1964. 🇨🇦 Canada Post Commemorates First World War Heroes.

🇨🇦 Canada Post issued a single self-adhesive stamp produced in booklets of 10 along with a gummed miniature sheet containing five examples of the stamp on 21 October 2021 to commemorate three Canadian military figures who were awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War. The issue was designed by Soapbox Design. Rating:- ****.

🇹🇹 TT Post, the postal service of Trinidad And Tobago, issued a booklet of 10 circular self-adhesive stamps on 16 October 2021. The stamps depict various dishes to celebrate the theme of ‘Authentic cuisine Trinidad and Tobago’ and the issue was released on World Food Day. The rather poor quality illustration is taken from a Facebook page post of the launch of the issue in which most often photographs featured large numbers of government ministers and officials all trying to get in the act but the stamps were largely ignored while the poor designer of the issue did not get a mention. Rating:- *****.

🇱🇰  Sri Lanka Post issued a single stamp on 19 October 2021 to commemorate the national Eid Meelad-un-Nabi festival. A colourful item. Rating:- ****.

🇯🇪 One of the six Jersey Post Post and Go ‘250th anniversary of the Jersey corn riots’ issue mentioned in Blog 1942 is depicted below. The issue was originally said to have involved adding a relevant inscription to the Lighthouses issue but the design featured on the Jersey Stamps and Collectables internet site suggests that the stamps finally appeared with the inscription applied to The Jersey Arms set. The day of issue was 28 September 2021.

1792. 🇨🇦 Canada Post Reveals New Issue Plans For 2021.

 

🇨🇦 Canada Post has revealed some details about its 2021 new issue programme. Top of the list is an issue to commemorate the Centenary of the discovery of the hormone, insulin, by Canadians Frederick Banting and Charles Best and Briton James Macleod at the University of Toronto (see below). This discovery of insulin and a way to render it usable for administration to people with diabetes may well be Canada’s greatest gift to mankind saving, as it has, the lives of millions of people.

Other subjects to be featured will include:-

Centenary of the launch of the schooner Bluenose, Two ‘Legends’ of Canadian ballet, 5 Camouflaging animals that turn white in winter, the First three First World War winners of Winnipeg’s Valour Road, Crabapple blossoms, Lunar new year and Black History Month featuring the pioneer settlements, Amber Valley in Alberta and Willow Grove in New Brunswick.

  The issue commemorating the Centenary of the discovery of insulin will be Canada’s fourth philatelic commemoration of the landmark event in medical history. A single stamp was issued on 3 March 1970 depicting laboratory equipment of Frederick Banting, the young Canadian physician who began work on isolating a secretion from the pancreas gland and showing that it would reduce blood sugar. People with with what is now called Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus produce no insulin and as a result eventually experience a fatal metabolic catastrophe. Banting, aided by the medical student Best and experimenting on dogs, worked on identifying and isolating a product of the pancreas which they eventually did indeed show to reduce blood sugar. The work was carried out in laboratories at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor John Macleod  who played a vital role in enabling Banting to achieve his goal. 

  A blood sugar-reducing pancreatic extract was identified in the summer of 1921 and after further trials and work by the biochemist James Collip in purifying the extract the product, insulin, was first produced on a large scale by the United States pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilley. Millions of lives would be saved as a result including that of HG Wells, the English writer who had developed diabetes, who was a joint founder of the British Diabetic Association. How very much this story reminds us of the events of 100 years later where people were waiting for a medical advance - this time a COVID-19 vaccine - which will save millions of lives after a short period of devoted and rapid medical investigation and pharmaceutical up scaling and production and scientists and manufacturers from several countries all involved in bringing the treatment to those who needed it.

  Banting was celebrated on a Canadian stamp issued in 1991 as part of a set of 4 commemorating Canadian doctors. Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1923 but Banting was furious that the Nobel Committee had not included Best among the named winners of the award and therefore shared his part of it with Best while Macleod responded by sharing his part of the award with Collip. It was fair enough - all had played a vital role in making insulin a life-saving reality for people with diabetes.

  Canada Post gave further philatelic recognition to Banting on one of its Millenium stamps issued on 17 January 2000 but also this time depicted Charles Best and one of the dogs used to study the effects of insulin. 

