The attendance at November’s meeting was 44, one of the highest for the year so far. The meeting held the second leg of the Roy Gilbert Cup with 16 entries this time round with the members displaying their most interesting item, which did not have to be philatelic related. The winner of the first leg was Simon McArthur and this month’s winner was Barry Brown with a display from his grandfather’s and father’s WWI and WWII medals and memorabilia. Runner up was Julie Webb with a large and colourful knitted doll. The third place went to Malcolm Cole with his display of Stalag Luft III.
The winner of the cup will be judged over the two meetings and will be presented at our Christmas meeting by Roy Gilbert’s wife, Frances.
In the second half, member Malcolm Cole gave a presentation on “Spies”, covering the role of Spymasters, Spies and those who job was to catch spies. The display showed how dangerous it was to be a spy, with many being either hung, shot or electrocuted. The result of poor spy craft was also explored, with particular attention to the attack on Pearl Harbour in WW2 and the more recent attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The display wound its way through Biblical times, the courts of Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan, through the American War of Independence and the American Civil War, both World Wars and into the Cold War period.