Japan WWII Prisoner of War & Internee Mail continued...
Camps in Sarawak
| LotNo. |
Symbol |
Lot Description |
Estimate in AU$'s |
| 1482 |
D |
 1945 (Sep 7) Australian Japanese-language propaganda leaflet with facsimile signature of General Thomas Blamey dropped over the
Sarawak camps by Allied Forces, addressed to the Japanese guards advising of Japan's surrender; instructing them to advise the POWs; to provide POWs & civilians with food & water; and to remain in their barracks; a few minor spots & light central
fold. Four days later, an Australian Force under Brigadier Thomas Eastick [the grandfather of our Michael Eastick] entered Kuching & took the Japanese surrender. Illustrated by David Tett in Volume 6 at page 323. (Image1)
|
Estimate AU$250
SOLD for AU$1,350.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1483 |
 |
 BATU LINTANG OFFICERS CAMP: 1942 (July 2) cover from Cheshire to "British POW/last heard of Batavia Java" with blue-pencil "Left
island/no number" and "Borneo" and curious boxed cachet (= transfer to former location?), Borneo censor in violet & faint hans of Suga and Kubo, pencilled "Rec 11 Aug 44" representing a transit of 25 months!, minor defects. Illustrated by David Tett
in Volume 6 at page 234 where he notes "...mails written in 1943 often arrived before mails written in 1942". This is apparently the only cover recorded with the blue cachet: see Volume 6 at page 285. Lt Glasgow was sent from Java to Sarawak,
arriving 19.10.1942. The camp was 2km SW of Kuching Town. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$350
SOLD for AU$270.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1484 |
|
 BATU LINTANG OFFICERS CAMP: 1942 (July 13) cover from England with British censor label, Changi Bureau endorsement "OVS 9.10.42" (=
overseas) & "K" in red signifying Kuching, the reverse with large camp cachet (= Boruneo Furyo Shyosho...) in violet, opened-out for display.
(Image1)
|
Estimate AU$500
SOLD for AU$525.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1485 |
PSE |
 BATU LINTANG OFFICERS CAMP: 1943 (May 5) Japanese POW postal card on flimsy brown paper (Type 2 with untrimmed borders) endorsed
"Kuching Sarawak" on both sides, Borneo censor in violet & han of Suga & British censor both in rosine, vertical fold. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$500
SOLD for AU$625.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1486 |
PSE |
 BATU LINTANG OFFICERS CAMP: 1943 (Sep 15) Japanese POW Postal Card with printed camp designator (= Boruneo Furyo Shyosho...) at
left & partly-printed "letter" over 'POW Camp Borneo', han of Suga & British censor both in rosine, London backstamp of 3AUG/1944 & redirected locally. Almost 11 months transit. The sender had been captured in Singapore & sent to Sarawak with "E"
Force. (Image1)
(Image2)
|
Estimate AU$500
SOLD for AU$600.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1487 |
PSE |
 BATU LINTANG OFFICERS CAMP: 1943 (Dec 25; Christmas Day) Japanese simple POW postal card with printed 'POW Camp Borneo' on the
reverse, printed Borneo censor & han of Suga in rosine, to South Africa with circular censor in red on the face, reinforced corner at lower-left. Lieut Dent's mother & sister had escaped from Singapore just before the Japanese arrived, and spent the
war in South Africa. (Image1)
(Image2)
|
Estimate AU$350
SOLD for AU$675.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1488 |
PSE |
 BATU LINTANG OFFICERS CAMP: 1945 (May) Japanese POW Postal Card with printed 'P.O.W. Camp, Borneo' with superb han of Suga in red &
entirely hand-written message headed "Card No 8", to Surrey, no other markings, light crease & small repaired tear. This item would have been received after the war ended, which explains the absence of a British censor. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$500
SOLD for AU$460.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1489 |
PSE |
 KUCHING INTERNMENT CAMP NUMBER 2: 1943 (Mar 18) flimsy Japanese on ribbed brown paper (First Type with trimmed borders) with
largely pro forma message on the reverse, endorsed at upper-left "Keith, HG/...[RANK] Conservator of Forests/[CAMP] Kuching No 2", to Canada with censor in black & very fine han of Suga. Oustanding origin/destination mail. The sender's wife & son
were held in the adjacent Women's Camp. They had all been transferred from Berala Island (Sandakan). See Lots 1494 & 1495. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$500
SOLD for AU$1,050.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1490 |
PSE |
 KUCHING POW CAMP: 1943 (Jan 1) flimsy POW Postal Card on ribbed brown paper (First Type with trimmed borders) with sender's details
".../Kuching" at upper-left & largely pro forma message, Japanese censor in red with han of Kubo and Suga both in red, faint but obvious 'DAMAGED BY/FIRE IN TRANSIT' cachet (Nierinck 430728a) in violet & British censor cachet in red, light creases.
