Chris

Good photo - two things:

1. The photo looks to be the same as your other one, except from a different angle.  The set-uo is exactly the same, with the pictures on the wall behind and to the side in the same positions and also the soldier looks to be the same person in the same position!

2.  You state on the back it states Finchley 1964.  However, my listing does not show Finchley in 1964 - but there is a FINCHLEY for 1963 - Finchley Carnival Week, but the REMDT FPO was there for one day only - 29 June 1963.

This listing appeared in the Forces Postal History Society Newsletter (No 66, March-April 1964) and Forces Postal History Society Newsletter (No 67, May-June 1964); the former listed it by Command and area whilst the second listing amplified this with more precise locations.  The listing in FPHS Newsletter No 66 has been taken from a (now torn and frayed) typewritten listing compiled by former Society Chairman the late John A Smith (annotated 'jas 5/3').

The 1963 listing appeared in the Forces Postal History Society Newsletter (No 66, March-April 1964).

So a puzzle - 1963 or 1964 ??

Mike  :)

[font=comic sans ms]Ha Ha Ha  ;D ;D ;D - I wonder what my prize will be ??[/font]

A STAMP FAIR - what stamp fair was on to-day??

All those in Kent have been cancelled - including the June dates.  York in July is also cancelled.

Were you able to carry out social distancing?

Mike  :D

Happt Birthday Chris, have an enjoyable rest of the day: no DIY or gardening, just relax with your hobby!

Its always good to show items and raise queries at the same time - three different types of T.27 datestamp!  I hope your posting produces responses to narrow down periods of uses for each.

Mike  :)

My ephemera of the day is the third (and I think final) item connected with VE Day - it is a booklet for the Second Army Thanksgiving Service on conclusion of the campaign in North West Europe.  It shows the cover, inside front cover and the next page.  The rest of the booklet was made up of hymns, psalms, lessons and prayers, etc.

I initially thought that the formation designations given on the front were printed, until I realised I had another copy at home which did not have these designations and then saw a date (3rd June 1945) and initials inside - very neat handwriting!  I feel sure that the date of the Thanksgiving Service was in fact 3rd June 1945.

Mike  :)

We seem to have less and less items posted under the item of the day - I hope enthusiasm is not waning?

Anyhow, I carrying on with my VE Day ephemera - today it is a card produced by 2nd Tactical Air Force RAF entitled "Victory in Europe" showing front and back of the card.  On the reverse you will see that it states "It took part in the air operations over Europe which preceeded the [u]invasion[/u] of the continent".

Enjoy - Mike  :)

Hi Nick

No, I mean invasion - the Allied armies invaded German occupied Europe.  We had to invade before we could liberate.

"Normandy to the Baltic" by Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein KG, GCB, DSO; pub c.1946
Chapter 3 - The Inter-Service Organisation for Overlord and the Order of Battle of the Invasion Forces
Map 1 - The Invasion Coast

"The Canadian Army 1939-1945" by Colonel C P Stacey OBE, AM Ph.D, pub 1948
Chapter XI: The Campaign in North-West Europe: The Plan and the Invasion of Normandy, June 1944 which includes "The Canadian Role in the Invasion"

"Dawn of D-Day" by David Howarth, pub 1959
p.16-17 "It wa not till December, after some weeks of hesitation, that Roosevelt appointed General Eisenhower, who was then Supreme Commander in tte Mediterranean, to take command of the invasion of France;"
p.23 "A railway man who retired in 1957 announced then that in 1944, just before the invasion, he had found plans of it in a briefcase in a train, and had given them to the station master at Exeter, who had kept them in his safe, watched by the Home Guard, till an officer came to claim them the next morning."
p.254 "The German commanders had not seen the fleet, and no mere military report could have conveyed to them the impression of irresistable power which it gave; but still, it is likely that before the day was over, they also knew in their inmost thoughts that the invasion could not be defeated."

"D-Day 06-06-1944" by Richard Collier, originally pub 1992, special ed re-published 2002
Inside front cover "At fifteen minutes after midnight on June 6, 1944, 'Operation Overlord', the Allied invasionof Hitler's Fortress Europe, became reality."

Mike  ;)

Nick

I am also interested!

I have two NANYUKI S O postmarks on Forces mail - dated 6 DE 1952 and 11 OC 1955.

If its useful and relevant, feel free to use any of the information I have provided.

Mike  :)

Peter - a very nice cover - I'm envious!

[u]Postal address[/u]:

The ARMY POST OFFICE ENGLAND address, which was inevitably shortened to APO ENGLAND was first introduced on 11 April 1944.  However, not all formations and units adopted the address at the same time.  It was gradually brought into use in a phased programme prior to units moving into their concentration areas:

After the invasion commenced on 6 June 1944 the closed address APO ENGLAND remained in use for units both in Normandy and those still in the United Kingdom awaiting their turn to cross the Channel.  However, soon after D-Day HQ Second Army pressed for a change in the address for troops in Normandy, as they disliked writing from an address that could indicate that they were still in the United Kingdom.

