Royal Reels: Gambling

Armed Forces

GENERAL SIR JOHN MONASH, SOLDIER, ENGINEER & ADMINISTRATOR

The designer of this home-made first day cover has provided an unique cover, but what a pity he could not spell and that he did not realise that the yellow colour would fade badly. It has a single copy of the 5d John Monash in uniform stamp and is postmarked with the familiar Philatelic Bureau Melbourne First Day of Issue 23 June 1965, the centenary of his year of birth. It

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GENERAL JOHN FRENCH, HERO in the BOER WAR [SOUTH AFRICA]

This Boer War recruitment publicity postcard with ‘General French War South Africa’ has a portrait of the general on a medal, shows British flags, a crown and crossed swords, plus an inscription ‘We Conquer Step by Step”. It is postmarked with a partial squared circle ALDGATE/ 2/ JY 30/ 00/ S.(A). There is an additional faint circular cancel confirming the JY 30/00 date. The message dated 28th July 1900 reads

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FLIGHT LIEUT. ERNEST ANDREW MUSTARD, C/O BANK of ADELAIDE, LONDON

Three Melbourne-origin covers, were presumably sent by the same person over a period of 3 days to the same individual, and they all finally finished up at the same address in London, but the addressee’s rank was not identical on all 3 covers. The first cover was sent to Captain E.A. Mustard C/o an address in Linden, Berlin, Germany, and it was re-addressed to the Bank of Adelaide, Leadenhall Street,

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EVERETT A. COLSON, ADVISOR to EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE, ETHIOPIA

The cover had a blue registration label for SYDNEY—C/ N.S.W. and the stamps consisted of an orange ½d, a green 1d and a red-brown KGV Head stamps, as well as the green 3d airmail stamp. They were postmarked by a REGISTERED/ B 14 MR 33/ SYDNEY N.S.W. The cover was addressed to E.A. Colson Esq, Box 215, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Abyssinia) (Figure 1). The reverse had 4 postmarks, the second

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ELMER DAVIS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE of WAR INFORMATION, WASHINGTON D.C. [U.S.A.]

This World War 2 cover was mailed with a total of 3½d postage made up of the red 2½d KGVI and the maroon 1d Queen Elizabeth stamps postmarked PARL’MT HOUSE CANBERRA/ -8 SP 42/ A.C.T and there was a red boxed 2/ PASSED BY CENSOR/ 1106. It was addressed to Elmer Davis, Esq., Director, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. with a typed Personal in the lower left hand

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DETENTION BARRACKS BERRIMA N.S.W., 1917 P.O.W. ENVELOPE to JAVA

This SERVICE DES PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE stampless FREE cover [Emery Type 3] was addressed to Herrn Kapitan Christiansen “Silesia”, Tandjong Priok, Yava, and it had a red authorizing signature cachet of Lieutenant Colonel Holman at Liverpool N.S.W. [Emery CA 232] as well as a boxed violet PASSED BY/ CENSOR/ S.D. [C.M. 43] (Figure 1). The reverse showed the sender’s name and address:  G. Aldorf, Detention Barracks, Berrima, N.S.W., Australien.   There

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LIEUT. LYONS, PRISONER OF WAR in JAPAN 1942-1945 [JAPAN]

This special Prisoner of War Post cover with Air Mail vignette was sent from Brisbane in1945 (month not certain) with a ‘3 Opened by Censor’ label, as well as a purple boxed ‘Opened by Censor 195’ marking. It was addressed to Service No.: Q302572 Rank: Lieutenant Noel Joseph Lyons, Camp Zentsuji, Japan. A 5d stamp was required, and a pair of the red 2½d Duke and Duchess of Gloucester stamps

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LEWIS BECK SEBRING Jr. (1901-78). WAR-TIME REPORTER MEETS GEN. MACARTHUR [U.S.A.]

The newspaper wrapper that prompted this research is postmarked PAID AT SYDNEY/-14 MY 43/ N.S.W. and is addressed to Lewis Sebring, Tribune Herald Newspaper, USA Army Hdqrs., (General Douglas MacArthur), AUSTRALIA. This was sent by “Reveille”, Official Organ, R.S.L (N.S.W. Branch), Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, SYDNEY. “Reveille” is the journal published for the Returned Soldiers’ League in Australia. Unfortunately the red postmark is very faint, and even with a red

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LETTERS from WIFE in AUSTRALIA to H.W. ROGER, CIVILIAN INTERNEE, H.K.

Six covers with letters were addressed to Hugh (Hugo) Wood Roger in Hong Kong dated from December 1941 until October 1943, but only five of them were from his wife Claudia and their 2 sons, Ned and Robin. The first cover is an introduction to the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong, and it was sent just prior to his wife had any information about this terrible event in the life

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LETTER to ALFRED DEAKIN BROOKES, CARE of HERBERT BROOKES [U.S.A.]

This relatively insignificant looking front was posted with a slogan cancel ‘AIR MAIL/ SAVES TIME’ from MELBOURNE/ 4 35 AM/ 17 OCT/ 1930/ VICTORIA, addressed to the above-named with Commissioner of Australia, New York, USA in the address. The arrival date at the New York, NY/ G.P.O. is not legible. It was underpaid with the red 2d KGV head and there are 3 examples of it having been taxed: a

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