@Tim - I've been so occupied making album pages lately so I missed your thread until now. Beautiful stamps, and very interesting postmarks.
- The 15ø, 30ø, 40ø and 60ø all have a peculiar squared rubber cancel 'Handelsflåten' (Merchant navy) that was used on hundreds of Norwegian ships.
Background:
During WW2 more or less all Norwegian vessels were united and administered in what was to become the largest shipping company til date (Notraships). This merchant fleet transported war material for the allied cause, and many thousand Norwegian sailors lost heir lives when sunk by German wolf packs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NortrashipThe British politician Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, commented after the war:
Quote:
The first great defeat for Hitler was the battle of Britain. It was a turning point in history. If we had not had the Norwegian fleet of tankers on our side, we should not have had the aviation spirit to put our Hawker Hurricanes and our Spitfires into the sky. Without the Norwegian merchant fleet, Britain and the allies would have lost the war
So much for the Notraships / Handelsflåten. Each of the 'Handelsflåten' postmarks had a number identifying the particular ship, but unfortunately the rubberstamps were also misused for philatelic purpose after the war. Use google translate on this discussion thread for some relevant info about the 'Handelsflåten' postmark.
http://www.frankering.com/group/jer...ndelsflaatenbtw, almost similar boxed rubber stamps were also used in 'Marinen' (the navy), so the two might easily be confused.
- The postmarks on 5ø and 7ø are more interesting in my opinion. I believe those are ship marks from ships that did not have the common 'Handelsflåten' mark, or at least they used separate ship marks in addition to the rubberstamp. I cannot make out any ship names tough.
About the London stamp series itself, the following note is google translated from a Norwegian stamp catalog:
Quote:
"London Markets - Propaganda for Exile Government.
Why does not the Norwegian exile government in London do the same as the Polish? Issue your own stamps to promote the free thing of Norway! Such a request was sent to the Norwegian Information Office in London during the war. "Based on a propaganda point of view, the importance of the measure can hardly be overestimated. One gets the chance to do each only Norwegian letter abroad for a living propaganda for the free matter of Norway! "the office continued. The Ministry of Trade, which in turn examined whether the exile government had the opportunity to publish and use
own stamps when it resided in a foreign country. The result of the survey became such a stamp series could be used exclusively on Norwegian territory, but both Norwegian warships and merchant ships could be considered as as long as they stayed in open sea.
Thus the foundation was laid for the so-called London stamps, (catalog number 331-338), which would remind the free Norway and the effort Norwegians made for us and the other occupied lands to remain free. January 1, 1943, the values #8203;#8203;ranged from 1O to 60 øre, and the marks were diligently used throughout series by letter, especially from ships in the merchant fleet. As an extra propaganda, 4000 was over-stamped "London 17/5/43" and a control number from 1-4000. The most of these sets came to Norway during the war and should be sold for income for the resistance movement."
Posted 01/15/2018 2:49 pm
