Hospital Ships. 1906 Picture postcards, Christmas cards, etc., including 1913 picture postcard from a British Red Cross volunteer in Constantinople during the Balkan Wars mentioning the imminent arrival of the Hospital Ship "Medic", 1918 postcards of Copenhagen endorsed "H.M.H.S Western Australia on Baltic Service" or from the Taastrup Repatriation Camp (but also written on H.S "Western Australia", both with good content), WW1 Christmas postcards of H.S "Garth Castle" (posted Gravesend, 1914), "Oxfordshire", "Asturias", etc. (15).

World War One (12) or World War Two (40) covers and cards, various explanatory cachets used on redirected or returned mail including Repatriated, addressee prisoner of war, missing, returned to Canada, returned to UK, etc., also various censors, and a set of 36 pictures of enemy aeroplanes. (53).

Literature. Non philatelic books comprising "The Siege of Mafeking", two large volumes with many illustrations published by The Brenthurst Library, 2001; "South African War Books" by R.G Hackett, privately published, 1994; "South Africa and the Transvaal War" by Louis Creswick, seven volumes, c.1902; and Cassels "History of the Boer War" in two volumes, c.1902, all hardbound and fine. (12).

1899-1901 Covers and cards with stampless Velddienst cover from Volksrust; cover endorsed "From P.K Lightfoot 10th Hussars, Prisoner of War, Pretoria" with oval "WATERVAL KRYGSGEVANGENIS / 18 APR 1900 / COMMANDANT VAN DE WACHT" and a London Paid c.d.s, a little stained but scarce; fancy boxed datestamps of Middelburg and Standerton; cover with O.F.S 1d (3) tied by Colesberg squared circles, sent during the Boer invasion of the Cape, O.F.S and British censors; oval O.F.S censor cachet; Boer censor seal type 4 tied by Machadodorp c.d.s (26 JUN 00), etc., most with some faults though an unusual selection with some scarce items. (14).

1900-01 British forces covers with Army Post Office circular rubber datestamps without code (3), codes A, AD, C, 3MB (2), 7B, 8B, or for Barberton (3), Komatipoort, Machadodorp or Volksrust (5), and larger Field Post Office rubber datestamps without code or code 92 (2) or 93 (used on Midland T.P.O), fourteen registered, also part Parcel Post label with G.B 1/- green and carmine (4) each with "FPO / 43" parcel cancel, a few faults but the majority of the covers fine with some scarce cancels. (25).

1900 Cover with Transvaal 1d tied by F.P.O 12 c.d.s, endorsed from "Trooper E.G Smith, E.P Horse", and 1901 covers both with G.B 1d lilacs tied by F.P.O 16 or 26 c.d.s, addressed to Trooper Smith, "Eastern Provinces Horse, Johannesburg" or "c/o Nesbitts Horse under Col. Gorringes Flying Column, Graaf Reinet" both redirected to Grahamstown. (3).

Ships. 1900-01 Covers comprising 1900 cover from G.B to Major J. Corbet Yale, 2nd West Yorks Regt., S.A.F.F redirected to "Hospital Ship Trojan"; Transvaal registration envelope to a P.O.W at Green Point redirected to "Kildonan Castle, Cape Town", and cover with 1d lilac tied F.P.O c.d.s, also to a P.O.W at Green Point redirected to S.S "Mongolian" then endorsed "since been transferred to Kildonan Castle", both with circular Green Point P.O.W censor and "CENSOR / PRISONERS OF WAR" endorsed "The Castle" and dated in January 1901; and covers to S.S "Orcana" Transport No. 40, S.S "Manchester Merchant" at Cape Town, or redirected to S.S "Mongolian" at Simons Town. (6).

Rhodesia/Bechuanaland. 1900 Cover from Bechuanaland Protectorate to Cape Colony bearing Bechuanaland Protectorate 1d lilac pairs (2) + block of four paying the 8d double rate, sent north to Bulawayo and then east to Beira due to the usual southern route being blocked by Boer forces who were then besieging Mafeking, endorsed "via Beira and Port Elizabeth" with the stamps cancelled in transit at Bulawayo (Feb 1), backstamped at Bulawayo, Port Elizabeth (Feb 28) and Grahamstown. A few minor perf stains, otherwise fine and scarce. Photo on Page 22. (Image1)

Ceylon P.O.W Mail - Welikada. 1901 Stampless cover with Diyatalawa Camp c.d.s and censor cachet, endorsed "From Prisoner of War" and addressed to "T. J Curran, Prisoner of War, Welikada Gaol, Colombo", handstamped "T" and rated "10", endorsed "Try again m.s", presumably because Curran refused to pay or had no money to do so. Curran was sent to Welikada in March 1901 following attempts to escape from both Diyatalawa and Ragama Camps. Very few P.O.Ws were sent to Welikada and mail to the camp is scarce. An unusual item. Photo on Page 22. (Image1)