Flown Portugal-Ireland per flying boat which crashed on Mount Brandon (Co Kerry). 11 of 25 people on board perished & less than 10% of the mail was recovered. [NB: David Tett's earliest items from Borneo were dated 5.5.1943] (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$1,500
SOLD for AU$2,500.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1491 |
PSE |
 KUCHING POW CAMP: 1943 (Sep 14) Japanese POW Postal Card with printed camp designator (= Boruneo Furyo Shyosho...) at left &
partly-printed "letter" over 'POW Camp Borneo', han of Suga, British censor in magenta, minor blemishes. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$400
SOLD for AU$380.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1492 |
PSE |
 KUCHING POW CAMP: 1943 (circa) Japanese POW Postal Card with printed camp designator (= Boruneo Furyo Shyosho...) at left &
largely-printed "letter" over 'POW Camp Borneo', han of Suga, to Wales but no British markings indicating it was received after Japan surrendered, light central fold. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$350
SOLD for AU$270.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1493 |
PSE |
 KUCHING POW CAMP: 1944 (July 15) British 3d POW Airmail Postal Card to an officer with part 'REIGATE & REDHILL' machine datehead &
British censor in rosine, no Japanese markings but endorsed on the reverse "Rec 2.12.44", message states "...This is 40th card..."
(Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$300
SOLD for AU$230.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1494 |
PSE |
 KUCHING WOMEN'S CAMP: 1943 (Oct 14) American 1c Jefferson Postal Card endorsed "POSTAGE FREE" with Los Angeles slogan, to ".../Held
by Japan at Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo/Internment Camp Borneo/..." with American & German censors, light Japanese cansor (= Borneo POW Camp) in violet & kanji characters in red-pencil, minor bends. Unusual routing through Germany & a very striking
piece. David Tett illustrates a second card from this correspondence in Volume 6 at page 244. The addressee, Agnes Newton Keith, was an American writer who was married to the North Borneo Conservator of Forests - see Lot 1489. Her book about their
experiences as internees is a "must read" to understand the degrading conditions in which they survived against all odds: see page 200.
(Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$500
SOLD for AU$1,700.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1495 |
D |
 KUCHING WOMEN'S CAMP: 1943 (Oct 20) Japanese Red Cross flimsy 'Enquirer' [sic] form initiated by Harry Keith's mother in California
stating "Anxious for news" in respect of her daughter-in-law Agnes Newton Keith, Red Cross 'roundel' in violet & Borneo Camp censor in purple, minor imperfections. Illustrated by David Tett in Volume 6 at page 250, where he states this is the only
such Enquiry Form recorded to British Borneo. Note the enquiry is dated "10.8.42", the form is dated "20.10.43" and there is a receival handstamp of 'NOV 22 1944. This 27 month period was typical of the numerous delays with POW mail. (Image1)
|
Estimate AU$350
SOLD for AU$1,700.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
Camps in Taiwan (Formosa)
| LotNo. |
Symbol |
Lot Description |
Estimate in AU$'s |
| 1496 |
|
 KINKASEKI (CAMP NUMBER 1): 1942 (Sep 30) cover from Middlesex with British censor label, to Malaya where redirected "OVS" (=
overseas) at Changi, forwarded to Taiwan & directed to Camp "1" in red pencil, very fine censor in rosine & han of Murakami in scarlet, endorsed "Received 1.6.44" on the face, minor blemishes. David Tett states that this was "one of the worst camps".
POWs were required to work in an underground copper mine, 100s of steps down & 100s of steps up every day, until they became too weak to work and/or died. No 1 closed in -.5.1945, the 350 surviving POWs being moved to Kukutsu. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$400
SOLD for AU$300.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1497 |
D |
 KINKASEKI (CAMP NUMBER 1): 1944 (circa) sepia photograph (200x133mm) of an open-air chuch service with a sea of POWs mostly of good
appearance & a portly chaplain, the buildings in the background 'photo-shopped' on the negative, the reverse with camp censor in violet & unidentified han in scarlet, small reinforcing at lower-right. A remarkable artefact. Illustrated by David Tett
in Volume5 at page 200. (Image1)
(Image2)
|
Estimate AU$250
SOLD for AU$190.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1498 |
PSE |
 KINKASEKI (CAMP NUMBER 1): 1944 (July 20) British 3d POW Airmail Postal Card to "Taiwan Camp Formosa" from Middlesex with British
censor in rosine, directed to Camp "1" in red pencil, censor in violet with han of Suzuki in scarlet, endorsed "Rec Jan 23 1945", minor blemishes.
(Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$400
SOLD for AU$300.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1499 |
|
 KINKASEKI (CAMP NUMBER 1): 1944 (Oct 8; dated on the reverse) envelope with large 'SERVICE DES/PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE' cachet in
violet unusually at lower-left, Japanese censors in rosine or violet & superb han of Nishikawa in scarlet, also a large chop (han?) in violet across the flap, to Hampshire with British censor label, minor imperfections. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$400
SOLD for AU$300.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
| 1500 |
PSE |
 SHIRAKAWA (CAMP NUMBER 4): Undated Japanese POW postal card with printed pro forma text endorsed "Taiwan Prisoners' Camp", 'SERVICE
DES/PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE' cachet in violet, the reverse with very fine camp censor in violet & superb han of Aoki in scarlet, to Wiltshire with fire-damage at lower-left and very fine 'DAMAGED BY/FIRE IN TRANSIT' cachet in violet. [Recovered from
the flying boat that crashed in Co Kerry (Ireland) on 28.7.1943. Illustrated by David Tett in Volume 5 at p180, where he states only one other such crash item from Taiwan has been recorded. (Image1) (Image2)
|
Estimate AU$750
SOLD for AU$575.00
Closing..Aug-27, 08:00 PM |
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