  John Macleod has so far not been commemorated on a Royal Mail stamp and it would be pleasing if this omission is corrected in the stamp programme of 2021 though I don’t hold out much hope of this happening as, despite his role in saving millions of lives, he was not an aged modern musical performer nor did he ever appear in Star Trek or Star Wars. Perhaps the Centenary of the discovery of insulin will be commemorated by a postmark or even a specially painted postbox in Aberdeen where Macleod worked after his return from Toronto.

  🇫🇯 There appears to be a new surcharged definitive stamp from the postal service of Fiji which is being offered for sale on an internet auction site. This is assumed to have been released during 2020. It is the previous 44c Purple Swamphen value with a 6c surcharge applied. Rating:- ****.

1786. 🇲🇹 Malta Christmas Stamps.

 

🇲🇹 MaltaPost will issue a set of 3 Christmas stamps on 24 November 2020. The stamps depict a painting by the Maltese artist Guiseppe Cali (1846 - 1930) of The Nativity which takes the form of a fresco on the ceiling of the dome of Christ The Saviour Parish Church in Lija. The issue was designed from photographs by David Attard and lithographed by Printex. Rating:- ***.

🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office will issue a sheetlet of 4 stamps with attached labels titled Elegy to the War Horse. The stamps have been issued previously as part of the postal service’s World War I commemorations. The sheet is sold for £20 along with a CD which presents “Elegy to the War Horse, a haunting and enigmatic tribute to war horses everywhere”.

🇮🇳 In previous Blogs I have mentioned some of the 2020 India Post My Stamp but as the year approaches its close it is probably worthwhile attempting to summarise them here. All are illustrated in the referenced Blogs.

6 January - Centenary of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd - 1 stamp - Blog 1581.

23 January - Sukumar Sen Memorial lecture series - Blog 1594.

5 February - Defence Expo 2020 Lucknow - Blog 1603.

12 February - Centenary of National Institute of Bank Management - Blog 1611.

17 February - COP-13, Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species, held in Gandinhagar - Blog 1609.

February - Brihadiswarar Temple - Blog 1611.

June - “Happy retirement” - Blog 1695.

26 July - 6th anniversary of My Gov - Blog 1711.

5 August - Shri Ram Janmabhooni  Mandriva Temple - Blog 1713.

28 August - 50th anniversary of the Bureau of Police Research and Development - Blog 1727.

15 September - Defence Research and Managment, Anti -Satellite missile -Blog 1735.

2020 - Silver Jubilee of Mahanagar Gas - Blog 1751.

27 October - 50th anniversary of College of Defence Management - Blog 1766.

2020 - Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Porur, Chennai - 1 stamp.

2020 - Greetings, Chhath Pooja.

November 2020 - Centenary of Lucknow University - 1 stamp.

1754. 🇨🇦 Canada Post Commemorates Woman War Artist.

 🇨🇦 Canada Post will issue a single self-adhesive stamp on 28 October 2020 to commemorate Mary Ritter Hamilton who was the first female Battlefield artist who worked at the front during the First World War. The stamp depicts her painting Trenches on the Somme which was completed in 1919 and the stamp was designed by Réjean Myette. Rating:- *****.

🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia will issue a set of 3 stamps on 5 November 2020 to commemorate World Post Day by illustrating the theme More than mail with stamps on the subject Innovations of Pos Malaysia. An interesting and modest set. Rating:- ****.

🇮🇪 An Post, the postal service of the Republic Of Ireland, issued a booklet containing 4 stamps and 2 miniature sheets on 15 October 2020 featuring the Irish veteran popular music U2 calling the issue ‘U2 A Celebration’. Clearly An Post is following the tired old track that Royal Mail has been following in depicting aged pop musicians on its stamps in an effort to appeal to the nostalgia market. Pleasingly however An Post has not decided to issue countless expensive additional philatelic items to drain collectors and ‘fans’ of their money. The issue was designed by Shaugn McGrath Creative and lithographed by Enschedé with additional hot foil silver and gold printing on the miniature sheet along with UV lacquer. The issue is perforated 13.5.

