June 1, 2015

Finest Hour 107, Summer 2000

Page 36


Pages 307-312:
Catalogue numbers are from Gerald Rosen, A Catalogue of British Local Stamps, published 1975.

CHURCHILL in Stamps,” tracing Sir Winston’s life through Churchill and related postage stamps, began sixteen years ago in Finest Hour 43. “The editor has responded to those who’ve asked for more album layouts in FH,” I wrote, “by illustrating his own! The presence of quarterly deadlines will hopefully force me to keep putting together pages.” Well, they did. Installments have appeared in most of the 67 issues since. Finally I have reached the end! We shall try to maintain coverage of philately, the subject that first drew us together, and from which today’s movement grew. I hope you have enjoyed it, and I welcome your own philatelic contributions.

307. The British postal strike of 1971 engendered numerous labels sold to validate mail for private carriers, many of which referred to “Old Victory.” These examples (PM 11-12, EUR 26) are typical, printed blue with red air mail surcharge. (PM 11).

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308. Colorful if unconvincing portraits of JFK and WSC on a Manchester strike label, and a Karsh Ottawa photo from 1941 on labels publicizing the 1965 New York Stamp Show.

309. The Southampton Stamp Fair (1974) produced this handsome, full-color, postally valid souvenir sheet. In 1976 it was overprinted to celebrate the American Bicentennial.

310. More postally valid souvenir sheets issued by Britain’s Stamp Collecting Promotion Council for Europa commemorations in 1974 (PVS 11) and 1975 (PVS 12).

311. A remarkable number of plate flaws exist on the 1965 American Churchill commemoratives, but we don’t think they are worth anything, except curiosity. Here are some of them.

312. The late Ronald Golding, former RAF flyer, Scotland Yard bodyguard to Churchill in 1946-47, wrote of his experiences in Finest Hour 34 through 38, intimate accounts of absorbing interest. After the war, Churchill received tons of mail, which his hardpressed staff tried to answer as best they could. The letters were removed and filed, while the envelopes were consigned to the dustbin. Occasionally Ron would “raid the bin,” rescuing odd, interesting envelopes from far-away places. He presented me with this one, sent by Isabella Bruswoli in Genoa, Italy on 19 November 1945โ€”its contents unknown.

Churchill received one envelope I would particularly like to see, from a New York schoolgirl around 1960. It was addressed simply to “The Greatest Man in the World.” Without ceremony, the U.S. Post Office and Royal Mail conveyed it to Chartwell.

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