350. Should There Be A British Mandela Philatelic Commemoration?

   Many Commonwealth territories have already announced the issue of stamps to commemorate the late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa (see Blog 337) and so I thought it worthwhile reminding anyone who is interested in collecting Mandela commemorative issues about the booklet pane produced by Royal Mail in 2012 (issue date 31 May 2012). This  item formed pane 3 of the £12.77 Prestige Booklet which commemorated the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and aptly depicted President Mandela sitting in a ceremonial carriage with The Queen while on a state visit to Britain. Perhaps Royal Mail could use this item as the basis for a Nelson Mandela commemorative issue (if Royal Mail can celebrate Peppa Pig and Andy Pandy then I'm sure that Nelson Mandela is worthy of being celebrated by a British philatelic commemoration).

  For me 7 January 2014 is an important date since I have decided that having formed a comprehensive collection of British stamps dating back to 1840, this present date is the first day of issue of new British stamps which I shall ignore and shall not add the preposterous "Children's television characters" set of 12 costing  £7.20p to my collection. The issue, featuring Peppa Pig and Dougal The Dog, is trite and not warranted by its relationship to any significant event and is nothing but a "catchpenny" production which tells you nothing worthwhile about Britain. This will be my first British "Footnote" issue. 

  Much more interesting for true stamp collectors are the Horizon labels produced at post office counters which are actually produced for use on genuine mail and cost the collector nothing since they are only obtainable by cutting them from items which have travelled through the post. I have formed a small collection over the years and recently received a label through the post which is inscribed in English and Welsh (see illustration below). This is actually the first label with a Welsh inscription that I have received although the Welsh language labels have been produced for some years. The item is dated 29/11/2013. Also below is the illustration of a 1MP valued label I received - it is rather tatty but given its genuine postal usage, it seems to me to be more interesting than new British issues such as the "Children's television characters" issue mentioned above. 

  In the previous Blog I depicted a Christmas postcard sent to me from the Pitcairn Philatelic bureau in New Zealand and below I illustrate another Christmas item - a Christmas card - sent to me from the isle Of Man Philatelic Bureau. The front of the card depicts a number of Christmas stamps issued by the Isle Of Man Post Office over the past 40 years since it was established as an independent postal authority and inside the card are facsimile signatures from its staff. The back of the card depicts a previous Christmas stamp which featured a robin. Well done Isle Of Man Post office for making your customers feel appreciated.

Front of card

IOM Bureau staff signatures

Rear of card.

  Other items of interest are the first stamp issues of the year from Canada Post. The first issue will be the latest instalment of the annual Lunar New Year issues, this year being The Year Of The Horse. On 13 January 2014, 1 x 63c stamp from sheets of 25 stamps, 1 x $1.85c stamp from booklets of 5, 1 miniature sheet containing 1 of the $1.85c stamp and 1 m.s. containing 2 x $1.85 stamps (1 horse 

 stamp and 1 snake stamp) will be released. The stamps were designed by Paprika and lithographed by Lowe Martin and Gravure Choquet:-

  Two stamps will be released on 30 January 2014 on the subject of "Black History". Both stamps are lithographed in booklets of ten (each design produced in design-specific booklets). The designs by Karen Smith Design combine watercolour illustrations by Janice Kun and photography and feature "Africville", an African-Canadian community in Halifax and "Hogan's Alley" in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Strathcona:-

  Three self-adhesive stamps will be issued on 3 February 2014 to tie in with the the Winter Olympic Games to be held in Sochi, Russia, although the stamps do not specifically mention the Olympic Games in their designs. The people featured in the designs are described as "Pioneers of Winter Sports" and each design is issued in its own individual booklet of 10 stamps. The designer is Paprika using illustrations by Louis Hebert and the stamps were lithographed by Lowe Martin. A gummed miniature sheet is also part of the issue and combines all 3 designs:-

  Canada continues to produce well designed, interesting and worthwhile issues. There is no sign of Peppa Pig among Canada's excellent philatelic programme.

