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Japan 1948, Getting back to work in the mine

We here a lot about Europe getting back to work after the war. It is a frequent topic in the USA as we like to take credit for it by way of the Marshall Aid plan. Japan also got back to work fast and became an industrial powerhouse. One area that fell short though was mining, where loss of empire was clearly felt. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The most remarkable thing about this stamp issues appearance is how it is just a typical Japanese stamp that could be from any era, excepting a new issue. Here we must give some credit to the Allied occupation under General MacArthur. They were still allowing Japan to be Japan, even in defeat. One interesting thing is that it was already the second Japanese post war stamp to feature coal miners. They must have mistakenly thought that coal would be an important part of a hoped for comeback.

Todays stamp is issue A210, a 5 Yen stamp issued by Japan in 1948. The coal miner stamp was part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. As a bulk mailing stamp, unused copies are more rare and valueable. A booklet of 20 of this stamp unused is worth $300.

In the early twentieth century mining was very important to the Empire. In addition to local output there was gold mining in Korea, iron and coal mining in China, and coal mining in Formosa. In 1942, the world’s worst mining disaster, a Japanese run coal mine in occupied China suffered a coal dust explosion that killed 1500 Chinese laborers and 30 Japanese overseers. Most died when ventilation was shut off to put out the fire. The 1967 Bee Gees song seems to have got it wrong placing the disaster in New York in 1941. That all was over after the war. Given how they were run, perhaps that was for the best.

Japan still had small coal deposits at the extreme north and the extreme south of the country. It was located in expensive to axcess veins that required inclined gallery style mining instead of regular pit coal mines. This made imported coal much cheaper to use and Japan became a big importer. Over time of course cleaner sources of energy have been tapped.

Many of the Japanese mines closed in the 70s and 80s. By 1988, less than .2 percent of Japanese workers were employed in mining. In 1974, a small southern Japanese island called Battleship was abandoned by the conglomerate Mitsubishi after the mine reserve there was exhausted. The town around the mine was built of concrete and fortified against typhoons resembling a battleship. For 45 years the concrete city has decayed without anybody living there. See Below.

Battleship Island abandoned coal mining town ruins 40 years later

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another drink to toast the coal exporting nations who stepped in to supply Japan’s coal shortfall. It would be a short list of people in those years getting rich off exports to Japan. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

 

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South Africa 1942, chose doing too much over doing too little for Empire

South Africa found itself in a similar position as Canada during World War II. Empire required participation against Germany in 1939. Yet like Canada, there was a strong feeling against getting involved. Unlike Canada see https://the-philatelist.com/2017/12/27/canada-supports-the-war-except-quebec-and-churchill-just-ignores/ , the government was changed to support, and large numbers of South Africans served alongside Britain with distinction. Even if that meant internment camps at home for the opposing Ossewabrandwag. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp issue is a fairly typical support the troops war issue. The stamps did not convince all. Hardline anti war elements among Boers even took to harassing troop volunteers in uniform, in one instance causing a riot in Johannesburg in 1941. This division does not show on the stamps as the new government was all in on the war effort.

Todays stamp is issue A25, a half penny stamp issued by South Africa in 1941. It was a nine stamp issue in various denominations showing various aspects of the war effort, in this case infantry. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

When Germany attacked Poland in 1939, Britain acted upon it’s alliance with Poland and declared war. This required participation by the Empire including self governing dominions like South Africa. South Africa’s Prime Minister Barry Hertzog was a former Boer General and thought that South Africa should stay neutral in the war. There was a fiery debate that saw Hertzog deposed in favor of pro British Jan Smuts who promptly declared was on Germany and Italy. Anti war sentiment then divided between opposers within the system and the soon outlawed Ossewabrandwag that was pro German and went as far as sabotage attacks against the war effort. The Ossewabrandwag was rounded up and sent to internment camps. Among those interned was a future Prime Minister BJ Voster. The new government faced the white voters in 1943 and although they lost Parliamentary seats, Smuts was retained as Prime Minister.

