Morocco 50th Birthday Anniversary of King Mohammed V.

MOROCCO  on 10 August 1959 issued three stamps honouring the 50th Birthday Anniversary of  Sultan/King Mohammed V.  Postmark cancellations originated from Rabat and Casablanca.

King Mohammed V is widely remembered for his role in securing Morocco’s independence from France and Spain.

Apart from his central role in Morocco’s independence, King Mohammed V is remembered for his unprecedented protection of Jews during World War II, from 1939 to 1945. When the Vichy government demanded that Mohammed V impose anti-Jewish legislation upon his people and deport the country’s 250,000 Jews to extermination camps in Europe, he responded, “There are no Jewish citizens, there are no Muslim citizens. They are all Moroccans.”

Source: Morocco World News . com

Õsterreich Post Returning Prisoners of War (Heimkehrer) - 1955

ÖSTERREICH POST on 29 June 1955 issued a 1 S. + 25 G. denomination surtaxed stamp to publicise Returning Prisoners of War (Heimkehrer).  The surtax benefited returning prisoners of war and the families of prisoners not yet released.

The design features a representation of "industry" welcoming a returning prisoner of war.

Source: Stamp Collecting-World . Com 

Österreich Post Prisoners of War (Heimkehrer) - 1947

ÖSTERREICH POST on 30 August 1947 issued six surtaxed pictorial  stamps to honour their Prisoners of War (Heimkehrer). Heimkehrer (or "homecomer") refers to German/Austrian prisoners of war and internees—Wehrmacht (Heer), Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe, Waffen-SS, Ordnungspolizei, behind-the-lines Hiwis security and civilian personnel— of World War II who were repatriated to West Germany, East Germany and Austria after the war. Some of the late returnees were convicted war criminals who were subsequently tried in West Germany.

The Heimkehrer themed stamps included the following depictions:

    08 G. + 02 G. - Soldier behind barbed wire.

    12 G. + 08 G. - Prisoner of war letter.

    18 G. + 12 G. - Prison camp visitor.

    35 G. + 15 G. - Family reunion.

    60 G. + 20 G. - Prisoners at work.

    01 S. + 40 G. - Prisoner sowing.

Pictorial Austria stamps such as these continued to appear during 1947 and 1948.  They included a wide range of events, from honouring famous people, promoting national events, to raising money for reconstruction projects.  

It should also be remembered that from 1945 to 1952 Austria struggled for survival. After liberation from Nazi rule, the country faced complete economic chaos. Aid provided by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and, from 1948, support given by the United States under the Marshall Plan made survival possible. Heavy industry and banking were nationalised in 1946, and, by a series of wage-price agreements, the government tried to control inflation. Interference by military commanders in political and economic affairs in the Soviet zone of occupation caused a considerable migration of capital and industry from Vienna and Niederösterreich to the formerly purely agricultural western states. This brought about a far-reaching transformation of the economic and social structure.

Source: Stamp Collecting-World . Com and Wikipedia.

Deutsche Bundespost "Memory of Prisoners of War" - 1953

DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST issued on 5 May 1953 a 10pf "Memory of Prisoners of War" stamp, honouring soldiers (Heimkehrer) who had fought for Nazi Germany in World War II, some of whom had not yet been released by the Soviet Union. (The great majority had returned home by 1950, but some remained captive as late as 1956.) In 1955, West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer negotiated the return of the last German prisoners of war in Moscow -- over 10,000 POWs.

 

This dark yellowish grey | grey black stamp depicted a POW behind barbed wire. Perforation was comb13¾ x 14. A total of 101,200,000 were printed using a typography and embossed method. It was designed by Karl-Hans Walter and printed by Bundesdruckerei. Interestingly, this stamp was censored in Soviet-occupied East Germany, often by blacking out the image.

 

This particular cover (from my collection) originated from a lawyer in Villingen, Schwarzwald and dated 26 March 1954.

 

Source: Stamp Collecting-World . com and Wikipedia

Luxembourg Post 50th Anniversary ofrom Fascist Liberation

LUXEMBOURG POST on 10 September 1994 issued a stamp marking the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Luxembourg from Nazi Germany. The stamp shows American forces arriving in Luxembourg City, which German troops surrendered without much resistance. The cachet is unique in that it depicts U.S. General Patton.

American soldiers arrived in Luxembourg on the 9th September 1944. Their troops and tanks were first seen in Petingen. That was also where the first American soldier died on Luxembourg soil.

