Royal Mail will issue a set of 8 stamps and a miniature sheet featuring the Royal Marines, continuing the series of stamps on the British Armed Forces.
The issue looks at the history of and modern-day operations of the Marines, as well as some of the key operations they’re involved in by sea and by land.
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM) is the UK's commando, and amphibious force, under the Royal Navy. The marines can trace their origins back to the formation of the English Army's "Duke of York and Albany's maritime regiment of Foot" at the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company on 28 October 1664. Today, the Royal Marines are an elite fighting force within the British Armed Forces, having undergone many substantial changes over time.
The stamps
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| Set of 8 stamps depicting aspects of Royal Marines operations (details below). |
1st class: Aviation operations, Cold-weather operations, Mountain operations, Arid-climate operations.
£1.85: Commando training, Band Service, Amphibious operations, Maritime security operations.
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| Miniature sheet of 4 stamps showing Royal Marines Uniforms from 1664 to 1944 |
1st class: Sea Soldier, Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, 1664
1st class: Grenadier, Chatham Division, His Majesty's Marine Forces 1775
£1.85: Sergeant, 4th Battalion Royal Marines, 1918
£1.85: Officer, 48th Royal Marine Commando, 1944.
Technical details.
The 41 x 30 mm stamps are designed by Osborne Ross using images from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (Crown Copyright 2022), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except the Band image wich is copyright Justin Tallis AFP/Getty Images. The stamps were printed by International Security printers in litho with perforations 14.5 x 14, in sheets of 48 (se-tenant strips of 4).
The miniature sheet was designed by Webb & Webb Design Ltd using illustrations by Graham Webb. The stamps are set against a background of Denis Nighton’s painting of The Fall of Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, on the upper deck of HMS Victory (Copyright National Maritime Museum Greenwich). Stamps size is 27 x 37 mm on a sheet 115 x 98 mm, printed by International Security Printers in Litho, perf 14.
Other products
First day covers (2), presentation pack, stamp cards, mounted and framed stamps, medal cover.
There is also a Press Sheet of 15 miniature sheets, priced at £84, and for the first time in an unusual format.
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| Press Sheet of 15 Royal Marines miniature sheets |
As can be seen, this has the barcoded margin on 10 sheets (2 columns). The other column doesn't even show a selvedge/margin, suggesting that these were primarily intended for use on covers, including Royal Mail's own first day and medal covers. This is the first time a press sheet has been issued in such a format.
This is the first stamp issue since the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II and the first ever issued by the UK not to bear the image of the reigning monarch.
Background
Previous British Forces stamps were British Army Uniforms (2007), RAF Uniforms (2008), and Naval Uniforms (2009) also illustrations by Graham Turner. Aircraft were featured in the 2018 issue for the Centenary of the RAF, Royal Navy Ships in 2019, Army Vehicles in 2021, and the centenary of the Royal Navy Submarine Service was marked in 2001.
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| Army Uniforms |
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| Air Force Uniforms |
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| Naval Uniforms |
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At last some proper information for this issue, thank you Ian .
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving more information than is in "First"; Royal Mail doesn't always identify photographers or locations of issues in "First" - presumably one of these pictures is at Lympstone, but maybe that is a state secret even though the assault course is next to a right of way there! But are any of the others in the UK?
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