I have some French Stamps overprinted with Memel. I understand that this was a French Administration after the first world war. I have looked in the Stanley Gibbons French catalogue but cannot find any mention of the Memel Administration. Would they be listed in the German Catalogue or Russia or Lithuania?
I think Memel is comparable to Danzig, Schleswig, Upper Silezia and Saar. All areas that were German but became the subject of disputes and plebiscites. So it should be under Germany, at least for the first period (until 1923). After the Lithuanians occupied the territory, one could argue it still ought to be under Germany, only as "Lithuanian occupation", as is done in Michel and Scott, but one could also make a valid point when listing it under Lithuania.
France is not that plausible, despite the use of French stamps.
Thank you both for the assistance. It has put into doubt my inclusion of Memel as part of my French stamp collection though.
I have French occupation of Germany after WWII and thought it would be nice to have this little item as something similar after WWI.
I know that there is a problem with forgeries of Memel stamps but as I have no inverted overprints etc and have bought my stamps from a Memel specialist I hope they are good.
"France is not that plausible, despite the use of French stamps."
From 1919 to 1923 the memel area was placed under the supervision of the League of Nations (Volkenbond) with French troops guarding the order.
That is why there were France stamps with an overprint "MEMEL".
These Frenchmen withdrew when the Lithuanian troops entered the area in 1923.
On March 22, 1939 the area became German again.
In October 1944, the area was then occupied by the red army.
In 1990, when the Soviet republic fell apart, memelland was added to Lithuania.
(Modified by Moderator on 2019-08-15 09:39:47)
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