Arthur Bergen – BFPO Covers

🅑🅕🅟🅞 Arthur Bergen BFPO covers 🅑🅕🅟🅞

Shown below are covers from my collection which were made & serviced by Arthur Bergen at the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) in South Australia in the 1950s/60s/70s. Here is some information that I have been able to find:

Taken from a letter from Arthur Bergen to Michael Moore (c. 2002), reproduced in The Cover Collector, Winter 2013, page 13:
‘A British Forces Post Office, BFPO, was established at Edinburgh RAAF Base during the rocket trials at Woomera and Maralinga. From 1956 to its closing some time in early 1970 (?). During those years all British stamp issues were available at the BFPO on the same day of issue as in the UK. I was able to service covers with all (?) GB stamp issues – in the early years the postmarks were changed periodically for “security” reasons. I generally had the Adelaide Mail Exchange postmarker (Grenfell St) applied on the same day to authenticate the cover being serviced in Adelaide. I have not publicized these covers.’

Australian Philatelic Covers by Michael Moore, Monograph Number 8, Arthur Bergen, 2003, page 7:
Arthur Bergen’s interest in military aviation led to the production of some special and coherent series of covers. One of these was a series of mainly British First Day Covers serviced at Edinburgh SA. A British Forces Post Office was established at the Edinburgh RAAF base during the rocket trials at Woomera and Maralinga. It operated from 1956 until the early 1970s. Bergen was able to service covers with almost all the UK stamp issues of those years at the BFPO Edinburgh. He usually had the Adelaide Mail Exchange, Grenfell Street postmarker also applied on the same UK first day of issue.

Many of the covers have text added by Arthur (using his Adana letterpress printing machine), separate to the main cachet design. See examples below showing 4, 5 & 6 line variations. Some shorter 2-3 line versions and other longer variations also exist. Arthur Bergen signed many of these covers on the back. He also often applied a rubber-stamped cachet “B.F.P.O. ADELAIDE”, which i’ve seen in various different colours including blue, magenta & black.

POSTED FROM BRITISH FIELD POST OFFICE
EDINBURGH AIRFIELD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
BASE OF LONG RANGE WEAPONS AND
ROCKET RESEARCH IN AUSTRALIA

THIS COVER WAS POSTED FROM THE
BRITISH FIELD POST OFFICE AT
EDINBURGH AIRFIELD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
BASE OF LONG RANGE WEAPONS AND
ROCKET RESEARCH IN AUSTRALIA

POSTED FROM BRITISH FORCES
POST OFFICE, EDINBURGH
AIRFIELD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA,
BASE OF ATOMIC, LONG RANGE
WEAPONS AND ROCKET RESEARCH
IN AUSTRALIA

Apparently, very few people knew about the BFPO covers that Arthur was making and having serviced in South Australia at the time. I’ve also heard he only produced about 10 examples for each issue, making these covers very scarce. I have seen the following different BFPO/FPO postmark numbers used: 67, 80, 146, 151, 155, 1010, 1014, 1016, 1033, 1046. All are circular date stamps. For more information about these cancels, please see here.

WANTED: Arthur Bergen BFPO covers that are not shown on this page, including all colour combinations & variations etc.

QEII 1d, 1½d & 2½d Definitives / 6d Air Letter – 8th Feb 1957:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII ½d & 2d Definitives – 17th Apr 1957:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII 3d Post Card (Revalued 4d) – 12th Jul 1957:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII ½d & 2d Definitives / QEII 6d Air Letter – 18th Jul 1957:
(FPO 1014 = Maralinga Range – possibly first day of 1014 cancel use ?)

International Scout Jubilee Jamboree – 1st Aug 1957:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

46th Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference – 12th Sep 1957:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Australia / Christmas Issue – 6th Nov 1957:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Australia / QEII 7½d Definitive – 13th Nov 1957:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Skylark ‘IGY Rocket Week’ – 18th Jun 1958:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

British Empire & Commonwealth Games – 18th Jul 1958:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII 4½d Definitive – 9th Feb 1959:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

General Letter Office – 7th Jul 1960:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Conference of European Postal & Telecommunications Administrations – 19th Sep 1960:
(FPO 1046 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

100 Years Post Office Savings Bank – 28th Aug 1961:
(FPO 146 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Conference of European Postal & Telecommunications Administrations – 18th Sep 1961:
(FPO 146 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

7th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference – 25th Sep 1961:
(FPO 146 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII 2d Definitive – 18th Dec 1961:
(FPO 155 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII 2d Definitive – 24th Jan 1962:
(FPO 146 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

National Productivity Year – 14th Nov 1962:
(FPO 1010 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

1863 Paris Postal Conference Centenary – 7th May 1963:
(FPO 1016 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

National Nature Week – 16th May 1963:
(FPO 1016 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Ninth International Life-Boat Conference – 31st May 1963:
(FPO 1016 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Freedom from Hunger Campaign – 31st May 1963:
(FPO 1016 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Red Cross Centenary Congress – 15th Aug 1963:
(FPO 1016 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Sir Winston Churchill 1874-1965 – 8th Jul 1965:
(FPO 80 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

England’s World Cup Football Victory – 18th Aug 1966:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

ELDO F5 Rocket Launch – 15th Nov 1966:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Christmas Postage Stamp Issue of Great Britain – 1st Dec 1966:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII 1d & 2d Definitives – 3rd Mar 1967:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

New Portrait Definitive Issue of Great Britain – 5th Jun 1967:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

British Paintings – 10th Jul 1967:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Sir Francis Chichester / Round the World Voyage – 24th Jul 1967:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

ELDO F6/1 Rocket Launch – 4th Aug 1967:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII Machin 3d Definitive – 8th Aug 1967:
(FPO 67 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

British Discoveries – 19th Sep 1967:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

QEII 2d, 3d & 4d Definitives – 15th Dec 1967:
(FPO 67 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

British Bridges – 29th Apr 1968:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

British Paintings – 12th Aug 1968:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

First Flight of the Concorde – 3rd Mar 1969:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field) / (BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Investiture of H.R.H. Prince Charles as Prince of Wales – 1st Jul 1969:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Apollo 11 Moon Landing – 21st Jul 1969:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Apollo 11 Moon Landing (different type, many are signed on reverse) – 21st Jul 1969:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Gandi Centenary Year – 13th Aug 1969:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Apollo 12 Moon Landing – 19th Nov 1969:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Edinburgh Air Field (South Australia) to Antarctica Return Flight / 4800 Miles- 1st Dec 1969:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Architectural Heritage – 11th Feb 1970:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Anniversaries – 1st Apr 1970:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Apollo 13 Splashdown – 18th Apr 1970:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Charles Dickens – 3rd Jun 1970:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

British Commonwealth Games (Scotland) – 15th Jul 1970:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Philympia 1970 / International Philatelic Exhibition London – 18th Sep 1970:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Christmas 1970 – 25th Nov 1970:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Apollo 14 Moon Landing – 5th Feb 1971:
(BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)

Great Britain Converts to Decimal Currency / New QEII Machin Definitives – 15th Feb 1971:
(FPO 1033 = RAAF Edinburgh Field) / (BFPO 151 = RAAF Edinburgh Field)