Some ten days after D-Day, however, the Troops Mail Policy and Planning Committee were still discussing a suitable form of address.  At its meeting on 16 June 1944 the Committee pondered over several alternatives:  "BEF", mentioned at its December 1943 meeting, was vetoed; "BNEF" was suggested but was turned down as it was similar to "BNAF" in use in North Africa; "BNWEF" and "NWEF" were also suggested but were turned down.  As a result Second Army, on its own initiative, devised its own address for use in Normandy.  They came up with BRITISH WESTERN EUROPEAN FORCE (BWEF), details of which were promulgated on 22 June 1944. 

The final change came about on 14 July 1944 when BRITISH LIBERATION ARMY (BLA) was brought into use as the official Force address.  Its introduction was notified in 21 Army Group General Routine Order Issue No 44 dated 21 July 1944 as Order No 432:

[u]Censorship[/u]:

With two censorship cachets it looks as though the cover could have been subject to base censorship - I have seen other covers with two censor cachets and evidence that this was the case.  I don't have a record of shield censor (Type A600) 11458.

Alistair Kennedy's records only record the cover you have illustrated - he dates it as 27 AP 44 - shield censor (Type A600) 11458 and circular censor (Type A500) 7529

[u]Unit[/u]:

This looks like 45 Ordnance Ammunition Company, attached to 15 Ordnance Beach Detachment.  I don't have a location for this unit in the UK.

The book "21 Army Group Ordnance - The History of the Campaign", printed and published in Germany, February 1946, shows that 45 OAC was under command of 15 OBD within 102 Beach Sub-Area and landed in Juno Sector (3rd Canadian Division front) as part of 1 Corps.

[u]Field Post Office datestamp[/u]:

FPO 429 dated 27 AP 44.  It was indeed issued to Scottish Command on 12 Nov 1943 but was returned to Home Postal Centre on 14 Jan 1944.  It was then re-issued to No 3 Postal Detachment on 10 Feb 1944; earliest recorded date 2 Apr 1944 (could this be your cover - did Alistair make an error in thinking it was 27 AP 44 - but the location of the figure '2' does appear to indicate another number following it).  Also the APO ENGLAND address did not come into use until 11 April 1944 at the earliest - see above.

It was later used by APO S.689 at Bernieres-sur-Mer which was an APO controlled by No 3 Postal Detachment.

No 3 Postal Detachment was responsible for SUN Beach Maintenance Area, part of 102 Beach Sub-Area.

See my article "Operation Overlord: 50th Anniversary of D-Day & The Normandy Landings" in FPHS Newsletter (now Journal) No 220 (Summer 1994).

[u]Your cover[/u]:

The sender of your cover was certainly still in the UK - it was before D-Day!

However, I do not believe it was in Scotland - it was with No 3 Postal Detachment and this was attached to 102 Beach Sub-Area on 14 February 1944, so it would have been located along with that Beach Sub-Area somewhere in south or south east England, but I don't have a UK location for that at the moment.

Mike  :)

Ross

I should have added - you mention "The book on Kenyan post marks", can you provide details of the book please.

Thanks, Mike

Ross - like Alan I can't answer your question but I hope I can provide some useful information.  I don't know whether there was a civil post office at the army camp at Nanyuki but I do know that it was the location for something called HQ Northern Area.

In a letter from HQ East Africa Command dated 20 August 1951, HQ Northern Area was ordered to take over responsibility for Mombasa Garrison no later than 1 November 1951.  At the same time it was also ordered to take over command of Nairobi Sub-Area no later than 15 March 1952.  In readiness to take over Nairobi Sub-Area, HQ Northern Area moved to Nairobi in March 1952.  It closed at Nanyuki on 12 March, re-opened at Nairobi next day and took over the Sub-Area on 25 March 1952.  By the end of the year HQ Northern Area had become HQ Northern Brigade.

I am also aware that units at Nanyuki were allocated PO Box numbers as follows:

In 1950 the Post Office Box numbers for units at Nanyuki were re-allotted as shown below:
(East Africa Command General Routine Order 195/50 dated 30 September 1950)

PO Box 1000 The (East Africa) Independent Armoured Car Squadron
PO Box 1001 156 (East Africa) Independent Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery EAA
[EAC GRO 184/50 dated 7 September 1950 had already altered the PO Box number from PO Box 1007 Nanyuki to PO Box 1001 Nanyuki]
PO Box 1002 Deputy Commander Royal Engineers Nanyuki
PO Box 1003 3rd (Kenya) Battalion, The King's African Rifles
PO Box 1004 4th (Uganda) Battalion, The King's African Rifles
PO Box 1005 Northern Area Signal Troop
PO Box 1006 70 Supply Depot EAASC
PO Box 1007 Officer-in-Charge Barracks
PO Box 1008 Station Workshops Nanyuki EAEME
PO Box 1009 'B' Platoon, 52 (General Transport) Company
PO Box 1010 HQ Northern Area
PO Box 1011 Station Hospital Nanyuki

Forces mail from Kenya to UK had to have the unit datestamp applied for entitlement to concessionary rates of postage - whether such rates existed for Australia I don't know.  In fact is the cover you are showing forces-related in any way (other than it being posted at a post office in an army camp, if it existed there)?