 Source: Luxembourg Post

Australia Post 50th Anniversary of the Australian War Memorial

 

AUSTRALIA POST issued three stamps in 1991 marking the 50th anniversary of the Australian War Memorial which was unveiled to the public by the Governor-General, Lord Gowrie on 11 November 1941. On that day, over 5,000 people attended the event including the Prime Minister John Curtin, General Sir Thomas Blamey, and 18 recipients of the Victoria Cross. The stamps honoured Australian women who served during WWII, the veterans of the Siege of Tubruk and the opening the Memorial itself. Shown here, the commemorative folder and stamp set.

The Memorial is more than a monument. Inside the sandstone building, with its copper-clad dome, selections from a vast National Collection of war relics, official and private records, art, photographs, film and sound are employed to tell the story of the Australian nation's experience in two world wars, regional conflicts, and international peacekeeping. 

 

 

Source: Australia Post

Poste Italiane 200 Anniversary of Italian Military

POSTE ITALIANE on 1 October 1974  commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Guardia di Finanza by representing, on 4 stamps, twelve soldiers wearing historical uniforms.

On 1 October 1774, at the behest of the King of Sardinia, Vittorio Amedeo III, the "Legione Truppe Leggere" was established. At the time there was no special corps in Italy for financial supervision of the borders, as well as for the military defense of the borders. About a hundred years later, in 1862, the "Corps of Customs Guards" was established with tasks of surveillance and defense of the State, translated, with Law n. 149 of 1881 in "Corps of the Royal Guardia di Finanza" with the specific function of "preventing, repressing and denouncing smuggling and any contravention and transgression of the laws and finance regulations, to protect the executive offices of the financial administration as well as contribute to the defense of public order and safety".

 

Poste Italiane Opera Composers

 

POSTE ITALIANE on 27 January 2001 issued a series of stamps commemorating Italian oera composers. Shown here:
- 800 L. - 0,41 € - Vincenzo Bellini.
- 800 L. - 0,41 € - Domenico Cimarosa.
- 800 L. - 0,41 € - Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini.
- 800 L. - 0,41 € - Giuseppe Verdi.

La Poste France D-Day Commemoratives - 1969 & 1974

LA POSTE FRANCE in 1969 issued a set of seven first day cover stamps to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Liberation of France. Each stamp had a special cancellation postmark.

Stamps included:
- The Normandy Landing
- The Liberation of Paris with General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
- The Liberation of Strasbourg with General Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque

- Bataille du Garigliano - Mai 1944
- Paratroops of S.A.S. and Commandos of F.F.I.
- National Monument

LA POSTE FRANCE issued on 10 May 1969 a 25th anniversary First Day Cover stamp marking the Garigliano victory on 13 May 1944. Marshal Alphonse Juin, head of the French Expeditionary Force (CEFI) or 'Goumiers' or 'Goums' helped form and lead this army in Italy.  The stamp shown on this maxim card (postcard) was designed by Pierre Gandon and engraved by Claude Haley. 

The CEFI -- French Expeditionary Force of the 2nd Moroccan division and the 3rd Algerian-Tunisian division -- opened a 25km wide breach whereby the Germans abandoned Cassino, breaking the Germans' Gustav and Hitler lines. This allowed Allied Armies to advance and reach Rome on 4 June. 

Despite the Goumiers (CEFI) success in battle, appalling violence outside combat made them notorious. The military achievements of the Goumiers in Italy were accompanied by widespread reports of war crimes: "...exceptional numbers of Moroccans were executed—many without trial—for allegedly murdering, raping, and pillaging their way across the Italian countryside. The French authorities sought to defuse the problem by importing numbers of Berber women to serve as "camp followers" in rear areas set aside exclusively for the Goumiers."

According to Italian sources, more than 7,000 people were raped by Goumiers. Those rapes, later known in Italy as 'Marocchinate', were against women, children and men, including some priests. The mayor of Esperia (a comune in the Province of Frosinone) reported that in his town, 700 women out of 2,500 inhabitants were raped and that some had died as a result. In northern Latium and southern Tuscany, it is alleged that the Goumiers raped and occasionally killed women and young men after the Germans retreated, including members of partisan formations.

The CEFI executed 15 soldiers by firing squad and sentenced 54 others to hard labor in military prisons for acts of rape or murder. In 2015, the Italian state recognised compensation for a victim of these events.

In the 1960 film, "Two Women (La Ciociara)" starring Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown and Raf Vallone,  a mother ,(Loren) tries to protect her young daughter (Brown) from the horrors of war. While the story is fictional, it is based on actual events of 1944 in Rome and rural Lazio, during the Marocchinate (the Goumiers). In the end, the mother can neither prevent the rape of her daughter nor herself by the Marocchinate. 

Also shown, on 30th Anniversary, General Diego Brosset, liberator of Lyon on 3 September 1944. In the background is the Notre-Dame de Fourvière basilica in Lyon. Le Poste France issued in 1971.

 

La Poste France issued this 40th D-Day Anniversary setent in 1984.

