Under the Magnifying Glass: No.27 H.M.C.S. Afterglow and the cancels by Malcolm Barton and Kim Stuckey H.M.C.S Afterglow On 23rd March 1921 the Falkland Islands Government issued a Proclamation suspending the issuing of licences to kill or capture fur seals around the Islands. This suspended the regulations in the Seal Fishery Ordinance of 1899 and followed a decision by the UK Secretary of State to protect the species from May 1920. The Falkland Islands Harbour Master had reported after visiting Bird Island and the Jason Islands that measures were needed to protect the fur seals from illegal catching; suggestions were the stationing of a guard on Elephant Jason and “provision of a motor boat”. Afterglow was a wooden Admiralty drifter, naval number 3863, 94 gross register tonnage, completed on 7th October 1918 and built by Chambers of Oulton Broad, Lowestoft. She was one of a large number of drifters built with meteorological names, such as Anticyclone, Atmosphere, Fireball, Full Moon, Hailstorm and Mackerel Sky. Afterglow was purchased by the Crown Agents on behalf of the Falkland Islands Government for £1,000. She was bought with the intention of being the armed patrol vessel to protect the fur seal rookeries and arrived in Stanley 1st December 1921. It is believed (from a request in the Executive Council minutes of 15th August 1921) that Afterglow arrived in convoy with the Hektor Whaling Company fleet. In the Upland Goose there has been much speculation over the years of what the “C” in H.M.C.S Afterglow stood for. Upland Goose Vol III No.5 included an interview with Joe Lanning who skippered the Afterglow in WWII, who referred to the “C” standing for “Coaster”. However we would believe His Majesty’s Colonial Ship would be the name for a Royal Navy Ship purchased by the Colonial Government of the Falkland Islands. This certainly was a designation used elsewhere in the Empire. This theory is supported by the Shipping Register which has a remark on Afterglow’s arrival “Converted into Colonial armed steamer” and by John Smith in his book “An Historical Scrapbook of Stanley”. The Afterglow Carrying Mail Afterglow commenced her seal fisheries protection duties, but also visited the remote settlements on East and West Falkland. By early 1923 there was a need for a cancel, as mail was being handed to the Captain as the Afterglow visited these settlements. From a memo of 4th January 1923 it was proposed that the Gunner was officially appointed as the Mail Officer (it was suggested that the Captain had too many other duties to perform on reaching a settlement). A locked post box on board was also provided. So who were the gunners on H.M.C.S. Afterglow that were responsible for the mail? Bob Barnes noted that on 31st January 1923 Emmanuel Swain was appointed Mail Officer. While Swain was on leave for four and a half months from 5th February 1925, his place was taken as Mail Officer by William Catten. Later, on 11th December 1925, Ernest Dixon was appointed on probation and subsequently confirmed in post. Early Cancels - Manuscript and Straight Line Afterglow A Manuscript Afterglow Cancel It cannot be certain that the stamp illustrated above is a genuine in period manuscript cancel, however it is on the 1919 printing of the 1d, SH25e. This could have been produced in 1922 or early 1923, before the straight line cancel was introduced, to frank West Falkland or inter island mail that was not going via Stanley or Fox Bay Post Offices. It does match in concept a cancel of Fair Rosamund in Victorian times where stamps were written on in ink (see Mike Roberts monograph No. 19 The Postal History of the Falkland Islands 1800- 1945, p54). In the period March 1923 – July 1923 the “John Bull” like straight line cancel was used. A memo dated 3rd March details Craigie Halkett (Colonial Postmaster) supplying the straight line canceller as a temporary measure. He states “I have ordered a dating stamp from England but meanwhile I can let him (Note the Gunner of the Afterglow) have a stamp with words “Posted on H.M.C.S. AFTERGLOW” This is known on only one cover (illustrated in Bob Barnes Postal Cancellations book p 52 and in Mike Roberts monograph No. 19 The Postal History of the Falkland Islands 1800-1945, p55). However part cancels are also known on stamps, the 6d illustrated below being an unusual value. The Only Known “Posted on H.M.C.S. AFTERGLOW” cover to Bleaker Island. Also a KGV 6d cancelled with the same canceller The Oval H.M.C.S. Afterglow Canceller Wilf Vevers produced an article in Upland Goose in 2010 that showed the correspondence between the Colony and Great