Contemporary PPCs 'Landing at Anzac Cove Gallipoli 25th April 1915' (soiled), 'Anzac Beach - below Walkers Ridge - Gallipoli 1915' (very fine), 'Popes Hill defended by Light Horse against all Turkish attacks' (used with very fine 'FRANKED BY/("initials")/CAPT ECC' cachet, a bit soiled), and 'New Zealand Machine Guns in Action/Anzac August 1915' (used in GB), the first three are real photo types. (4)

Estimate AU$200

1915 usage of a British (?) advertising PPC for Deakin's Superior Jams & Marmalades with part Infantry Brigade cds & Censor #2640 cachet in rosine countersigned "JH Statham", minor separation defects at top hardly detract. The message states "This is the sort of jam we get to eat 1 tin to 4 men not much for 24 hours. I don't think your teeth could eat the hard biscuits we have. These post-cards come eight in a box of jam..." [Considering the extreme shortage of writing paper, it is amazing that such cards are not common. In fact, only one other Anzac example, from an Australian soldier, has been recorded]

Grade A- (Image1)

Estimate AU$500

1915 (June 18) use of Egyptian PPC to Ireland with 'HEADQUARTERS/...' cds & British-pattern 'PASSED BY/[crown]/No 2237/CENSOR' cachet in rosine, message - which should have been heavily censored - states "...We are in the trenches not 100 yds from the enemy...Saw the Triumph sunk sometime ago by a submarine...", corner crease. With PPC of HMS 'Triumph' & small over-exposed photo inscribed on reverse "...chasing the submarine that sank the Triumph [on 5.5.1915] and Majestic" [two days later]. (3 items)

Grade B (Image1)

Estimate AU$200

1915 (June-Oct) Field Service Post Cards with Crown - British - x2 & without Crown - printed in Egypt - x4 (one to NSW), plain envelope and Active Service envelope (to GB), also a Greek PPC from a soldier recuperating on Lemnos, with various NZ Forces cds & British-pattern Censor cachets. [Each soldier was issued two Field Service postcards each week. These were generic multi-response cards, useless for writing letters, & if any additional information was added the cards were to be destroyed] (9)

Grade A/B (Image1)

Estimate AU$400

1915 commercial usage of Sudan 5m Envelope endorsed "Sudan United Mission/Melut/Upper Nile Prov" at lower-left with 'MELUT' cds, to a New Zealand soldier at Gallipoli!!, 'PASSED BY CENSOR' h/s in violet applied at Khartoum, redirected to "Canal Works/Port Said", flap removed & minor soiling. An exceptional origin/destination item, and a highlight of the collection. [Inwards mail to military conflicts is always rarer than outgoing mail: this is believed to be the only recorded New Zealand-related item addressed specifically to "the Dardenelles". Given the abject shortage of writing materials in the trenches, it is probable that this item survived only because it was redirected to Egypt. Acquired at the Prestige auction of 27.7.2009 for $1265]

Grade B (Image1)

Estimate AU$1,000

SHORTAGE OF WRITING MATERIALS: Usage of a piece of rough cardboard apparently cut from an ammmunition box, 'HEADQUARTERS/.../4JY15/...' cds & Censor #2039 cachet in rosine, a bit soiled & a concealed tear. The message headed "Trenches/2 7 15" states "...had several narrow escapes...we are giving the Turks what ho? they don't like the bayonet...excuse this piece of cardboard..." [Makeshift postcards are a highly significant element of the Gallipoli Story, and Gary Diffen acquired every example that came his way. They are recorded from between 29.5.1915 & 3.8.1915 only. It is estimated that only some 25 exist from New Zealanders. Gordon Darge's four examples sold at the Prestige auction of 5.3.2011 for an average of $748 each]

Grade C (Image1)

Estimate AU$400

SHORTAGE OF WRITING MATERIALS: Usage of a piece of rough cardboard from a Major Drapkin's cigarette carton with message headed "Dardanelles/23 June 15", indistinct 'HEADQUARTERS' cds & Censor #2640 cachet in rosine, minor creasing & corner fault at L/R. The message states "Sorry I cannot obtain any stationery to send you a letter..."

Grade C (Image1)

Estimate AU$400

SHORTAGE OF WRITING MATERIALS: Usage of a piece of rough cardboard from a Major Drapkin's cigarette carton inscribed "POSTCARD" with Infantry Brigade cds of 11JL15 & Censor #2640 cachet in rosine, unusually fine. The message, with two objectionable expressions obliterated by the censor, states "...we are having awfully hot weather here plenty of flies. We are back in the trenches again..."

