Sunday Stamps - S3 - Great Britain

Thanks to the Royal Mail's slip-up I have a new 'S' this week.

Sarmi, in the Dutch New Guinea (now Indonesia) was where American troops landed on 17 May 1945.

The Royal Mail issued a preview of stamps for 2019 intended to depict the D-Day landing of Allied troops in France on 6 June 1944.

Unfortunately this was the Americans landing at Sarmi!

{I wonder whether any of these stamps will ever be on the market}

It was plain sailing for  my other stamps this week.

Great Britain - 11 June 1975 - Sailing Dinghies

Later that year (13 August) the Royal Mail commemorated the 150th Anniversary of Public Railways; the set included - 

I included all trains in the set when explaining the connection between my local town and the start of the Stockton & Darlington Railway here.

Meanwhile for more 'S' stamps check out the links at Sunday-stamps-s.

Christmas 2018 on Sunday Stamps - Great Britain

It has been a disappointing year so far for Christmas stamps. I've only seen two and none from overseas so far. 

Despite the Royal Mail showing postbox scenes these are the only two that have graced our letter box among last year's stamps and definitive 2nd class.

I have had to go back as far as 1967 to find a set that I haven't shown before.

You have to have the eyes of a hawk to see the Queen's head on these.

From left to right, they depict: 

• The Adoration of the Shepherds' (School of Seville)
• The Adoration of the Shepherds' (Louis le Nain)
• Madonna and Child (Murillo)

Merry Christmas greetings to all who read my blog and especially to those who participate in Sunday Stamps where if you visit The Sunday Stamps Christmas you will find other stamps to admire.

Sunday Stamps - Really 'R3' this time - USA

Finally it has registered with me that we have reached the letter 'R' so perhaps this stamp is an apt reminder.

USA - 27 June 1966

Charles Marion Russell (1864-1926) was an American Artist of the Old American West. Among his many paintings was one called 'Jerked Down' - see for yourself what this meant.

USA - 19 March 1964

For 'R' related stamps check out Sunday-stamps-r.

Sunday Stamps R3 - USA

I've posted stamps of Pulitzer Prize winners before (Margaret Mitchell, Theodore Roethke) but when I saw this stamp I wondered what Joseph Pulitzer would make of the Press and social media today.

USA - 10 April 1947

I was forced to check out more about the man at Pulitzer biography. Well worth reading.

When it comes to words beginning with 'P', phthisiologist was new to me.

USA -12 May 2008

Phthisiology covers the care and treatment of tuberculosis in the lung and is a special area of pulmonology. The Greek for phthisis designated by Hippocrates means "consumption".

Edward Trudeau, the man on the stamps, established the first laboratory in the US for the study of TB.

A legend of a different kind is the man who starred as Atticus Finch.

USA - 28 April 2011

To Kill a Mockingbird won a Pulitzer Prize for Harper Lee in 1961.

For the 'P' related stamps please visit Sunday-stamps-r

Sunday Stamps Q3 - Great Britain

 The third time round in an A-Z 'Q' was bound to be a problem were it not for the longest serving monarch in British History celebrated by Australia in 2015.

Australia - 9 September 2015

Another Commonwealth country commemorated its 100th anniversary in 1967 also with the Queen.

Canada - 8 February 1967
Queen Elizabeth II and the Northern Lights

For other 'Q' related posts please check out the links at Sunday-stamps-q.

Sunday Stamps P3 - USA

The 100th anniversary of Fort Kearney was commemorated in 1948 with this stamp

USA 22 September 1948

As 'Guardian of the Pioneer' in Nebraska Fort Kearney was. in the blurb on the US Stamp Gallery,  an important post protecting settlers from Indian raiders.

27 April 1949 saw the issue of a stamp for the first gubernatorial election in Puerto Rico.

USA

It depicts a Puerto Rican farmer, a cogwheel and a ballot box. Puerto Rico had been ceded to the US in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American war.

A man who distinguished himself in that Spanish-American war was 

USA - General John J Pershing

The stamp was issued  on 17 November 1961. Pershing was America's WWI most celebrated hero having commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in 1917.

There is a bonus 'P' with that Portland Oregon postmark. 

For other 'P' related stamps visit Sunday-stamps-p.

Sunday Stamps O3 - Great Britain, Greece, Malawi, New Zealand

Back in 1675 Sir Christopher Wren chose a site at Greenwich to be where King Charles II commissioned 

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Great Britain - 23 April 1975

The prime meridian passes through it, thereby giving its name to Greenwich Mean Time. In 1998 it became part of the National Maritime Museum.

