General Public Auction #185

An attractively presented collection of 1930s internal flights plus Melbourne-Hobart, Australia-GB & GB-Australia etc, mostly run-of-the-mill covers but some better items & frankings noted including intermediates & commercial mail. A ready-made club display.

Album with Forces in Egypt including 1915 with superb 'O.C. Aust Field Artillery/Reinforcements' h/s, parcel tag with Egyptian stamps, 1917 "green envelope" to Moascar Camp, 1918 with GB 2d & 'Australian Imperial Force' registration label (2) & two Barbets humorous PPCs (unused); Dardenelles Campaign including from Mudros, Gallipoli x3 & Lone Pine; Desert Campaign including GB KGV œd Wrappers x3 from the...

(c.) two complete military parcel labels with quite different Australian coats-of-arms both to Australia with GB KGV 1œd & 4d tied by rubber 'F.S.' (= Foreign Section) cancels, one with repaired corner fault. Very scarce.

usage of Indian Field Service Postcard to Victoria with very fine "FPO/No 57/21MA17' cds & message headed "Bagdad/16 3 17", ironed-out creases. Very little mail from the troops in Mesopotamia has been recorded. [The writer states: "...You would all be pleased to hear of the great success here. It was rather sudden - in fact we didn't expect to get this far for some time to come..."]

OAS cover with 'AUSTRALIAN/YMCA' imprint unusually in black, to GB with British 'ARMY POST OFFICE/ 25MR18/SZ 23' "skeleton" cds in use at Beersheba (Palestine) & boxed 'DAMAGED BY IMMERSION/IN SEA WATER' h/s applied at London, a bit soiled. [See Hoggarth & Gwynn at pages 192-5.]

This cover was carried per SS "Kingstonian" which, on 11/4/1918, was torpedoed by German submarine U68 and badly damaged. It was towed to...

Folio of mostly humorous illustrated Forces covers with Clarrie King printed types x6 (3 are unused, very scarce thus), then an excellent group of 12 oversized covers from Darwin - one registered from 'MIL PO DARWIN No 3' - several of the Darwin covers are signed "Porter AIF", condition variable & 3 with the stamps removed. Ex Ron Collumbine.

Mini-display of censor label covers on 15 pages including scarce types from Hobart Perth & Darwin, some scarce associated cachets, many pages with additional covers inserted behind, condition variable. Ex Ron Collumbine.

Sizeable bundle of covers used throughout Palestine Lebanon & Syria with an array of datestamps & censor cachets, many are airmail covers with Australian or Palestinian frankings, a few hand-illustrated items & several registered including three large parcel pieces, condition variable. Study opportunity.

Northern Territory RAAF Post Offices mail including an official cover and 13 registered items seven of which are Registration Envelopes, three with Air Force PO registration labels & another with 'RAAF DARWIN' label, one other with pen-&-ink illustration of a goat eating the "Army News", plus a photograph of Japanese wreckage & a squadron Christmas card, generally fine with many fine to superb datestamps. Ex Monica Comrie.

Partly mounted & annotated study of Forces 'AIR MAIL LETTER CARD' forms with British types including various Blue Triangle & Greetings issues, Australian Forces in Palestine 1941-42 Christmas illustrated types including 3 different unused, various usages in Australia, with printed 'POSTAGE/1d/PAID' in Red unused (very scarce) plus used in Papua & in the Northern Territory, with 'POSTAGE PAID/12 CENTS/JOHORE' h/s in red to the...

Forces in Egypt & North Africa annotated collection with an array of datestamps including from Tobruk, El Alamein etc - a few in violet - with stampless, airmail & Active Service "green" envelopes, many with 'ARMY POST' stamps.