A Labuan transit stationary postcard from the German Caroline Islands

 

This is a very unusual and rare item of postal history with a Labuan connection. It was posted at Angaur which is the southernmost island in the chain of islands called the Carolines in the western Pacific to the north of New Guinea. It is now known as the Republics of Palau.

Historically, they were claimed by the Spaniards in 1528 and became part of the Spanish East Indies and were also known as the New Philippines, being governed from Manila. After their defeat by the Americans, Spain sold these islands to Germany in 1899. They were under German administration as part of German New Guinea until their defeat in WWI in 1918.

The island of Angaur was very rich in organic phosphates which were mined between 1909 to 1954. This card was definitely sent by one of the expatriate employees there. It was believed that there were several routes for mail to travel from the Carolines to Europe depending on the trade routes used by visiting German steamships. One of these routes was suppose to involve the regular visit of Angaur by one of the NDL ships which served Singapore, Labuan, North Borneo and Zamboanga in south Philippines. It has been said that this was monthly schedule. But there is no evidence to support this at all. As far as records in the BNBC Herald shows, the service only went as far as Zamboanga.

It was written on 7 March 1909, posted on 9-3 09 and transited Labuan on 19 MAR 1909 and Singapore MR 29 1909. A ship journey of 10 days between Angaur and Labuan was very fast even for nowadays. Moreover, looking at the shipping information on shipping arrivals and departures from Sandakan, I am unable to trace the ship with the right timing at Sandakan nor the journey to Labuan. The transmission of this card is not that straightforward. 

This early 20th century map shows the major shipping routes during that period. One could see a sea route between Angaur and Manila in the Philippines and then another one from Manila to Labuan. These were not the normal trading routes but ones used by fast mail steamers which would explain the swift 10 day journey from Angaur to Labuan. At Labuan it was sorted and received a transit postmark on 19 MAR 1909. It then left on the SS Darvel on 25 March 1909 and arrived at Singapore on 28 March 1909, from information derived from the Singapore Newspapers Archive.

 

Some nice cancellations

 

Labuan stamps were valid in North Borneo between 1890 and 1906 and vice versa when it was administered by the British North Borneo Company. Labuan stamps used at Gaya are not common and it is more uncommon with the Gaya D3 cancellation as compared to the Gayah D2 postmark because it was in use for less than 2 years between March 1898 and November 1899. The date on this stamp is 7 MAR 98.

This is the Gayah D2 postmark which was in use from August 1886 to June 1897. There are a few variants and the prefix B is the most common. The stamp on the right has no prefix at all. The earliest version has the prefix A and there are only a few in existence.

 

This pair of stamps were unfortunately removed from a potentially very expensive cover. It was posted at Mempakul and cancelled with D2 and then transit Labuan where it received a cds cancellation as well as a few Labuan 9 bar cancels.

The Elopura cancellation came into use in 1884 in Sandakan and was used to cancelled covers but not the stamps. The early version either had no prefix or the prefix A. It was withdrawn from use as the name of Sandakan was more acceptable than Elopura and was replaced by the Sandakan cancellations. Somehow in between 1889 and 1890 it was rehabilitated for use as a fiscal cancellation. It then had the prefix P and was mostly found on higher values which was the usual requirement on fiscal documents.

A few stamps of the 1889 lower values issue are also found with the Elopura P cancellation as seen on this 10c stamp due to low fees charged on minor documents. They tend to be less common than the higher values

This is a nice Sandakan D3 cancellation in red. It replaced the Elopura A cancellation in October 1885. On this 1883 8c stamp it has a date of 19 AU 1888. Earlier and extremely rare versions which were used to cancelled covers only has the prefix A or P.

It is difficult to find a full Kudat 13 bar cancellation like this example on this 1883 8c stamp. It was normally in red. The blue green version is more difficult to find. Proud mentions that it came into use in 1890 but I suspect it a lot earlier than that.

The 1883 higher value 50c and $1 stamps are very rarely found used. They were issued mainly for fiscal usage even though a few were probably used on parcels. The above stamp with a Kudat A cancellation 27 JU 1889 was most likely cancelled by favour but it is still a rare finding.

This Kudat A cancellation is in blue which is fairly uncommon is similar to the one in pink found on some early covers. In contrast to the Elopura A, Sandakan A and Gayah A cancellations, the Kudat A was used for a relatively longer period between 1886 and 1900. There is also a very rare Kudat P variant found on a few stamps only.

I rather like this Kudat D5 cancellation with the two Maltese Crosses at the side. I suspect this was mostly a fiscal cancellation but it has also been found on some covers.