Polar Posts: Signy Island

Here is a postmark I saw on one of my many scans, which led me on a fun search for information on a distant place.  The postmark is from a First Day Cover, cancelled at Signy Island, British Antarctic Territory.  I wondered where this was, whether anyone was actual stationed there, whether the mail ever touched the place.  I had a lot of questions.



From what I could find, British Antarctic Territory mail goes through the Falkland Islands, and some First Day Covers do get carried to and from these places, again through Stanley, in the Falkland Islands.

Wikipedia has a surprisingly long page about this tiny island, but after looking at it for a while, it's just a list of geographical names.  Signy Island is just south of the long, winding island of South Georgia.

The Signy Island base (Base H) was occupied from 18 March 1947 to 13 April 1996, 49 years.  Starting in 1996, it became a summer-only station with a summer staff of 8 people.  British Antarctic Territory does have a stamp showing the base: it's Scott #336.  Interestingly, the stamp shows a postmark from the base from 1954. Here you go:

Over at the British Antarctic Survey site, here is the latest info on Signy base.

Following leads from those simple markings on stamps from almost fifty years ago, you can step into a virtual tour of the Signy Base today.  Click a building and you can click through it and move from room to room.

I don't see any stamps on any of the walls or desks, but it certainly was a fun journey.





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