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This page : Royal Events -
Philatelic Events
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Headlines - Bohemia and Moravia annexed by Germany....
Memel
ceded to Germany.... Spanish Civil War ends.... Italy seizes
Albania.... Conscription introduced in GB....
Italian/German treaty.... Anglo/Polish treaty....
German/Soviet treaty.... Germany attacks
Poland.... France, Australia and the United Kingdom declare war....
US declares neutrality.... Soviets invade Poland then
Finland.
Royal Events
5 May : 22 June - the King and Queen tour Canada and USA. The visit is a
tremendous success in both countries - one U.S. headline; 'The British
re-take Washington'. The royal couple's charm, friendliness and humour are
frequently reported. Commemorative set issued on 15 May by Canada, and on 17
June by Newfoundland.
|
Last of the 'Boy's Camps' which had been held by George for many years.
Sunday 3 September - King George is in London for the announcement of war by
Prime Minister Chamberlain. At 6.00 p.m. George makes a broadcast to the Empire.
It was suggested that copies of the King's broadcast should sent to every
household in Britain. This idea was abandoned partly because of cost, the
shortage of paper, and Post Office concern about the workload on its already
depleted staff.
Extract to the Nation at War :-
"For the second time in the lives of most of us we are at war. Over and
over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between
ourselves and those who are now our enemies. But it has been in vain.....
.....It is to this high purpose that I now call my people at
home and my peoples across the Seas, who will make our cause their own. I ask
them to stand calm, firm, and united in this time of trial. The task will be
hard. There may be dark days ahead, and war can no longer be confined to the
battlefield. But we can only do the right as we see the right, and reverently
commit our cause to God. If one and all we keep resolutely faithful to it, ready
for whatever service or sacrifice it may demand, then, with God's help, we shall
prevail."
4 : 10 December - George visits the British Expeditionary
Force in France and meets with French officials. |
King George broadcast to the Empire from
Buckingham Palace on 3 September |
Christmas Radio broadcast - the first made by George having previously
discontinued this practice established by his father after 1937.
Philatelic Events
Stamps
: Coils :
Airmail :
Other :
Postmarks
Stamps -
9 January - Post Office approve final colour essays for the
7d and 8d values.
30 January - Definitive issue of
6d
27 February - Definitive issue of
7d
and 8d
27 March - in the House of Commons, the Postmaster-General
was asked about intentions to issue special stamps
for the centenary in 1940. Major Tryon answered; "Yes, Sir. I propose to
issue four commemorative stamps of the ½d., 1d., 1½d. and 2½d. denominations. I
am inviting designs from about 30 artists and I have been helped in their
selection by suggestions from bodies representing both art and industry. There
are certain features which must be incorporated in these stamps, but as far as
possible the artists will be given a free hand in their designs. I propose to
ask the Royal Fine Art Commission and the Council for Art and Industry to give
me the benefit of their advice in judging the designs submitted." Hansard
27 March 1939 vol 345 cc1703-4
1 May - Definitive issue of
9d,
10d,
1s.
21 August - Hi-value issue of
5s 'Arms'
4 September - Hi-value issue of
2s6d 'Arms'
30 October - Hi-value issue of
10s 'Arms'.
Coils -
30 January - first issue of
6d coil
stamps
Airmail -
2 January - planned airmail service for London-Lisbon by British Airways
cancelled due to refusal by Spain to fly over their territory.
23 February - Indian National Airways plane crashes carrying some mail
despatched from UK between 15 and 18 February. Most of the mail was salvaged.
14 March - Belgian mail plane from London crashes near Brussels. All mail
destroyed.
18 March - Airmail for Hanoi accepted by
Imperial Airways for first time.
Letters cost 1/6, postcards 7d. This service operates Saturdays and Wednesdays,
replacing the Wednesday service by Air France unless letters marked 'Via
France'.
14 April - Airmail to Canada first accepted for onward transmission via US
services. Letters cost 5d, postcards 3d.
17 April - Airmail to Spain restarts. Letters cost 4d, postcards 2½d.
20 April - Airmail to Canada transmitted onward by new trans-Canada air service.
Costs remain as 14 April.
1 May - 'Challenger' crashes at Mozambique. Cachet applied to salvaged
mail - FLYING BOAT CORRESPONDENCE DAMAGED BY SEAWATER / VLIEGBOOT
KORRESPONDENSIE DEUR SEEWATER BESKADIG
8 May -
Southampton to Guernsey air mail service
starts.
 |
20 May - Pan American Airways 'Yankee Clipper'
piloted by Captain Arthur E La Porte flies from New York via the
Azores and Lisbon (backstamped 21 May) to Marseilles (backstamped 22 May - see
below) - the 'southern route'. Designated FAM 18 (FAM = Foreign Airmail
Route of the US Post Office).
