This page gives brief details of:
- forthcoming WASC meetings
- recently past WASC Meetings,
- Livestream and other links from which you will be able to watch a recording of the relevant presentations, going back to 2021.
In addition to the recordings described below, accounts of displays can be found in Newsletters (up to the Salisbury Meeting of 2023), then (from Conference 2023) the Newsletter will contain a short account of proceedings, with more detailed summaries published in the following edition of Cameo.
WASC 'in-person' meetings, at the RPSL, at Reading and the biennial week-end Conference have now been joined by quarterly 'on-line' meetings, via Zoom. Advance details of Zoom meetings will be circulated to members by email. Files of past Zoom sessions are given on on the WASC Zoom session files page.
WASC Meetings coming up
Our next 'in-person' meeting will take place on Saturday 2nd March 2024, at the RPSL and will be held jointly with the Forces Postal History Society. Further details of displays will follow in due course. The 2024 Salisbury Meeting will take place on 15 June 2024 (themes to be announced), and our autumn London meeting will take place on Saturday 2nd November 2024. Our next on-line meeting will take place on Saturday 9 December 2023 from 19:30 to 20:30 hours GMT. Details of displays and for joining the Zoom call will follow in due course.
WASC meetings past
2023
The London meeting on 4th March 2023 at the RPSL, was held jointly with the France & Colonies Philatelic Society. The two main sessions were presented by Michael Round: 'Ivory Coast: the Carbon-Copy Colony?' and by Rob May: French Cameroons. Additional members’ displays included Aeromaritime flights connected with the Gold Coast by John Powell, Jet Age airmails from French colonies by Barbara Priddy, and the Joseph de la Nézière issues of French West Africa by Mick Bister.
At the Salisbury Meeting on 17 June 2023, themes were Queen Elizabeth 2nd, and censorship. The displays were written up in the WASC Autumn 2023 newsletter but were not recorded.
The biennial WASC conference took place at the Hayes centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire, on 29 September to 1st October 2023. Main displays were on: St Helena Postal History 1856-1896, Tristan Volcano Period, West African Airmails - the Jet Age, Internal Mail Routes of Nigeria and Research from Original Sources, Nigerian Forces Mail in the Congo 1960-64, Lagos GPO Cancellations and Handstamps to 1960, Ghana Stamp Errors & Varieties, St Helena Forgeries, Sierra Leone Village Postmarks pre-1961, How Postal Agreements are Negotiated: the Deutsche Lufthansa South American Route via Bathurst 1934-1939, Aspects of Sierra Leone Post Independence, French Cameroun - A Potpourri of Unusual, Misleading and Incorrect Cancels, St Helena Rates and Covers from Joining the UPU in 1896, Nigeria QEII Definitives. We were not able to Livestream any of the displays but we are adding other recordings of display content as they become available.
The London meeting on 4th November 2023 at the RPSL featured displays by Simon Heap on the ‘Postal History of Port Harcourt’, by Majed Halawi focusing on the ‘Sierra Leone 1963 Flowers issue and its overprints and surcharges (the Churchill-Margai issue)’, and Barbara Priddy on ‘Wartime West Africa airmails after Operation Torch’. Again, we were not able to Livestream the displays but we will be adding other recordings of display content as they become available.
Zoom sessions. Two sessions took place in October 2023, one on producing Powerpoint presentations and one on joining Zoom sessions. WASC files associated with Zoom sessions are shown on the WASC Zoom session files page.
2022
We had a table at London 2022 on the Wednesday of the exhibition, and had a most enjoyable lunch nearby. Our meeting in Salisbury in June went very well in the Scout Hut at West Harnham. The subjects were (i) Revenues, and (ii) Postal rates.
We held our first meeting of the year in London on 5th March, jointly with the King George VI Collectors' Society. Some of that was livestreamed, which was welcomed by several of our overseas members as well as those in the UK.
We also met in London on 12th November where presentations were by Brian Lythgoe: A Cameroons Miscellany, and by Wilf Vevers: Ascension Island Postal History.
2021
We created our first meeting of the year (in March) on Zoom. Displays from that meeting are available as PDFs at this link. The second, in November, was held in London in person and some of it was livestreamed (see below).
We had a stand at Midpex on 3rd July. Our biennial conference was held very successfully from 24th to 26th September in Redditch. Part of this was also livestreamed, though not perfectly as it was our first attempt.
Recordings of meeting displays
The youtu.be links below will take you to recordings of meeting displays. Generally the Livestream recordings have not been edited, so there is usually some 'dead time' at the start and sometimes during the session. Other display material is available in .pdf or powerpoint form.
