South West Africa / Namibia
For some time I have wanted to start a dedicated Topic on South West Africa (SWA), the territory that became modern-day Namibia. It is a fascinating collecting area for the philatelist and postal historian alike. First colonised by the Germans, SWA was occupied by the Union of SA during WW1. It received a limited mandate to rule SWA from the League of Nations in 1922. The Republic of SA relinquished control over SWA in 1989 following the first democratic elections that saw the new nation of Namibia emerge.
I was recently favoured by fortune to have a conversation with Mike Berry, a member of the South African Philately Club and the SA Collectors' Society (SACS). Mike mentioned his interest in SWA. He told me that he had a complete collection of all the postmarks of Walvis Bay as listed by Ralph Putzel in his ten volume 'The Postmarks of South Africa'. "Would you like to put it up?" he asked. I had no hesitation in saying, "yes, please!" Walvis Bay is the best and most obvious place to start any SWA postal history project. This was the spur I needed.
The pre-colonial history of SWA can be seen in the stamps and cover below. The Portuguese were the first to come sailing southwards. Bartholomew Dias landed at Walvis Bay (Golfo da Conceição) on 8th December 1487. He mapped the coast and erected padraos or stone crosses but did not venture into the desolate Namib Desert. For the next 300 years the vast territory of SWA was isolated from European influences, a refuge for the Cape's indigenous people fleeing the colonial rule of the Dutch and British. Over time Cape traders and German missionaries began to trickle in across the Orange River. The missionaries disapproved of British liberalism and agitated for German colonial control. When it loooked likely that SWA would become a German colony, the British annexed Walvis Bay to deny them SWA's only deep water port. This was the first consequential colonial act of territorial acquisition in SWA.
1988 7 January. 500th Anniversary of Cape of Good Hope. 40c 'Carta de Cantino 1502'.
The Portuguese mapped the coast of SWA and left stone crosses but did not venture into the Namib Desert.
1931 5 March. 1st Pictorial Definitives of SWA. 1d 'Cape Cross'.
Mike has commented on this to the editor. He said "In the Walvis Bay story you showed Cape Cross, so I checked. The replica stands with hundreds of seals about 100 miles north of Swakopmund. The original from 1486 (11 ft) was the second voyage there of Captain Diogo Cao, ship Padria (Jesus). In 1893 a German Naval Commander took it to Germany. Under pressure it was returned to Namibia in 2019."
Pre-2019. Portuguese padrao from Cape Cross on display in German Museum.
Given its history, it is encouraging that Namibia wants this colonial relic returned to it.
1989 14 August. Namib Deser Sand Dunes. Full set of 4.
The Portuguese mapped the coast of SWA and left stone crosses but did not venture into the Namib Desert.
Circa 2000. Photo. Sand Dune at Susselsvlei. (Copyright, Mike Berry.)
Sand dunes half the size of this intimidated explorers from venturing inland from the sea.
Spot the people in this wonderful landscape.
Walvis Bay is the only sheltered deep water port along the the entire length of Namibia's approximately 1572 km (977 miles) coastline. A feature of Namibia is that the Namib Desert stretches all the way along the Atlantic coastline, creating a formidable barrier between the sea and the interior. Indeed, this deterred European explorers from venturing inland. However, during the infamous Scramble for Africa by European powers in the 1880s, the Germans who had no African colonies took the opportunity to acquire SWA.
The British at the Cape had no plans to acquire SWA. Despite this, they did not welcome the Germans as colonial neighbours. Knowing that the Germans would need to import men and material in large quantities if they were to build a colony, the British decided make their endeavours as difficult as possible by depriving the German colony of the harbour at Walvis Bay. In 1878 the British annexed the land surrounding Walvis Bay, making it an exclave (not enclave) of the Cape Colony, some 654 km (392 miles) as the seagull flies south.
1979. Cover. WALVIS BAY (Bilingual) '1979 - 5 - 12' (SAR postmark - Station Foreman) to BENONI, SA.
The stamp is a South African one, Walvis Bay being a part of SA at the time.
1978 10 March. (Centenary) Annexation of Walvis Bay.
(Mike Berry Walvis Bay Collection).
1878. Illustration ex The Graphic. May 18, 1878.
This sketch shows how small and primitive Walvis Bay was when annexed in 1878.
(Mike Berry Walvis Bay Collection).
"Thank you, Mike" for sharing your display on the 'Postmarks of Walvis Bay' with us. This exclave of the Cape Colony created to frustrate German colonial ambition in SWA is arguably the most suitable place to start our travels studying the postal history of SWA!
