MikeyToo, you have mail
Thought that purrfin2 and MikeyToo might be interested in this page from my "Battle of the Atlantic" exhibit:
There's no such thing as an error-free exhibit page! I just noticed that I said the stamp was issued to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the liberation of St. Pierre & Miquelon. Should have been the 20th anniversary.
It wasn't much a liberation. As I understand it, the islands had been part of Vichy France by virtue of the fact that their governor supported Vichy. Charles de Gaulle sent Surcouf and a couple of destroyers to establish, without blood-letting, Free French occupation. Subsequent referendum showed that the great majority of citizens supported Free France.
More information from Wikipedia:
"This 'invasion' by Free French forces exploded into a major international incident because the use of military force by Free France was contrary to the Monroe Doctrine. The United States and Canada both threatened invasion of the islands, despite Free France being a nominal ally of both countries. However, the 'liberation' of St. Pierre and Miquelon had graced the front pages of major newspapers in both countries as one of the first territories to be removed from Axis control. US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull then abandoned any further interest in the islands, and the islands were no longer critical to the war efforts of any Allied country."
Very nice and an intriguing subject for an exhibit. Is there more?
My "Battle of the Atlantic" exhibit has 64 sheets (four frames X 16 sheets each). I won a vermeil (small gold) medal for it at VANPEX 2013.
I'll consider scanning it for an Stamporama exhibit. Below is the title page:
" ...Most U-boats did sink, however, often with the loss of all hands ...
There were several reasons for that.
A majority of the Merchant ships had the engine rooms and seaman's compartments mid ships. The U-boat skippers usually aimed for the center of its target.
Many merchant vessels carried two life boats on each side so if the engine room and berthing quarters were mid-ship the boats on the struck side were destroyed or badly damaged.
A ship will usually list over towards the struck side, making it virtually impossible to lower the undamaged life boats on the other side once the vessel takes on a severe list.
A second problem is that much of the year the North Atlantic and especially the Arctic weather was freezing, or close to freezing, so the men who did manage to escape in open boats often froze to death.
Finally, vessels travelled in convoy and were instructed to not stop to pick up survivors lest they become a big fat target for the U-boats that often worked in packs.
After s while convoys were accompanied at the rear by a fleet tug or Coast Guard cutter with a shallow draft so torpedoes would likely pass beneath the keel, but time was not on their side since the cutter would have to come near the sinking vessel, find the survivors, if possible, often in in the dark, and stop to rescue them, meanwhile a successful wolf pack would have sunk one or two more ships, so the odds or a successful rescue were not good.
Finally the expression "Winter North Atlantic" generally meant dark, cold, stormy seas.
It is no wonder that after the war when the numbers were tallied it became obvious that a A young man who joined the Merchant Marine during World War Two had a 34% worse chance of being a casualty than one who entered the US Marine Corps, despite the horrendous losses at places like Tarawa, Peleliu or Iwo Jima.
This item was added in with a stamp order. It looks like a really fancy business card, but it also served as a stiffener for the envelope. I then got to wondering if any of you collected things like this. It would be a lot better served in your hands than mine. I'd be more than happy to mail it out.
re: Anyone collect things like this?
MikeyToo, you have mail
re: Anyone collect things like this?
Thought that purrfin2 and MikeyToo might be interested in this page from my "Battle of the Atlantic" exhibit:
There's no such thing as an error-free exhibit page! I just noticed that I said the stamp was issued to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the liberation of St. Pierre & Miquelon. Should have been the 20th anniversary.
It wasn't much a liberation. As I understand it, the islands had been part of Vichy France by virtue of the fact that their governor supported Vichy. Charles de Gaulle sent Surcouf and a couple of destroyers to establish, without blood-letting, Free French occupation. Subsequent referendum showed that the great majority of citizens supported Free France.
More information from Wikipedia:
"This 'invasion' by Free French forces exploded into a major international incident because the use of military force by Free France was contrary to the Monroe Doctrine. The United States and Canada both threatened invasion of the islands, despite Free France being a nominal ally of both countries. However, the 'liberation' of St. Pierre and Miquelon had graced the front pages of major newspapers in both countries as one of the first territories to be removed from Axis control. US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull then abandoned any further interest in the islands, and the islands were no longer critical to the war efforts of any Allied country."
re: Anyone collect things like this?
Very nice and an intriguing subject for an exhibit. Is there more?
re: Anyone collect things like this?
My "Battle of the Atlantic" exhibit has 64 sheets (four frames X 16 sheets each). I won a vermeil (small gold) medal for it at VANPEX 2013.
I'll consider scanning it for an Stamporama exhibit. Below is the title page:
re: Anyone collect things like this?
" ...Most U-boats did sink, however, often with the loss of all hands ...
There were several reasons for that.
A majority of the Merchant ships had the engine rooms and seaman's compartments mid ships. The U-boat skippers usually aimed for the center of its target.
Many merchant vessels carried two life boats on each side so if the engine room and berthing quarters were mid-ship the boats on the struck side were destroyed or badly damaged.
A ship will usually list over towards the struck side, making it virtually impossible to lower the undamaged life boats on the other side once the vessel takes on a severe list.
A second problem is that much of the year the North Atlantic and especially the Arctic weather was freezing, or close to freezing, so the men who did manage to escape in open boats often froze to death.
Finally, vessels travelled in convoy and were instructed to not stop to pick up survivors lest they become a big fat target for the U-boats that often worked in packs.
After s while convoys were accompanied at the rear by a fleet tug or Coast Guard cutter with a shallow draft so torpedoes would likely pass beneath the keel, but time was not on their side since the cutter would have to come near the sinking vessel, find the survivors, if possible, often in in the dark, and stop to rescue them, meanwhile a successful wolf pack would have sunk one or two more ships, so the odds or a successful rescue were not good.
Finally the expression "Winter North Atlantic" generally meant dark, cold, stormy seas.
It is no wonder that after the war when the numbers were tallied it became obvious that a A young man who joined the Merchant Marine during World War Two had a 34% worse chance of being a casualty than one who entered the US Marine Corps, despite the horrendous losses at places like Tarawa, Peleliu or Iwo Jima.