Royal Reels: Gambling

Armed Forces

JOHN EDWARD NEWELL BULL, MILITARY OFFICER & PUBLIC SERVANT

This O.H.M.S. cover is addressed to J.E.N. Bull Esqre JP, Res. Warden’s Office, Castlemaine and has a dull rose ‘Emblems’ 4d stamp (SG 68). It was sent in June 1858 from Maldon Victoria. The reverse was not seen (Figure 1). He was born in Athlone, Ireland on 11 October 1806, the second son of Lt.-Colonel Robert Bull and his wife Harriet. He was educated in England and entered the Military

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ILLUSTRATED COVERS to Pfc. GERALD O. KEATING, S.A.A.A.B. [U.S.A.]

Two letters to Private first class Gerald O. Keating, both illustrated by the same artist and sent by Mrs J. Keating from Brisbane appeared on eBay the same day. The first had a roller postmark with a boxed BRISBANE/ QLAND/ 2 23 JAN 2/ 1945/ POSTED IN/ PILLARS as well as a boxed 1/ PASSED/ BY/ CENSOR/ 164. The blue 3½d KGVI stamp was applied, and the most obvious finding

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HUBERT WILKINS, OFFICER, AVIATOR, EXPLORER, & WAR PHOTOGRAPHER

Yet another philatelically-contrived Antarctic cover but with more than the usual historical interest. The purple 4d ‘Child Praying’ 1957 Christmas issue is postmarked HALLETT/ 13 FE 58/ SOUTH-AUST and is autographed by the sender Hubert Wilkins, and addressed in his hand ‘H. Wilkins, Gen Delivery, Hallett’. It has multiple hand-stamps, a small black circle denoting the Antarctic ‘Deep Freeze’ expedition; one large purple and one large octagonal International Geophysical Year

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HENDON AMMUNITION FACTORY

I have seen other World War 2 illustrated comical Australian mail, but nothing to approach this one.  The front of this red 2½d KG VI Letter Card has a roller cancellation of ADELAIDE/ 11-AM/ 19 APR/ 1943/ SOUTH AUST.  It sold for THREEPENCE, had a red OPENED BY CENSOR label, a purple boxed A/ 10, a purple boxed ‘4 Passed by Censor.  It was addressed to Lieutenant Chris Weske, Naval

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HELEN BUDD HETHERINGTON, MATRON ROYAL PRINCE ALFRED HOSPITAL

The present cover appeared at an Australian auction site, but a scan only of the front was available. It was sent On His Majesty’s Service to Miss H.B. Hetherington, Matron, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Missenden Road, Camperdown, Sydney, N.S.W. It had a 1d Queen Mother stamp postmarked with an indistinct NAVAL P. O. HERNE BAY/ N,S,W,-AUST in 1945 (month not seen) and it was endorsed with a manuscript ‘Concession Rate’.

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GOV. PHILLIP & CINDERELLA STAMPS for AUSTRALIA’S 150TH ANNIVERSARY 1937-38

Two covers appeared on Ebay displaying in total, on the two covers, the 15 different designs of the cinderellas stamps that are derived from a sheet of 30. The format of the sheet was six horizontally and five vertically, with the same order repetition of the first and last three stamps in each horizontal row of six (Figure 1). The first cover has nine of the 15 cinderella stamp designs

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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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