Maintaining an old theme I found these old toys in Greece.

Greece  - 22 December 2006
Old toys from the Benaki Museum in Athens

I've posted stamps from Malawi in previous weeks and perhaps should have shown one of my favourites under 'K'.

Klipspringer Antelope - 15 February 1971

However, its Latin name is Oreotragus oreotraus.

1948 saw the 100th anniversary of the settlement of the New Zealand Province of Otago.

New Zealand - 23 February 1948

Now I have to find out about the two ships shown on the stamp.

Sail across to Sunday-stamps-o. for more 'O' related stamps.

Sunday Stamps N3 - Malawi, Netherlands, Norway

When I worked in Norway (for nearly 10 years) I saw and travelled on a lot of their boats but none that matched or allowed me to name ships like this - 

Norway - 7 October 1893
North Norwegian Ships

I've found some birds again this week from the Netherlands and Malawi.

Netherlands - 2 February 1999
100 years of Nature Preservation

Platalea leucorodia is a spoonbill.

For the 'N' connection of the Malawi bird you have to know its Latin name.

Malawi - 13 November 1968
Netarinia senegalensis

For other 'N' related stamps check out the links at Sunday-stamps-n.

Remembrance Day on Sunday Stamps

On the 100th Anniversary of the end of WWI it seems appropriate to commemorate the event with one of the series of Royal Mail stamps issued each year since 2014.

These are from the 2016 issue - 

Battlefield Poppy 

Giles Revell's photograph captures a single flower.

To My Brother

The English nurse, writer, feminist and pacifist wrote this poem when she lost her brother in the war.

Munitions Worker, Charlotte 'Lottie' Meade

One of the many women packing shells during the war, Lottie died of TNT poisoning in 1916.

Travoys Arriving with Wounded
Smol, Macedonia

The painter Stanley Spencer served in the RAMC in Macedonia before later joining the infantry and fighting there.

Tiepal Memorial, Somme

The memorial commemorates more than 72000 British and South African troops killed on the Somme before March 2018 and who have no known grave; most of those died in the Somme offensive of 1916.

The longest battle at sea and the only encounter between the British and German fleets took place at Jutland from 31 May -1 June 2016.

Captain's A C Green's Battle of Jutland Commemorative Medal

(If you look closely you will see that the letter 'M' is related to these stamps with memories of the war. For other 'M related stamps check out Sunday-stamps-m.)

Sunday Stamps L3 - Mexico, Malawi, Germany

If you liked the kestrel in last week's post I'm sure that, like me, you will be pleased to see one of the Big Five from Malawi.

Malawi - 11 March 2011 - Leopard

However that is one stamp where I wish the country name was smaller.

If going to the theatre is your thing, how about visiting San Luis Potosi - 

Mexico -27 July 1945
Reconstruction of the Theatre of La Paz

In Germany I found an impressive castle, and no it didn't belong to Ludwig.

Germany - 2 January 2015
Ludwigslust Castle

In 2013 a joint issue between Germany and Australia commemorated the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Ludwig Leichhardt. Ludwig disappeared along with 7 men, 20 mules and 70 bullocks on an exploration expedition in Australia in 1848.

No trace of them has ever been found other than the burnt-out stock of a gun in a tree, despite searches  still being carried out. 

To search for more 'L' related stamps visit the links at Sunday-stamps-l.

Sunday Stamps K3 - Canada, Hungary, Netherlands

I've watched the Detroit Pistons (once, when my camera's battery needed charging) and am kept informed every year on how the Detroit Lions are performing. Of course I've heard of the Stanley Cup and how the Redwings get on and whom this man on a Canadian stamp joined when he was only 19 years old back in 1947.

Canada - 3 October 2014

Apparently we became one of the 'Original Six' in ice hockey - I have still to find out who the others are and what's behind the name.

When it comes to protected birds this is one of my favourites and one I used to see regularly as a boy about the time that Red Kelly began to play for the Redwings.

Hungary - 27 June 1991
Kingfisher

We can sometimes see a bird of prey over the fields outside our village - it's quite easy to see why it is sometimes called a windhover. How would you feel if it had these eyes fixed on you?

Netherlands - 5 September 1995
Blauwe kiekendief (Kestrel)

To prey on other 'K' stamps fly over to Seeitonapostcard.Sunday Stamps - K

Sunday Stamps - J3 - USA

Back in the 1940s and 1950s I travelled to school by train. I've forgotten when I first heard a rail related song - it must have been this - 

However I had left school by then. Casey had become a railroad hero in the early 1900s. Driving a train for a friend who was ill he died in a crash in 1900 when two freight trains had blocked the track. However Casey saved the lives of his crew and passengers.

