HOOFDLAGER
I want to share the following with you: a Veld Dienst letter, postmarked HOOFDLAGER 13 DEC. 99, Z.A.R. sent to Zanzibar, via Johannesburg 16 DEC 99 10-30 Vm, and further by rail, the blue postmark Moçambique: CORREIOS AMBULANCIA / 23 DEZ 99 / LOURENçO MARQUES, and the arrival postmark ZANZIBAR 13 JA 00.
Bas Payne has described this letter as follows: interesting that it paid postage despite being stamped Veld Dienst ... As I understand the entry in Putzel's Encyclopedia, HOOFDLAGER was the name given to a temporary post-office at the army HQ when it was in the field.
Putzel suggests, presumably on the basis of a published list that it was operating in the BRANDBOONTJESRIVIER area in late 1894, but I haven't seen any date-stamp or other cancellation.
He says that it was again operating in the FORT HENDRINA area in late 1898 and early 1899; and was presumably using the same double circle date-stamp as the one on your cover, since Drysdall and van den Hurk give an EKD for the HOOFDLAGER date-stamp of 23 DEC 98 D&vdH. But I haven't seen an example.
The date-stamp was again used during the Boer War - I've seen quite a few examples, dating between 13 DEC 99 (your cover and another that I've seen) and 27 APR 00; but not at FORT HENDRINA, which had by April 1899 acquired its own regular date stamp - the HOOFDLAGER date-stamp may well have been in several places in early 1900 ....
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This is a very interesting Cover. Many collectors of this material would want to have it in their possession.
I want to pick upon the point that "it paid postage despite being stamped Veld Dienst". I am no expert in Boer mail of the South African War, nor of the ZAR / TVL, but it seems to me that if someone on Commando service wanted to send a letter home, say to Pretoria. 'Pokkiesdorp' or 'Ververlatevlakte', it would be sent without charge. As such, this cover would have been freely mailed up to the point it left the ZAR. However, when you are sending a letter to Zanzibar, then a British possession and technically a country/colony the ZAR was at war with and for which it presumably had no 'Veld Service' postal agreement, you would be expected to pay postage for the external service. Are there any examples of stampless 'Boer'Veld Dienst mail being sent FOC to countries outside the ZAR/OFS?
As stated, I am no expert in Boer mail of the South African War but I wonder about the cachet 'Veld Dienst'. It is not in Putzel. That does not mean it is a fake. It just means it's not in Putzel, along with a lot of other stuff.
I see you refer to the 'Boer War'. This is the phrase I grew up with in SA. Today I prefer to call it the 'South African War', one which included all its people. The term 'Anglo-Boer War' is a racist term popularised by segregationist historians who wanted to project an image of the war as a 'White Man's War'. This fitted the Apartheid narrative of a 'Whites Only' South Africa. It is time to drop all use of 'ABW', an offensive term which many clever historians continue to perptuate quite unwittingly. It's time for them to wake up!
I saw this on Steve Drewett's website: https://www.stevedrewett.com/index.php?s=112
As a rule I do not like copying items from the internet. I guess it is okay if you state where it came from or better put a link in, as I have done. I would want people to do this for me.
In my experience, dealers are not collectors like most of us and are usually the last ones to display material at club and society meetings, if ever. However, they do display in the sense that they show you what they have for sale in their online shops. It is always good to browse their sites. You never know what you might find - ands better, learn!
The item below is on sale for GBP £55. Given that it is in such a bad state, your cover should be worth a lot more. I do not know what you paid for it but I'm guessing not a lot. However, many dealers with online shops often price very high, often unrealistically so.
"TRANSVAAL - 1900 stampless 'Ved Dienst' to Johannesburg (fault) used at HOOFDLAAGER. 1900 (JAN.25) stampless envelope marked in manuscript 'Veld Post' addressed to Transvaal (torn in half but repaired) & cancelled by d/r HOOFDLAAGER/ZAR cds. Backstamped on arrival JOHANNESBURG/ZAR. Despite this major fault this is a very rare cancel from the Boer HQs. £55."
I reckon yours is a very nice cover!
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