U.S. #2838j
1994 Bastogne and Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 1944 – World War II
- Part of the fourth souvenir sheet issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of World War II
- Sheet includes 10 stamps plus a world map
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Series: World War II
Value: 29¢ (Individual stamp... more
U.S. #2838j
1994 Bastogne and Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 1944 – World War II
- Part of the fourth souvenir sheet issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of World War II
- Sheet includes 10 stamps plus a world map
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Series: World War II
Value: 29¢ (Individual stamps), First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue: June 6, 1994
First Day City: Two main ceremonies in Washington, DC and St. Mere Egilse, Normandy, with additional smaller events in: Fort Dix, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; New York, New York; Clarksville, Tennessee; Fort Sam Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas; Bangor, Maine; Charleston, South Carolina; Virginia Beach and Richmond, Virginia; and Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Quantity Issued (if known): 120,600,000
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Offset, Intaglio
Format: Sheetlets of 10 (arranged in 2 strips of 5, one across the top and one across the bottom of the sheetlet, with world map in between)
Perforations: 11.1 (Eureka off-line perforator)
Tagging: Overall, large block covering stamps and part of selvage
Why the stamp was issued: This souvenir sheet was issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of World War II. It was the fourth in a series of five that were issued over the course of five years.
About the stamp design: Shows a winter scene with two American GIs crouching behind a snow-covered barrier among the trees of the Ardennes Forest. The design is based on a specific War Department photograph, but with some details from other photos. Bond used blue shadows and white snow to portray a feeling of the bitter cold and difficult conditions faced by the soldiers who fought during that time.
First Day City: The stamps were dedicated in two ceremonies on June 6th: one at the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, and one in the town of St. Mere Egilse in Normandy. First Day of Issue postmarks read “USS Normandy.” Thirteen additional cities held events for the stamps’ First Day of Issue and offered pictorial cancellations.
The ceremony at Lubbock Texas, was special as it was the same city in which World War II pilots were given glider training at the old South Plains Army Air Field. One of those pilots was Werner Birkelbach, who flew an antitank gun and four soldiers to Normandy before dawn on D-Day. Fifty years later, on the World War II stamps’ First Day of Issue, Birkelbach flew a modern sailplane 35 miles from Littlefield, Texas, to Lubbock to deliver cacheted covers bearing the new stamps. They were all given First Day of Issue postmarks at the end of the trip.
Pre-First Day Usage: Linn’s Stamp News found that a “P-51s escort B-17s” stamp was used on cover postmarked Rock Hill, New York, on June 3rd, three days before the stamps were officially issued. This was the earliest known usage of the one of the World War II stamps.
About the World War II Series: As the 50th anniversary of World War II was approaching, the US Postal Service wanted a series that would recognize the key events of the war and the important contributions America made to the Allied victory. Rather than issue a large number of stamps, the USPS decided to create five sheetlets, each commemorating one year of America’s involvement in the war. Each sheetlet had 10 different stamps arranged in two horizontal strips of 5. In the center was a world map with Allied and neutral nations in yellow and Axis-controlled areas in red. Notes on the map highlighted key developments that occurred that year. The stamps each featured important events that took place during the year, as well.
History the stamp represents: On July 25, 1944, Allied troops broke through German lines at St. Lo and a month later Paris was liberated after four long years of Nazi occupation. Driving forward, Patton pushed eastward toward the Rhine River, while Montgomery swept into Belgium, capturing Antwerp on September 4th. By the late fall, US and British forces had managed to drive the Germans back to their own borders.
Faced with disaster, Hitler made one final attempt to win the war. Pulling together his failing resources, he planned to break through the weakly-held front of Belgium’s Ardennes Forest, severing the Allied forces in two. On December 16th, German forces launched their attack. Taken by surprise, the Allies retreated for eight days before they managed to regroup and push the Germans back.
The Battle of the Bulge, as it came to be known because of the initial dent made in the front line, changed the Allies’ position very little. By January 16, 1945, the Ardennes front had been re-established where it had been a month earlier. Hitler, however, suffered heavy losses of both men and supplies. Although there were many weeks of fighting ahead, the last hundred days of the “thousand year” Third Reich had begun.
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