Polish and Danish Connections

During the Second World War, many Polish Servicemen came to Britain, quite a lot to Scotland. A surprising number happened to be stamp collectors. There was a small Polish stamp club in Glasgow. Plus, the Glasgow PS had a Polish connection. In 1968 Glasgow PS sent a 3 man team to Lodz with displays from 10 members of the Society. They were well received and the cover shown has the special postmark to commemorate the event.

In 1970 as part of SCOPHILEX a team of philatelists from LODZ came to Glasgow and gave a display. 3 members of LODZ PZF gave displays at SCOPHILEX. They gave a display of the “Old Kingdom of Poland – 1815 – 1870”. There were also letters and stamps from illegal Polish mail which flourished during the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, when writers, carriers and recipients all faced the death penalty if caught. A special postmark was used on the opening day highlighting the visit by LODZ PZF. A visit was also made to Paisley PS by the LODZ team.

In 1979, in connection with Polish Week a special cover was issued by Glasgow PS to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of Polish Week and the Cultural Links between the two countries. The President and other officers of the PZF were invited to a special dinner, hosted by the Association of Scottish Philatelic Societies (ASPS).

An exhibition of “Polish stamps and Philatelic Material 1960 – 1984”, “POL-SCOT 84”, including exhibits from P.Z.F. Warsaw was held in the McLellan Galleries grom 8th October 12th October 1984

The major activity undertaken by Glasgow PS in support of these cultural relations was the visit to Lodz in 1985 coinciding with the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the ending of the Second World War. Margaret Morris was a member of the jury accompanied by Fairlie Campbell as National Commissioner of the Exhibition and Leslie McArthur of the Scottish – Polish Cultural Association. Displays from 15 members of Glasgow PS were taken over. 3 special commemorative covers were issued.

The exhibits entered into the Exhibition held in LODZ from 17 - 20 October 1985 are given as below.

Great Britain Exhibits

1. Edwin Morris - Great Britain – Penny Postage
2. George MacKenzie - Postal History of Glasgow 1840-1935
3. Raymond McKinnon - Special Handstamps/ Errors and Varieties

Commonwealth Exhibits

1. Garry Buchanan - Trinidad and the Windward Islands
2. William Spalding - Hong Kong
3. Douglas Arthur - George V and George VI Issues of the Commonwealth
4. Ken Adams - Selection of Indian Native States

Europe Exhibits

1. W L Morton - Netherlands
2. Stuart MacKenzie - Switzerland and its Postal Stationery
3. Fairlie Campbell - A Polish Panorama
4. Ken Morrison - Czechoslovakia1918-1938

Thematic Exhibits

1. Margaret Morris - Astronomy – Man and the Universe
2. Leslie MacArthur - Silver Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen’s Accession to the Throne
3. Eugene Wood - Extract from a collection of Birds on Postage Stamps
4. Alan Lacey - Railways over the Years

Two of the trophies competed for annually in the Glasgow PS were donated to the Society by PZF. The Polish Thematic trophy was presented to Glasgow PS by Margaret Morris in 1998. The LODZ Plate is a wooden plate with the Coat of Arms of Warsaw in the centre and was presented to the Society in 1970. For the winners of these trophies see the Competitions page in the Glasgow PS History section. Regrettably, at some stage, the LODZ Plate went missing.

Danish connections.

In conjunction with the Glasgow-Danish Festival from 17 – 29 June 1968, Glasgow PS held an exhibition of Danish stamps, The cover shown has a special postmark commemorating the festival. It is believed the exhibition was held in the McLellan Galleries.