PHLPost Birth Centenary of General Douglas MacArthur

PHLPost on 26 January 1980 issued a set First Day Cover stamps marking the the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of General Douglas MacArthur (U.S. Army Chief of Staff). The stamps depicted his birthplace in Little Rock, Arkansas and burial site in Norfolk, Virginia. Others showed his braided cap and corncob pipe and figure of him.

Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the son of Arthur MacArthur, Jr., a US Army captain and recipient of the Medal of Honor for his Civil War service.  The family lived in a series of Army posts in the Old West, where MacArthur remembers he “learned to ride and shoot even before I could read or write – indeed, almost before I could walk and talk.”

When the US entered World War I, MacArthur organised the 42nd “Rainbow” Division made up of the National Guard.  MacArthur then served with distinction in France, where he was eventually promoted to brigadier general.  MacArthur participated in the Champagne-Marne Offensive, Battle of Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and was decorated with the Croix de Guerre, two Distinguished Silver Cross awards, and seven Silver Stars.

After the war, MacArthur was appointed Superintendent of the Military Academy and served again in the Philippines.  Over the next few years, he served as Chief of Staff of the US Army and created the Philippines Army.  Retiring from the US Army in 1937, MacArthur was appointed Field Marshall of the Philippine Army.

However, as the possibility of war with Japan arose in 1941, MacArthur was recalled to serve as commander of US Army Forces in the Far East.   Initial attempts there were unsuccessful, with MacArthur being forced to evacuate from the Philippines by March 1942.  He was later awarded a Medal of Honor.

MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times, and received it for his service in the Philippines campaign. This made him along with his father Arthur MacArthur Jr. the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of only five men to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the U.S. Army, and the only one conferred the rank of field marshal in the Philippine Army.

MacArthur then took command of the Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific and successfully defended New Guinea.  He led the invasion of Leyte and the eventual liberation of the Philippines.  In August 1945, he presided over the Japanese formal surrender ceremonies.  After the war, MacArthur was made supreme commander of occupied Japan, to help the nation rebuild itself.

When the Korean War broke out in 1950, MacArthur was placed in charge of the United Nations coalition defending South Korea from communist North Korea.  The successful invasion at Inchon sent the North Koreans in retreat, and it looked like the war would be over by the fall of 1950.

China sent a massive army that took MacArthur by surprise and pushed UN forces back across the 38th Parallel.  The general asked President Truman for permission to conduct bombing raids in China with the possibility of using an atom bomb.  Truman refused, fearing the actions would escalate into World War III.

MacArthur publicly criticised the president, who then removed the commander from his office on 11 April 1951.  Americans disagreed with Truman’s actions and welcomed MacArthur home as a hero.  Senate hearings concluded the president had acted correctly.

In his later years, MacArthur reconciled with President Eisenhower.  He also met with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and cautioned them against a military build-up in Vietnam.  He advised Kennedy to impose a blockade during the Soviet missle transfer to Cuba in 1961. He died on 5 April 1964.  During his lifetime, MacArthur had earned more than 100 military decorations from the US and other countries.  According to his wishes, he was buried in Norfolk, Virginia, where the MacArthur Memorial was established as a museum dedicated to his lifetime of military service.

 

Source: Mystic Stamps

USPS Cover of Mostly American Civil War Stamps

 

USPS cover of assorted stamps showing American Civil War -- mostly Confederate -- personalities (except Union General William Tecumseh Sherman), NASA space shuttle and banker/philanthropist/US Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon.

Poste Italiane 20th Anniversary of Italian Resistance

POSTE ITALIANE on 24 April 1965 issued a set of six First Day Cover stamps honouring the 20th anniversary of the Italian Resistance. Postmark cancellation originated from Bolzano, Italy.

The Italian Resistance arose after 9/8/1944 following the disbandment of the army, creating the National Liberation Committee (CLN) chaired by the former Prime Minister Ivanoe Bonomi. Thus were born the formations of partisan bands that expanded from Boves throughout the territory subjected to enemy occupation, with the precise aim of creating obstacles for the enemy and favouring the Allied advance to liberate the country.

