The Postage Stamp in War Part 13

[This check list of stamps of the war will be revised, continued and presented as a supplement which will be given away from time to time with _The Postage Stamp_ (1d. weekly), of all newsagents, or by post 4s. 4d. per annum from the publishers, S. R. Le Mare, 21 Paternoster Square, London, E.C.]

APPENDIX.

Egypt--Sudan--Morocco--Military Postcards--Additional Postmarks.

EGYPT.--An event of the greatest interest to philatelists is the termination of the suzerainty of Turkey over Egypt, and the placing of the latter country under British protection. As a British protectorate, Egypt will be transferred to the British Empire division of the stamp catalogues, and a greatly increased interest will be taken in the postage stamps of the land of the Pharaohs, with the result that the earlier issues will rise appreciably in value. As recently as January 8, 1914, a handsome new series of stamps was issued in Egypt, on the anniversary day of the accession of the now deposed Khedive, Abbas II. These were not of a commemorative character, but were issued on the anniversary as a compliment to the then reigning Khedive. They probably call for no change in the designs under the new conditions, and as they are denominated in English the present stamps may be continued in use. But they will probably be changed in regard to the watermarked paper on which they are printed, as the watermarked device is that popularly known as the "star and crescent" (_Fig._ 387), although modern authorities appear to agree that the Turkish symbol is not a crescent (_vide_ p. 87). The new Egyptian flag, under Sultan Hussein I., is red with _three_ silver crescents each enclosing a star, instead of the Turkish flag with the single "crescent" and star. Thus although a new form of watermark may not be deemed necessary, a change to the "multiple" (or as printers term it, the "all-over") watermark of similar device would appropriately denote the new regime.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 387 388 389 390]

The designs on the fine series of stamps (_Figs._ 388-397) now current in Egypt are:--1 millieme, sepia: gya.s.sas or sailing-boats on the Nile; 2m., green: Cleopatra in the garb and head-dress of the G.o.ddess Isis; 3m., orange-yellow: the Ras-el-Tin Palace in the Muhammedan quarter of modern Alexandria; 4m., vermilion: the Pyramids of Giza; 5m., lake: the Sphinx of Giza; 10m., cobalt: the two Colossi of Amenophis III. on the banks of the Nile at Thebes; 20m., olive: the Pylon or Gateway to the Karnak Temple; 50m., lilac: the Citadel at Cairo; 100m., slate: the Rock Temple at Abu Simbel, Ipsambul; 200m., marone: the Aswan Dam, at the first cataract of the Nile.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 391 392 393 394 395 396 397]

In view of the great future now opening up for British philatelists in the study and collection of Egyptian stamps, the present writer has completed a full ill.u.s.trated history of these stamps for publication in the "Melville Stamp Books series," published by Messrs. Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., 391 Strand (_see_ page 2). This will be issued almost simultaneously with the present volume.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 398]

An Egyptian stamp which might have been included in the body of the present work is _Fig._ 398, a postage-due stamp issued in 1898. At that time the Egyptian postal regulations charged 3 milliemes for prepaid letters but double that sum (6 milliemes) for unpaid letters, from or to non-commissioned officers and men of the Egyptian Army in garrison on the frontier, as well as at Suakim and Tokar; the same tariff was applicable to soldiers taking part in the Expedition to the Sudan. In consideration of the fact that such soldiers would be most frequently in places where they would be unable to get postage stamps, the authorities decided that unpaid letters sent by them should only be liable to the single rate of 3 milliemes instead of the double rate of 6 milliemes. But as there was no postage-due stamp of 3 milliemes to use in collecting this sum, it was temporarily permitted to use a 2 millieme stamp, with half of another 2 millieme stamp divided diagonally, until the surcharged stamp (_Fig._ 398) 3 milliemes on 2 milliemes could be prepared and issued.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 399 400 401]

SUDAN.--The first stamps of the Sudan were created by overprinting Egyptian stamps in 1897 for use at the Camp Post Office at Wadi Haifa, and at points south thereof, the overprint reading "SOUDAN" and repeated in Arabic characters. The first stamps of special design, the attractive "camel" issue, also have military a.s.sociations, being designed by Colonel Stanton of the Oxford Light Infantry, depicting a camel rider, alleged to be a portrait of Slatin Pasha. The rider is carrying mail, and is armed with a rifle and two spears (_Fig._ 399).

These stamps were overprinted for use of army officials either with the words "OFFICIAL-ARMY" as in _Fig._ 400, or "Army Service" as in _Fig._ 401. Another interesting Sudanese military stamp design was used for the military telegraph service (_Fig._ 402).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 402]

MOROCCO.--Following upon the proclamation of Egypt as a British Protectorate, it was announced that Great Britain has recognised the French Protectorate in Morocco and has adhered to the Franco-Moroccan Treaty of March 30, 1912. The French stamps for Morocco (_Fig._ 403) have now been overprinted "PROTECTORAT-FRANCAIS", as may be seen by comparing this 10 centimes value with the same denomination utilised for Red Cross stamp purposes (_Fig._ 153). The change in the status of Morocco may render the British postal agencies there unnecessary, in which case the series of British stamps overprinted "MOROCCO AGENCIES"

(_Figs._ 404, 405) may be rendered obsolete.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 403 404 405]

POSTCARDS AND POSTMARKS. The remaining ill.u.s.trations, added as this work is being sent to press, supplement the philatelic records of the present war, as already outlined in the earlier chapters. _Fig._ 406 is the original issue of the French military postcard, on thin green card. _Fig._ 407 is also French, printed on a thicker Silurian card.

_Fig._ 408 is a German field postcard (medium white) despatched by a British prisoner of war in the English Lager at Sennelager. A few additional naval postmarks are also shown (_Figs._ 409-413). _Fig._ 409 appears to be in the design of an "Iron Cross" (!) _Fig._ 414 is a mark used by the censor in handling registered mail, and 415 is on correspondence originating at a depot for convalescent horses. _Figs._ 416-420 are various types of censor marks, No. 419 being a Dutch one on a letter posted at Maastricht. At the time of going to press we have noted British military censor marks up to No. 1739. We are also able to state definitely that _Fig._ 85B (Chapter II.) is a field postmark of the Indian Expeditionary Force in France.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 414 413 415 416 417 418 419 420]