Name/Title
1965:/Chalmers: UDI, RhodesiaDescription
Rhodesian UDI (Unilateral Declarations of Independence) was declared on 11 November 1965, deliberately at the same 11th hour and on the same 11th day as Armistice Day. This was to underline the huge commitment that Rhodesia had made to the Allied cause during the Second World War. Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Prime Minister who declared UDI, had himself been a pilot in the RAF during the war.
The first UDI stamp appeared in December 1965, having been very hurriedly created.
The first complete set of official UDI stamps was issued on 17 January 1966 (see second image, which is DIGITAL COPY only).
UDI had a serious impact on the Andrew Chalmers businesses as sanctions were imposed by the Wilson Labour government in Britain. As sanction-busting took place, firms such as Andrew Chalmers were under surveillance. Russell Lee, the father of a close friend of Christine Mack (Kris Johnston), who was very high up in MI5, told her rather grimly and sarcastically that people were listening in to "any drivel" that the Mack family talked on the phone, i.e. that the home phone was being tapped.
Peter Mack's children were all sent a copy of the first-day cover stamps, with the solemn abjuration (by him) to keep them safe as they would be worth a lot of money one day. They have all disappeared.
