GREENWOOD STAMP COMPANY – Since 1962 - The Royal ...

JERSEY D-DAY ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
WINS 2004 CANADIANA POLL
By John Peebles, FRPSC
A souvenir sheet from Jersey
commemorating the 60th anniversary
of the Normandy Allied
landings in World War II has
been chosen as the favourite
Canadiana issue for 2004. The
announcement was made in
the fall edition of The Canadian
Connection, journal of the
Canadiana Study Unit.
In the 13th annual Canadiana
poll, readers of The Canadian
Connection were asked to choose
and rank up to three favourite
stamps issued last year. A
point system of three points for
a first place choice, two points
for second and one point for a
third place pick was used. The
winning stamp was clearly the
favourite of Canadiana collectors
as the Jersey entry finished
well ahead of the second place
stamp from Norway. In the final
tally, the winning souvenir sheet
from Jersey col lected over 50%
more points than the runner-up.
The popular souvenir sheet was
issued on June 6, 2004, exactly 60
years to the day that “Operation
Overlord” saw vast numbers of
Allied troops storm the beaches
of northern France. The design
of the souvenir sheet features
a map of northern France. The
map of Normandy is in colours
of blue, white, and red, mirroring
the French flag and the
national colours of France. The
flags of the United States, Great
Britain, and Canada are prominent
over the map of France.
While the flag of Canada is the
most obvious Canadiana aspect
of the sou venir sheet, there are
other Canadiana elements.
Each section of the Normandy
beach was given a military code
name. The five main landing
sites are shown on the stamp:
Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and
Sword. Juno was the code name
for the site where the Canadians
came ashore.
The 3rd Canadian Infantry
Division, supported by the 2nd
Canadian Armoured Brigade,
landed on Juno Beach in brigade
groups. More than 20,000
Canadians, with 200 tanks and
hundreds of other vehicles were
under the command of Major-
General Keller. The toll on life
was sobering. On D-Day alone
Canada tallied more than 1,000
casualties. During the course
of the summer of 1944 over
5,000 Canadians were killed in
Normandy. More than 13,000
others suffered injuries.
Shown around the perimeter of
the souvenir sheet are the badges
and military insignia of the
major units of the Allied Forces
that participated in Operation
Overlord. The insignia of the
Canadian 3rd Infantry Division
and the Canadian 2nd Armoured
Brigade are on the bottom row,
third and fourth from the right,
respec tively.
Tony Theo bald designed the
£2 miniature sheet. Printing was
completed in France by Cartor
Security Printing using four
colour offset lithography.
RUNNER-UP: NORWAY
On March 26,
2004, Canada
Post joined with
Post Greenland
and Norwegian
Post in honouring
the
Norwegian
explorer Otto Sverdrup, on the
150th anniver sary of his birth.
Canada and Greenland each
issued a single stamp while
Norway released two. All three
coun tries also issued uniquely
formatted souvenir sheets. The
two Norwegian stamps were
JF06 • the CP / le PC • 17