IOM 80th Anniversary Battle of El Alamein

ISLE OF MAN POST OFFICE on 21 February 2023 issued a set stamps commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 4 November 1942), a key battle as part of the North Africa campaign of WWII and subsequent Allied victory over the Axis forces. The battle featured extensive deployment of local soldiers through The Manx Regiment, whom we wish to honour though this set.

Featured in the collection are:
-  80p - General Bernard Law Montgomery (1887-1976) was commissioned in the British Army in 1908. He survived serious wounds in the First World War and took over command of the British 8th Army in the Western Desert in August 1942. In paying regular visits to the troops in the front line and talking to them man-to-man he became very popular and was a great morale booster. The turning of the tide may well have taken longer without him.

 - £1.51 - The Swedish-designed Bofors gun was the British Army’s light anti-aircraft gun throughout WW2 and played a key role in the conflict. Firing a shell weighing about 2 pounds (1 kilo) at a rate of 120 rounds per minute it was a formidable weapon and was easily maneuverable.

- £1.92 -The American-built M4 Sherman first saw action in the Second Battle of El Alamein. Only about 250 were available but they made a significant contribution to the allied success. Subsequently many thousands were used by the allies in all theatres of war.

- £2.00 - Manx Regiment soldiers during a lull in the fighting and await their next call to action, Albert Bridge, Charlie Palmer and Thomas Russell of the 15th Light Anti-aircraft Regiment are playing dominoes and smoking “V”s cigarettes alongside their Bofors gun.

Manx Regiment Sergeant Thomas Douglas Russell hailed from Ramsey Isle of Man. His diary is now in the Museum's collection and has been used as research and source material for this issue.

- £2.80 - El Alamein Road Sign made from two oil drums, two wooden posts, a sheet of corrugated iron and a pot of paint were the simple components which make it one of the most instantly recognisable images of the desert war.

- German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, Montgomery's adversary at El Alamein, (and normally not depicted on most stamps), is featured as a 'stamp label' only on the terracotta-coloured decorative pane of the booklet sheet.

Insightful information about the battle including the Manx Regiment's involvement, is included and  expertly written by Ivor Ramsden MBE, Director of the Manx Aviation & Military Museum.

Source: Isle of Man Post Office