British/Indian Forces Mail. 1918-20 Stampless O.A.S covers and cards with British A.P.O R26 used at Varna, P.B.1 used at Murmansk, S.14 used at Istanbul (2), F.P.O C14 used at Aleppo (2) or Indian F.P.O 76 used at Qasr-I Shirin in Persia; cover franked G.B 2d tied by Indian F.P.O 400 at Chanak; 1920 stampless postcard of Libau with London Received from H.M. Ship machine; 1917 O.A.S cover endorsed "from Louis Cohen, Serbian Relief Fund" with Serbian c.d.s of Bitoli; 1919 cover with enclosed letter written by an Indian native soldier in Germany with F.P.O T29 (faults but the only recorded item from an Indian soldier in occupied Germany); also a 1935 cover with G.B 1/2d + 1d each tied by F.P.O 10 c.d.s at Saar. A scarce group. (12).

Turkey - British Army T.P.O. 1919-20 Stampless forces covers or postcards all with "ARMY POST OFFICE / TPO 1" skeleton datestamps used on the Army T.P.O from Haidar Pasha, initially to Konia (one example dated 2 MR 19, the only item from this first service?) and later to Eskishehr (3, 17 DE 19 - 25 AU 20), also a card from Spain to Lt.-Col. Smith, Director of Railways, GHQ, Constantinople. A scarce group, one cancel incomplete and one a little faint in places, two fine. (5).

Turkey - British Army T.P.O. 1920 Stampless O.A.S cover and a 2d forces registration envelope both with fine "ARMY POST OFFICE / T.P.O 1" skeleton datestamps, used on the Army T.P.O from Haidar Pasha to Eskishehr, the registration envelope bearing a blank type registration label also with the c.d.s (28 FE 20), the stampless cover the latest recorded use of this datestamp (22 OC 20). A fine and scarce pair, the registered envelope possibly unique. (2). Photo on Page 22. (Image1)

Hospital Ships. 1915-19 Stampless covers or cards sent from former Union Castle Line steamers whilst serving as hospital ships in World War One, comprising 1915 postcard of "Gloucester Castle" with Valletta c.d.s. sent by a soldier wounded at Gallipoli who writes "I have been in hospital for a few days but have left the Peninsula now, they sent me away on a minesweeper for a day, they treated me alright then in the evening was put on this hospital ship"; 1916 cover endorsed "On active service, from L.Y Parkinson, Lt RAMC, HMHS Gascon" with Base A.P.O X c.d.s of Salonica; and 1919 postcard of H.M.H.S "Dunluce Castle" with circular "HOSPITAL SHIP / P.C. / 29 / R.A.M.C". (3).

1941 (Jan.) Great Britain stampless covers endorsed "Internees Mail" from Camberley to "H. St J.B. Philby, Room A, 005 Internment Camp, Ascot". Philby was briefly interned in 1940-41 due to his political views. He led a mission to Ibn Saud in 1917, becoming Head of the British Secret Service in Palestine in 1921; his eldest son was Kim, the double agent who defected to Russia in 1963. (2).

1941-45 Covers to or from Pte. George Prescott, Loyal Regt., captured at Singapore and held as a P.O.W in Changi and Jinsen, Korea, comprising 1941 cover to Prescott returned with violet "Addressee / Reported Missing"; 1942 telegram from Prescott in Singapore (a P.O.W by the time it was received on Feb. 19th); 1945 (May 28) airgraph from All India Radio in Simla confirming Prescott was held in Jinsen and a message to him from his wife would be broadcast on June 6th; American Red Cross cover from Prescott on Hospital Ship U.S.S "Mercy" (stamps removed); 1945 (Oct 15) stampless cover from Manila endorsed "Liberated P.O.W" with "AUST. ARMY P.O 241" c.d.s, letter enclosed. (5).

1945 P.O.W lettersheet and postcard from Germany both with "RECOVERED P.O.W MAIL / FROM EUROPE / RECENTLY RECEIVED / BY BRITISH P.O.", one the usual large size cachet, the other in a much smaller type (the only example recorded by us); and 1946 (Sep 11) cover from London to Kendal franked 21/2d cancelled by a London machine with this same "Recovered P.O.W Mail" cachet inserted as the slogan in error. Also two 1946 R.C Alcock letters regarding this extraordinary slogan machine error, and a proof strike of the large size cachet. (4). Photo on Page 22. (Image1)