These partisan groups with their spirit of sacrifice and self-sacrifice managed to eradicate, together with the regular liberation forces, the overwhelming superiority of the enemy. 

Connected with the allied advance the Resistance took control of the situation everywhere and on 4/25/1945 the CLNAI declared to assume all civil and military powers and the partisan forces broke out in a single insurrectionary movement, liberating Milan and Genoa on the same day and followed in other cities.

The set included:

- 10 lire: concentration camp

- 15 lire: liberation army

- 30 lire: persecuted

- 70 lire: resistance in the mountains

- 115 lire: resistance in the cities

- 130 lire: city of martyrs

Thai Post Bangkok 2003 World Philatelic Exhibition

THAI POST on 3 March 2003 issued a First Day Cover stamp set in conjunction with the Bangkok 2003 World Philatelic Exhibition (2nd series), which was held during 4 till13 October 2003 at the IMPACT Convention Center, MUANG THONG. It was also coordinated to celebrate the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the Thai postal service and postage stamps. Four stamps depicted a region of Thailand. The stamps carried a face value of  3.00 Baht, 3.00 Baht, 3.00 Baht 15.00 Baht. Thai British Security Printing Public Company Limited, Thailand printed the series.

Regions featured included: 

- Northern Region: Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai

- Central Region: Bridge over the Kwai, Kanchanaburi

- Northeast region: Phu Kradung, Loei

- South region: Maya Bay, Krabi

Ryukyu "Izaino" Ritual Practiced on Kudara Island

RYUKYU (Okinawa) on 3 October 1969 issued a First Day Cover dedicated to the primitive religion practiced on Kudara Island. "Izaino" or prayer for virgin novices was one of the stamps featured in their Traditional Folk Festivities, Series 3. The postmark cancellation affixed to this stamp originated from Naha Higashi, Ryukyu.

Kudara, a small island with a population of more than 500, lies 5.3 km off the southern coast of Okinawa. On this island a primitive religion, headed by two "Noro" or hereditary priestesses, is still practiced. Women between the ages of 30 to 70 serve them in one of four capacities according to age. "Izaino" is one of these rituals. It is a four day ceremony, held every 12 years, to initiate  30 to 41 year old women as novices or "Nanchu".

UAR (Egypt) 8th Anniversary of Egyptian Revolution and Summer Olympics - 1960

UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC (EGYPT) in 1960 issued a First Day Cover of seven stamps and one stamp sheetlet to commemorate the 8th Anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution (1952-1960) in conjunction with the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics. The stamps featured the events of basketball, equistrian (not shown), fencing, football, rowing, swimming (not shown) and weight lifting. The postmark cancellation, which featured an oval track, originated from Cairo, Egypt.

Hong Kong Post Tribute to Bruce Lee

HONG POST on 27 November 2020 paid tribute to the legendary martial arts master Bruce Lee, issuing a set of six First Day Cover stamps and two stamp sheetlets, referenced  Lee's four sensational movies: The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon and Game of Death, as well as his philosophy and signature Jeet Kune Do. The stamps were designed by Gideon LAI Wai-kwan. Printer was Southern Colour Print, New Zealand. Printing Process: Stamp Sheet, $10 Stamp Sheetles & Mini-pane-Lithography 520 Stump Sheetlet-Lithography plus hot foil stamping with embossing. Cancellation postmark originated from Hong Kong.

BRUCE LEE: The Bruce Lee Flying Man and the Bruce Lee signature are registered or pending trademarks of Bruce Lee Enterprises, LLC in multiple countries. The Bruce Lee name, image, likeness and all related indicis are intellectual property of Bruce Lee Enterprises, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Bruce Lee Name, Likeness, and Assets licensed by Bruce Lee, LLC. Film titles and Film images © 2010 Fortune Star Media Limited.

