75th Anniversary of Royal Family Visit to South Africa Day 77

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 Day 77: 17th April 1947

Programme

10.00am Arrive Lobatsi in Bechuanaland

3.00pm Depart Lobatsi

16.30pm  Arrive at Mafeking (see further down the blog)

18.00pm Depart Mafeking

The stamps are shown here and they come in the familiar 10 x 6 sheets.


Postal Covers for the 17th April 1947 are similar except the bottom one has the extra words "First day of issue", but this is not really true as the stamps were issued on the 17th February 1947   


Another cover with the Royal Visit strike on the reverse also the Registered letter box has an actual number in it



The King inspecting Royal Horse Guards


The King greeting Regent Tshedeki





Princess Elizabeth meeting Girl Guides



Some information about Bechuanaland now called Botswana




Picture from a newspaper of the day's visit

Information on Mafeking

War: The Boer War

Date of the Siege of Mafeking: 14th October 1899 to 16th May 1900.

Place: Mafeking lies on the railway north to Rhodesia, in the Northern tip of Cape Colony in South Africa, near to the Bechuanaland border. Combatants at the Siege of Mafeking: British against the Boers. Commanders at the Siege of Mafeking: Colonel Robert Baden-Powell against General Cronje and from November 1899, General Snyman. Size of the forces at the Siege of Mafeking: 1,500 British colonial troops against initially 7,500 Boers, reduced in November 1899 to 1,500.

                                                             Pictures from a magazine re the stop in Mafeking



HMS Vanguard

The Gold Bullion was finished loading and 20 members of the Cape Town Branch of Navy League had lunch on board.

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