349. No Bannockburn Stamps; New British Virgin Islands Definitives In2014.

"Robert The Bruce" stamp issued 10 July 1974.

  I have already complained about the omission of a set of stamps from the Royal Mail new issue programme to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare (Blog no. 326) (much better to issue a stamp which depicts "Peppa The Pig"). But another extremely important event in the history of The British Isles is also being ignored by Royal Mail - the 700th anniversary of the Battle Of Bannockburn which falls on 24 June 2014. 

  Presumably such an issue which would commemorate the victory of the Scottish forces of Robert The Bruce over the English which ensured the independence of Scotland as a separate kingdom would be exquisitly sensitive coming as it would just a few weeks before the holding of the referendum in Scotland where the people of Scotland will be given the opportunity to vote for independence from The United Kingdom. Royal Mail has never had the courage to commemorate historically important but politically sensitive events and people and the failure to release a "Battle of Bannockburn" issue is another example of this phenomenon.

  Incidentally Royal Mail's commemorative issue for June 2014 will feature "Sustainable fish". O dear!

  In an official British Virgin Islands Government report of 3 October 2013 about the ceremony to launch the BVI stamps which commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Postmaster Ms Pascha Stott commented that 3 sets of stamps - 2 commemoratives and the other set being a new definitive series - would be issued by the territory during 2014. Thereafter, she said, there would be at least two sets per year on themes relevant to BVI such as marine life, flora and fauna and the territory's "rich historical culture".

  She acknowledged that philately "may appear to be on the decline" but felt that when it was connected to the territory's "rich history" it would become more appealing. It appears that stamp collectors are assured that BVI at least will continue with a pleasing and sensible new issue policy particularly because of the involvement of Pobjoy Stamps as the territory's philatelic agency. We look forward to seeing what the new definitive set and commemoratives will be like as this new year goes by.

  I finally illustrate the set from another British dependent territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, which was recently released to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation:-

 Several days after Christmas I received a very interesting item from Pitcairn Islands - a postcard wishing me Merry Christmas with a $1 "Landing Point" stamp attached to it and cancelled with a circular date stamp "PITCAIRN ISLANDS POST OFFICE" and dated 25 December 2013. This is a nice little item thanking me for my custom for the past 12 months and it is a much appreciated gesture. Well done, Pitcairn. Of course the item actually originates in the Pitcairn Philatelic Bureau which is actually situated in New Zealand and probably has never been in Pitcairn itself but in a way that makes it interesting in its own right.

348. Commonwealth New Issues.

  For anyone who might be interested I depict below some of the recent issues of various philatlic entities which generally have little or no relevance to the country whose names appear on the philatelic items. I have mentioned some in previous Blogs but others are listed for the first time. There is nothing among them that makes me feel that I should want to collect them apart from the new definitive series and Independence 30th anniversary set from Nevis and so they are what I call "Footnote issues":-

Antigua And Barbuda 

18 November 2013  - "Brasiliana 2013", Animals of South America - Sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet -

28 October 2013 - "China International Collection Expo", Sites and scenes of China - sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 m.s. containing 2 additional stamps - 

Date of issue not yet known - Christmas 2013 - 5 stamps-

Grenada 

Date of issue not yet known - 4 stamps and 1 m.s. - 

Grenada Grenadines 

16 October 2013 - Marine life - Sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 m.s.

Guyana

Date of issue not yet known - Reptiles - Sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 m.s. -

Date of issue not yet known - Breeds of cats - Sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 m.s. -

11 November 2013 - "Brasiliana 2013", Sites and scenes of Brazil - Sheetlet of 6 stamps and 1 m.s. -

Date of issue not yet known - Christmas - 4 stamps and 1 m.s. -

Montserrat

Date of issue not yet known - Reptiles of the Caribbean - Sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 m.s. -

Nevis

Date of issue not yet known - 30th anniversary of Independence - 3 stamps and 1 m.s.; clearly these stamps are intended to be used on local mail - 

Date of issue not yet known - "Thailand 2013", Flora of Thailand - Sheetlet of  6 stamps and 1 m.s.