Papua & New Guinea Post Stamps 1952

PAPUA & NEW GUINEA POST issued on 30 October 1952 a series of stamps showing local topics and bearing the name "Territory of Papua and New Guinea". The topics featured included  local cultures, economic activities, fauna and flora. These stamps would remain in circulation up until 1959.

Rheinland-Pfalz - French Occupation 1947-1948

RHEINLAND - PFALZ (Rhineland-Palatinate) in post-WWII French zone state, was established on 30 August 1946. It was formed from the Northern part of the French Occupation Zone, which included parts of Bavaria (the Rhenish Palatinate), the Southern parts of the Prussian Rhine Province, and parts of Hesse-Darmstadt. The new state was confirmed by referendum on 18 May 1947, and its capital was established at Mainz.

The new state of Rheinland-Pfalz issued their first definitive postage stamps between May 1947 and February 1948. The stamps were photogravure and printed on unwatermarked papers of varying quality.

The new definitive set featured twelve designs, which included:
- Ludwig von Beethoven.
- Wilhelm von Ketteler.

- Woman carrying grapes
- Porta Nigra at Trier.
- Karl Marx.
- Devil's Table near Pirmasens.
- Street Corner in St. Martin.
- Cathedral of Worms.
- Cathedral of Mainz.
- Statue of Johann Gutenberg.
- Gutenfels and Pfalzgrafenstein Castles on the Rhine.
- Statue of Charles the Great (Charlemagne).

Due to the post-war economic crisis in the Allied occupation zones, the Western Allies instituted currency reform during June 1948. The old Reichsmark currency was replaced by a new Deutsche Mark currency, and this would eventually become the official currency of the soon-to-be Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) until 2002, when it would be replaced by the Euro.

The 1947 stamp designs were re-issued between June and August of 1948 to coincide with the currency reform. The same designs were issued in new colors, with most of the denominations now expressed as "D.Pf." or "D.M.

 

Source: Collecting Stamps.com

Deutsches Reichpost "Deutsche Turn- und Sportfest" in Breslau 1938

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST in 21 June 1938 issued four stamps to mark the Deutsche Turn- und Sportfest (German Gym and Sports Celebration) was the last big sports event organised by the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen, the Sports governing body of the Third Reich. It took place in Breslau (now Wroclaw) the most important city of Silesia, now in Poland.

The stamps depicted various views of Breslau:
- 3 Pf — Dome Island
- 6 Pf — Stadium
- 12 Pf — City Hall
- 15 Pf — Centennial Hall

The venue was staged from 24 till 31 July 1938 at the city's Hermann Göring Stadium, later renamed "Stadion Olimpijski", following the trademark grandiose style of the Nazi Sports Body. Everybody that could be there was there, including the 23rd Chancellor of Germany and Nazi Party Führer, Adolf Hitler.

Under the eyes of Hitler, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Gauleiter Wagner, Konrad Henlein and Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten competitors tossed beams, ran, swam, boxed, danced, sang, paraded, rowed, jumped, dove, canoed, and waived Nazi eagle and swastika flags all over the Hermann Göring Sports Field and its vicinity along the river Oder.

This highly nationalistic sports event was designed to officially commemorate the 125th anniversary of the historical German Wars of Liberation against Napoleon and the first award of the Iron Cross in the city of Breslau itself in 1813. It was staged as a grand patriotic, expansionist occasion, illustrating the clamor for a Greater Germany to the public. This event gathered German athletes brought from many different parts of the world, like Argentina, South West Africa, Italy, the US and South Africa. It also became a gathering of representatives of German ethnic minorities, mainly from Eastern Europe (Siebenbürgen, Banat) who staged processions dressed in their colorful folkloric costumes, a display of the Nazi Drang nach Osten policies.

Not only sports competitions and athletes' parades took place, but also numerous military, civil and folklorical-costume processions in the mains streets of the city of Breslau. It was a sensational event, never to be held again because of the threat of war.

Source: Wikipedia, German Stamps.net and USM Books.com

La Poste France Random Cover

 

LA POSTE FRANCE cover of random stamps.

Shown, left right:

In 1958, Postes France issued this red Europa stamp. It was available in blue for a different monetary denomination.

Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. In 1995, La Poste France issued a 100th birth anniversary stamp of him.

In 1993, La Poste France issued a honouring the French village of Minerve-Herault, located in the Occitanie region in southern France. 

Charles Eugène de Foucauld de Pontbriand, Viscount of Foucauld (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916) was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Algeria. In 1959, Poste France issued a 100th birth anniversary stamp of him.

Jean Guéhenno (25 March 1890 – 22 September 1978) was a French essayist, writer and literary critic. In 1990, La Postes France issued a 100th birth anniversary stamp of him.