1752. 🇬🇸 South Georgia Remembers Shackleton’s ‘Forgotten Heroes’.

 🇬🇸 The administration of South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands will issue a set of 4 stamps on 11 November 2020, Armistice Day, on the subject of ‘Shackleton’s heroes’, the issue being titled ‘Lest We Forget’. The stamps, designed beautifully by Andrew Robinson, depict four of Ernest Shackleton’s crew members aboard the Endurance in the 1915 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition who when when they eventually returned signed up to fight for Britain and The Empire in the First World War and were all tragically killed in the war. The issue remembers those of Shackleton’s heroes who did not receive any official recognition at the time despite their sacrifices. A very worthy issue which was lithographed by Cartor and is perforated 13.5. Rating:- *****. 

🇲🇲 The postal service of Myanmar issued a single stamp on 13 October 2020 to commemorate the Centenary of film-making in Myanmar. This really is an excellent design. Rating:- *****.

🇳🇿 New Zealand Post will issue its Christmas stamps on 4 November 2020 depicting scenes from the Nativity in the form of stained glass. The issue is made up of 3 self-adhesive stamps from booklets or sold separately as singles and 4 gummed stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps. The designs are by on Ward, New Zealand Post and lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 14.5 x 14. Rating:- ***.

🇹🇰 The postal service of Tokelau will also release a set of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps on 4 November 2020 as its Christmas issue. The stamps also depict the Nativity using traditional motifs and placing it in a Tokelau setting. I like this original and locally relevant approach to the subject. The issue was designed by Cam Price and lithographed by the Collectables and Solutions Centre in Whanganui and is perforated 13.5. Rating:- ****.

1491. 🇮🇳 Battlefields Of World War I.

   🇮🇳 Further to Blog 1490 the remaining 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet issued by India Post to commemorate the involvement of Indians in the First World War are now illustrated below. The subject of this part-issue is the ‘Major Battle Theatres’ in which Indians fought as part of the British Imperial forces. The subjects featured are Indian involvement in the conflicts in France and Belgium, East Africa, Gallipoli and in Mesopotamia. The set emphasises just how significant was the role of Indian forces in bringing victory to the British and their allies in their fight with The German Empire and its allies. Rating:- *****.

    🇮🇱 It is worth noting that the Indian contribution to victory in the First World War in the Middle Eastern area was also noted on one of the 4 stamps issued one per year by the postal service of Israel which made up a set to commemorate events in Palestine/Israel during the war. This fascinating set from the postal administration of a country which was once part of The British Empire and which has been said at one stage to have been interested in joining The Commonwealth, highlights the principal features of Palestine/Israel’s involvement in the First World War. The 2015 stamp depicts the Ottoman military railway, the 2016 stamp illustrates the aerial warfare which took place there, the 2017 stamp depicts the entry of British General Allenby into Jerusalem after defeating the Turks there and the 2018 stamp shows the Imperial Indian forces at Haifa. An interesting set telling an important part of the story of the British Empire’s involvement in the First World War and highlighting the role of Indian forces in the war. 

🇬🇧 The first, admittedly rather indistinct, pictures of the upcoming Royal Mail Royal Navy ships issue, due to be released on 19 September 2019 are available. The set is made of 8 stamps sold in se-tenant pairs (2 x 1st - Mary Rose and HMS Queen Elizabeth, 2 x £1.35 - HMS Victory And HMS Dreadnought,  2 x £1.55 - HMS Warrior and Sovereign Of The Seas, 2 x £1.60 - HMS King George V and HMS Beagle).

  There’s no disputing that the set depicts the Royal Navy’s most famous and historically significant ships and commemorates the Royal Navy’s magnificent new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. The art used on the designs, despite the poor quality images here, is excellent and this could well be the best set of the year from Royal Mail. An exciting issue for sure. Rating:- *****.

  🇺🇬 In addition to the 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet featured in Blog 1490 which were issued by the postal service of Uganda on 21 March 2019 to commemorate the inauguration of the 183 MW  Isimba Hydropower plant and interconnection project there are also 4 single stamp miniature sheets each with a high face value. Rating:- **.