Phil Pages Jan.Feb.2002 - The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada

Figure 18
III. AAAO – INVASION. Rarest of all, with only 6 sets known.
All overprints were in black except for the 1 ⁄2d and 3d which
were in red Examples A-F.
IV. Liquidation of Empire. 400 sets are known. All the overprints
were black except for the 1 ⁄2d and 2 1 ⁄2d, which were in
red. Examples A-H.
V. Liquidation of Empire. 400 sets are known. As with groups
1 and 3, all the overprints were black except for the 1 ⁄2d and
3d which were red. Examples A-F.
When the overprinted stamps were ready for distribution in
1944, the Japanese already occupied Hong Kong and Singapore.
As a result the overprints were retained in storage, and most
were destroyed at the end of the war.
There were two ‘cancellations’ used to cancel these stamps.
One was a rubber stamp and the other a steel handstamp. Both
have the same design but the steel impression (Figure 19) is
crisper and the one that is more sought after.
Souvenir Sheets:
Besides the above-mentioned stamps, three souvenir sheets
are known to have been produced with philatelists in mind.
One included both the commemorative-sized stamps of the
Silver Jubilee and the Coronation issues, the second includes
the full definitive set, and the third, which is extremely rare,
was printed with the single country set of the overprinted
stamps listed in group V. None of the other overprinted stamps
are recorded on souvenir sheets. These sheets can be found
with or without the stamps cancelled. The
inscription at the top of the sheet reads
‘SPECIAL-STAMP IN MEMORY
OF THE FIRST DAY Of INVA-
SION’ in both English and Russian,
and printed in either blue or black.
This inscription is flanked by the
British GPO symbol on the left, and
the Russian Hammer, Sickle, and Star
on the right.
Figure 19
10 / January – February 2002 The Canadian Philatelist / Le philatéliste canadien