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Jersey servicemen and women who served in WWI have been given a special ‘stamp of approval’ as thanks for their efforts on the centenary of the Armistice.
Jersey Post have issued seven new stamps featuring each of the Great War heroes.
The new issue, entitled Armistice and Remembrance, features original wartime photographs restored and colourised by Russian historical colourist Olga Shirnina.
The issue is the final part in a series looking back at the Great War. Previous ones had focused on the War in the Air, Participation and Change and Battles. However, Chris Elligott, Philatelic Artwork and Production Manager, explained that it was always planned to end the issue on a personal note with local servicemen and women.
Video: The Great War heroes were shown their stamps last week.
He said: "The Great War brought together men and women form a variety of backgrounds and it was important for us to show this when selecting the images for the stamps and Miniature Sheet. We didn't just want to commemorate those who had been decorated, but also those ordinary men and women with extraordinary back stories."
The original black and white images were sourced form the archives of La Société Jersiaise, the Jersey Museum, Victoria College Book of Remembrance and from family members. The names and services of those featured on the stamps are also printed on the stamps.
"Restoring the photographs was a meticulous process," Mr Elligott explained. "We spent a lot of time researching the details from the colours and materials of the uniforms and the badges right down to the subjects’ eye and hair colours which we found through historical references and with the help of family members.
"This historical accuracy, together with Olga’s incredible attention to detail has enabled us to bring a whole new dimension to the original photographs, building a bridge with the past and making the subjects appear more present, almost tangible. It’s been quite an emotional process; for some, these stamps will be the first time they have seen their relatives in colour."
Tim Brown, Jersey Post CEO, said the company wanted to recognise "ordinary people who did extraordinary things in difficult times."
"They all become heroes and heroines," he said adding that Jersey Post was very proud to launch the stamps. "They are great images," he continued, "and some of them are in colour for the first time."
Pictured: Victor Tucker, Private Charles William Moody's Grandson, with Tim Brown.
A Telegraph boy at Jersey Post Office, Moody lied about his age to join up, becoming a marksman with rifle and Lewis machine gun. Wounded and left for dead at Passchendaele, he was found stricken on the battlefield by German troops and taken to a German field hospital before becoming a prisoner of war.
Dunlop was living in South America when war broke out and immediately returned to his native Jersey in order to volunteer for military service. The former Jersey Victoria College pupil received a commission into the South Staffordshire Regiment as a machine gun officer. He was serving in the South Staffordshire Regiment 4th Battalion stationed on the Island when news came through that his elder brothers Julian and Frederick had been killed in action.
The youngest son of Dr and Mrs Dunlop, Kenneth was killed whilst attached to the 1st Battalion, in charge of a machine gun section on 26 September 1915 during the Battle of Loos age 33, becoming the third of the Dunlop’s sons to be killed in action during the Great War. Tragically, his parents had lost two other sons during the Boer War (1899-1902).
Whilst serving on an armed trawler in the North Sea, Petty Officer Jeune’s ship, together with other unarmed trawlers, came under attack from a German U-Boat, firing at them on the surface with its main gun. The action lasted for over two hours with many of the trawlers sunk. Jeune’s own ship, trying to shepherd and protect the others whilst down to its last ammunition, badly damaged and sinking, took a hit to the bridge where the commanding officer was severely wounded.
Although being wounded himself, Jeune took command, transferred the surviving crew to smaller boats and tended to his commanding officer’s wounds. Jeune and the other survivors reached shore thirty hours later. Jeune was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his actions.
Pictured: Graham Brée, Private Clifford Brée's son, and Tim Brown.
Jerseyman Brée joined up in April 1915 and arrived in France in September of the same year. Respecting his family’s Methodist faith and his father’s wishes, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. Private Brée was awarded the Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry for recovering wounded men under a German attack, through a heavy gas and artillery barrage. Initially unable to locate the men, his party remained stranded for over three hours before returning to report and then battling back out to return them, still under heavy fire, to the dressing stations.
Born in Edinburgh and relocating to Jersey age nine, McCrae Bruce was educated at Victoria College, Jersey, moving to Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to complete his officer training before being attached to the Northumberland Fusiliers. Whilst serving with the 59th Scinde Rifles of the Indian Army, during a night attack near Givenchy, France, in December 1914, Lieutenant Bruce was in command of a small party that captured an enemy trench.
Despite being severely wounded in the neck, he walked up and down the trench skilfully organising its defence against counter-attacks and encouraging his men for several hours until he was killed. For this action he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest British military award for gallantry.
Pictured: Robert and Charles Norman, Corporal Norman's sons and Nurse Norman's nephews receiving colourised pictures of their relatives from Tim Brown.
Born in St Helier in 1889 and training during the pre-war years in Jersey and Salisbury, Nurse Norman became a member of the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve (QAIMNSR) who augmented the number of nurses serving in the regular Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service. These invaluable nurses were civilian and had to be recruited quickly as the scale of the conflict escalated. Over 10,400 nurses served in the Reserve between 1914-18. Nursing on the mainland treating wounded returnees from the front, she embarked for France following the armistice to assist with the aftermath of war, before being demobilised in 1919.
Formerly enlisted in the Jersey Militia, Robert Norman was transferred to the Signals section of The Royal Engineers, becoming a Corporal and serving as a Motor Cycle Despatch Rider. Corporal Norman was honourably discharged from the army after being seriously wounded in the course of duty. Motorcycle Despatch Riders were essential in maintaining communications from Army, Corps. and Divisional command to the brigades and battalions at the front. They often operated under extremely difficult conditions, treacherous weather, roads clogged with heavy traffic and under fire. The Royal Engineers were the first regiment of the British army to use motorcycles in this role, having previously used riders on horseback.
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