This
is the first regular weekly air service across the Atlantic. The Yankee Clipper
flew on to Southampton without mail - mail for the UK was flown on by Air
France. The first return flight was 25 May - no mail from Britain carried until
31 May.
|
 |
21 May - Iraq and Kuwait added to 'All up' airmail. First
mail backstamped Baghdad 27 May and Kuwait 29 May.
22 May - first
Guernsey to England flight.
 |
27 May - Pan American's 'Atlantic Clipper' on second Atlantic
'southern route' flight from New York to Marseilles (backstamped 29 May).
1 June
- return flight for Pan American's 'Atlantic Clipper' via
Portugal, Azores, Bermuda. First trans-Atlantic airmail from Britain
accepted. Letters cost 1/3 per half
ounce; postcards 7d for USA, Canada and Newfoundland, (6d / 3d for the Azores).
Mail was accepted up to
7.30 a.m. on 31 May.
< Cover shown has Hamilton, Bermuda backstamp on 8 June. Postage due raised as the rate for Bermuda was
higher than the 1/3 rate for New York.
5 June - Aer Lingus re-start their summer service
between Dublin and Isle of Man - last mail flown 31 August.
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24 June - [above] first airmail by
Pan-American Airways from Washington via Newfoundland, to Ireland and
Southampton - the 'northern route'. 1,734lb of mail was carried by the
Boeing 314
flying-boat Yankee Clipper (NC18603). The flight was delayed
at Shediac, New Brunswick for 3 days due to fog at Newfoundland. It
re-started on 27 June, landing at Botwood, Newfoundland that night. It took
off for the cross Atlantic stretch on the 28th (1.26 a.m.) taking 13 hours
41 minutes to reach Foynes, Ireland. After a short stop of about three
hours (no mail was picked up), the flight went on to land at Southampton at 8.40 p.m. on the 28
June. Yankee Clipper had a crew of ten and was commanded by Captain Harold
E. Gray, Chief Pilot for Pan Am from Botwood, (by Captain E La Porte on the
Washington to Botwood stage). US and Canadian covers have pictorial
cachets; covers from Newfoundland have just a 'St.John's G.P.O. Nfld. 21 JUN
1939' (or 22 JUN) postmark.
|
 |
 |
Mail to Canada backstamped in Shediac |
 |
 |
Mail to USA backstamped in New York |
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30 June - [above] start of the return flight.
Yankee Clipper left Southampton to arrive in Shediac, then New York
on 1 July. Mail from Ireland
had a pictorial purple cachet. From July, the eastbound flights were given
the flight number 100, and westbound were flight number 101.
At the outbreak of war Pan American
flights stopped at Foynes. Imperial Airways provided connecting flights by
flying-boat between Foynes / Poole (IA's terminal moved from Southampton).
The northern trans-Atlantic Pan Am service was suspended after the departure
of the flight from New York on 30 September and return from Foynes on 4
October, (it was planned to use the northern route only during the summer
months). |
 Photo of Yankee Clipper - click for larger image suitable
for display. |
 |
31 July - Scottish Airways begin a regular airmail service,
three times a week, between Kirkwall and North Ronaldshay in the
Orkney Islands. The service was halted by the start of war, then
resumed briefly from 29 November until May 1940. Souvenir cover
issued for first flight.
5 August - start of
Imperial Airways Trans-Atlantic
service from Southampton then Foynes, Ireland and onward to Botwood,
Newfoundland, then Montreal and New York using a
modified Shorts 'C' Class flying-boat Caribou
- arriving 6 August (commanded by Captain J.C.Kelly Rogers, with Captain
S.G.Long as Chief Officer, and a crew of three). The Caribou and its partner plane, Cabot,
required air to air refuelling on the Foynes - Botwood stage. No passengers
were carried. The return flight was made 9 August, see below.
Departed Southampton 5 August at 2.13 p.m.
Arrived Foynes 5.15 p.m. Departed 7.00 p.m.
Arrived Botwood 2.30 p.m. Departed 4.50 p.m.
[British times]
Arrived Montreal 11.08 p.m. Departed 12.06 a.m.
Arrived New York 7 August at 2.27 a.m. (August 6
at 9.27 p.m. New York time)
|
|
 |
< Captain Kelly Rogers. Born 1905,
Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin. Joined the RAF in 1927 piloting flying
boats. Joined Imperial Airways in 1935. In 1937 he flew the first Empire
Flying Boat service along the Nile to Kisumu on Lake Victoria. Regularly
Captained flights on the Egypt - India - Australia route. Commanded the
1939 first Imperial Airways route across the Atlantic.
9 August - Imperial Airways North Atlantic Route first return flight.
Departed New York 9 August 9 p.m.