Source: Hong Kong Post

La Poste France Renoir's Portrait of Margot

LA POSTE FRANCE on 9 November 1968 issued a commemorative First Day Cover stamp of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Portrait of Margot or "Tête de femme de profil" (Head of a Woman in Profile) which he painted in 1878.

Margot (Marguerite Legrand), one of Renoir's favourite models, whose features appear in many of the painter's paintings from the 1870s posed for this picture. Margot was a charming young girl from Montmartre who "had skin that reflected the light" (Renoir's own words) and who died of typhoid fever in February 1879. Her death, of course, was a cause of great sadness for the painter. 

The work, which passed to the doctor Paul Gachet (a passionate collector of Impressionist paintings), entered the Louvre in 1951, before finding its definitive home in Orsay in 1986. 

La Poste France Claude Monet's "Women in the Garden"

LA POSTE FRANCE issued on 17 June 1972 a First Day Cover commemorative stamp of Claude Monet's "Women in the Garden" (French: Femmes au jardin), which was an oil painting begun in 1866 when he was 26 years old. The setting is the garden of a property where he was renting. His companion and future wife Camille Doncieux posed for the figures. Monet finished the work indoors, and used magazine illustrations to render fashionable clothing.

Monet at this time was early in his career, experimenting with method and subject matter. His earlier paintings were successful at Paris Salons, but Women in the Garden was rejected in 1867 on the grounds of subject and narrative weakness. This piece is simply a work that was meant to fit within his theme: the interplay of light and atmosphere. His paintings established him as a leader in the emerging impressionist movement.

La Poste France August Renoir's "Gabrielle a la Rose"

LA POSTE FRANCE on 5 November 2009 issued a First Day Cover stamp of August Renoir's painting entitled "Gabrielle with a Rose" (Gabrielle a la Rose). In fact, La Poste France in the past printed many stamps using  Renoir's artwork.

Renoir painted Gabrielle Renard (1879–1959) more than two hundred times. In several of the portraits, she wears an informal, square-necked gown. By 1908, she had been employed in Renoir’s household for fourteen years, as a nanny, housekeeper, model, and companion to the aging artist.

Gabrielle Renard developed a strong bond with the infant, Jean Renoir, that would last throughout their lives. She introduced him to the Guignol puppet shows that were held in the Montmartre. Gabrielle was fascinated by the newly invented motion picture, and when Jean Renoir was only a few years old, she took him to see his first film. He became a renowned film maker.

During the final years of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's life he suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis, but continued to paint with her help. When the family moved to a farm at Cagnes-sur-Mer near the Mediterranean coast, seeking a better climate for Renoir's arthritis, Gabrielle moved with them. While he worked in the studio at "Les Collettes", Gabrielle would place the paint brush between his crippled fingers.

Devoted to her cousin's family, Gabrielle Renard did not marry until 1921, when the Renoir children were grown. Her husband, Conrad Hensler Slade (1871–1955), was an aspiring painter from a wealthy American family. 

Source: Wikipedia 

Deutsche Post Werner The Battle of Frankenhausen by Werner Tuebke

DEUTSCHE POST of Demokratisch Republik (DDR) on on 16 October 1987 issued five First Day Cover stamps commemorating The Battle of Frankenhausen in 1525 (The Peasants' War) and Thomas Müntzer. To mark the occasion, the DDR commissioned artist Werner Tuebke to create a monumental painting entitled "Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany". This epic work is presently on display inside the Panorama Museum Bad Frankenhausen, Germany. It is from this artwork that specific images were rendered into stamps.

Tuebke produced this painting between 1976 and 1987, which when completed measured 14 by 123 metres. Since its inception 2.5 million people have visited the panorama until now.

Thomas Müntzer (c. 1489 – 1525) was a German preacher and theologian of the early Reformation whose opposition to both Martin Luther and the Catholic Church led to his open defiance of late-feudal authority in central Germany. Müntzer was foremost amongst those reformers who took issue with Luther's compromises with feudal authority. He was a leader of the German peasant and plebeian uprising of 1525 commonly known as the German Peasants' War.

