Peeps at Postage Stamps

by Stanley C. Johnson

Stamps from the "Great War" Zone 1 Russia 6 Union of South Africa 11 Prussia 2 Belgium 7 France 12 Bavaria 3 Montenegro 8 Luxembourg 13 Austria 4 Great Britain 9 Portugal 14 Turkey 5 Egypt 10 Servia

The following extracts from the Indian Army Order, No. 619, dated November 10, 1913, are of interest:

"7. The Director or Deputy Director, or, in his absence, the Postmaster-General under whose orders he is to work, should, on receipt of the first intimation that a force is to be mobilized, take the earliest opportunity to consult the General Officer appointed to command the force as to the postal requirements of the force in respect of the number of field post offices, the classes of postal business to be undertaken, the establishment to be provided, etc. As far as possible, the wishes of the General Officer commanding should be carried out.

"23. The Director-General will arrange that the treasury nearest to the base office is supplied with about ten times its normal supply of ordinary postage stamps (including postcards and envelopes), and that a sufficient stock is maintained throughout the campaign. The base post office should thus be in a position to supply at once the postage stamps required in field post offices. If there is no treasury at hand, a sufficient supply of postage stamps of all descriptions must be kept at the base post office. The base post office will be supplied with an iron safe, or two, if necessary.

"24. The requisite stamps, scales, bags, and other articles of stock sufficient for six months' requirements, will be furnished to the base post office for its own use, and for distribution, under the orders of the Director or Deputy Director, to field post offices. Section 5 B shows the books, forms, stamps, etc., required for field post offices. All books, forms, and articles of stock should be packed in the prescribed mule trunks, each of which, when packed, should not exceed one maund in weight. The books, forms, and stamps required by the base post office will be the same as those used by a head office in India performing the same classes of business; but in addition to the ordinary stamps it will be supplied with a special 'postage cancelled' stamp."

Another form of war stamp is the charity stamps; these have been issued by various countries in order to collect money for Red Cross and other funds. The labels serve for ordinary postal work, but as a rule cost a halfpenny or penny above face value. A charge of three-halfpence, for instance, is made for a penny stamp, a penny of the sum being appropriated by the postal authorities, and a halfpenny being remitted to the Red Cross Fund. So far, France, Monaco, Belgium, Russia, Austria, and Hungary have printed charity labels, and other countries have such issues in contemplation. It may be mentioned that various bogus charity stamps appearing to emanate from Belgium have reached this country from Holland and elsewhere; all such labels, therefore, should be accepted with caution.

War stamps date back, at least, to the time of the Crimea. In this campaign the British forces instituted a military post office at Constantinople with branch offices at Balaclava and Scutari. No special stamps were given to the soldiers, the current British penny reds being used. The postmarks, however, were distinctive, and it is therefore possible to distinguish between the red labels used in the ordinary way at home and those used by the Expeditionary Force. The distinctive postmarks were:

1. A crown placed between two stars, with straight bars above and below, the whole forming an oval.

2. A star placed between two noughts; then as No. 1.

As few people know of this rare and interesting form of obliteration, it is quite possible to come across specimens when buying the penny reds in quantities for reconstructing plates.

Other war stamps are—(1) The Alsace and Lorraine issue, which was printed primarily for military use during the Franco-German campaign; (2) the overprinted issues of Peru, used during the occupation of this republic by Chilian forces; (3) the Egyptian issue overprinted with the word "Soudan," at the time when Lord Kitchener was carrying on the Soudan campaign; (4) the V.R.I. issues of the Transvaal; (5) the Italian issues bearing the overprint "Lybia," current during the Italian-Turkish War; and (6) the many issues which resulted from the Balkan War of 1912.

Before concluding this chapter, it may be well to speak of the Spanish stamps of 1874-1879, and 1898-99, which bear the inscription, "Impuesto de Guerra." These labels were not war stamps in the ordinary sense, but stamps issued to collect a war-tax. After the Carlist War, the insurrection of Cartagena, the Civil War in Cuba, and the Spanish-American War, the Government decided to impose a war-tax upon a number of articles, such as letters, telegrams, theatre tickets and railway tickets. The stamps bearing the above inscription were therefore issued to facilitate the collection of these taxes. When the used copies have done postal duty they may be looked upon as postage stamps, but collectors should avoid purchasing specimens which served for theatre, railway, and the various other uses.