Gerald Davis (10 October 1916 – 16 June 2005) was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

er, postal historian and

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

. His 1971 ''Burma Postal History'' is a classic study, both readable and comprehensive.

Life

Davis learned the basics of stamps and philately while helping out with his father's stamp shop in Baker Street, Marylebone, City of Westminster, Westminster. As an adult he formed an extraordinary collection of the postal history of Burma, including the Empire of Japan, Japanese post offices in Burma and the overland routes to China and Thailand.

Burma

After Operation Dynamo, Dunkirk Davis went to India with the British Fourteenth Army (United Kingdom), Fourteenth Army, a multinational force comprising units from Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries during World War II. After the Battle of Imphal he served in Burma, present-day Myanmar, where he took part in the Chindwin River valley campaign and the surrender of Rangoon in May, 1945. In 1990, Robson Lowe commented, "Besides acquiring much of his modern collection from villagers who preferred cigarettes to British currency, his negotiations after the formal enemy capitulation in August, with Burmese postal officials, for stamps which have since become collectible, by his own account comprised his most active service." Using the first-hand knowledge of the country gained from his military assignments, and building on foundations laid by W. Renouf, Jal Cooper and Vernon Rowe, Gerald Davis' studies and presentations of Burma's postal history brought the country to its present-day attraction for collectors and philatelists. Davis was a fellow and member of the Society of Postal Historians, the India Study Circle
India Study Circle and Kingston Philatelic Society.

Awards

* Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London (FRPSL), elected 1972. * Tilleard Medal for excellence in exhibit presentation, 1975. * Rowland Hill Award for Journalistic Excellence for 2001.

Publications

* Gerald Davis and Denys R. Martin, Denys Martin, ''Burma Postal History, including the 1987 Supplement''. Robson Lowe, Ltd., Woods of Perth, Scotland. (1971)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Gerald People from Marylebone 1916 births 2005 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British philatelists Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London Philately of Myanmar