Date of issue not yet known - "Brasiliana 2013", Coffee - Sheetlet of 3 stamps and 1 m.s.

Date of issue not yet known - New definitive series depicting Fish - 12 stamps

St. Vincent And The Grenadines

Date of issue not yet known - Cat breeds - Sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 m.s. -

12 December 2013 - Christmas - 4 stamps and 1 m.s. - 

Sierra Leone

Date of issue not yet known - Christmas - 4 stamps and 1 m.s.-

347. Fifty Dollar Definitive From Grenada Features Foreign Parrot.

  I have already complained about the latest definitive set to have been produced and issued on behalf of the Grenada Post Office because all the designs feature various species of parrots even though no parrots are actually to be found in the island (see Blog 322).Things are even worse because an expensive $50 value has been included in the issue and despite the price of the stamp, it again depicts a subject which has no relevance to Grenada - the parrot in question is not even to be found resident on one of Grenada's near-neighbours. Four species of parrot are found in The Windward Islands - Amazona Guildingii in St. Vincent, Amazona Versicola in Saint Lucia, and Amazona Imperialis and Amazona Arausiaca, both in Dominica. The parrot featured on the top value of the new definitive set however is the Hispaniolan Parakeet, Aratina Chloroptera, which has no connections either with The Windward Islands in general or Grenada in particular.

  I wonder why this subject was chosen to be depicted on the new definitive set. Grenada is such a lovely island with so many interesting and attractive things there that it did not really need to feature foreign subjects on its definitive stamps - it's like India choosing to depict Arctic wildlife on its next definitive series. It's all very regrettable but not really surprising given that Grenada's philatelic agents which produced these stamps are the same agency which a couple of years ago produced stamps for Guyana which commemorated King Edward XIII and only recently provided stamps to Turks And Caicos Islands to celebrate the birth of Prince George Of Cambridge but chose to depict scenes from "Alice In Wonderland" on the stamps, failing to realise that that is the book where the only baby to appear in it turns into a piglet! (See Blog 340).

  I'm interested to see that Canada has not included any stamps in its 2014 programme which commemorate the bicentenary of the War of 1812 in which Canadians and the British fought against an American invasion which sought to seize Canada and incorporate it in The United States, something which the Canadians were keen to avoid. Canada has released stamps to commemorate Canadian successes in the war in the past 2 years and featured heroes and heroines who resisted the American aggression so it's a little perplexing as to why there will be no further issue in 2014 (see Blog of 17 March 2012 and Blog 220). Interestingly, though, The USA has recently issued a stamp on the subject of the War of 1812 and this item commemorates the Battle of Lake Erie:-

  The design by Greg Breeding features a painting by William Henry Powell dating to 1865 and was issued on 10 December 2013.

  In 1812, at the outbreak of war, the British took control of Lake Erie but during 1813 the Americans built up a naval force there. The British blockaded the American base at Presque Isle but the American commander, William Hazard Perry, managed to extract the American ships and then blockaded the British base at Amherstburg where the British and their Native American allies soon ran out of supplies.

  On the morning of 10 September 1813, the British ships appeared and battle began. Perry's Flagship, Lawrence, was pounded and rendered unusable with the loss of 80% of its crew and so Perry was forced to transfer his flag to the Niagara, rowing half a mile through heavy fire to get to the Niagara while the Lawrence surrendered. Perry's transfer to the Niagara is depicted in Powell's painting which is used for the stamp design. The fortunes of the two sides subsequently changed and the British force was defeated and forced to surrender. The Americans then controlled Lake Erie for the rest of the war and enabled American successes in the Niagara Peninsula in 1814 and removed the threat of a British invasion of Ohio, Pennsylvania and western New York.