The emblem of the banned Ossewabrandwag

334,000 South Africans, two thirds white, volunteered for war service. There was no conscription. 11,000 died in the war. Most prominently two divisions of infantry fought in the western dessert against the Italians and the German Africa Corp under General Erwin Rommel. They were attached to the British Eighth Army.  The second South African  division was part of the Empire forces that held out in fortress Torbruk in Libya well behind the lines. When Torbruk fell to the Germans in May 1942, the unit went into captivity. The First Infantry division was then pulled back to South Africa and reconstituted into a tank division that fought in the Italian campaign later in the war, attached to the American Fifth Army. It had been planned to form an additional tank division but the Army was short of volunteers. The 77,000 black volunteers were not deployed outside South Africa.

Prime Minister Jan Smuts overtly pro British stance was not popular and he failed when up for election in 1948. The change of party lead to the break with the Commonwealth and the attempt through Apartheid to maintain white minority rule. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/12/21/south-africa-1966-a-tiny-minority-can-go-it-alone-because-they-have-diamonds-but-do-they/ .

Well my drink is empty and so I will patiently await  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

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France 1954, The Noratlas is ready to take a paratrooper to a place he doesn’t want to go

After the war, France like so many nations had a mixed fleet of America DC3 and German Ju 52 war surplus. They were old designs more suited to passengers than cargo. Thus France contracted a design for a proper freighter well stressed for heavy loads and  convenient rear cargo doors. However the need turned out to be moving paratroopers to far flung outposts under attack. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp came before the Noratlas’s many uses in combat. So here we get not a formation of the plane with paratroopers being dropped, but a peaceful blue single example perhaps on a regular supply run. So a stamp near the end of the planes life instead of the begining might have presented a different picture.

Todays stamp is issue C30, 1 200 Franc airmail stamp issued by France on January 16th, 1954. It was a four stamp issue displaying French aircraft. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The development of the Noratlas had it’s ups and downs. The prototype with French engines was underpowered so a licence to manufacture the more powerful British Hercules engine was arranged. In practice the plane was still underpowered so late production examples had two small jets added to the wingtips just used for takeoff only. The program received a huge boost when the newly reconstituted German air force placed a big order, as they read their situation as similar to the French. In practice the modern German military didn’t move around much so the planes were not much used. Soon Germany began giving them away to countries like Israel, Greece, and Portugal that had much use for the Nortalas. Israel had been forced to buy two from France in order to also get the Mystere fighters that they really wanted. Once in service, they proved useful in all the Arab-Israeli wars to come, so they allowed Germany to gift many more.

The rear cargo doors thought to define modern.

The first big combat was taking French paratroopers into Port Said during the canal crisis. Then the combat swiched to Portugal, when a squadron of the second hand German transports was located in each African colony Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea Bissau on call to take paratroopers to reinforce outposts under attack. The never ending war was so unpopular, that when the colonies were abandoned in the mid 1970s, the Nortalas planes were just left there. The post war Portuguese military was no longer going to move around much, German style.

The last large scale combat was deep into the 1970s when the planes were quite old. Greece had been given a large fleet or Noratlases by Germany and when Turkey invaded Cyprus, the planes were tasked with moving a battalion of Rangers to Nicosia airport from Crete so it would not fall to the Turks. The Greeks were able to get 13 of their 15 planes flying and enough reinforcements were flown in to hold the airport. One Noratlas was however shot down with a great loss of life, it is believed by friendly fire.

The last user of the Noratlas was France. A few examples called Gabriel were used for electronic warfare into the late 1980s.

I mentioned the Germans didn’t use theirs much. Indeed this one became a pub.

Well my drink is empty and the German Noratlas pup is now closed. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Brunei 1952, faced with a lustfull triangle, Brunei chooses none of the above

The Sultan of Brunei is an ancient title that once conferred leadership of much of the island of Borneo and even included much of the Philippines. The time of colonialism saw the realm shrunk and protection from Great Britain sought. Inviting the British proved lucky as they discovered oil. With the fading of the British, decisions faced new Sultan Omar Ali Saiffuddin on how to move forward. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Brunei was a British Protectorate at the time of this stamp. That means there was a British Resident locally that the Sultan was required to consult with on all matters excluding religion and customs. Yet unlike some other Protectorates, like this one https://the-philatelist.com/2019/07/23/bechuanaland-protectorate-1888-the-british-side-with-christian-chief-khama-to-keep-the-pioneers-at-bay/ , you don’t see the British Monarch on the stamps. The oil revenue conferred power locally so there was more local involvement in the administration.