Arrived Montreal 11.29 p.m. Departed 12.30 p.m.
Arrived Botwood 5.33 p.m. Departed 10.27 p.m.
Arrived Foynes 10.32 p.m. Departed 12.24 p.m.
Arrived Southampton 11 August, 2.32 p.m.
3 September - all internal air routes suspended on declaration of war. End of
the 'All-up' airmail scheme - when services were restarted there was a new basic
rate of 1s3d for mail to the Empire.
The route to Marseille started by Pan American on 20 May is shortened to end at
neutral Lisbon. Trans-Atlantic mail to North America via the Azores and Bermuda,
(mail for Bermuda being carried from 16 November) is carried on the route.
13 September - Scottish Airways resume the Inverness / Wick / Kirkwall service
2 October - Scottish Airways begin a regular airmail service between Glasgow,
(Renfrew) and Campbeltown, (Kintyre). Souvenir covers issued for first flight. Service ends
October 1951.
|
3 October - Allied Airways re-start the Aberdeen / Shetlands service.
8 November - Jersey Airways re-start the South Coast / Guernsey / Jersey
service, (return the following day). Service end 1940 with German invasion of
the Channel Islands.
23 November - Scottish Airways commence mail service - Inverness / Wick /
Kirkwall / Shetlands.
27 November - Scottish Airways re-start the Kirkwall / North Ronaldshay service.
27
November - Flying boat Calpurnia crashed at Baghdad. Cachets applied to
recovered mail.
Other -
21 to 28 January - Third Annual London
Stamp Exhibition, held in Central Hall, London. 4 colours of labels with
designs of ships and aeroplanes in sheets of 12 printed by
Harrison & Sons
Ltd..
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|
7 February - debate in House of Commons
over the renewal of the contract with David MacBrayne Limited, 'for
the maintenance of transport services in the Western Highlands and Islands
of Scotland, and for the conveyance of mails in connection with the said
services'. Hansard HC vol 343 cc856-912
13 to 17 June - 26th Philatelic Congress of Great Britain, Liverpool. Special
postmark issued, see below.
August - a circular gave instructions for pillar boxes,
(and associated kerbside items) to have white bands painted on their plinths
to aid traffic in blackouts, many also had additional white bands painted
on. A second circular in August, gave instructions for the
tops of pillar boxes to be coated with a gas detector paint. Two versions of
the paint were used - 'Yellow' and 'Khaki' - the colours would change to
bright crimson if they came into contact with either Mustard gas or Methyl
Salicylate.
< picture from British Philatelic
Bulletin, June 1995, showing a pillar box in 1941 with white bands and
coated on top with gas detection paint. |
|
Summer - a 1938 proposal to make emergency plates for
low value stamps was carried out. Letter press plates were made by the Royal
Mail and were designed for ease of use. Various plates were made of the
different denominations up to 6d.
|
|
Click for larger image |
|
September - war begins to affect the work of the Post Office mainly due to
shortage of staff who have been called up. There is some reduction in daily
delivery services. Forty-four branch post offices were closed in London at the
start of September, but this number is reduced throughout the month.
|
This impressive envelope has a total value in stamps of
11s 10d - a fair amount of money in 1939. It is postmarked from Coleshall,
Staffordshire, on the 12 September going to a local address. It contains the
complete King George V photogravure set, commemoratives 1935 to 1937, King
Edward VIII set, and the definitive stamps issued for King George VI up to
that date - all valid for postal use.
Why, just 9 days after the outbreak of war, would someone
post this cover, at a time when most people would be desperate to keep
anything of value? |
|
17 October - The Secretary of State for War, Mr. Hore-Belisha,
was asked about postal censorship in the House of Commons. He replied that; 'The
Chief Postal Censor is in charge of the Department which deals with the
censorship of letter mails. The head office is situated in Liverpool. Private
letters and commercial letters which are delivered to the Chief Postal Censor in
the morning of any one day are, as a general rule, all cleared and despatched by
the evening of the same day. Documents such as Cmd. 6106 may be transmitted to
neutral countries by firms who have obtained a permit for this purpose. There is
no restriction whatsoever on the transmission by post of such documents to
Empire countries and the United States of America.'
Hansard vol 352 cc684-5 [Cmd.6106 was the document concerning
German-Polish Relations and the Outbreak of Hostilities between Great Britain
and Germany on September 3, 1939].
17 October - After repeated criticism over postage rates for
sending parcels to troops, the Postmaster-General gave a written reply to the
Commons; 'As I have stated in reply to previous questions on this subject, I
have been reviewing the scale of postage rates charged on parcels for members of
His Majesty's Armed Forces serving overseas, in consultation with the Service
Departments, and I am glad to be able to announce that the following reduced
rates will be brought into force tomorrow:
For parcels up to 3 lb., 9d., a reduction from 1s. 3d.
