German Hela U-Boat Post

Just picked these up, so I thought I'd share.

In early 1945, the German 31st Infantry Division was trapped on the Hel Peninsula, a heavily fortified 35-km long sand bar peninsula off of Gda#324;sk (Danzig), Poland. Resupply of the Division was accomplished via the sea.



Beginning in March 1945, the Hela U-Boat Issue was printed by the Division's mapping unit. It was intended for use on mail transported by U-boats supplying the Division, but due to the fact that surface naval traffic never ceased, the stamps were never used as intended. They can be found used on mail which traveled via surface traffic.

Fascinating stuff as usual

So where would John Doe go,
to learn about these stamps, should
one pop up in a collection.
What Literature do you consult?
Interested.

Thanks for broadcasting your unusual stamps.

Great pair of stamps Postmaster!

Whose cert. did they come with?
I think the only presently recognised BPP (German Assoc. of Philatelic Experts for those who don't know what the BPP is) expert on these is Gabisch.

SUPERB Copies!

Rod, there's not a lot out there on these issues. Michel has a small blurb in their Specialized and Feldpost catalogs. I'd be surprised if there wasn't an article in an old copy of the German Postal Specialist somewhere.

Revstampman, they have older expertizing marks from Dr. Dub, Hammer, and Pickenpack. I'll probably send them for a new cert within the near future.

Hammer I don't know. But, I do know Pickenpack & Dr. Dub. As I'm sure you know both Pickenpack and Dr. Dub's mark's have been forged. But the good part is the majority of the Hela Stamps (I would say about 80%) are real. Of the forgeries I have seen 90% are recent and would not fool any one. Most are ether laser printed or poor computer copies. The hard part is finding a VF-XF copy. Yours look like they fit into VF. Well Done!

Rod, I know their was a small pamphlet published back in the late 80's on these but I can't remember who authored it. I do remember it was in German though. I'll ask my Dad if he remembers who it was. But I am doubtfull He will. The Feldpost Issues were not His thing.

I was initially a little leery of the expertization marks, but I compared them to several exemplars, both fake and authentic, and I believe them to be authentic marks. Never hurts to get another cert, though.

A quick update to close the certification loop. I sent these off for cert in April and just got them back. Both are authentic copies of Michel 13b, the blue to dark blue color variation.

A few new editions to my Hela collection.


Michel 13a -- early printing in light blue shade


Michel 13c -- late printing in grey-blue shade. Rare used copy.


Michel 13b I -- "Depth charge" plate flaw found in one position on each sheet of 150


Michel 13b III -- broken inner frame plate flaw found in three positions on each sheet of 150

Postmaster, very nice examples! :-)

I saw on your website that you have the Michel Feldpost catalogue. In your opinion, Is it worth getting?
I'm using the Michel Deutschland Spezial catalogue at the moment, but looking to "go deeper" into the WW2 material, and looking for new literature on the subject.

Honestly, I usually just use the Spezial. I occasionally use the Feldpost handbook for deciphering the various markings on Feldpost covers, but it's really geared toward the Feldpost specialist, which I'm not.

And now mounted on the album page...

Got a nice addition to the Hela collection this weekend. It's a block of four, with the lower left stamp containing one of the plate flaws I've been missing -- the "torpedo shot".



Because of the size of this block, I had to redesign my page -- only one blank spot left!

PostmasterGS...Great looking stamps...Hel..what memories!..back in 1976 I spent a week camping there at a Polish Ministry camp..although we were in a remote area...we were provided with tents, sleeping, bags etc...there was even a cabin nearby that provided toilet/shower facilities...and a kitchen..Talk about roughing it! The Baltic Sea a few minutes walk away...but cold!..and this was the in the summertime! Perfect temperature in the evening to keep that bottle of vodka cold..we would tie some string around the neck of the bottle...throw it in the sea...and a short time later..cheers!
Sorry..i know this is a stamp forum...just adding my 2 cent stamp.

PostmasterGS, What a great collection! None in my collection. Thank you for the wonderful information. Dan

Finally got around to scanning a couple recent additions to my Hela collection.


Mi 13b with Plate Flaw IV (filled in block at upper center)


Mi 13b from position 100, bottom right corner of the 10x10 sheet

I now have all of the major color and plate flaw varieties. A couple are in poor condition, but at least all the spaces are now filled.