Norvic Philatelics - New GB Stamps and Special Postmarks

In response to public interest and in support of significant national activity in the next few years, Royal Mail will issue the first in a series of three miniature sheets to align with Remembrance Day in 2006, 2007 & 2008. The first sheet in the series will be issued on the 9th November 2006 to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the Somme.

In 2006 there are various commemorations of the Battle of the Somme 1916, including commemorative events at the battlefield, and exhibitions at the National Army Museum as well as an online exhibition from the Imperial War Museum. The special national commemorations are specifically planned as we approach the 90th anniversary of the Great War rather than the traditional 100 year anniversary.

The Miniature Sheet

The Miniature sheet features one new special stamp showing poppies on stems of barbed-wire stems against a white background, plus a block four 72p country definitives, one for each of the countries of the UK. The minsheet will be printed in Gravure and as such is the first Northern Ireland country definitive to be printed in Gravure.

Technical details:
The sheet is designed by hat-trick design and printed by De La Rue Security Print in gravure. The background photo is from the Imperial War Museum collection. The Poppy stamp is perforated 14½x14 and the definitives 15x14. The sheet size is 124x71 mm. Stamp and postmark images are Copyright 2006 by Royal Mail; other images are copyright Norvic Philatelics.

Smilers Stamps - We Will Remember Them

A generic sheet consisting of 20 x 1st class poppy stamps will also be available, designed by hat-trick design and printed by Cartor Security Printers.

The title of the sheet is taken from the poem, "For the Fallen" by the First world war poet Laurence Binyon. Extracts from the poem also appear in the border of the sheet. The labels next to the stamps show four war memorials: Lutyen's Cenotaph in Whitehall, Lionel Pearson's Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner, the RAF Memorial on the Embankent in London, and the railwaymens memorial at Euston Station to the dead of the London & North Western Railway and London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Information on each memorial is shown on the lower two 'labels'. Now that we have the actual sheets we can report that the 'labels' are not separately perforated, that is, the description and memorial image form one complete label the equivalent of 5 normal labels, as shown more clearly on the enlarged image. The sheet borders and description 'labels' (but not the memorials) are printed with silver ink. These sheets require very careful handling as the silver ink rubs off!

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Norvic Philatelics limited edition First Day Covers for this issue:

Miniature sheet on Norvic 'Poppies' first day cover - Price £8.95

Set of 4 Norvic 'war memorial' first day covers carrying a complete set of Generic Smilers stamps - Price £18.50

Some Royal Mail FDCs will also be available, price £5.25

Special postmarks which are available for the First Day of Issue are shown here (others may be added later):

Ref FD641 Official Bureau FDI postmark "In Flanders Field the Poppies Blow"	Ref FD642 Official London SW1 FDI postmark "We Will Remember Them".	Ref FD642N Official London SW1 FDI non-pictorial postmark	Ref L10257 Lest We Forget, Whitehall, London SW1	Ref L10258 The Battle of the Somme, Pro Patria Mori, Whitehall SW1	Ref M10262 Lest We Forget, Poppy Lane, Birmingham
Ref N10266 The Western Front Association, Stockport	Ref L10249 Les+ we forge+ The Cenotaph London SW1	Ref L10250 We will remember them, London SW1	Ref L10251 We will remember them, London SW1	Ref L10256 The Battle of the Somme, July-November 1916, Chelsea London SW3	Ref L10255 The Falklands Memorial Chapel, Pangbourne, Reading
Ref N10266 We Will Remember Them, Cenotaph, London SW1	Ref L10249 Wargrave Road, Harrow - RIP	Ref L10250 Malet Lambert School remembers John Harrison VC	Ref L10142 Conflicts of the 20th century, The Cenotaph, Whitehall. This is a rubber handstamp with rollable date.	Ref F10289 Lest We Forget The Sacrifice, British Forces PS 2950	Ref M10295 Lest We Forget Christmas in the Trenches, The Old Contemptibles, The Earl Haig, Birmingham The postmark available 7-30 November