Jersey Occupation History.
At the start of the Occupation stocks of British stamps were higher in the Jersey post offices than in Guernsey. Hence there was no need to bisect stamps in Jersey.
The postcard rate during the Occupation was 2d. Here we see an old 1d King George V postal stationery card uprated with 1d Arms for the correct 2d rate. This contained a message from the Food Control Office, sent in March 1942.
This May 1943 cover is a King George VI 1½d postal stationery envelope uprated to 2½d with two ½d Arms stamps. These stamps are cancelled with light Samares sub Post Office datestamps. These stamps may have been used because of a shortage of 1d stamps at that time.
The ½d Arms stamp in the same design was issued in 1942. Note that four stamps were required on this 1942 cover to make up the correct rate.
During 1943, the Jersey authorities decided to replace the Arms stamps with a series of six showing different views of the Island. These were designed by the local artist Edmund Blampied and were printed in Paris, where supplies of paper could be relied upon. This 1d rated cover is addressed to the local Chemist at First Tower. Unlike Guernsey, Jersey people rarely used their envelopes twice. However, the Islanders often made their own envelopes out of any material available. This pink envelope was made from tomato wrapping paper.
This cover addressed to Electricity House, St. Helier, was posted at the 2½d rate. This September 1943 cover shows mixed usage of the Jersey 1d Views stamp and a King George VI 1½d definitive to make up the correct rate.
As for Guernsey, the registered letter rate in Jersey was 5½d. Here we see an uprated King George registered postal stationery envelope from Lloyds Bank. This was posted in December 1942. Note the standard Jersey registration label. These labels remained in use for most of the occupation period.
The head Post Office in Jersey introduced provisional registration handstamps for use on registered FDCs of the the Jersey Views stamps in 1943. An example can be seen above. These were unframed. They were characterised by a letter (A, B or C) followed by 4 digits. The cover above has the registration handstamp – B3705.
The JERSEY 2½d PAID handstamp was also similar to that for Guernsey. An example is shown from the Food Control Office in St. Helier. This handstamp was also used on several occasions during the Occupation due to stamp shortages.
The first local stamp issued was the 1d stamp which was printed by the Jersey Evening post. This was issued in April 1941. An example of use is on an unsealed letter is shown on this commercial cover, dated April 1942.
Like Guernsey, the Jersey Post Office also ran out of stamps on various occasions. The cover above was sent from the Jersey Cooperative Society in December 1942. at the 1d rate. A JERSEY 1d PAID handstamp was applied in lieu of a stamp. This design is similar to that for Guernsey. These were normally applied in red, although examples with 1945 dates have been seen in a red brown colour.