Amidst the peasant uprisings in 1525, Müntzer organised an armed militia in Mühlhausen. He was captured after the Battle of Frankenhausen, tortured and finally executed. Few other figures of the German Reformation raised as much controversy as Müntzer. A complex and unusual character, he is now regarded as a significant personality in the early years of the German Reformation and the history of European revolutionaries.

Almost all modern studies stress the necessity of understanding his revolutionary actions as a consequence of his theology: Müntzer believed that the end of the world was imminent and that it was the task of the true believers to aid God in ushering in a new era of history. Since around 1918, the number of fictional works on Müntzer have grown significantly; this encompasses over 200 novels, poems, plays and films, almost all in German. A film of his life was produced in East Germany in 1956, directed by Martin Heilberg and starring Wolfgang Stumpf. In 1989, shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Peasants' War Panorama at Bad Frankenhausen was opened, containing the largest oil painting in the world, with Müntzer in central position.

IMAGES DEPICTED
The Battle of Frankenhausen in 1525
Thomas Müntzer is readying the peasants to the decisive battle against the princes where the peasants suffer defeat. Müntzer was taken prisoner and executed three months later.

The Fountain of Creativity
From left to right: Hans Hut; Melchior Rinck; Hans Sachs; Peter Vischer; Tilman Riemenschneider; Joerg Ratgeb; Albrecht Duerer; Martin Luther; Lucas Cranach; Sebastian Brant; Philipp Melanchthon; Erasmus of Rotterdam; Ulrich von Hutten; Nicolas Copernicus; Paracelsus; Columbus; Johannes Gutenberg; Welser and Fugger.

Annunciation at Frankenhausen
Thomas Müntzer depicted as an angel, announcing a new age to a perplexed peasant, with Müntzer saying:"Do not be afraid, you are fighting the fight of the Lord. Don’t let the blood dry on your swords."

Source: Wikipedia

Philippines 3rd Anniversary of the Liberation of Manila by General Douglas MacArthur - 1948

PHILIPPINES on 3 February 1948 issued a First Day Cover marking the 3rd anniversary of the Liberation of Manila, by General Douglas MacArthur. The stamps depicting MacArthur were engraved by American Bank Note Company (ABNC). FDC postmark originated from Manila.

The Battle of Manila, 3 February to March 1945, was a major battle of the Philippine Campaign in 1944–45, during the Second World War. It was fought by forces from both the United States and the Philippines against Japanese troops in Manila.  

The month-long battle, which resulted in the death of over 100,000 civilians and the complete devastation of the city, was the scene of the worst urban fighting in the Pacific theater.   Along with massive loss of life, the battle also destroyed architectural and cultural heritage dating back to the city's founding, and Manila became one of the most devastated capital cities during WW II, alongside Berlin and Warsaw.

The battle ended the almost three years of Japanese military occupation in the Philippines (1942–1945). The city's capture was marked as General Douglas MacArthur's key to victory in the campaign to liberate the Philippines.

Serbian Post 150th Birth Anniverary of Nikola Tesla - 2006

SERBIAN POST on 26 May 2006 Issued at least three versions of First Day Covet stamps depicting Nikola Tesla and his inventions, which include alternating current motors and transformers, and the famous Wardenclyffe tower. These postage stamps were released to mark his the 150th birth anniversary of Nikolai Tesla. The stamps were rendered using offset lithography.

A Serbian, born in 1856 in the tiny town of Smiljan of the then Austrian Empire (now part of Croatia), Tesla moved around Europe before coming to New York in 1884 and becoming an American citizen. All of these places claim Tesla as a “favorite son” and over the years have honoured him with postage stamps.

Nikola Tesla is one of the most prolific and important inventors in American history, though that fact is largely overlooked in the history books. We all know about Edison, but many don’t know that Tesla beat out Edison in the “war of the currents.” We all know about Marconi, but many don’t know that Tesla actually invented radio first.