We enjoyed another superb afternoon at our April meeting when Jim Etherington displayed his ‘The B.E.F in France 1939-1940.’ The display told two stories. The first Jim gave an account of the B.E.F.’s arrival in France in September 1939 through to its evacuation during late May, early June 1940. Using postal history items and post cards the story described the arrival of troops and supporting RAF, the period known as the “Phoney War”, the German “Blitzkrieg”, the various evacuation operations and the final arrival back in England.
In the second half and part 2 of the story, interspersed with the first, Jim described the postal arrangements, the various postal markings and censorship used by the British forces while in France. The display concluded with a range of contemporary post cards depicting the BEF and RAF in France and post cards used to send messages back home.