Conference 2021 Redditch (some sessions shared with the Postal History Society)
West African Maritime postal history Steve Ellis (PHS): https://youtu.be/0fAVoBk3wc0
Gold Coast postal history Ian Anderson: https://youtu.be/jqaT-KgOgfM
Gambia Jeremy Martin: https://youtu.be/frDUwlcv_9U
Nigeria Sterling aerogrammes Ray Harris: https://youtu.be/28rpWpJLYm8
Sierra Leone stamps and postal stationery Majed Halawi: https://youtu.be/TAZ9Q8Y8FD0 then https://youtu.be/qgUa5eBOCkk
Forgeries of (mostly) Nigeria Paul Redhead: https://youtu.be/WCv0UnK7OGM
Biafra postal history Tony Plumbe: https://youtu.be/XfZiT6zPeZY (poor sound)
Censorship Graham Mark (PHS): https://youtu.be/eYqHHuEmf4I (poor sound)
Gold Coast maritime mail John Powell: https://youtu.be/_MnFGkiUg5w (poor sound until 10:46)
St Helena Boer PoWs Bernard Mabbett: https://youtu.be/Q0B97lV1VaY
November 2021 London Meeting
Internal mail routes of Nigeria Rob May: https://youtu.be/SihKPhcxFE4
Afternoon short displays by members https://youtu.be/0fAVoBk3wc0
March 2022 London Meeting
Origins and Development of KG VI head designs Brian Livingstone of the KG VI Collectors' Society: https://youtu.be/wGinpyXyHLM
West African Airmails 1945-52 Barbara Priddy: https://youtu.be/e4-jV1c-Ado
November 2022 London Meeting
Ascension Wilf Vevers: https://youtu.be/gFB3zFarJME
Cameroons Brian Lythgoe and short displays (other members): https://youtu.be/lYkzQPzMgJo
March 2023 London
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_keBTB9jSo French Cameroons (Rob May). Starts at c 5.35 minutes. Aéromaritime flights connected with the Gold Coast (John Powell). Starts c. 48.15 minutes. Joseph de la Nézière issues of French West Africa (Mick Bister). Starts c. 54.30 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL1GvyVFYc Ivory Coast: the Carbon-Copy Colony? (Michael Round). Starts c. 8.50 minutes in. French West African Air Mail 1939-1945 (Peter Richards). Starts c. 51.05 minutes in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_OKsPW6Pfg Modern French Colonies Eye Candy (Philip Quirk). Starts c. 1.30 minutes in. Nigerian Frontier Force operations in North-West Niger Companies Territories (Tony Plumbe). Starts c.4.0 minutes in. Northern Nigeria with a French Connection (Ray Harris). Starts c. 7.05 minutes in. Jet Age airmails from French colonies (Barbara Priddy). Starts c. 15.15 minutes in. Mail from French West Africa to the Gold Coast (John Powell). Starts c. 20.25 minutes in. Gambia / France connections via postcards (John Russell). Starts c. 43.10 minutes in. Postcards with French West African railway connections (John Hossack). Starts c. 44.35 minutes in.
September 2023 Conference Swanwick
We will be adding links to recordings of the following talks as they become available
St Helena Postal History 1856-1896 Bernard Mabbett
Tristan Volcano Period Richard Moss
West African Airmails - the Jet Age Barbara Priddy
Internal Mail Routes of Nigeria and Research from Original Sources Rob May Available as a .pdf file
Nigerian Forces Mail in the Congo 1960-64 Gerald Marriner
Lagos GPO Cancellations and Handstamps to 1960 Paul Redhead Recorded as three .pdf files (high res so quite large) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Ghana Stamp Errors & Varieties Ian Anderson
St Helena Forgeries Roger West
Sierra Leone Village Postmarks pre-1961 John Hossack
How Postal Agreements are Negotiated: the Deutsche Lufthansa South American Route via Bathurst 1934-1939 Gary Loew Available as a.pdf file
Aspects of Sierra Leone Post Independence Philip Quirk
French Cameroun - A Potpourri of Unusual, Misleading and Incorrect Cancels Marty Bratzel
St Helena Rates and Covers from Joining the UPU in 1896 Barry Burns
Nigeria QEII Definitives Ray Harris Available as .pdf file
November 2023 London
We will be adding links to recordings of the following talks as they become available
Postal History of Port Harcourt Simon Heap
Sierra Leone 1963 Flowers issue and its overprints and surcharges (the Churchill-Margai issue) Majed Halawi
Wartime West Africa airmails after Operation Torch Barbara Priddy