Off tomorrow to get a set of the Waterloo bicentenary stamps, a set of six 19th century battle scenes in wide landscape format which look rather distinguished. No squares there, hollow or otherwise! (Sorry, that's an in-house reference to an earlier thread you've probably forgotten by now...)
Here's the miniature sheet of the Battle of Waterloo Bicentenary issue. I've cropped out the awful barcode graffiti:
Perhaps Guthram might post an image of the set of 6 'long format' stamps when he gets them;
1st class x2:
Defence of Hougeoumont Farm.
Scots Greys at the charge of the Union Brigade.
£1.00 x2:
Massed ranks of French cavalry (Cuirassiers) charge and repulsed by British infantry squares.
La Hay Saint Farm defence by King’s German Legion.
£1.52 x2
Prussians arrive and capture of Plancenoit.
The final attack of the French Imperial Guards.
Here are the stamps in their cellophane 'presentation pack'. (You get the MS, too, on the back.) Not the best of scans, I dare say - probably would have done better to scan them off my latest copy of Gibbons Stamp Monthly, as I have done with the Jersey set I referred to, below this.
Despite my disagreements with you previously and my well-known prejudice against "modern art" designs I do like the Jersey set, which do couple a modern(ish )treatment with the "utility" that I keep banging on about. There can be absolutely no doubt about what is being commemorated. I particularly like the treatment of the stamp showing the different countries involved on the allied side. A particularly difficult design subject very well executed.
I think the Jersey stamp on the bottom far left is quite courageous for this day and time. It seems to show the British insignia "overshadowing" or "overtaking" the Iron Cross. I like the stamp and I like the message but it just seems quite straight forward for this politically correct world that we live in today.
-Ernie
The RAF roundel is overshadowing the Luftwaffe balkenkreuz. Such a simple antithesis would of course have been necessary for the wartime propaganda of those times, which is why it is reflected in these modern designs. The nice thing about them is that they are modern takes on 1940s-style posters and, as Malcolm says, they make their point directly. (Even if my scan renders some of the smaller print illegible!)
reminds me strongly of Sean Bean in his role as Richard Sharpe in Sharpe's War, one of my favourite military dramas of all time (except for Foyle's War!
I too was (am) a Sharpe fan - didn't realise how closely his fictional "South Essex Battalion" uniform resembled that of the KGL (not being a Napoleonic buff). The one is obviously based on the other, and I wouldn't be surprised if the artist (Chris Collingwood) had at least a subliminal memory of the TV series when doing that particular stamp. If you like that style of illustration (and I do) you can see more at
No, Ian, Sharpe's uniform IS that of a rifle regiment, specifically the 95th. Most of the other British regiments had traditional red with different colored facings, but rifle regiments were in green, although I remember seeing images of one of the rifle regiments, on a visit to the Americas, in a mix of King-issued and American adopted attire.
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
Thanks, David, for that - 'not a Napoleonic buff' indeed! It was, then, the battalion that was fictional, rather than the regiment and its uniform. There must be some topical enthusiasts who collect stamps illustrating the Napoleonic Wars, or maybe regimental uniforms from whatever period.
"I think the Jersey stamp on the bottom far left is quite courageous for this day and time. It seems to show the British insignia "overshadowing" or "overtaking" the Iron Cross. "
I agree. And we did. And we prevailed. And we won.
David Giles
Ottawa, Canada
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And here is my newspaper's tribute either to the Waterloo stamps or to the bicentenary, with one of their double-page spreads, in which each stamp is magnified 4.4 times:
The caption at top left reads: "Royal Mail has issued a series of stamps commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo which was fought 200 years ago today between Napoleon's army and a coalition of British, German and Prussian forces."
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 21 Jun 2015 09:53:17am
re: GB Stamps Quite Impressive Shock!
" .... And we did. And we prevailed. And we won. ...."
'Tis said that 'twas a close run thing, a damned close run thing.
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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
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