Islands – Disruption to the Mail Service.

Secretary’s Clipboard

After two years of Covid-19 lockdown, finally we were able to hold our annual Member’s Weekend at the Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough. Thank you to the twenty-six members and guests who were able to attend and for making the weekend so enjoyable. Thanks also to all those members providing such excellent displays, much not seen before. Plans are in progress for the 2023 Member’s Weekend at the Peninsula Hotel, Guernsey and I hope to see many of you there – 21st to 23rd April.

Our next Member’s Meeting is the Annual General Meeting at the Royal Philatelic Society, London. Minutes of the 70th Annual General Meeting can be found in Les Iles Normandes Volume 40, No. 1, pp 30-33. If any member wishes to stand for any of the Committee positions, can they forward me their name, the name of their proposer and name of the seconder no later than two weeks before the A.G.M. The same also applies if any member wishes to raise any questions for any of the Committee to answer giving the committee member concerned adequate time to provide an answer at the A.G.M. It is anticipated that the A.G.M. itself will be held via Zoom, thus allowing more members to participate in the event. More details will be available closer to the date of the A.G.M., so please keep a lookout on the Society’s website (www.ciss.uk) for further information.

Please note, that it was decided by the Executive Committee to move the December Member’s Meeting to the last Saturday in November to try and improve attendances at this Member’s Meeting.

Forthcoming Member’s Meetings for 2022

9th JulyAnnual General Meeting followed by members’ displays
24th SeptemberMember’s Meeting.
Theme: Smaller Channel Islands
26th November*Member’s Meeting.
Theme: Letters T, U and/or V

Rubber datestamps of Jersey

In response to Steve Power’s article on page 31 of the last Journal Geoff Corey confirms for the record that he has a postcard with a Trinity purple rubber date stamp for 23.12.1909.

CISS Autumn 2021 Auction Report

This general auction, with over 730 Lots, covered early Postal History, WW1 correspondence, Occupation (Postal History, Bisects, stamps, Red Cross messages, Feldpost, Internee and POW Mail), Jethou, Herm as well as modern Postal History and stamps and a wide range of postcards. The reserves were from £3 to £300 and attracted over 100 bidders who generated the highest level of sales to date of £19,918. The bidding for many Lots was very strong such was the rarity of some of the material on offer and over 80% of the Lots were sold.

The highlights were:

Postal History

Two Entire 1841 letters from Jersey to London and Leamington Spa each with a good QV 1d black cancelled with the Jersey Maltese Cross went for £300 and £375 respectively. (NS16011 & NS16012).

An 1857 cover from Jersey to Dublin with an undated St. Aubin’s date stamp sold for £200. (NS16024)

An 1871 scarce Ballon Monte from Paris to Jersey which had a reserve of£80 went for £220. (NS16039)

A very rare St. Andrew’s Guernsey 31mm skeleton datestamp on a 1913 postcard with Paquebot Plymouth cancel fetched £450. This is one of just three examples known. (NS16147)           see article on page 24.

Occupation

As usual the Occupation material attracted a large number of bids with virtually all Lots being sold with prices realised close to the reserves. A sheet of Guernsey ½d Olive Green Arms stamps sold for £400 and a sheet of the 1d Arms stamps on blue bank note paper sold for £350. (NS16256 & NS16260)

Instructional markings on Occupation covers are uncommon so an underpaid envelope with a 3d / 324 handstamp which had a reserve of £25 sold for £60 (NS16281)

A lovely 1943 postcard with a painted picture of a cottage and inscribed ‘Birthday Greetings’ attracted much bidding and was sold for £46 (NS16286)

A birthday card painted by the well-known Guernsey cartoonist, Bert Hill, of the old Sark Ambulance fetched £90 (NS16337)

 Another drawing this time of Room 66 of the Women’s barracks at Biberach which had a reserve of £40 went for £100. (NS16340)

Feldpost

Some unusual Feldpost covers were on offer: A coloured postcard of a Luftwaffe Flying Boat sent from Jersey to Sagau in Germany with several military cachets and a 1940 Jersey date stamp which was reserved at £80, sold for £140 (NS16342)

Red Cross

In the Red Cross section of the auction were some very rare items especially those into the Islands from unusual places. A green form from Ireland to Guernsey dated 30th April 1945 which was held in London until the Liberation in May sold for £475 (NS16378)

Another Red Cross form from Kenya to Guernsey with a rare Kenyan censor stamp went for £400 (NS16379) – see next page 36.

 The only recorded Red Cross form from Jersey to Argentina with a scarce Argentinian cachet was sent in June 1942 and the reply was dated April 1944! It sold for £180 (NS16381)

Post 1945 Postal History

Material of the 3rd Anniversary of the Liberation of the Islands sold well especially a FDC with ‘The Vale’ date stamp and Registered label. It had a reserve of £15 and sold for £44. (NS16461)

A 1951 registered postcard from Guernsey to Wiltshire with a St. Andrew’s datestamp and registration label was underpaid so a 2d to pay surcharge mark was added. It went for £55. (NS16477). A postcard with the very rare Herm double circle datestamp of September 1937 sent to Norfolk attracted some ferocious bidding and fetched £325 (NS16516).

Postcards

Another wide range of postcards including LLs and Allix cards were featured along with specific themes such as the Jersey Railway and CI Shipping. A coloured card of the Don Bridge Station sold for £85 (NS16564), a sepia card of the First Tower station with a train in the station and showing the level crossing gates sold for £130 (NS16565) and a scarce coloured Allix card No. 58 of St. Catherine’s Bay, Jersey fetched £150 (NS16579).

 Two Guernsey LL cards No. 45 both of the ship ‘Lorina’ sold for £48 (NS16597), LL card No. 197 showing a tram at St. Sampson’s Guernsey sold for £95 (NS16617).

LL cards of Sark remain popular especially those with unusual printings. Card No. 50 of La Coupee in a dark sepia print with B.B. & Co. printed on the reverse sold for £85 (NS16637).

Another card of La Coupee, also No. 50, but printed in France, in blue with a white border, for the Guernsey Press Co. Ltd. fetched £50 even with some damage to a corner. (NS16638)

The full lists of the prices realised for the auction can be found in the member’s section of the CISS website under Auction Archive along with the descriptions and images.

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!!