Papua New Guinea - Japanese Occupation overprinted stamps 1942-3

大日本

Some of the most intense fighting during World War II occurred in Papua New Guinea and West Irian between the Japanese and Allied forces, with the latter primarily composed of Australians, Americans and Natives. Concurrently, the Indigenous people of the island and foreign residents not part of the military all suffered at the often brutal hands of the invaders (Johnston 2011, Lengel 2020). The Kokoda Track remains a permanent monument to the horrors of war and the many lives lost on both sides (Collie & Marutani 2012).

As part of the occupation, Australian stamps overprinted with the words Dai Nippon and an anchor icon were officially used in the Territory of New Guinea by the occupying Japanese military forces during 1942-5, after they had captured towns such as Rabaul (23 January 1942) and Hollandia (Jayapura) in the north, and most of present-day Western Papua. Dutch stamps were overprinted during the occupation of that latter region (van Nieukerk, 2008). The Japanese also used their own country stamps, and specially printed money, during the World War II occupation of Papua New Guinea and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Little information is publically available on the overprinted stamps, as a large number were destroyed during a bombing raid on Rabaul, and very few are known to have survived. The author is not aware of any contemporary covers bearing the occupation stamps or otherwise posted from the areas of occupation, especially between 1942-3 and prior to the advance of United States and Australian forces in taking back the island during 1944-5. It is highly likely that many of the stamps and covers used during those years, and sent to Japan, were destroyed by Allied bombing there. Likewise, significant destructive bombing of towns in New Guinea also occurred. J.R. van Nieukerk's book Dai Nippon of 2008 deals with the occupation era postal history of the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Moluccas and New Guinea. It has not been sighted by the present author and may address some of the aforementioned issues in regards to available information. According to Mark Franklin's Guide to the Stamps of Papua and New Guinea (1970), the Japanese characters for Dai Nippon [Greater Japan] - 大日本 - and an anchor were hand overprinted (stamped) on the following 1931 undated Bird of Paradise stamps:

½d orange
1d green, 2d vermilion
2½d green
3½d pink
4d olive-green
6d bistre-brown
9d violet
1/- pale blue-green
2/- lake

The source of this information is not given. In all cases, as the original stamps were smallish in size, the large Japanese overprint tended to swamp the image. A copy of a ½d orange Bird of Paradise (illustrated below) sold at auction in 2020 for UK£100.

It is overprinted in black ink. This is a doubly rare stamp as the original stamp without the Air Mail overprint is rare in and of itself, with only two sheets known. It is interesting that sheets of the un-overprinted ½d orange stamps were available to the Japanese at the time. A 6d bistre-brown example was sold by Australian stamp dealer Glen Stephens in March 2020 for an undisclosed sum. It appears to have been stamped in dark purple ink, and the edges of the image are not as defined. This may be due to the density of the ink used, or a different stamp.

As noted above, the 3½d pink Undated Bird of Paradise stamp was also overprinted.

Japanese overprint, used 1942-3 (rough mock-up only).

Dutch New Guinea

A Japanese occupation 3 1/2 cent Dai Nippon postcard dated 1945, postmarked Poermaung, and addressed to Hollandia (Ambora) is known, amongst a dozen which appear to have survived the war.

Reproductions

During 2022 a stamp dealer in Taiwan specialising in reproductions of rare stamps offered for sale on eBay the following Japanese Occupation reproductions - a complete set of the Undated Bird of Paradise, and also of the Bulolo Goldfields series. Each stamp is marked with the word Replica on the back in red ink.

It is unlikely all of these stamps were overprinted by the Japanese during 1942-3. The presence of such fakes / forgeries on the market is problematic, especially when they are offered to gullible collectors as genuine, and at exorbitant prices. Such is the case with other sellers of these items on eBay, who provide no statement as to their replica status. This practice appears to be increasing with time, as modern reproduction and paper aging methods improve. These stamps are reproduced here purely as a warning to those interested is this aspect of the philatelic history of the Territory of New Guinea.

Reference

Bradley, Phillip, D-Day New Guinea: The extraordinary story of the battle for Lae and the greatest combined airborne and amphibious operation of the Pacific War, Allen & Unwin, 2019, 336p.

Collie, Craig and Hajime Marutani, The Path of Infinite Sorrow: The Japanese on the Kokoda Track, Allen & Unwin, 2012, 336p.

Franklin, Mark, Guide to the Stamps of Papua and New Guinea, 1970.

Johnston, George H., The Toughest Fighting in the World: The Australian and American Campaign for New Guinea in World War II, Westholme Publishing, 2011, 251p.

Lengel, Ed., Angels and Victim: The People of New Guinea in World War II, WWII [blog], The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, 9 August 2020.

New Guinea 1888-1949 [webpage], The Australian Commonwealth Specialist's Catalogue - Stamps of New Guinea and German Neu Guinea, accessed 30 December 2022.

Phelps, Peter, The Bulldog Track: A grandson's story of an ordinary man's war and survival on the other Kokoda trail, Hachette Australia, 2018, 336p.

van Nieukerk, J.R., Dai Nippon - The Postal History of the Lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas, and New Guinea during the Japanese Occupation and Immediate Aftermath 1942-1946, Amsterdam, 2008, 496p.

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Japanese occupation of South-East Asia, World War II.

Last updated: 14 January 2023

Michael Organ, Australia

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