Todays stamp is issue A4, a 3 Cent stamp issued by the Sultanate of Brunei on March 1st, 1952. It was a fourteen stamp issue in various denominations celebrating new Sultan Omar that year. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents unused.

Brunei was occupied by the Japanese during the war. The future Sultan served in their administration as well as the British before his older brother abdicated and he became Sultan. The war had reduced dramatically colonial power in the area. Philippines became independent in 1946, after a fight Indonesia became independent in 1949, See https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/24/well-we-think-we-are-independant-we-have-a-constitution-a-flag-and-austrian-stamps/   . Malaya was also moving toward independence and to take control of other British controlled areas like Singapore and Brunei. Sultan Omar was faced with the challenge of wrestling more authority over his people from the British, while keeping Indonesia at bay, while exploring the possibilities with Malaya. The British problem was dealt with first. A new constitution replaced British control with local and the British Resident was replaced by a High Commissioner as with former colonies. The British kept up the commitment to defend Brunei. Negotiations with Malaya were began. They did not go well as Sultan Omar would be the low man on Malaysia’s system of revolving regional sultans. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/07/12/kelantan-the-british-peal-away-siam-for-the-benefit-of-malaya/ . They would also not guarantee that oil revenue would remain for the benefit of Brunei, Malaysia went ahead with former  Brunei territories of Sarawak and North Borneo, but not Brunei itself. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/21/the-last-white-rajah-of-sarawak-much-to-the-annoyance-of-many/   , and https://the-philatelist.com/2019/01/24/north-borneo-company-1922-a-british-chinese-hong-company-comes-to-borneo-to-persevere-and-achieve/    . Gosh I have written a lot of articles.

Anyway, the new constitution meant elections and a left wing Indonesia supported party won. The favored a confederation between Brunei, Sarawak, and North Borneo with a capital in Brunei and no more Sultan. A militia tied to the party began attacking oil installations and government offices. The Sultan asked for British help and the British responded with two companies of Gurkhas who flew in on a Bristol Britannia from Singapore and rescued Sultan Omar. Sarawak’s old World war II resistance leader and now museam currator asked for help from his old Kelabit tribesman to block escape routes to Indonesia while the Gurkhas got up to strength.  This would all sound like the last charge of Empire except that the Falklands War was 20 years later. The Gurkhas were able to retake Seria but not before the rebels had executed  some Brunei officials who refused to join the rebellion. This helped convince Sultan Omar not to join Malaya but keep up a close relationship with the Gurkhas, To this day there is a British Gurkha infantry battalion in Brunei. Rich city state Singapore also maintains a few thousand Gurkhas for internal security. Must keep jealous triangles at bay.

A few years after the revolt Sultan Omar decided to abdicate in favor of his first born son, who still rules. When now Begawan Sultan Omar died in 1986 his funeral was attended by all his former triangle suiters with even Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip flying out to pay their respects.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Gurkhas. It was such a masterstroke of the Empire to recruit the Nepalese soldiers from outside the Empire. Even after the Empire’s sun as set, they have proved indispensable. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

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Antigua 1970, Remembering 2 Princes service as midshipmen on their mother’s ships around the Empire

Under Queen Victoria, The British Empire was at it’s zenith, (unless you would like to argue that Britain’s new Prime Minister means the Empire just conquered the home country.) To police the empire and the sea routes, the Royal Navy built iron and copper clad light cruisers/corvettes that had steam engines and sails to cope with long periods at sea. What a great opportunity for two young Princes to learn about the Empire as midshipmen. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is a nice looking stamp, if you forgive the condition issues of my copy. As with so many commonwealth issues there is just too many of them. This issue had 17 issues of people and their boats including caribe Indians and their war canoes, to the local then current tugboat. Seems a little disrespectful to put such riffraff beside King George V.

