WWI Delandre Red Cross Stamps (1914-18) 
  • cc3325 the Frenchman, Gaston Fontanillie, alias "Delandre" was an entrepreneur whose many schemes often landed him in trouble. One of his most successful schemes was to produce patriotic poster stamps depicting various military units during World War 1. He hired famous military artists to help design what would become thousands of individual stamps which he sold to the general public. The stamps were so successful that he was commissioned similar stamps for the French Red Cross. However, he failed to share the proceeds from the sale of the stamps with the Red Cross, and was arrested in 1917. He remained in prison until 1923, where he had reportedly died. However, it is now thought that Delandre faked his own death, moved to Marseille with his mistress, and after several shady dealings in the jewelry and banking business, assume the title of Baron Picarat, chairman of the board of an imaginary National Committee for the Fight Against Leprosy. He died in 1927 after swallowing cyanide as the authorities closed in on him. 

Revenue and Cinderella stamp collections often have stamps that have damage or faults created by the use of the stamps such as cut cancels, tears, punch holes, missing perfs, short perfs or thins.  Stamps originally on a document or a cover may also have been folded, cancelled, or placed on the edge of a document, and show some indication of surface abrasion.  Many of these stamps may also have been affixed to an album page and were soaked in water to remove a hinge remnant or remove paper backing or adhesion and will be without gum. Please take this into consideration when bidding.  I strive to accurately describe all items.  Please ask questions if you need more information on condition.


  • INFORMATION:
    • See scan for actual stamp you are bidding on! Place your bid on what is shown. Examine the image(s) carefully for centering, perfs, colour and any obvious faults. For all early mint stamps, I cannot guarantee if the stamps are regummed or genuine. If the description is unclear or questionable, please contact us prior to bidding.
  • Can I combine my orders? Yes, we can combine winning stamp auctions into one shipment at no additional shipping charge!  Albums, books and accessories can be combined to lower the overall shipping cost but please wait to be invoiced with the correct shipping costs.  In order to take advantage of this offer, do NOT pay for each winning bid, one by one. Place your order in your Shopping Cart and then request an invoice from me when your bidding is finished. I will then lower the shipping cost to you. However, as my lots are all on ebay.com, you must place your orders there. This will NOT work on ebay.ca! My advice is to always request an invoice from all sellers if you are ordering more than one lot from the same seller. That gives the seller a chance to lower your combined shipping cost. Please understand, that ebay and Paypal sellers fees are charged on the entire order INCLUDING shipping and neither ebay nor Paypal refund any sellers fees even if the seller gives a partial refund later. As a result, we don't refund overpaid shipping charges unless it is a larger amount. Even then, a 20% chargeback is applied to shipping overcharges if you paid for the order without requesting an invoice.

  • What is the best way to contact dwainwri?  For the fastest response, we prefer that you contact us through eBay messaging system. We try our best to respond within 24 hours. 

  • Payments: Payments are to be made within 7 days of the auction ending, or receiving an invoice. No exceptions. If you have multiple auctions you're bidding on, please wait for those auctions to end to be invoiced for correct combined shipping costs. To be able to process your order in a timely manner, all Payments are to be completed through PayPal, which is the fastest and the securest way to receive your payment. Any payments not received within 7 days will result in an un-paid case opened against you. 
  • What if I don’t have a PayPal account? Alternative payment methods are to be arranged by contacting us through the eBay messaging system. We will inform you when payment has been received. Orders will be processed within 24 hours of receiving payment.

  • Shipping (Rates are subject to change at the discretion of Canada Post): All items within Canada under 500 grams are shipped via Canada Post First Class Mail. Outside Canada, items under 200 grams (7oz) are shipped via Canada Post first class mail or Canada Post international first class mail, unless otherwise stated within the listing. Items over 200 grams (7oz) are shipped via Canada Post cheapest service (Small Packet Air, Light Packet or Expedited). For heavy parcels outside North America, we use a courier. The cost is calculated at $14.75 per kilo plus $2.50 per parcel. Domestic mail: If your item weighs less than 500 grams, there will be no tracking number. If you prefer to have a tracking number, you have to contact us through the ebay messaging system and request to be billed for XPRESS POST (expensive). International buyers will be responsible for any customs charges in their country. International Surface Rate does not come with a tracking number.  
  • We ship anywhere in the world! (except Italy and Russia and restricted countries like North Korea)

