Royal Mail Stamp and the Photo of “D-Day” That Wasn’t
Every now and then mistakes are made on coins or stamps. It usually means they’ll be exceedingly valuable to collectors (philatelists). Royal Mail made a blunder on a new stamp that could have placed it in the priceless category. That is, if they hadn’t caught it before production.
It’s time, our 2019 Special Stamp calendar has been revealed!
Showcasing the “Best of British” the programme features a range of subjects: from a celebration of the UK’s Birds of Prey to the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
More info here: https://t.co/URPaDpGyPX pic.twitter.com/IOYzejRNl7— Royal Mail (@RoyalMail) December 27, 2018
Note the photo on the top right hand corner that is labeled “D-Day”- it’s supposed to be part of the “Best of British” commemoratives. Only…the picture is of US Marines landing – not in Normandy, but in Dutch New Guinea. Oh, and it was a month before D-Day.
Military Times wrote:
The United Kingdom’s Royal Mail postal service launched a 2019 “Best of British” campaign Thursday to celebrate centuries of British history and accomplishments.
Stamps highlighting British customs, engineering, photography, forests, as well as the bicentenaries of the birth of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, are all part of a postal roll-out that “commemorates anniversaries and celebrates events and popular culture relevant to UK heritage and life,” according to a Royal Mail release.
One portion of commemorative series, however, has the Royal Mail under fire: A stamp honoring the 75th anniversary of British soldiers landing on the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944 — D-Day — actually features a photograph of U.S. troops wading ashore in Dutch New Guinea, nearly 8,500 miles away.
The image, taken one month before the D-Day landings, is an official U.S. Coast Guard photograph that was featured in a July 1944 issue of “All Hands” magazine. It can be found in the digital archives of the National WWII Museum.
Oops. And it didn’t go unnoticed.
What a shambles! Royal Mail 2019 D-Day stamp shows US Marines coming ashore from USS LCI(L)-30 at Sarmi, Dutch New Guinea, Pacific, 17 May 1944. Wrong theatre; wrong date; wrong vessel; wrong troops. This gross insult to veterans and those who didn’t make it should be withdrawn. pic.twitter.com/9RneNN1XFV
— Andy Saunders (@1940Andy) December 27, 2018
Royal Mail apologized and emphatically stated that the image would not be in the collection. Stamp collectors were disappointed. Another potential bonanza destroyed by Twitter.
We sincerely apologise that our 2019 Special Stamp preview included a design which had been incorrectly associated with the D-Day landings.
This stamp design has not been printed. We would like to reassure our customers that this image will not be part of the final set.
— Royal Mail (@RoyalMail) December 28, 2018