  On 25 March 2014, Royal Mail, the British postal service will release its fifth issue of the year (4 ordinary commemorative sets and 1 "Post And Go" set totalling 34 stamps, 1 miniature sheet plus at least 18 additional "Post And Go" varieties and 1 Prestige booklet and 1 retail booklet, all in the first 3 months of the year). This issue features "Remarkable Britons" of varying degrees of fame and worthiness who were all born in 1914. 

  Sir Alec Guiness, an actor of great distinction, is featured on one of the stamps. Although he played many great roles younger generations may only recognise him from his appearance in the "Star Wars" movie where he played Obi Wan Kenobi, a Jedi knight. As well as being a Jedi Knight he was also one of the great British theatrical knights and well deserves to be commemorated on a British stamp:-

  Other actors are also included in the set though they are not as distiguished as Sir Alec Guiness. Kenneth Moore was an altogether lighter actor and the actress Joan Littlewood also appears on one of the stamps:-

  Another one of the more notable Britons to be featured in the set is the Welsh poet and playwright Dylan Thomas and the set also features the broadcaster Roy Plomley, the football manager and player Joe Mercer, the broadcaster Barbara Ward and Nobel Prize winning molecular biologist Max Perutz (a pleasing inclusion in the set given how rarely Royal Mail features eminent scientists on its stamps in comparison with personalities from entertainment and sport even though the scientists have made a much more valuable contribution to mankind than is made by kicking a ball around a football pitch).

  Abram Games, a graphic designer, is featured on one of the stamps. He designed one of the British Olympic Games stamps (3d value) which were issued on 29 July 1948.

The 3d value of the 1948 Olympic Games set which was designed by Abram Games.

    Games also designed stamps for Jersey in 1975.  The set of 4 stamps and miniature sheet which combined all 4 designs were issued on 6 June 1975 and depicted classic travel posters which Games had designed to promote tourism in Jersey:-

The Jersey 1975 Tourism posters miniature sheet designed by Abram Gamea..

  One of the most worthy subjects for commemoration in this set is the brave Noorunissa Inyat Khan. Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the family of Noorunissa Inayat Khan fled from Russia to London. Her father was Indian and a musician and teacher of Sufism while her mother was American. In 1920, the family moved to France where they lived until the Nazis overran the country at which point they fled back to Britain.

   In November 1940 Noor joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force but in early 1943 was recruited to the Special Operations Executive and during training adopted the name of "Nora Baker". She was sent to France in June 1943 and worked in Paris as a radio operator; highly dangerous work as the Nazis captured all the other wireless operators in her network but she turned down an opportunity to return to Britain. Her transmissions were the last vital communication links between Paris and England and she avoided capture by constantly moving around.

   In October 1943 she was betrayed to the Germans by one of the French and arrested and underwent a month-long interrogation. The Germans discovered the records that she had kept and continued to send false messages to London resulting in the deaths of several British agents. In November 1943 she escaped with a fellow British prisoner but was recaptured and taken to Germany and placed in solitary confinement, being constantly handcuffed for 10 months. In September 1944 Noor was moved to Dachau Concentration Camp and executed by being shot in the head. A former Dachau prisoner later said that Noor had been brutally beaten prior to her execution. In 1949, she was awarded a posthumous George Cross and was also awarded the Croix De Guerre. A bronze bust of her was unveiled by The Princess Royal in Gordon Square Gardens, London in November 1912.

  This set of stamps is printed in lithography by International Security Printers.

  Finally, it is worth noting that today, 1 January 2014, is the 30th anniversary of the achievement of Independence of Brunei Darussalam from Great Britain. I have not yet seen any information about stamps to commemorate the country's important anniversary but I suspect some will soon appear possibly with a $30 miniature sheet since Brunei has issued a number of such sheets in recent years where the face value of the sheet matches the number of years commemorated. Let us hope that Brunei has no bicentenaries to commemorate in the near future.