For parcels from 3 lb. to 7 lb., 1s. 6d., a reduction from 2s. 6d.
For parcels from 7 lb. to 11 lb., 2s., a reduction from 3s. 3d.
For parcels from 11 lb. to 22 lb., 3s. 6d., a reduction from 6s.
I hope that the low rate fixed for the smaller parcels which I regard as of
particular importance will meet with general approval: for these the charge of
9d. up to 3 lb. compare with a charge of 1s. in the late war.
In the late war the rates for parcels over 3 lb. for British troops in theatres
of war other than France were appreciably higher than those for France but the
rates I am now introducing will apply to parcels for members of all the Armed
Forces overseas wherever they may be serving, including His Majesty's ships in
foreign waters.
Letters for Forces overseas are charged at the Imperial postage rate of 1½d. for
the first ounce, and 1d. for each subsequent ounce.'
Hansard vol 352 cc710-1W [Calls were being made for reduced rates to troops at
home and abroad - Major Tryon has only reduced the rates for those serving
overseas]. There are repeated complaints about delays in
getting mail to troops (and some business mail) abroad.
1939 - Post Office
foreign postcards discontinued.
Postmarks
-
Many of the entries
below are taken from 'Special Event Postmarks of the United Kingdom' by
George R. Pearson. Published by the
British Postmark Society, 1991 who give kind
permission for reproduction.
|
November 1938 to February 1939 -
'British Industries Fair Feb 20 To Mar 3 1939 London & Birmingham'. Block.
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January - Solid town die and 'Post Early in the Day'
slogan. Applied to cards by demonstration cancelling machine, probably at
GPO exhibition. Machine cancel. |
| |
|
20 February to 1? March - British Industries Fair
Birmingham. Used on ordinary mail. Single circle, steel handstamp. |
| |
|
20 February to 1 March - British Industries Fair
Birmingham. Used on registered mail. Oval steel handstamp. |
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| March to April - 'Every Home Needs A Phone'.
Block. |
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April - G.P.O. Exhibition (town
die) + 'Post Early' slogan. Used in demonstration cancelling machine at GPO
exhibition. Machine cancel.
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24 April - Not everyday that postmarks become the
subject for politics in the House of Commons. In part this is an
attack on what many saw as the government's inadequate preparations
for a possible war with Germany; 'Mr. Hall-Caine asked the Post
master-General whether he will consider extending the use of slogan
stamp cancellations and use this form of publicity, as is the custom
all over the Empire, to call attention to national needs such as,
"Have you got your gas-mask?" "Join the Territorials," "National
Service, It's up to you," etc.?
Sir W. Womersley - My right hon. Friend is already considering
this matter in consultation with the Departments concerned.
Mr. Gallacher - Is it the case that every Government Department
is considering everything and doing nothing?
Sir W. Womersley - That is not the case. At any rate, as far as
the Post Office are concerned, we are considering, and acting.
Mr. Leach - Is it not the fact that you have so much on your
mind that nothing can be guaranteed? Hansard vol 346 c776
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15 to 19 May - 'Chelsea Flower Show / S.W.3'.
Skeleton handstamp. |
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23 to 26 May - 'Edinburgh C. S.'. Church of
Scotland Assembly. Skeleton handstamp. |
| 3 June known - 'Show Yard Portsmouth'. Royal
Counties Show. Skeleton handstamp. |
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13 to 17 June - 26th Philatelic Congress of Gt Britain -
Liverpool -'.Special design, steel handstamp. |
| 20 to 22 June - 'Showyard Edinburgh'. Royal
Highland Show. Skeleton handstamp. |
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27 June to 8 July - 'Windsor Royal Show A'. Struck in
violet, (known in black 27 June). Probably used at main entrance. |
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| 27? June to 8 July - 'Windsor Royal Show B'.
Struck in violet. Probably used in grounds of show. |
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5 July known - 'Henley Regatta'. Used on registration
labels, with the adhesives cancelled with a Mobile Post Office postmark.
Event dates 5 to 8 July. Single circle, steel handstamp. |
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| August to September - 'Road Users Take Care
Avoid Risks'. Block. |
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| 1 September known - 'Dundee Angus BA'. British
Association meeting. Meeting held 1 to 8 September [Q - did it carry on
after war declared?]. Skeleton handstamp. |
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| 20 November to 29 December - 'Grow More Food
For Victory'. Block. |
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| Early December to 22 December - 'Post
Early For [ or -For-] Christmas.' Block. |
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1939 - 'Registered Earl's Court Exhibition B.O.
S.W.5'. Rubber oval stamp. |
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| Through the year - 'Post Early In The Day'. |
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