My fiancé always manages to surprise me!
I just received this wonderful addition to my
Christmas stamps collection.
The British
Army had had a resident presence in Egypt since 1882. From 1932 to 1936 special
seals were attached to the rear of letters to show that the letter was covered
by special forces postal services. The two issues of interest to GB Overprint
collectors are those issued in 1935 for King George V's Silver Jubilee and
later in the same year for Christmas. It is arguable whether these stamps count
as "GB Overprints". The argument in favour is that they are stamps issued
by the British Government, supplied by them for use by British people, and are
therefore "British stamps".
For a time
these stamps were regarded as "cinderella" items, as they were
treated by the Army not as postage stamps but as a receipt showing that the
serviceman/woman had paid the special reduced rate postage and was permitted to
post this letter, but only in the special forces postboxes. At this point the
distinction from a "postage stamp" gets rather philosophical. They
were stuck on the rear of the letter, not on the front, and inscribed
"Letter stamp", "Postal seal", "Xmas seal", or
"Letter seal", so as not to confuse Egyptian postal staff.