I would need to undertake further research at The National Archives once it re-opens and we are allowed to travel there to look through relevant quarterly historical reports by units at Nanyuki (if they exist) to see if there is any mention of a post office at the camp.  I also want to try and find out more about the camp.

Mike  :)

Chris

There is nothing to indicate what it is about - but I do wonder if it is an early Royal Engineers Mobile Display Team FPO?
See my ealier posting on the subject - Cover of the Day 1 May REMDT 1969 - in it I state:

[i]Attached to the display team was a Forces Post Office (FPO) detachment which performed the dual function of providing postal facilities for the personnel engaged on the tour and publicity for the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) (REPS).  It is not known exactly when the Royal Engineers Mobile Display Team (REMDT) was formed, but the earliest reference to when it was accompanied by a Forces Post Office (FPO) was 1962.  It could be that this was also when such an organisation was formed.  This used FPO datestamp 1007.  The last time the REMDT function is believed to have been in 1987.  Between 1977 and 1987 it used FPO datestamp 999 each year.[/i]

A very good item - not seen it before.  Thanks Chris

Mike  :)

Well here we are Wednesday afternoon and it looks as though I am the first to post!
I wonder if this means everyone else has gone back to work, on the golf course or playing tennis!!  :) :)

Anyway, I came across this and kick myself for not realing earlier that I had it and should have displayed it on VE Day - it is a copy of The Cross and Swords news (Issue 206) issued on VE Day Tuesday 8 May 1945.  It is a little feint, perhaphs this was due to the printing method.  It is also foolscap size which obviously does not fully fit on today's modern A4 scanners!  Hence I had had to do two scans per page and so there is some duplication.

Enjoy the read.

Mike  ;)

Chris

A good purchase - I like covers that are posted by or to another RE postal person as they can show some interesting cachets or postal addresses - in your case here, his name and regimental number, the fact that he is in the RE Postal Section and his APO number.

Well done.

Mike  :)

[b]International Four Days Marches Nijmegen[/b]
[i](Internationale Vierdaagse Afstandsmarsen Nijmegen)[/i]

The cover is a philatelic item (Dr M W (Matthew) Carstairs FRPSL served in BAOR as a doctor in the Army and joined the Society in 1961, sadly died in 1985) postmarked FPO 305 on 27 JY 62.  Because of the large number of British forces personnel taking part from BAOR an FPO was provided in the tented area set aside for the British military.  The FPO was provided in a tent and was established during the period 22 to 27 July 1962.  Mail was circulated via BFPO 43 at RAF Laarbruch.  The photograph is of the FPO tent and the text on the back reads: "The cancelling device, book of stamps and mailbag as well as a tea-cup can be seen.  On left is box of equipment and in the foreground the mail van" (Volkswagen van).

The 46th Vierdaagse (4-Days March) took place from Tuesday to Friday 24-26 July 1962.  Sadly, it is recorded that a British soldier died on the third day through his efforts in trying to complete the four day event. 

I have participated in the Nijmegen 4-days March nine times over the years - three times during my time with HQ NORTHAG (1972-75); 1977 as an individual (I had left the Army then) then in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2002 as a Member of the Metropolitan Police team.  You may recognise me in the photo (I had a beard then and I wore a peaked cap rather than a helmet as I was not a police officer but a member of the Police Staff - but I was a member of the Met Police Walking Club).

The 4-days march goes back to the founding of the Dutch Physical Education Association (NBvLO) in 1908 to promote health and physical education and activity in the Netherlands and in 1909 organised the first 4-days march largely for military personnel, but with a growing number of civilian walkers thereafter.  Nijmegen became the permanent host of the Four Days Marches in 1925.  It is held annually (except during WW1 and WW2) in mid-July and has grown considerably since then - for example in 1997 there were 36,723 participants from some 29 counties, including 1,480 British persons.  It is called the 4-days March, but really it is walking for most of the way, military teams marching when passing through towns and villages en-route and for the final few kilometres to the finish lines (this last parade a number of military and police teams change into their dress uniforms and carry bunches of flowers presented to them, as you can see in the photo.

Participants walk 30, 40 or 50 kilometres daily depending on their age and gender.  For military teams it is 50 kilometres, except for those teams that carried at least ten kilograms of marching kit each when they could do the 40km.  In my military days the Rheindahlen Walking Club was an international group (both army and air force personnel) and we did not carry any kit so we did the 50km route!

During my time the organisation was known as the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Bond Voor Lichamelijke Opvoeding (KNBLO) (Royal Dutch League for Physical Education) having received its 'Royal' (Koninklijke) prefix in 1959.  In 2015 it was re-named the Royal Dutch Walking League (KWBN).

Please enjoy - compiling this has brought back many memories of me participating in these marches during those years.  As well as the fours days march it was also a four days festival during this time.

Mike  :) :)