Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

"Falklands"

Mr. Robin Sherman FRPSL

On Friday evening (18^th) the Lanarkshire Philatelic Society were taken by the society’s guest, Robin Sherman FRPSL from Edinburgh, to the South Atlantic Ocean – to view a wonderful display about the Falkland Islands and Dependencies.  

The display concentrated particularly on the Islands’ circumstances during the reign of King George VI and illustrated something of the difficulties experienced in getting mail in and out of the Islands which are so isolated in the Ocean.

There were many covers on display showing how mail had to wait for occasional ships to take it to the mainland for further posting. Later it became possible for aircraft to land and both take and deliver mail – again, in the early days, this was occasional – and the mail was sent by registered post. Later aircraft were able to make more scheduled airmail lifts. Many interesting examples of Registered mail, Airmails and Maritime Mail – both in and out of the Islands – were shown. Also many examples of postmarks revealed how long a letter had to wait before being sent on its way from and to the Falklands.

During the War (WW2) Britain became alarmed at the U-boats patrolling in Antarctic waters and instigated "Operation Tabarin" – to deter the Germans. Under the guise of a whaling expedition, bases were established at Deception Island, Port Lockroy, South Shetlands and Graham Land. All mail to and from the Falklands was subject to Censorship – and many examples of this was shown. At the end of the war, the bases were handed over to civilian control and became "Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey" – later, in 1982, this was renamed "British Antarctic Survey". Falkland Island stamps were overprinted with the name of each of the Bases.

The display ended with some covers showing that they had been "carried by Sledge" to the Base for posting.

Paul McGowan remarked that this display had been beyond expectations and led members in giving warm thanks to Robin Sherman for giving such a great display.

Our next meeting in the Caledonian Bowling Club, Motherwell Road, Hamilton, is on Friday, 8^th April, 2016, at 7:30pm when members look forward to welcoming visitors from Bearsden Philatelic Society.

Anyone with an interest in stamps, postal history, postcards etc is very welcome to attend.