  • How much is Registered or Tracking? Registered Service within Canada is $10.00 PLUS postage (weight and size of mailing). This is the cheapest option to add tracking for first class mail. There is no insurance, unless amount of insurance is requested and paid by the buyer at an additional cost. Canada Post no longer offers Registration outside of Canada. Tracking and Delivery Confirmation is offered to the U.S on parcels over 200 grams. I can also add Tracking to envelopes for an additional $2.00 charge. Outside North America, Tracking is available with Priority Worldwide, Xpresspost and Tracked Packet or via DHL (expensive). All services would have to be individually quoted.  If there is a particular service you prefer, please use the ebay message system to request which service, and we can discuss whether that option will work, and be cost effective for you.Shipping item/s over $100 in value must have “Canada Post tracking". International:  There will be NO tracking unless one of the above options chosen, and you will be at risk, for non receipt, if the item is not received. We can no longer take the risk, when we clearly sent the item.If you pay for the items before you are invoiced for the service: If you pay/paid for your item/s before you’re invoiced, you will receive a message, plus a Paypal invoice requesting the difference in the postage costs. Your item will be marked ‘shipped’, and held onto until the difference has been paid. Not to delay the process of your item/s, we request that you communicate with us right away, informing which prefer, REGISTERED/NON REGISTERED. 

  • Please note, that dwainwri can no longer be responsible for non-receipt of high value items. For our buyers to be protected under the “ebay Buyer Protection Program”, we only ship to the address in your profile. It is the buyer’s responsibility to confirm correct shipping address upon checkout. If you would like your item sent to a different shipping address, it’s your responsibility to provide that information upon checkout within ebay. Do not send an additional note within payment to request an alternative address; this will delay the process of your order. We will refund you, and request that you update the correct shipping address upon checking out a second time.

  • What’s taking so long? I haven’t received my item? We kindly ask our buyers to allow up 30 days for delivery of an order. Some of our Domestic buyers have been experiencing longer delays than usual, due to the closures of sorting stations across the country. Mail had been redirected for sorting in some areas, causing the long and unusual delays. When leaving feedback on shipping times, we ask kindly that you refrain from scoring us low. Please be aware that we have no control over the processing times once shipments have left our office. Arrival times vary greatly depending on the country, processing times of those countries, and in some countries, the weather. We can only track an item, if the shipment was sent with a tracking number. 

  • International: Customs taxes are the responsibility of the buyer, NEVER the seller!

  • How soon after making a payment do you process my order? Orders paid over the weekend will be mailed no later than Mondays by 4pm. Any auctions won from Monday to Thursday, are processed daily, time permitting. All orders will be processed in the order that payment was received.

  • If I'm not satisfied with my order, can I return my item for a refund? We offer 100% satisfaction. We often process over 100+ listings weekly. Due to the amount of listings, we do our best to describe our listings to the fullest. We inspect our lots, but at times it can be difficult to inspect every single stamp, sheet, and first day cover in detail. In lieu of inspection, we provide as many detailed photos for your viewing. If you receive an item that you’re not satisfied with, we will be happy to have the item returned to us within 14 days of receiving items as it was sent to you. Return shipping is the responsibility of the buyer, and refunds are processed upon inspecting and receiving the item. If you want to return the item, please contact us directly through the ebay message system. 

  • Please note: Scott or Unitrade Catalog numbers used unless noted otherwise. 
  • DESCRIPTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED: MNH= Mint Never Hinged or Un-mounted, MINT OG= Unused having been hinged with its original gum, NG= No gum, CTO= Canceled to order, DG= disturbed or spotty gum, RG= re-gummed, NGW= natural gum wrinkle, LH= a lightly hinged copy, VLH= very lightly hinged, HR= has a hinge remnant, HHR= has a heavy hinge remnant, AD= some type of adhesion (such as paper, album offset, etc.) on its gum, PMG= pencil mark or notation on its reverse, FDC= First Day Cover or a First Date of Cancel, CR= crease, TH= Thin, MD= a minor defect, SF =space filler. 

    • Note: An ongoing incompatibility between eBay.com and eBay.ca forces buyers who are logged in on eBay.ca to make immediate payment for each individual item purchased from my eBay.com store. If you wish to make multiple purchases on one invoice and/or wish to delay payment for whatever reason (i.e. wait for auction listing results) you can get around the incompatibility by logging in on eBay.com.