Britain about production of an Afterglow cancel. This provides a useful time line for production of the oval cancel. Craigie Halkett proposed a design for a cancel on 1st February 1923 (see the memo left with mock up of cancel) and sent an order to the GPO in London for the cancel on the same day. On 3rd March he reported that he had sent the order to London and was supplying the straight line cancel as a temporary measure. The memo reproduced below shows the cancel arriving and being struck first in the Colony on 7th July 1923 (see first strike shown also below left). The order for the Afterglow oval cancel The memo announcing the arrival of the oval cancel, the first strike and the “March 1923” cancel However, the 2013 6th Edition of Heijtz reports the earliest known date of use of the oval cancel as March 1923. This is probably based on the information from a March 1923 canceller that was described and illustrated in the Cecil Neild sale at Harmers in March 1984. Lot 256 was described as a “fine strike” of the cancel on a local stampless envelope to Mr S Bennit (sic) and termed as “the earliest recorded date”. The auction illustration (not perfect as you might expect in the 1980’s) is shown above right, you can see there is something strange about the “3” in the year cancel. Perhaps it is a distorted “5”. From reading the memos above, the March date must be incorrect, either a misread distorted year slug, a per favour later cancel, or something contrived. However if any Study Group member has the cover, it would be excellent to have a better scan of the cancel. The Charles Davies Connection A coincidence of timing may well have been fortuitous to make Afterglow cancels more available to collectors. For thirteen months, starting in March 1923, an advert was placed at the bottom right hand corner of the front page of the The Falkland Islands Magazine and Church Paper stating “FALKLAND ISLANDS STAMPS WANTED TO PURCHASE, used and unused Falkland Islands postage stamps of all kinds in any quantities. CHARLES DAVIES, FRODSHAM, ENGLAND”. Davies was a wholesaler of stamps to the trade with many covers to him known from the Falkland Islands. It is likely that Davies established contacts (or maybe even an agent) in the Falkland Islands and it is also likely that he discovered Afterglow cancellations in the batches of stamps sent to him in 1923 and 1924. It is certainly true that we start to see in 1923 (earliest known cover date 18th October 1923 – Lot 1841 Robson Lowe auction 12th October 1978) covers from the Falklands to Davies, with Afterglow cancellations. One such is illustrated below, dated 26th June 1924 with a Port Stanley transit cancel of 30th June on the reverse. Davies was skilled in supplying covers to the Islands with his own stamps from his extensive stock, and widely spaced so as to obtain complete oval cancels that could be kept on cover or be sold as used on piece. His activities with the Afterglow cancels in turn led to covers to well- known collectors such as Lawson, Marshall at Prestbury and Roberts of Yeovil. We even see covers to Hutchings in the Cayman Islands with underpaid Afterglow cancels and bearing Cayman Islands postage dues. If we look at a series of cancellation dates that correspond from a voyage around the Islands by Afterglow (as a Government ship it does not show in the shipping records), it appears that many of the philatelic covers were produced on the last date, probably as the Afterglow arrived back in Stanley. It was unlikely that these philatelic covers would have been taken on the voyage. Afterglow cover to Charles Davies, sent June 1924 We mentioned above the possibility of Charles Davies establishing a contact in the Islands to obtain philatelic material for him, including Afterglow cancels. He certainly corresponded with Clovis Wright McGill (son of John McGill and Sarah McGill, née Binnie), but he was born in 1909, so was only 14 when Davies advertised in the Falkland Islands Magazine. It was unfortunate that the cover below from Davies to McGill was sent on 13th August 1931, some 10 days after Clovis McGill died from tuberculosis at the age of 22, so although marked “answered” it would have been by a relative. Do Study Group members have any other examples of Falkland Islanders corresponding with Charles Davies in this period? A cover from Charles Davies to Clovis McGill, sent August 1931 Perhaps without the coincidence of the Davies advertisements during 1923, there could be far fewer Afterglow cancels, especially straight line cancels and the early dates seen of usage of the oval canceller. Usage of the Oval H.M.C.S.