This exhibit is a new exhibit, and attempts to tell the story about a field of New Zealand Postal History that has not been adequately covered in the past. The exhibit is in the process of being developed and several good items have been obtained from The NZ 2020 Stamp Exhibition which should enhance the exhibit.
Awards
2018 Newcastle Stamp & Coin Expo: 83 Points, Large Vermeil
The Armistice Stamp Show, Dunedin 2018: 78 Points, Vermeil
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Frame 5
Prisoner of War Correspondence, Japanese Occupation of the Far East 1942 – 45
This is my exhibit which has done best Nationally and Internationally.
I started collecting this material in a round-about way. I was collecting New Zealand Prisoner of War Lettercards when I saw some interesting items on E-bay. They were part of the Percy Wellington correspondence that related to a New Zealander who was with the Royal Air Force in Singapore WWII, when the Japanese invaded. He escaped to Batavia, was captured by the Japanese and spent the rest of the war in a number of POW camps. The items were Lettercards produced for use to POWs in Europe, and some Postcards produced towards the end of the war for use to Asia. The seller was Mr Graham Reynolds, Kent, England. I purchased about three scarce items from him, and looked at what else he was selling on E-bay. There was a lot of other POW material relating to the Japanese occupation, and I contacted him asking if he was selling his collection. The answer was no,; he was selling his duplicates. I commented at the time, if he ever wanted to sell his collection, let me know. Some time later he approached me, and on a subsequent visit to England and Ireland, the purchase was made.Since then, the collection has been substantially added to including items from David Tett’s sale in Hong Kong which I was able to attend and buy some of what I thought were the better items.
Graham Reynolds accumulated his collection by writing in longhand to over 2000 known POWs from Britain and the Allies, using a list provided by the British Home Office. That would not happen today!
Awards for this exhibit have included:
Canberra Stampshow 2014, Large Gold, 92 Points, Special Prize
Baypex 2014 Stamp Show, Large Gold, 91 points, Large Gold
The Capital Stamp Show 2015, 93 points, Large Gold
Philataipei 2016 World Stamp Exhibition, Gold
World Stamp Show – NY2016, Large Vermeil
Melbourne 2017 FIAP Stamp & Coin Show, Large Vermeil
Bandung 2017 World Stamp Exhibition, Gold
Royalpex 2017 Stamp Show, 90 points, Large Gold
NZ 2020 Stamp Exhibition, Large Gold, 94 points, Special Prize
This Postcard was in a collection of cigarette Cards that I recently purchased. It took a lot of work to separate it from the album page that it was well and truly stuck down to!
Artist Trevor Lloyd (1863 – 1937) was a pioneer of etching in New Zealand and one of the leading political cartoonists for 32 years. During the 1905 All Black tour of Britain, he drew one of the first cartoons using the Kiwi as a symbol for New Zealand.
I had begun collecting this material when I saw on E-bay some interesting and extremely scarce items for sale. They were New Zealand Prisoner of War Lettercards designed for use in Europe, that were addressed to a New Zealand Prisoner of War Airman who was interred in Batavia. This is extremely unusual anyway, because New Zealand’s war effort was concentrated on Europe, North Africa and the Pacific Islands, not the Far East. Pilot Officer Percy Wellington was a New Zealand volunteer for the Royal Air Force and was stationed at Singapore when the Japanese invaded. He managed to escape to Batavia, but was soon captured and spent the rest of the war interred at various Japanese Prisoner of War prisons in the Dutch East Indies.
These items were being sold by Graham Reynolds from Kent, England. I managed to buy all except one, and then looked to see what else Graham was selling. There was a lot of other Japanese Prisoner of War material. I contacted him and asked him whether he was selling his collection. The answer was that he was only selling his spares. I eventually bought the balance of his material, forming the foundation of my Japanese Prisoner of War collections and exhibits.
The standard reference for this material is:
Treasured Letters: New Zealand Prisoner of War Air Letter Cards 1941 – 1945: Barry J E Scott & Robin M Startup, Edited by Brian Vincent; Monograph No. 18, RPSNZ, 2011.
Results
Christchurch One Frame Stamp & Postcard Exhibition 2023: 91 Points Large Gold. Part of the Wellington Philatelic Society’s winning team of 5 exhibits.
Singapex 2019 FIAP Stamp Exhibition: 86 Points
BOFEX, South Africa 2017 Virtual One Frame Stamp Exhibition: 83 Points
This issue was specifically issued for posting newspapers from New Zealand to South Africa, at the time of the Boer War. There are no recorded examples of the use of this stamp on a newspaper. Anyone aware of an example of this use, please contact me!
Exhibition Results
Singpex 2019: 88 Points, Large Vermeil
SAVPEX 2018 Virtual One Frame Philatelic Exhibition; 83 Points
Adelaide Stampex 2017: 93 Points, Large Gold, Best in show One Frame Exhibit
This has been my first effort in putting together an Open Class Exhibit. I must acknowledge the help that I have received with this from Jenny Banfield in particular. It has been her passion for the Open Class which has helped me with the development of this exhibit to the level it has reached.
Results
Sydney Stamp & Coin Expo 2019: 91 Points, Large Gold
Canberra Stamp Show 2016: 88 Points, Gold (Best Exhibit in Open Class)
Australia 2013 FIP: 81 Points, Vermeil
Blenpex 2012: 90 Points, Large Gold
PSWA 2012 Centennial Exhibition (Claremont): 81 Points, Large Vermeil