In 1950 he appeared on a stamp along with locomotives from 1900 and 1950.

USA - 29 April 1950

Continuing the railroad theme I found a locomotive from 1932.

USA - 1 October 1987

Brother Jonathan had a single pair of drive wheels and a four-wheeled swivel truck under the front of the locomotive. in the 1832 experiment by John B Jervis this design enabled the engine to negotiate most curves with ease and made it capable of much higher speeds.

Other 'J' related stamps may be seen by speeding over to Sunday-stamps-j 

Sunday Stamps - I3 Czechoslovakia, Great Britain

A scarce swallowtail butterfly is my first stamp this week.

Czechoslovakia - 23 May 1966
Iphiclides podalirius

Other names for iphiclides podalirius are sail swallowtail and pear tree swallowtail.

1978 was the year for the 25th Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth when she was crowned with the - 

Great Britain - 31 May 1978
Imperial State Crown

The Queen also wears this crown at the annual State Opening of Parliament.

In 1841 Sir Richard Owen coined the word dinosaur from two Greek words - deinos (terrible, powerful, wondrous) and sauros (lizard). Owen was also responsible for setting up what we now know as the Natural History Museum.

Great Britain - 20 August 1991
150th Anniversary of Owen's Dinosaurs
Iguanodon

For other 'I' stamps check out the links at Sunday-Stamps-i.

Sunday Stamps H3 - USA, Germany

It was a musical that gave me the idea for my first stamp this week, not that I am likely to see it.

USA - 11 January 1957
200th anniversary of death

The first stamp to honour Hamilton was issued in 1870 and was the first to honour a Secretary of State. One of the Founding Fathers of the USA he died the day after a duel with Aaron Burr. In 1804 Burr had taken offence to Hamilton calling him unworthy to become governor of New York State.

The building on the stamp is the then Federal Hall in New York on the steps of which George Washington had been sworn in as the first President of the USA.

Another Alexander who I knew little about was the German who has had an ocean current and penguins name after him.

Germany - 6 May 1959
100th Anniversary of his death

The low salinity ocean current running up the west coast of South America is named after the geographer and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859). Humboldt was the first person, as long ago as 1800 and 1831 to describe climate change and its cause by human influence based on his observations during his voyages.

However it's the Humboldt penguins where I first heard his name.

The second President of the Weimar Republic was - 

Germany - Paul von Hindenburg

Hindenburg was a field marshall and leader of the German land forces in WWI. Hitler respected him until his death in 1934 despite the President having refused to appoint him Chancellor. 

For other 'H' related stamps cross over to Sunday-stamps-h.

Sunday Stamps G3 - France, India, Ireland

In the 1960s President de Gaulle visited the Dunkirk steelworks where I was on a industry exchange scheme from Britain. The night before his visit I was woken up in my hotel by armed police checking on foreigners in the town - a rude awakening indeed.

When he arrived at the works the next day, the workforce left the site!

The President died in 1970, 10 years later this stamp was issued.

France - 8 September 1980

Also in the 1960s, India issued a stamp depicting a plane.

India - Gnat plane - 1967

Apart from Olympic stamps I only have a few stamps with a sporting theme.

Ireland - 27 July 1934
50th Anniversary of the Gaelic Athletic Association

I guess that shinty is the sport depicted.

For more 'G' related stamps please visit Sunday-stamps-g.

Thematic Photography - Green

This week last year a shot in Michigan caught a squirrel in the act of sneaking across the grass.

But when we got home the green grass was strewn with apples.

This afternoon I have spent some time peeling apples to be stewed rather than being left to feed our local squirrels.

To see what other greens are available check out Thematic-photographic-424-green.

Later this week the most important greens will be those in France prepared for the Ryder Cup.

Sunday Stamps F3 - USA, Germany, , Hungary

Benjamin Franklin appeared on the first stamp issued by the USA - he was postmaster general at the time. He signed the Declaration of Independence but never became President.  He did however become the first American minister to France.

USA - 20 October 1972

I guess Franklin knew about the flag with 13 stars - one for each of the original colonies at the time of independence - but he would have been pleased to see one with 50.

USA - 8 December 1973

Sightseeing in Germany may take you to a Flughafen

Frankfurt Airport - 14 January 1988

For a view of the city a plane in a Hungary series shows you the way.

Hungary - 17 October 1966

It's higher than 110 feet!

For more 'F' related stamps, fasten your seat belts an go over to Sunday-stamps-f.