TOPIC:

boerwarsociety.org.uk/

I have been aware of this society for a long time but have never really looked into it thinking that it was mostly devoted to stamps. Last weekend I attended a meeting of the Society in Meriden at the invitation of DunnBoer and had my preconceptions totally dispelled.

The afternoon on my visit was filled with talks by members. Each talk was supported by well-researched and very well presented artefacts. These included Mafeking siege notes, sowen and soup tokens, Kimberley artefacts, Boer currencies, other emergency currencies manufactured at Lydenburg and Upington, letters, documents and some Bloemfontein tokens of unknown use. After each talk it was possible to inspect the items and talk to the presenter. When the discussions came to an end, the next talk began.

I was very impressed by the quality of the presentations, the knowledge of the presenters, the artefacts themselves and the way in which they were researched. I have been on the lookout for an example of the Upington currency so it was fantastic to be able to look at three different examples last Sunday.

It was a thoroughly excellent afternoon.

In addition to meetings, the Society also publishes a journal four times a year. More details via the link above.

I have now joined the Society and said I would let others know that the remit of the Philatelic Society is far more than stamps and that it can add to the knowledge of anyone interested in the Boer War.

These were the Bloemfontein tokens mentioned in the previous post:



They accompany a pair of medals to the SJAB.

I was a member of the ABWPS for a while in the early 2000s at the time the late actor Kenneth Griffith was the society's president. Their journal contained a mix of material of which I found the occasional letters from the front or POW camps the most interesting. I let my subscription lapse at some point but am pleased you found your visit interesting.

David

Hi David,

I have sent you a PM.

Paul

I was a member briefly when I was researching my Indian Postal Department medals. I did buy a copy of their "British Army Postal Cancellations of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902" by Peter Prime. The Appendix gives a list of regiments with details of where they served & with which Divisions they served & the dates which I have found useful.

Volume 66, No 1 of the Anglo-Boer War Philatelist had just been published.

This issue includes articles on the Souhern Africa Philatelic Conference in November 2022, an article on the Mafeking Relief Fund, the Jameson Raid and images of letters "Delayed by censor'. There are details of 47 lots that comprise a postal auction.

A very interesting read, the Mafeking article being particularly relevant to a current research topic.