75th Anniversary of Royal Tour to South Africa in 1947

Day 29: 28th February 1947 Programme 11.30am leave Port Elizabeth by train to Alicedale Junction 2.00pm arrive Alicedale and leave by Car 3.30pm arrive Grahamstown 5.00pm depart Grahamstown 6.30pm arrive back to Alicedale and return to train Postal cover dated 28th February envelope already used in 1946  The train stopped for a few minutes on route to Alicedale Junction at Odega The guide for Grahamstown. The Royal Family driving though the crowds at Grahamstown  Our Electrical Engineer who was on the Train and needed feeding so here is his letter to obtain meals and it is stamped on the 28th  A few more examples of First Day Covers

Day 28: 27th February 1947  Programme  Again an actual copy of timetable Todays cover just another example of special post mark 1 Some pictures from the ILN. If you want more information this is a good website    Port Elizabeth of Yore: Royal Visit of 1947 - The Casual Observer Couple of examples of first day covers  

 Day 27: 26th February 1947 Programme This is a copy of the actual programme for Port Elizabeth visit 26th to 28th February The train arrived at a special terminal called Kings Beach. Postmark on cover, unfortunately not one for today (or tomorrow) but I have 3 for 28th so will use for each of the 3 days. This cover has the special post mark type 1. Nice springbok emblem on reverse of envelope As usual for me here is the intro for Port Elizabeth  The train arrives at a special terminal called Kings Beach at Port Elizabeth. Royal Visit to Snake Farm Drive though the streets of Port Elizabeth Some more first day covers these we DIY covers

 Day 26: 25th February 1947  Progamme 10.30am to 11.30am  A stop at Graaft-Reinet Some background information on the stop -the town was covered in flowers and Union Jacks and it was one of the best displays during the tour. This is the basic information about Graaft-Reinet Envelope posted on the 25th February and is one of the rarer King's Flight Postmarks A pin badge from the Royal Tour This was manly a travelling day stopping at several small stations this is an example from ILN. Just out interest some of the large cities produced booklets, this is part of  Cape Town's

Day 25: 24th February 1947 Programme 9.30am arrive George Station 11.00am left George Station 2.30pm arrive Oudtshoorn 6.00pm leave Oudtshoorn Dusk At Suyberg train stopped for Bantu children singing songs Postal cover dated 24th February 1947. No pictures of the visit at George but some information for you that at that time it was the only place in South Africa where hops were grown. It was the first town founded after Cape Town came into British  ownership. The early years of the town were dominated by George Rex who was the son of King George III but had become an embarrassment to the Prime Minister Pitt and he left England with a lot of ceremony and went with the Admiral of the Royal Navy to South Africa. Such was the move that he did not return and cause any more problems.    The visit was short but this time instead of the Tour of the town there was a platform set up in the Garden of Remembrance and a large crowd was in attendance This is the Details of George from the Tourist Gu

 Day 24: 23rd February 1947 Programme This a Sunday so it was pre arranged that all Sundays would be rest days for the Royal Family. The Train pulled into George in the morning and there was no ceremony or visit to the town. The Royal family and some of the household went out into the countryside to Ebb & Flow at the mouth of the River Touw and then the Bishop of George held an open air service. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, Postmarks etc below. HMS Vanguard Notes from Captains Diary covering the period 18th to 23rd February. The Captain had many visits on shore following the Royal Family and official visits to Vanguard. The weekend 22nd and 23rd the ship was open to visitors and there was 6500 on Saturday and 10800 on the Sunday with 2000 turned away. Some pictures of HMS Vanguard whilst in Cape Town  There what lots of special postmarks used during the Tour as alluded to  earlier in the Blog. The various postmarks will be shown throughout the blog but referenced back to