Channel Islands Specialists’ Society

75th Anniversary Year

Journal Articles

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Who Was Peter Clark, a Prolific Producer of Flight Covers?

David Gurney’s airmail cover from Jethou (Figure 1 on page 26 of the June 2024 Les Iles Normandes) reminded me of an attempt in 2018 to identify P. S. J. Clark, the sender of this and other philatelic-inspired airmail flight covers.  I have an identical cover to Gurney’s and duplicates of other Clark covers, indicating these were not “one-of-a-kind” creations.

Clark was a prolific source of airmail flight covers from the early 1960s into the early 1970s.  I have another of Clark’s covers, with a Jethou 3d tied by 6 February 1962 cds on the back, franked with a 2d Wilding and 1d Third Anniversary C.I. Liberation Issue tied by a Guernsey 7 August slogan postmark.  However, most (some 30 or so different) of my Clark flight covers spanning his ten or so years of proficiency are postmarked with Lundy stamps, with G.B. stamp frankings for his covers addressed to Germany and other European countries and West Germany stamp frankings for his covers addressed to the U.K.

My attempts failed to find any information on “Major P S J Clark” as well as “P S J Clark” who produced those flight covers.  I assume that his name is Peter Clark because he had “Major Peter Clark” printed on the back of one of his 1967 flight covers.  However, other covers are addressed differently, for example, P.S.J. Clark, M.InstB.E (either printed or with an attached label, circa 1962-63), Mr. P Clark (1966), P.S.J. Clark (1968), Major PSJ Clark (1970-71).

A 1963 flight cover has Annemarie Clark printed on the reverse flap, another 1963 FFC has a label with P.S.J. Clark, M.InstB.E, two 1962 FFCs addressed to Mr. Peter Clark have rubberstamped “Clark Annemarie” on the back flaps, and another 1962 FFC addressed to Mrs. Anne Clark has Mr. P.S.J Clark M.Inst.B.E printed on the back flap.  One of my 1971 covers is (label) addressed to Miss Patricia Clark. Can we presume Anne is Annemarie and that was his wife, while Patricia was their daughter?

The earlier Clark FFCs had Düsseldorf, Germany, return addresses on them, but by 1966 they had changed to 68 Norman Ave., Sanderstead, Surrey, England and remained that way thereafter.

My on-line search attempts besides the Clark name variations included “Sanderstead, Surrey” as I thought there may be some mention of him associated with his hometown, but I drew a blank on that as well. RAF records show a Major Peter Clarke (with a different middle initial and last name spelling) but no Peter S J Clark that I could find.

My conclusion is that Peter Clark was an avid airmail collector or possibly a stamp dealer, who enjoyed preparing flight covers. Several of my Clark covers are addressed to other names in Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Russia, so could he have been exchanging with or selling his covers to other collectors? Or were these contacts with whom he had made arrangements to receive multiples of his covers and subsequently return them to him via separate mailings?

If you would like to try a search for this “Peter Clark” on the internet, please be my guest and report your findings to the Editor. Perhaps you will discover alternatives to my conclusion and can come up with some specifics about this man.

75th Anniversary Celebrations 2025

As part of our anniversary in 2025 the CISS has been invited to provide a full presentation to the Royal Philatelic Society London on 9 February 2025. 54 frames of Channel Islands material will be available to view, and a handout is being produced to mark the event. All members are invited to attend. Please add the date to your diaries. Details will follow in the December Journal.

A 1952 parcel post- customs due label

The PPL (parcel post label) illustrated below was illustrated in the Stanley Gibbons Channel Islands Specialised Catalogue, 1983 edition (page 185).

It is a MW-C6 type light green colour PPL-customs form with the type ‘E’ coat of arms. These types of labels were printed by Griffith & Co. from 1937 and were in use until 1970.   

A charge of 11d paid the postage rate for a parcel not exceeding 2lb in weight.  A King George VI 11d definitive stamp was used to cover the postage.