Todays stamp is issue A51, a 35 cent stamp issued by Antiqua on August 19th, 1970. In addition to the 17 issues, there are also reissues to account for a currency devaluation and then overprints for you guessed it another currency devaluation. According to the Scott catalog, this stamp is worth 80 cents used.

When future King George V was born, he was not expected to be ever King, since he had an older brother named Albert. Since the two boys were only 17 months apart they were still educated together. As part of that education, at age 14, the two young princes set out as midshipmem on the ironclad Cruiser HMS Bacchante that took them around the world. Accompanying them was a tudor that had them fill out a daily diary.  The crew had been chosen specitically to be good inflences on the boys but in reality the crew was told to keep their distance fron the princes. Surprisingly after the three year cruise, the tutor released the young royal dairies in book form for sale. He had already annoyed Queen Victoria by the young princes having not learned any foriegn languages. Perhaps not that surprisingly, young Prince George did come back with a blue and red tattoo of a dragon on his arm, done by a local tattoo artist in Japan.

John Neale Dalton, clergyman and tutor to the young princes. Seen here later in life as Canon of Windsor

Albert, then on track to be the future King left the Navy. Not so for Prince George, he was assigned to the West Indian naval station in Bermuda and served with increasing responsibility on HMS Thrush, on HMS Canada, as seen on this stamp, and finally as Captain of the ironclad cruiser HMS Melampus.

The death of his older brother Albert in 1892 saw the end of George’s naval career and his life took a big turn to prepare him for what was a long reign. Part of that turn was marrying Princess Mary of Teck. She had been previously engaged to Prince Albert.

The kind of long haul ships that George served on fell out of favor in the 1890s as there was a naval building binge of bigger, more heavily armed and armoured ships by all the want to rule the sea powers. HMS Canada for example was scrapped in 1897 despite being less than 20 years old. There was still an empire to police, and I think an air of the old light cruisers can be seen in even post war designs like the Leander class ships from the 1960s and the Amazon class from the 1970s. Ships not designed for the battle of Jutland, but rather to show the flag far away on a good day and aim the cannon and land some marines on a bad day.

The surviving, in a British Columbia museum, bow badge of HMS Canada

Well my drink is empty. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. Also Happy Halloween for everyone and Happy Reformation Day for fellow Lutherans.

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Cook Islands 1968. remembering Captain Cook’s search for Terra Australis

The Cook Islands remember Captain Cook. Well I should hope so. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Cook Islands are administered by New Zealand and the majority of people whose heritage is traced to Cook now live in New Zealand. These people are Maori. That does not mean the stamp issues are not full bore British Commonwealth. Collectors are taught to scoff at stamps made specially for collectors but check out the artwork and use of gold trim on todays stamp. The collector then got his penny worth and the collector today is still getting a visual treat for his 25 cents. Cook Islands have this decade experimented with stamp issues from Rarotonga, the biggest island. These are to have a more Maori flair, perfect for all the Maori stamp collectors.

Todays stamp is issue A39 a one penny stamp issued by the Cook Islands then an independent state in free association with New Zealand. The UN frowned on colonies and New Zealand could point to lots of costs that make the association far from free, but this is the words arraigned to please. The stamp was part of a four stamp issue in various denominations that recognized the 200th anniversary of Captain Cook’s first voyage of discovery on HMS Endeavor. This stamp shows a painting of Cook’s ship off Huahine Island in Tahiti by the painter John Clevely. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents unused.

As can be gathered from the stamp, Captain Cook set out on HMS Endeavor in 1768. The ship had been bought second hand to serve as a scientific vessel having been designed as a collier, a coal transport ship. Cook’s mission was to find the then hypothetical continent of terra Australis, Latin for south land. The area had been hypothesized as far back as Aristotle. The theory was that if the planet Earth was in balance with all the land mass near the North Pole, there must be a similar land mass near the South Pole. They were not talking about what is now known as Australia, it was known and referred to as New Holland. The idea to rename New Holland Australia came later from British Explorer Matthew Flinders proposed the renaming of New Holland as Australia. In doing so he was proposing giving up on the mythic 6th continent. Antarctica, the real terra Australis was spotted a few years later.

