I ordered a book from Adelaide Booksellers, yes, in Adelaide, on 9th January.
Two days later I received an email from UK Royal Mail saying they had received my parcel but it was incorrectly addressed and there may be duty to pay. It seemed unlikely it had got to England so promptly and I clicked on the “Royal Mail” e mail address. It was a scam but quite convincing. Beware, somehow the scammer had intercepted my order or confirmation thereof. The book was delivered free of duty yesterday (by Royal Mail) and I’m hoping it will add another dimension to Chips’s diaries; although I think Coats will be reticent; indeed the blurb on the fly leaf summarising his life makes no mention of Chips.
More importantly today is the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945. It is sometimes forgotten that the Allies knew about Nazi extermination camps but the only way they could liberate them was by winning the war.
“Thursday 17th December, 1942
Anthony (Eden) read out a statement in regard to the extermination of Jews in East Europe; whereupon Jimmie de Rothschild rose and with immense dignity, and his voice vibrating with emotion, spoke for five minutes in moving terms on the plight of these peoples. There were tears in his eyes and I feared that he might break down; the House caught the spirit and was deeply moved. Somebody suggested that we stand to pay our respects to those suffering peoples; and the House as a whole rose and stood for a few frozen seconds in silence. My back tingled – it was a fine moment.” (Chips Channon’s Diaries)
I don’t think you need to worry about your order being intercepted by hackers and scammers. The lock-down driven rise in all forms of mail ordering gives random targeting of e-mail addresses a very good chance of finding someone with a delivery on the way.
Also postage from Australia is immensely expensive. My complaint on a similar order met with the comment that “the Postmaster General is overpaid”. One must need a unique book very much to suffer such cost indignity.