The customs dues were £1-12s-10d, covered with two 2d definitives, alongside  2/6d, 10/- and £1 values of the 1951 Festival of Britain issues.

All the adhesives were cancelled with the Guernsey type G31 23.5 mm diameter single circle datestamp, with the numeral 11 inserted at the top. The despatch date was SP 52 (September 1952), but no date numeral has been inserted.

Interestingly this PPL was sent by O.J. (John) Simpson (joint founder of the CISS in 1950), and the reverse was endorsed in manuscript, ‘payment for dues for tobacco sent from Guernsey to London’ by O J Simpson.

A 1943 Jersey Occupation Cover to Guernsey

One of the lots I acquired in a CISS auction was described as a Jersey occupation cover from Jersey to Guernsey. Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that it was actually postmarked with a Type 3 datestamp from Beresford Street.

But the date slug reads 15 OO 43. Instead of OC for October it has OO.  I wonder if the C was beyond use, and no other slugs were available from the U.K. as replacements, or the O was just not altered into a C. Maybe it was just a genuine mistake! Does any other member have anything similar from this town sub-office? Also interesting is that it was addressed to Dr Symons, Fermain, Guernsey. Dr Angelo Symons was the States of Guernsey Occupation Controlling Committee Health Service Officer. He was born in Nelson, New Zealand, in 1875.

2025 Subscriptions

2025 subscriptions are due by 1 January and a renewal request will be sent out via email or letter in due course.

When you receive a renewal request you will find a link to allow you to pay your subscriptions via the Society website. Please use this method of payment if possible, saving our officers a good deal of admin time! If you prefer, you can pay your subscription using the same method of payment as last year but, if you pay by cheque, please send this to the CISS Treasurer, Bryan Elliston at Ragged Lands, Ranscombe Lane, Glynde, BN8 6RP.

Subscriptions will remain unchanged for 2025:

Paper membership:

UK and CI                             £15

Rest of World                        £20

Electronic membership:                  £10

Royal Hotel at the Channel Islands

This is a postcard sent 20 June 1898 from the Dutch town of Arnhem to a Dutch Hotel guest. The message on the back is in Dutch to his sister  (“Lieve zus,” – Dear sister,) staying at a Royal hotel in “Engeland”. 

The exact location of the Royal Hotel, Geursey or Guerdey, is not clear. It could be Jersey or Guernsey which both have/had a Royal Hotel, but also another town in England (in Dutch Engeland, see left corner beneath) or in the UK. The Dutch were, certainly in this period, not precise in the correct with the indication of the region in the UK. Eng(e)land is similar for the whole of the UK. 

The postcard was first sent to Jersey and arrived there on 22 June 1898 (SG J40). The Royal Hotel was contacted about whether the Dutch “guest” was still staying at the hotel. This seems not to have been the case; see the remark below.

Also, a boxed Jersey “Inconnu / Not known” handstamp was added. In the Stanley Gibbons Channel Islands Postal History catalogue a similar type is listed as SG J194a for 1945. But this handstamp was used much earlier. See also the articles by Peter Williams and Gerald Marriner in Les Iles Normandes Volume 26 No.1 (Mar 2007). All known early handstamps of this type have dots after ‘Inconnu’ and ‘Not Known’. In J194a the dots are however omitted.

Is the Jersey “Inconnu / Not known” handstamp a different type not listed in the Channel Islands Postal History catalogue?

Postal pencil markings in blue were also added. These were most likely added in Jersey as ”Try Guernsey” is included.

The postcard was sent to Guernsey on 27 June (SG G25). Apparently, the addressee was again not found at the Royal Hotel on Guernsey as the postcard was sent back to Arnhem. The journey back was via the Returned Letter Office in London and the Amsterdam – Antwerpen travelling post office The postcard arrived in Arnhem on 12 July. In Arnhem, an attempt was made to deliver the postcard back to the sender who was however unknown (in Dutch: Afzender onbekend).

The British Red Cross in Lisbon, Portugal

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