A stamp club born in the darkest days of the Second World War has survived to celebrate its 80th anniversary.

But members of the club in Sevenoaks realise they must attract new, younger members if they are to reach their centenary.

It was1942. The middle of the Second World War. Singapore had been overrun. Malta was under siege. Tobruk had been captured by the Germans. The Philippines had fallen to Japan and the Nazi's were still advancing on Stalingrad.

But there must have been a glimmer of hope on the horizon, enough for even military men in Sevenoaks to turn their thoughts to more pacific matters.

For it was on July 31 of that year that the Sevenoaks and District Philatelic Society was formed, now more commonly known as Sevenoaks Stamp Club.

Meeting for the first time at the Girl's Club Room, opposite the public library, at The Drive in Sevenoaks, the founding members included Brigadier G. Gryls, Wing Commander C.F. Gordon, Captain J.F.C. Fade, Major O.C.C. Nicholls and Lt Col R.T. Toke.

In addition there were 17 civilian members - including a police inspector, L.F.Bassett, and three vicars, the Revs A.H.Head; P.H.Turnbull, and W.C.Salmon, the rectors of Chevening, Penshurst and Edenbridge respectively.

Why philately should be so popular with military men is unclear, perhaps service postings abroad had sparked an interest in foreign postal systems?

In any case, the club, which was initially founded as a Sevenoaks branch to the existing Tunbridge Wells Central Pioneer Philatelic Club, thrived.

It soon out-grew its parent and became independent.

Since then it has undergone several name changes, and many changes of venue, but last month members were able to celebrate the club's 80th anniversary with a special lunch at The Bell in Kemsing. Its parent, the Central Pioneers, had folded as early as 1945.

So what is philately and what does the club do?

First you must understand the difference between a stamp collector and a philatelist. A stamp collector collects stamps like small boys once collected tea-cards, sticks them permanently in an album, probably in no particular order. A philatelist is interested not just in the stamp, but in its history, and will record both in loose-leafed pages that can be easily removed for display. Very often, collections are centred on a particular theme.

For the past eight decades, the Sevenoaks Society has held regular monthly meetings at which the members take turns to display and talk on some part of their own collection, or invite guests from other clubs to talk about theirs. Sometimes such talks are very timely. In May 1968, Kay Goodman displayed stamps from Czechoslovakia just ahead of the Soviet crackdown on the liberation movement there.

Other talks have included stamps from the German occupation of Norway, 1940-1945 (by Cornwall Hill in September 1966), or on the Austrian Anschluss (by Ian Nutley October 2008). Stamps of the American Civil War (by Peter Collins, November 1982,) and stamps of the Boer War (by D.Hepworth, Oct 1985.).

For philatelists it is often not the stamp, but the "cover" that is important - the envelope or postcode on which it is attached.

Club secretary Peter O'Keefe has for a long time collected covers from the First and Second Word Wars. He has a number of privilege post letters sent home by servicemen and women, and a number posted to and from British prisoners held in German PoW camps.

He said: "I like to find out as much as I can about the writer."

One letter in his collection was posted in January 1945 by Pauline Rumbold of Canterbury Road, Herne Bay, to her brother T.H. Rumbold, in Stalag XXB at Marienburg near Danzig. It was returned to her undelivered, probably because the Germans were already moving prisoners ahead of the advancing Russian Army.

Mr O'Keefe said: "By chance, I later met Private Rumbold - he survived the war and became a member of the Herne Bay Philatelic Society."

Sometimes members collect Cinderella stamps - not real stamps at all, but unofficial stamps issued privately. One member has a collection of stamps issued by hotel owners in the Swiss mountains between 1850 and 1903 for a private postal service, when they considered the official Swiss post was letting them down.

Then there are the Funnies - unusual or strange stamps or postmarks. Mr O'Keefe has one envelope with postmark carrying a message dear to most postmen's hearts: "Please control your dog." It comes with a picture of a dog's head which just happens to have been perfectly placed over the Queen's head on the stamp so as to turn Her Majesty into a pooch.

Another curious example is a postmark celebrating Victory at the end of the Second World War, franked over an Edward VIII stamp - the wrong king. By 1945, George VI was on the throne.

The sender was clearly using a very old stamp, highlighting a little known fact, that unfranked British stamps remain valid in the UK no matter how old - but only at their original face value.

Sometimes there are no stamps to collect. Postal stationery is the term given to mail that comes with a pre-printed stamps on the envelope, used with postcards in Britain from 1871.

Although all collectors aspire to owning the rarest - and hence most valuable stamps, such as Penny Black or the Two Penny Blue, the world's first adhesive postal stamps, issued on May 6, 1840 - yet it is often the rare errors that make postage stamps collectible, and hence more valuable.

A misplaced line of perforations, or missing perforations, or occasionally a British stamp issued without the Queen's head, all make collectable items. (Incidentally, the UK is the only country in the world that doesn't find it necessary to put the country's name on its stamps.)

Mr O'Keefe began stamp collecting as a young boy during the Second World War. His best chum had a neighbour with relatives in Nyasaland, then linked to Rhodesia as part of the Central African Federation and now known as Malawi. It gave him a ready source of foreign stamps.

He said: "I would give my friend marbles, and he would give me his neighbour's stamps."

That was a collection of opportunity. Later his attention became more focussed on the two world wars. Mr O'Keefe's own military service was confined to three years as National Serviceman in the RAF . He said: "I was never posted abroad, but I did get to join the march past for the Queen's Coronation in 1953."

More recently he has begun a new collection of road safety stamps and road safety postmark slogans.

Does anyone remember these slogans stamped on their letters? Children should be seen and not hurt. Mind that child!

When first formed in 1942, the Sevenoaks society met at the home of the then secretary, Captain Fade, in Brabourne Vale Road, Sevenoaks.

Since then it has been rather itinerant, holding meetings at the Bligh Hotel in Sevenoaks, the Dorothy Parrott Hall, the Conservative Club at The Vine, The Friends Meeting House, the Red Cross Hall.

It is now settled at Otford Village Hall, where members meet on the first Wednesday of every month.

Membership has both grown and shrunk. The club's peak year was in 1986 with a 110 members. Now they are down to 16 members.

The club's president is Maurice Short, a former Sevenoaks Town Mayor. He said: "I have been stamp collecting since I was a boy, but it was not until I visited the society's AGM in1982 as part of my Mayoral duties that I ever thought about joining a club. I enjoyed my visit so much, I signed up immediately!"

Mr Short runs the club's connection to a stamp club for young disadvantaged children in Beruwala, a town just north of Columbo in Sri Lanka.

He said: "The Sri Lankan club is run by a retired schoolmaster Peter Perrera. Every two to three months, our members send packages of spare stamps to the children and they are always delighted to receive them!"

Mr Short said: "It's a big change from over here, where it is very difficult to get young people interested in stamp-collecting theses days - perhaps because they never write letters!

"All today's children seem to want is their tablet or anything else with a screen, not understanding what pleasure and learning can be gained from postage stamps."

Tony Fandino is another member. He said: "Stamp collecting is only a part of being a member. Postal history, geography, and political history is the true value of why we meet, apart from the strong social side.

Mr Fandino said: ''As well as our official monthly meetings, some of us meet up in between times for breakfast and at the Senokkian, the Sevenoaks Wetherspoons, for a 'show and tell.'

"The Halcyon days when we were many members are gone - therefore members are now more prone to be closer, friendlier and happy to meet outside the club.

"But we would welcome new members, especially younger faces."

Annual membership is £10. Inquiries to the membership secretary, David Best, on 01322 667045.