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A VERY VIBRANT AND FRESH BLOCK OF FOUR KING GEORGE V [SINGLE WATERMARK] "SIDEFACE SERIES" 4d ORANGES - OVERPRINTED “NWPI” (TYPE A) FOR SERVICE IN THE PACIFIC - VERY PRETTY COLOUR - UNUSED NO GUM
AUSTRALIAN FORCES landed at Herbertshohe, a settlement on the island of New Britain, on 11 SEPTEMBER 1914. By the end of the following two weeks, all of the German colonies in the neighbourhood were effectively occupied. A military administration was set up, with headquarters at Rabaul, under a military Governor (appointed in November 1914). This new government continued until May 1921 and through that time, transitioned from a military regime to a ‘mandatory’ of the ‘League of Nations”. During this time, the territory was called NEW BRITAIN, from the name of the Island on which the chief settlement stood. In May 1921, when a civil administration was set up for the first time, it was announced that the new name of “TERRITORY OF NEW GUINEA” was to be used. At no time was the area known as N.W. PACIFIC ISLANDS. Interestingly, the stamps of the Commonwealth overprinted “NWPI” were never meant to describe use in New Guinea. The major part of the territory is not an Island and no part of the group is North of the Equator.
THE OVERPRINT was first made in Melbourne and the stamps were intended for other ex-German colonies in the Pacific mainly; The MARSHALL Islands, MARIANNE Islands and the CAROLINE Islands and were to have been issued at JALUIT in the Marshall Islands. THEY were the NW Pacific Islands. But by the time the issue was ready, the Islands had passed into the hands of the Japanese and therefore the stamps became redundant before being circulated! It was decided to send the stamps to Rabaul for use in that part of the former German colonies which still remained in Australian ‘possession’. Even though the overprint was not really relevant to the area, it was used due to an Australian reluctance to use our un-overprinted stamps and the significant pressures faced by the Commonwealth Printing Office at the time.
The new military Governor took the overprinted stamps with him to Rabaul in Late 1914 and they were placed on sale for the first time in January 1915. The first stamps included 10,080 1d Red Kangaroos and 8,160 of the 2½d Indigo value. The overprinted stamps continued through to the Spring of 1925 when they were withdrawn and replaced by the first 'permanent issue' for Papua.
HISTORY. The first German post offices opened in German New Guinea, in the Bismarck Archipelago and the North Solomon Islands in 1888 and used stamps of the German Reich issued between 1875 and 1887 (denominations in an oval or imperial eagle series). On the mail, they were cancelled with a round datestamp bearing the name of the town in the upper part and a five arm star in the lower. "DEUTSCH/NEU-GUINEA" appeared in the middle of datestamps some years after. In 1897 and 1898, six stamps of Germany were overprinted with the name of the colony, printed diagonally on two lines. In 1901, stamps were issued with the name of the colony printed on them picturing 'the German imperial yacht’. In September 1914, at the beginning of World War I in Europe, Australian troops invaded German New Guinea. In October and December 1914, the remaining stocks of German colonial stamps were overprinted with two mentions. On the upper line, "G.R.I." for Georgius Rex Imperator in honour of King George V, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India. The second line was a new denomination expressed in the Australian pound subdivisions (pence and shillings). From January 1915 to 1925, stamps used in New Guinea and Nauru were overprinted “N. W. PACIFIC ISLANDS". These stamps were taken from stocks of the Kangaroo and Map series and the George V series of Australia.
The King George V Sideface Series OVERPRINTS were issued from MARCH 1915 and SEPTEMBER 1922. THIS BLOCK IS 'UNUSED' (NO GUM) with all units carrying the TYPE A Overprint. The colour here is quite lovely and the block really speaks for itself. They could have been printed yesterday...
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