Grade A- (Image1)

Estimate AU$600

SHORTAGE OF WRITING MATERIALS: Usage of a piece of rough cardboard from an Ottoman soap carton with Infantry Brigade cds of 13JU15 & Censor #2640 cachet in rosine countersigned "M Urquhart", unusually fine. Ex Gordon Darge. [This is the only recorded usage of a postcard being created from a Turkish box]

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$750

HOSPITALS AND CONVALESCENT HOMES: 1915-16 covers (3) & PPCs (4) with various cachets including triple-circle 'NZ GENERAL HOSPITAL/FREE/PONT-DE-KOUBBEH CAIRO' (Firebrace #NZ35; also with 'PASSED BY CENSOR/CAPT NZMC' h/s #NZ90), triple-oval 'NEW ZEALAND GENERAL HOSPITAL/...PONT DE KOUBBEH' (#NZ33) x2, similar 'EGYPTIAN ARMY HOSPITAL/PONT DE KOUBBEH', superb 'NEW ZEALAND CONVALESCENT HOME/ADRIEN VILLA/...' (#NZH31), 'NEW ZEALAND CONVALESCENT HOME/HELOUAN' (not recorded by Firebrace) & the British boxed 'LUXOR CONVALESCENT DEPOT' (#NHC32), condition good to very fine. A very scarce group. (7)

Estimate AU$600

HOSPITALS AND CONVALESCENT HOMES: 1915 (Oct 27) cover from Port Said to a Kiwi at "Abbassia Hospital" with Egyptian censor cachet & label tied to the reverse by 'ABBASSIA' cds with triple-oval 'NEW ZEALAND GENERAL HOSPITAL/...PONT DE KOUBBEH' cachet in violet (Firebrace #NZ33) alongside, two strikes of the scarce boxed 'INVALIDED ENGLAND' h/s (#OCC2) in violet & forwarded to "Depot/Hornchurch" then to "Epsom/Convalescent Home/England", light vertical fold.

Grade B (Image1)

Estimate AU$250

HOSPITAL SHIPS - USS 'MAHENO': PPCs with 'NZ Expeditionary Forces/No HOSPITAL SHIP' d/s of 19JUL1915 from Adelaide, 5AUG1915 from Colombo & 17AUG1915 from Suez; also Ceylon PPC from the second voyage with rare 'ON ACTIVE SERVICE/NZ HOSPITAL SHIP/MAHENO' in violet (unrecorded by John Firebrace) & 'PASSED BY CENSOR' h/s in rosine; finally a Stanley Newcomb & Co PPC of the Maheno used New Zealand to Great Britain. [The appalling casualties at Gallipoli inspired the NZ public to raise funds to equip the Maheno as a hospital ship. She departed Wellington on 11.7.1915, made straight to Gallipoli, and spent two months ferrying the wounded to Mudros & Malta] (5)

Grade A/B (Image1)

Estimate AU$300

HOSPITAL SHIPS SS 'MARAMA': PPCs with double-framed 'ON ACTIVE SERVICE/NZ Hospital Ship/MARAMA' h/s in rosine from Adelaide (undated), Aden (dated "At Sea 3.1.16") & Malta (dated "26th Feb 1916") with ship-board 'PASSED BY CENSOR...' h/s in black or rosine (the last), and from the second return voyage from England with the cachet in black & British Base Army PO cds of 16MY16, each also with shipboard 'PASSED BY CENSOR...' h/s in black x3 or rosine; finally contemporary photographs PPC-size & 295x194mm of the Marama. ["Marama", a larger vessel than "Maheno", first departed Wellington 5.12.1915 for Egypt via Adelaide (arrived 16.12.1915), Colombo & Aden (arrived 4.1.1916)] (6 items)

Grade A/B (Image1)

Estimate AU$300

PRISONERS OF WAR: 1918 (Sep 10) British postcard with 'BRITISH PRISONER OF WAR/NEW ZEALAND E.F./ TURKEY' all printed in red, to a trooper with the Auckland Mounted Rifles held captive in Turkey, handwritten advice of provisions being forwarded & 'NEW ZEALAND PRISONERS OF WAR DEPT/415 STRAND LONDON WC' h/s in black, LONDON/POSTAGE/ 3 /PAID' cds in red, remarkably fine for mail to a POW. Only 25 New Zealanders were captured by the Turks & this is the only recorded example of mail to or from a Kiwi POW from the Gallipoli Campaign. Ex Gordon Darge: acquired at the Prestige auction of 5.3.2011 for $1552.

Grade A (Image1)

Estimate AU$1,500