The voyage was the first to map the east coast of Australia and discovered New Zealand. HMS Endeavor had first restocked in Tahiti and took on Tupaia, a priest and star mapper from the Society Islands. He  brought native knowledge of distances between islands, spoke Maori and knew names of native chiefs. Interestingly the discoveries were not at first claimed for Great Britain. This was revised mid journey when Captain Cook learned that French explorer Louis de Bougainville was also exploring the Pacific at the same time and making claims for France. Cooks first journey of discovery was cut short when much of his crew, including Tupaia, died in Batavia of malaria. Batavia is modern day Jakarta, Indonesia. The journey did not make it far enough south to spot Terra Australis/Antartica.

In their lifetimes, Captain Cook had a much worse fate then French Captain de Bougainville. After both had distinguished service on opposite sides during the American Revolutionary war, de Bougainville had a long retirement in France where Napoleon made him a Count.  Cook had worse luck. He failed to find a northwest passage around North America he was looking for and then while passing through Hawaii again on the way back, he was murdered, disemboweled, baked to remove skin, and some say, partialy eaten. One too many bites at the apple of discovery?

The HMS Endeavor also came to a sad end. After again being on Captain Cook’s second journey, the ship changed hands and was employed as a cargo ship based out of the Falkland Islands. It was later lost when supporting a British naval blockade during the American Revolutionary War off Rhode Island. In 2018, undersea explorers  claim to have found the wreck.

Well my drink is empty and so I will wait patiently till tomorrow when I will discover and present another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

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Brazil 1960, Remembering the snakes that smoked

South America was not exactly a hotbed theater of World War II. On the other hand, what if the USA offered to build you a steel industry and buy whatever you make. That might be worth a meaningless war declaration. After all, as was said in Brazil at the time, snakes will start smoking before the Brazilian army will fight the Germans. Spoiler alert, the snakes smoked. So fill your own pipe and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The poor printing and cheap paper let this stamp a little. They were however printing the stamp themselves. Also doing for themselves, Brazil was repatriating their dead from Italy and re-interring them at home with a proper memorial. That should count for something, quite a bit in my book.

Todays stamp is airmail C104, a 3.30 Cruzeiro stamp issued by Brazil on December 22nd, 1960. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused.

There was a lot of pressure on Brazil to join the war against the axis. One thing against was the sentiment of the elites. They worried a fascist defeat would have the winning force coming for them postwar. USA then dangled the offer of a steel mill and to pay in full for the training and equipping of an expanded Brazil military. First the USA was allowed to station at Brazilian bases. Germany responded by allowing their U boat submarines to target Brazilian shipping. 36 Brazilian flagged merchant ships were sunk with a loss of life of 1691 Brazilian sailors. War was declared. The USA then supplied 3 destroyers and eight frigates to help Brazil combat the U boats. With much American training 6 U boats were sunk near Brazilian waters.

The Brazilian government then set a goal of recruiting, training and equipping 100,000 soldiers to fight in Europe. This became sort of a joke in Brazil. Similar to the American expression “when pigs fly” the expression “when snakes smoke” became common on the idea that Brazil could field a competent force overseas.

The Brazilian soldier turned the snake joke around and declared themselves Snakes that Smoke

The jokes failed to grasp the money and pressure behind the Brazil Expeditionary Force. Two years later, when the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt, 25,000 untrained and unequipped soldiers began landing in already Allied occupied Naples, Italy. At first they had to camp on the docks as no barracks were provided. Further months were required for training but eventually there were Brazilians present in some of the final Italian theater battles. There great success was in accepting German surrenders, over 90,000 including two complete divisions. Regular readers might remember the Trieste stamp from last week of the problems the Germans had surrendering in Italy. I can find no record of a similar double cross by Brazilians to what New Zealand did at Trieste.

The Expeditionary force in action in Italy in 1945.

