I was interested to know if any other members of ww2talk collected stamps of World War 2. I have a fairly extensive collection that includes the European theatre 1933-1946 inclusing occupation (allied/axis) and also postwar rememberance/anniversary/holocaust etc. I think it would be interesting to discuss the events of the war through stamps/philately. I have attached a picture of a set of Russian stamps that were issued in Germany during the early days of occupation in 1945. I guess they had a lot more to worry about at that time than printing fancy stamps! Cheers.
Jolly Limey very interesting please post more and any further info you have , forum members will find it most interesting thank you
I certainly have an interest in the black propaganda stamps like the Himmler stamp and other PWE productions. You may enjoy this little article on the subject: Propaganda & Espionage Philately Lee
lee, yes, that article is fantastic. the victory parade in whitehall is amazing and done in the days before photoshop too! think what the countries of WW2 could have done if they'd had todays computer/CGI technology etc.! my friend has the 'spitting hitler' stamp (with the girl spitting in his face), it cost him about 150 euros in Germany about 2 years ago i think.
i'm always fascinated by the fall of the 3rd reich, the chaos, destruction and desperation. these 2 stamps were the very last printed by the Nazis, literally a few weeks before the German's final surrender. An unused pair usually goes for about $15-$20 over here, but if you find a used pair with cancels they can go for as much as $600-$700! i guess it was hard to go out and post a letter when you're cowering in the basement of your house with Russian tanks rolling by!
Was given these German stamps by a collector who knew of my interest in WW2, most on plain envelopes or cards, dates range from 1934 to 1944. Nurnberg, 1934 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6146 Nurnberg, 1934 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6144 Nurnberg, 1934 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6145
Krakau, 1943, http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6148 Krakau, 1943, front, propaganda postcard http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6149 Lubeck, 1943 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6150 Munich, 1943 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6151
Fulda, 1944 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6142 Innsbruck, 1944 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6143 Konigsberg, 1944 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1017&pictureid=6147
Some beautifully clean examples there muggins. I have begun to look at similar examples for Japanese occupied Burma in WW2. Also my daughter has had a stamp collection going since she was 10 and also has some nice exhibits. My father used to work for Oxford University Press in the 1950's,60's and 70's. He sent the various book titles all over the world as you can imagine, and I had (sadly, in the past tense) a very varied collection of world stamps back in 1979. Thanks for sharing. Steve
thanks Bamboo and Jonathan They aren't bad examples, rubbish camera skills aside. Probably franked with collector(s) in mind, either on blank cards/ sheets of economy paper or envelopes, stored carefully. I've had my fair share of regrets as an adult over items given away on a whim or worse bundled out by a parent with free time on their hands. Bamboo If you do source stamps from Burma I would love to see them here.
thanks Bamboo and Jonathan They aren't bad examples, rubbish camera skills aside. Probably franked with collector(s) in mind, either on blank cards/ sheets of economy paper or envelopes, stored carefully. I've had my fair share of regrets as an adult over items given away on a whim or worse bundled out by a parent with free time on their hands. Bamboo If you do source stamps from Burma I would love to see them here. Will do. I hear you in regard to over zealous parents clearing lofts etc!!! I lost my stamps, 1966 World Cup official tournament brochure, original Motown 45's for the Jackson 5 and Paninni Euro 76 completed sticker album.........aaaaaaaarggghhhh! Still my own fault for leaving them there in the first place I suppose.
Interesting collection the significance yet to come at the time of the Mamedy, stamp...... struck me as soon as I saw it.
As promised, but not very good images I'm afraid. Here are some typical examples of Japanese occupation of Burma postage stamps. They often chose images of agriculture or animals working as themes for these stamps. Aside from this there were the usual Japanese depiction of invincibility and power and some Shinto religious depiction. Perforations were not always present and the stamps were of a low grade on poor quality paper. They are very reminiscent of the stamps some of us used to play with in our toy post office sets circa 1970's. Also attached as an extra delight are some images of Japanese banknotes from the same era. These paper notes were printed in their millions during the years of occupation and caused massive inflation throughout Burma. It was all part of the Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere idyll and officially the notes were called 'Southern Development Bank notes'. Wingate sent the Chindits into Burma in 1943/44 carrying silver rupees, something of course that weighed down that already over loaded army pack, but with which they could by food or favour from the local burmese villagers. A shiny rupee waved in front of an unwilling boatman could make all the difference in getting over the Irrawaddy or Chindwin. It certainly beat waving a handful of worthless paper at him that is for sure. All the occupied countries in SE Asia had similar notes pictorially, with only the coding and denomination to suggest where they originated from. The code for Burma was generally BA with BB also used. The Americans produced counterfeit versions of the Japanese notes in order to destabilise the economies of the occupied territories still further. Any one for monopoly!!
Here's an article about postage stamps used as propaganda and for intelligence purposes: PsyWar.Org: Propaganda and Espionage Philately (It covers WWI, WWII and post-war) Lee
Bamboo thanks for coming back with those. I must dig out some banknotes I have and add that to the thread. I think they're from the right time& Greek. PsyWar very interesting about the Himmler stamp, how sometimes these things don't quite work out the way they were intended. But no one noticed the Himmler stamps. Not even when in my gloom at the lack of an echo to the operation I asked that the newspaper wrappers with the Himmler stamps should be delivered to known philatelists. The trouble was that Hull's counterfeit was far too excellent, the Himmler stamp much too similar to the Hitler stamp, and the public-including the philatelists-far too unobservant. Finally, in sheer despair, my friends in S.O.E. sold some wrappers to stamp dealers in Stockholm and Zurich, and that way, the story of the Heinrich Himmler stamp did at last percolate into the neutral press. But as an operation that stamp campaign had most sadly and badly misfired. Not, however, for the stamp dealers. A set of these Himmler stamps commands a high price in philatelistic auction rooms today. I wish I had some.
Hi muggins, Thanks for reps, and a nice change of thread title there! The area I keep missing out on is that of POW post and correspondence, there have been a couple of Rangoon Jail POW postcards up on EBay recently, but I missed out, not so much on price, but being stuck on the M40 motorway coming back from dropping my daughter off at University. AAAArrrgghhh!
