Back in 1995 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the end of the Second World War, Comrade Cliff Lanphear prepared a series of poster boards to show some of his photographs and post cards he collected from his time overseas with the Canadian Army during the Second World War. Cliff later donated these poster boards to the Devon Legion where they went into forgotten storage. In 2014 when the Devon Legion Executive at the time began to restore the artifacts to the Devon Legion's honoured walls after 3 years of renovations, did these poster boards re-surface. As the Branch's Historian I recovered the poster boards so that the pictures and post cards could be preserved in acid free photo albums. It now gives me great pleasure to share the first portion of the Cliff Lamphear Collection - "The Post Cards". In reviewing the post cards it appears that Cliff collected these post cards in post World War II Europe as he waited for orders to return to Canada to be discharged from the Canadian Army. These post cards are presented in this article in an order that assumes Cliff collected them as he returned from German to the Netherlands, England and finally home to Canada.
The first image is a photograph of Cliff Lanphear taken in Edinburgh, Scotland wearing his clan tartan. The photograph included a piece of the tartan since the photograph is black & white. It is not known when the picture was taken but could possibly have been taken just before Cliff returned to Canada after the war.
CLIFF LANPHEAR'S FAMILY CLAN TARTAN - CIRCA 1940'S
The first post card show below is from Oldenburg, Germany. After World War II Oldenburg was within the British zone of occupation. The building in the post card is the "Staatstheatre" (State Theatre) which opened in 1833. The theatre survived the war. The assumption is that Cliff may have attended an opra here at the theatre or just visited the historic building out of curiousity.
THE OLDENBURG "STATE THEATRE" POST CARD - 1946
The next post card shows the Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is not clear when the photograph of the hotel was taken for the post card but there appears to be a USA flag flying from the top of the hotel which could indicate it was taken after the liberation. The historic hotel has been modernized and is still a show piece in Amsterdam today.
THE "VICTORIA HOTEL" POST CARD - 1946
This next post card is also from Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is the "Rijkserzekeringsbanck". I do not quite know the significance of this building nor fully understand it's translation but I believe it has to do with insurance or banking or both. The building may have been used by the Allies post WWII or Cliff just visited the building for its local historic presence.
THE "RIJKSVERZEKERINGSBANCK" POST CARD - 1946
The next post card is from the Netherlands. It is believed to be a photograph taken in the Municipality of Zeist. The front of the post card I believe translates to "Greetings from Leist or Zeist". The original settlement was located at the present Dorpsstratt. Dorpsstratt I believe translates to "road". The post card has a breif script on the back that appears to be a name and address, possibly this maybe a residence in which Cliff was staying while in Zeist. There is a total of 3 post cards from Zeist, Netherlands in the collection.
THE ZEIST POST CARD FRONT - 1946
THE ZEIST POST CARD BACK - 1946
This next post card is from Zeist, Netherlands as well. The rough translation of " Hertenkamp" would indicate this is a photograph of a "deer park" or "wild park". With the presence of the fence this site could possiibly have contained deer or some other animals, maybe part of a zoo.
THE "DEER PARK" IN ZEIST - POST CARD FROM 1946
This third and last post card from Zeist, Netherlands is the "Town Hall" based on my undertanding of the translation of "Gemeentehuis". Current photographs of the Zeist City Hall confirm that this post card is indeed the Zeist City Hall.
THE "TOWN HALL" IN ZEIST - POST CARD FROM 1946
The next two post cards are from a region I am more familar with. They are from Brighton, East Sussex, England. Brighton is a coastal community located on the south east coast of England on the English Channel. This first post card shows the "Palace Pier" which was opened in 1899. In 2000 the "Palace Pier" was renamed the "Brighton Pier". Cliff mailed this post card back to his mother in High River, Alberta back on June 25th, 1946. He must have recovered this post card back from his mother when he returned to Canada.
THE BRIGHTON "PALACE PIER" POST CARD FRONT - 1946
Cliff's message to his mother on the back of the "Palace Pier" post card is as follows (as best understood): "Dear Mother, Just a card to let you know I still remember you. This is where I spent part of my leave. And had a swell time. We'll write later an as ever your son Clifford".
THE BRIGHTON "PALACE PIER" POST CARD BACK - 1946
This second post card from Brighton, England shows a photograph of "Regency Square" taken from the "West Pier". The "Regency Square" was a 19th century residential development in the coastal seafront community of Brighton. The "West Pier" opened in 1866 and closed in 1975 and was severly damaged by fire in 2003.
THE BRIGHTON "REGENCY SQUARE" POST CARD FRONT - 1946
The back of the "Regency Square" post card was addressed to an individual "E. Orr" but it appears that Cliff did not post it. The address is the "S.S. Princess Charlotte", British Columbia. The "S.S. Princess Charlotte" reffered to in this post card address is believed to be one of the Canadian Pacific B.C. coastal service steam ships.
THE BRIGHTON "REGENCY SQUARE" POST CARD BACK - 1946
The last post card in the Cliff Lanphear collection is of the S.S. Samaria. It is possible that the S.S. Samaria was the ship in which Cliff returned to Canada after the Second World War. The S.S. Samaria was commisioned in 1920 and served as a troop ship during World War II from 1941 to 1948.
THE "S.S. SAMARIA" POST CARD - 1946
CLIFF LANPHEAR 1985
Comrade Cliff Lanphear
Branch President 1982-1983
Life Member - 1989
Town of Devon Citizen of the Year - 1992