May 7, 2013

PHILATELY: FINEST HOUR 146, SPRING 2010

BY CELWYN BALL

Mr. Ball, of Monckton, New Brunswick, is a veteran of the WW2 British First Army which fought in the invasion of North Africa, and a former chairman of ICS Canada. His new illustrated catalogue of Churchill stamps since the first issues will be published shortly and highlighted in Finest Hour.

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2025 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 42nd International Churchill Conference. Washington, DC | October 9-11, 2025

2025 International Churchill Conference

This checklist, while not complete, illustrates how Churchill continues to be a philatelic subject. Many of these issues arose out of the anniversary of World War II and the death of HM the Queen Mother. “SG” and “Scott” refer to numbers assigned by the Stanley Gibbons and Scott postage stamp catalogues.

GREAT BRITAIN

Bernera Locals (Small island off the Scottish coast.)

1985. Life and Times of The Queen Mother. Gold foil commemoratives; £10 shows VE-Day celebration with Churchill on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

British Philatelic Exhibition 15-20 October 1985.

Life and Times of The Queen Mother. Small souvenir sheetlets show SG 129 (Falkland Islands Dependencies) and SG 538 (Solomon Islands). On the latter, Churchill is pictured with the Queen Mother. No values on stamps. Also overprinted “Specimen” in black.

Isle of Man

5 September 1990. 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain. SG 449-454. Issued in sheets of eight (449-50, 451-52, 453-54), and mounted on three cards with cachet at top. Churchill is at top right-hand corner with the quotation, “We shall go on to the end; we shall fight…whatever the cost may be.”

Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch (Locals)

11 May 1977. Issued to pay for letter and parcel transit on the railway. Designed and printed by the House of Questa. 10p value shows the locomotive “Winston Churchill.”

BENIN

20 December 1985. 50th Anniversary of the Commonwealth Churchill Omnibus Issue. SG 878-886, Scott 796a-796j; souvenir sheet 797. SG 835-45 overprinted in black, “Pre-World Cup Football Mexico 1986.”

GABON

1995. 50th Anniversary of the End of World War II. Scott 813a-813c, souvenir sheet 814. Souvenir sheet shows Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at the Livadia Palace (see pages 32-35) during the February 1945 Yalta conference.

GRENADA GRENADINES

Nobel Prize Winners (FH 90). Scott 1771-73 and three souvenir sheets, Scott 1774-76. Scott 1776 depicts Churchill.

MARSHALL ISLANDS

1994. World War II. Scott 489. Shows V-1 over London with Churchill quote on tab. 1995. Churchill souvenir sheet.

NICARAGUA

24 January 1996. 50th Anniversary of the End of WW2. Scott 2142a-h. Issued in two strips of four, top and bottom on centre gutter. Depicts bombers over Remagen Bridge. Scott 2142b shows Churchill, FDR and Stalin at Yalta.

TANZANIA

12 December 1994. 50th Anniversary of D-Day, 6 June 1944. SG 1998-2015. Printed se-tenant in sheetlets of six: SG 1998-2003, 2004-09 and 2010-15. SG 2005 shows engineers working on a Churchill tank on Gold Beach, Normandy.

15 July 1996. “They Shaped the 20th Century” World Figures Issue. Scott 1481a-h, 1482a-h. Scott 1482g shows Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta.

UNITED STATES

1991-1995. World War II. The following sheetlets have historic value in illustrating the war:

Scott 2559a-j: World at War, 1941.
Scott 2697a-j: Into the Battle, 1942.
Scott 2765a-j: Turning the Tide, 1943.
Scott 2838a-j: Road to Victory, 1944.
Scott 2961a-j. Victory at Last, 1945.

Roosevelt and Churchill are mentioned on several sheet labels and shown together on Scott 2559d.