Paul Johnson
I am a philatelic newcomer (having started collecting in 2022). I collect anything which piques my interest, one example being the Latvian stamp shown below. Following German occupation, the issuing authorities were faced with a paper shortage, which they circumvented by printing stamps on the back of old maps which had been left by the retreating army.
Latvian stamps printed on discarded maps
Many philatelists curate a thematic collection, which in my case, is the postal history Isle of Man. My interest in all things Manx springs from childhood holidays spent at my uncle's hotel in Douglas .(coincidently, this was also my uncle's name) During WWII, hotels on Douglas seafront served as alien internment and prisoner of war camps and shown below is a homemade Christmas card sent to a Luuftwaffe pilot held in one such camp (The envelope having been opened by the censor in Liverpool).
The sender of the card was a member of the 'Free German League of Culture', a group of London-based German emigrants. Supporters of the movement included the playwright J. B. Priestley
German prisoner of war mail in form of handmade Christmas card, with Censor label