There was a huge cost in lives in sending the expeditionary force to Italy. 948 deaths. So did the Allies come for the Brazilian leaders post war as was feared. Well no but ultimately yes. Unelected President Vargas had a 15 year run as dictator from 1930-1945. Elections were then forced on Brazil by the USA. In 1952, Vargas ran on his record of industrialization and being the self proclaimed father of the poor. He won office legitimately in 1952, but as in modern times, the advocates of democracy have a certain outcome in mind, and that wasn’t President Vargas. The USA paid for Brazilian Army forced President Vargas to resign. He signed the paper put before him but later in the day shot himself. Perhaps Brazil should not have accepted the candy and got in the white van with the tear stained mattress..

President Vargas

Well my pipe burned out. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Italy/Trieste 1952, Keeping an Italian city from Marshal Tito

Arraigning a German surrender at the end of World War II is a messy business. In the city of Trieste, it involved a dachsund dog in Switzerland, Allied Generals play acting as Irish businessmen, 40 days of terror, and an eight year post war military occupation to get the city back to Italy. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp is sort of a dual issue of Italy and the then Free Territory of Trieste. It was issued in concert with a stamp show in Trieste to ruffle fewer feathers. The flag shows where things would be headed two years later.

Todays stamp is issue A337, a 25 Lira stamp issued by Italy, and sometimes overprinted for use in Trieste on June 28th, 1952. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.20. If this stamp had the Free Territory of Trieste overprint, the value goes to $4.00.

Trieste had been a gateway to the Adriatic for Austria Hungary. The city though contained even then many Italians. After the First World War it was given to Italy. After Mussolini fell from power, the area came under German occupation. As German fortunes declined, an attempt was made to lessen casualties and negotiate a separate surrender of German forces. Two allied generals, one British and one American traveled to Switzerland in the guise  of Irish businessmen. The purpose of the “Irish” trip was for one to acquire a dachshund dog named Fritzel. The actual purpose of Operation Fritzel was a four way meeting between the two Allied Generals, the American Secretary of State and Karl Wolf the Supreme SS and police commander in northern Italy to negotiate a separate surrender in the theater.

The problem was the Germans were very particular about who they surrendered to as they were dealing with many communist and Yugoslav partisans that didn’t take surrenders. This was the problem in Trieste.

On April 30th 1945 there was an uprising by the partisans in Trieste. The German occupiers withdrew to an old castle and announced they would only surrender to a nearby New Zealand force advancing toward Trieste. The New Zealand commander was summoned to the castle and accepted the German surrender, but then double crossed and turned the prisoners over to the Yugoslavs. The prisoners were never heard from again, and forty days of terror began in Trieste directed at mainly the Italian residents. The British Field Marshal Alexander was so shocked at what went on, how could our side’s occupation be worse than the Nazis, that he forced Tito’s forces to withdraw from at least the city of Trieste. A military occupation began of Trieste under the name of the Free Territory of Trieste. The military governor was British general Terrence Airey. He was the fellow that had pretended to be the Irish businessman in the market for dachshunds.

SENIOR BRITISH ARMY OFFICERS (MH 6823) Major General Sir Terence Sydney Airey KCMG CB CBE. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205065406

Trieste was allowed to return to Italy in 1954. It still remained somewhat isolated until the fall of communism allowed the the resumtions of trade ties to the usefully located port. Over 90 percent of the modern city are Italian speakers.

Crowds celebrate Trieste’s return to Italy in 1954.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Fritzel the dachshund. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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India 1957, is this girl really reading?

In the 20th century the population of India was rising fast. With it was the demand for education and the need to extend that opportunity to the half that were female. This stamp shows an Indian girl happily reading but it is easier to print a stamp than it is to educate a country. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

A stamp from a country in it’s first decade of independence shows a lot of optimism. There is really a belief that without the shackles of colonialism, problems can be quickly dealt with. What is not realized was that the former colonial masters were dealing with the same problems and if they had not solved it with their ample resources, it was going to be a big challenge for the country on it’s own. 60 years after this stamp and 70 years after independence, Indian female literacy is still less than two thirds of the population.

