Australia - War and recovery: 1940-1957.
1954 Greetings Telegram: AW-GS-54.

  
General characteristics:

Heading and notes: Form number T.G. 42 E (sheet format) or T.G. 42F (roll format).
Heading is
GREETINGS TELEGRAM.
Message area: Blank.
Reverse side: Blank.
Colours (text & form): Multicoloured on cream.
Size of form overall: 152 × 203 mm (roll format).
Distinctive characteristics of this form:
 A new format was introduced in 1954 for Social telegrams. It was intended to serve the roles of many previous types of forms - Social, Birthday and Easter.

This Greetings telegram followed the release of the other two ornamental greetings telegram available at this time - the 1953 Christmas Greetings telegram and the 1954 Congratulations telegram. The re-introduction of these special forms resulted from the greater availability of paper after the war-time restrictions.

The forms continued to be issued until at least 1959.

GSF-54A AW-GSF-54A.

Pax Hill to Camberwell, Vic
(24 July 1954).

Characteristics:

  • form number T.G 42E (sheet format);
  • scroll folds above R of ORIGIN;
  • a line from AUSTRALIA to POSTMASTER at top passes 1 mm above G of GREETINGS in scroll.
GSF-54C AW-GSF-54B.

Tumut to Fremantle.
20 July 1955.

For delivery to the SS Orantes at Fremantle.

Characteristics:

  • form number T.G 42F (roll format);
  • scroll folding above R of ORIGIN so the layout of the form is the same as for type GSF-54A.
GSF-54B
Telegram sent to Australian Cricketer Ray Lindwall after he had set the world record
for the most number of test wickets (211).

For further cricket telegram references, see Cricket.

 AW-GSF-54C.

Brisbane to Cricket Ground Melbourne (CTO)
(16 February 1959).

Characteristics:

  • form number T.G 42E (sheet format);
  • scroll folds between R and I of ORIGIN;
  • a line from AUSTRALIA to POSTMASTER at top passes through top point of GREETINGS scroll;
  • various small design and colour variations - especially (on LH flower, lower petal) reduced detail on small insert on left as well as a red spot to the front middle of the petal.

 


AW-GSF-54D.

Dunsborough to Fremantle.
20 July 1955.

For delivery to the TSMV Manoora at Fremantle.

Characteristics:

  • form number T.G 42F (roll format);
  • layout of the form is the same as for type GSF-54C with scroll folding between R and I of ORIGIN.

The TSMV Manoora was laid down in 1934 in Glasgow, Scotland. She she made her maiden Australian coastal voyage from Sydney to Fremantle (Western Australia) on April 11, 1935. After the outbreak of hostilities, she was commissioned by the Navy in October 1939 and refitted for service as an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was officially commissioned on December 12, 1939 and took up patrol duties in the Coral Sea and in The Pacific. Later she was converted to a Landing Ship, Infantry with a 1,230 person capacity.

HMAS Manoora was decommissioned on December 6, 1947 and laid up for 12 months before being recommissioned and the TSMV Manoora returned to service on 31 August 1949.

Air travel became increasingly popular and so, in 1959, the Adelaide Steamship company used the Manoora on Pacific cruises before returning her to coastal duties. She was the last Australian coastal liner.

She was purchased by the Indonesian Government, who renamed her TSMV Ambulombo before she departed Melbourne with an Indonesian crew for the last time on 26 August, 1961. She became a pilgrim ship travelling between Indonesia and Mecca. Finally, she was sold for scrap to a Taiwanese company but, on the tow from Indonesia, she sprang a leak and sank off Luzon on 18 November 1972. Her supporters regarded that as a dignified (and better) end to a grand old lady.

Details of use and rarity.

Form
sub-number		 Schedule number Earliest recorded date Rarity rating
GSF-54A None. 24 July 1954 at Camberwell, Vic. C
GSF-54B None. 20 July 1955 at Telegraph Office,Fremantle, WA. NC
GSF-54C None. 21 March 1955 at Port Pirie, SA. C
GSF-54D None. 17 September 1954 at Freemantle. WA NC