Remembering King George V

3 June 1865 - 21 January 1936

His Majesty George V, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, passed away on 21 January 1936. 

For reasons I still don't fully understand, his reign has become important to me, and the focus of my collecting.

The stamps of his reign are becoming harder to find, and prices continue to rise. When I have difficulty finding anything I need or want, I enjoy searching for non-philatelic items that can add social context to my collection, and where better to start than postcards? Here are just a few of mine.

This postcard shows the Downey portrait of His Majesty, which was used for the much-maligned first Great Britain issue of his reign

Why Postal History Collectors Get Excited

Ebay Still Delivers Nice Finds

This postcard of a group of children from Assuan (Aswan), Egypt, posted in 1911, and addressed to Singapore was listed recently on Ebay Australia. 

The TPO (Travelling Post Office) postmark on the front of the card was reason enough for me to buy it

The German South Polar Expedition of 1911

Brave Men in a Very Small Boat

In early May 1911, the bark "Deutschland" set sail from Bremerhaven en route to Antarctica.

The goal of the second German South Polar Expedition was to map the continent via an overland route from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea, and confirm that it was one piece of land.

The leader, and organiser, of the expedition was Wilhelm Filchner (1877-1957) who, at the age of 34, had already been involved in expeditions to Russia, Central Asia and Tibet.

Wilhelm Filchner

By any measure, the expedition was a failure. After visiting South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, they were beset by pack ice for nine months. The only real success of the expedition was disproving the existence of South Greenland, which had been included in maps since 1823.

During their visit to Grytviken in South Georgia, the crew were busy posting postcards home.

Although many cards have been on the market in recent years, and have achieved five-figure sums, this may be the ultimate postcard from the expedition.

The picture side, showing the "Deutschland", is autographed by ten members of the expedition. A total of thirty-five crew and scientists were on board.