Todays stamp is issue A121, a 15 Naye Paise (no more Annas for India) stamp issued on November 14th 1957. It was a 3 stamp issue in various denominations celebrating children’s day. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.

Traditional precolonial education in India was carried out by a community funded gurukul system. One imagines much of what was taught was spiritual but the system was ineffective at achieving literacy. in 1872 the literacy rate was barely 3 percent. In the last 75 years of British rule over 100,000 English language schools were opened and over 10 million students were enrolled. Literacy was up to 16 percent though the numbers were much lower than that for girls and those outside the big cities.

In 1944, the British proposed an educational reform based on a commission of British experts, the Sargent Report. It proposed mandatory English education for children of both sexes from age 6-11. After that there would be a division of the students between academic and vocational training. The stated goal was for India to achieve full literacy by 1984. The plan was labled a scheme and scoffed at by India’s independence movement as taking far too long to achieve full literacy. After independence however the plan was modified to include mandatory education out to age fourteen, but otherwise implemented.

100 percent literacy is an elusive goal. At the time of this stamp in 1957, female literacy was less than 15 percent. This seemingly slow progress does not mean the government wasn’t trying. Population was rising fast and that means a young population that puts a big burden on the educational system. The colonial authority was adept at putting out grand future plans. There often however was not the resources allocated. Indian literacy is far higher than in Pakistan another part of former British India, but far lower than China, a country that faced similar issues.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the participants of the 1944 Sargent Commission. For both providing a roadmap and showing to lazy critics that it is easier to take easy swipes than it is to do things better. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.

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USA 1965, Getting inspired to have a strong mind in a sound body by a flocking of Slavic falcons performing gymnastics

This is a strange stamp. Wanting to do a stamp celebrating and perhaps suggesting more interest in physical fitness, the USA ties it to a 100 year old organization called Sokol (falcon). Sokol directly tied the self improvement to rising Czech nationalism and Slavic brotherhood. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

There is further weirdness in the visuals of this stamp. The Sokols route to fitness was group gymnastics, yet here we have a single discus thrower. Looking at the images of groups of Sokol gymnasts, see below. There is the pretty obvious problem of a row of men/boys with their face aligned to the neighboring rear end.

Todays stamp is issue A694, A five cent stamp issued by the USA on Febuary 15, 1965. It was the 100th anniversery of  the first group of Czech immigrants to the USA setting up a local Sokol chapter. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents mint or used.

Sokol was founded in Prague in 1862, during the time of Hapsburg rule from Austria. Sokol means falcon in the Czech language and the goal was for Slavs to use gymnastic excersize as a route to a strong mind in a sound body. The chapters were open to males of all ages. Every six years there would be a slet gymnastic festival with all the chapters invited. Slet means a flocking of birds in Czech, in this case falcons. The largest Slet ever was held in 1912. The Pan Slavic aspect of the organization bumped against some churches as it was open to Slavs whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Muslim. “A Slavic brother is dear regardless of his Faith” so says Sokol. The Slovene Catholic church went so far as advise against joining Sokol.

There were other issues. The socialists set up a rival workers gymnastics club, with affiliation to Eagles instead of Falcons. The more progressive Sokols flew away leaving the remaining organization more right wing and militaristic.

The interwar period which saw the long sought by Sokols Czech nation arrive. The support from the new state saw slets becoming official events. The last Slet was in 1938 before German occupation. The Nazis banned the Sokol organization and even jailed the leaders.

There was an attempt to bring the Sokol organization back post war but the lefties remember preferred the Eagle gymnasts and the Sokols were again banned by the communist Czech government. The Sokols were legalized in 1990 with the change of government but the Sokols left were many now older folks, who do not make the best gymnasts.

In the USA, the Sokul organization peaked in 1937 with 19,000 members. The American organization still exists and was even a slet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 2017. It is now open to and mainly girls.

A modern American Sokol gymnast.

Well my drink is empty. If I have any hope of a strong mind in a sound body, I should probably put the bottle down. Come again soon foe another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.