THE POSTMARKS OF
WALVIS BAY
Brief History of Walvis Bay.
Mike Berry.
1888. Illustration ex The Graphic. October 6, 1888.
Ten years after annexation Walvis Bay beginning to show some growth.
(Mike Berry Walvis Bay Collection).
According to archaeological findings the western coast of Southern Africa, in what is now known as Namibia, was home to small groups of Khoikhoi and the Aoni for thousands of years. It was discovered by the western world in 1487 when the Portugese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz anchored here when searching for a route to the east.
Three centuries later the next groups of westerners were active in the area. With the abundance of plankton in the cold Benguela current, the waters drew many whales, and from the 1780's European and North American whalers hunted in the bay, well into the early 1900’s. The Europeans had recognised the safe deep-water harbour’s strategic value in relation to the sea route around the Cape.
In January 1793 the Dutch flag was raised over the bay, but their rule was short lived. After occupation of the Cape the British quickly seized control over the area, more for administrative convenience, and safe passage of ships. Fearing the increased interest of the Germans in the country, Britain annexed the harbour, settlement area and several offshore islands (big guano deposits) on 12" March 1878. Six years later Walvis Bay was transferred to the Cape Colony and in 1910 incorporated into the Union of South Africa.
In the meantime, Germany had established sovereignty over what was then known as German South West Africa, and declared a dispute with Britain over the area boundaries. The dispute was settled in 1911, in British/South African favour based on the 1870 British sovereignty and the enclave of Walvis Bay was allocated an area of 1124 sq.km. When South African forces defeated the Germans in 1915 Walvis Bay was under martial law as part of South Africa. Following the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations assigned South Africa mandatory powers over South West Africa.
When Namibia became independent in 1990, the United Nations resolved that Walvis Bay should be incorporated into the new nation, and after external pressure this was eventually agreed with South Africa in 1994. By this time Walvis Bay had continued as an important fishing base, port, and good deposits of valuable Uranium were mined. The main mining ceased in 1997, at which date the Walvis Bay population was about 65,000.
Walvis Bay was known by the Dutch/Afrikaners as 'Walvisbaai', the Germans 'Walfischbai', some English as 'Walfish', 'Walwich' or even 'Woolwich Bay', all loosely based on the early value of whales.
The Earliest Postmark of Walvis Bay
Cape Post Office records show a Walvis Bay Postal Agency was opened in 1852, long before the 1884 incorporation of the area into the Cape. No identifiable mail of this period has yet been reported despite it being listed continuously until becoming a Post Office in 1881.
The earliest known postmark was the Barred Oval Numeral Canceller (BONC) 300 of the Cape. (Putzel. No. B 1.) The following is a very scarce and attractive BONC 300 proving card.
Greeting card in green bearing Cape of Good Hope 1d tied BONC 300 (Putzel type B 1) with Walfish Bay AP 11 99 code 'e' cds at left (Putzel type B 3a) strikes. Cape Town transit and Carnarvon arrival strikes.
(Mike Berry Walvis Bay Collection).
Introduced in 1908, Putzel B 4 had two curved bars and a small Maltese Cross at base. It was destroyed in a Post Office fire on Monday 2ast June 1909.
Dated JU 18 09 (Friday), three days before the Post Office, attached to the Residency, burned down and the canceller destroyed.
(Mike Berry Walvis Bay Collection)
This and other similar covers addressed to various members of the SMS Panther crew, to be delivered to the vessel or collected from the Post Office, could be considered philatelic. SMS Panther was an Austro-Hungarian gunboat (light cruiser with ramming bow, built on the Clyde for the German Navy). It had taken part in the subsequently first named Gunboat Diplomacy incident against the French near Haiti.
1909. Light Cruiser SME Panther (K.u.K. Austro-Hungarian Navy).
The following item is from the occasion when the Walvis Bay Post Office burned down.
Putzel type 5, manuscript cancel Walfish Bay 28/6/09, used briefly after the Post OPffice was burned down, and the canceller destroyed*.
Letter card manuscript cancelled Walfish Bay, dated 29/6/09 addressed to a crew member of SMS Panther to be collected at the next port of call, Swakopmund. Backstamped receiving mark Swakopmund, Deutsch Sud-West Afrika6 30 6 09 4-5N.
(Mike Berry Walvis Bay Collection)
*The State Archives report about the fire: "From recoreds available here, the date was about June 24th 1909. The Post Office at that time was housed in one wing of the Residency. A temporary Post Office was then set up in the house of Dr Sinclair, who died unexpectedly a week after the fire".