Cuernsey

This set of maxi cards were issued along with the set of five stamps on 15th November 1980 bu the Posta HQ at Guernsey in the Channel Islands to welcome Christmas. My dear friend Maria sent them to me.

Namibia

My Dear Friend Merja sent me this nice set of four maxicards. They show a part of the rich wild life in the Namibian Desert, and scenes from the desert itself. Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March 1990, following the Namibian War of Independence. Its capital and largest city is Windhoek. Namibia is a member state of the United Nations (UN), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), and the Commonwealth of Nations. The dry lands of Namibia were inhabited since early times by Bushmen, Damara, and Namaqua, and since about the 14th century AD by immigrating Bantu who came with the Bantu expansion. It became a German Imperial protectorate in 1884 and remained a German colony until the end of World War I. In 1920, the League of Nations mandated the country to South Africa, which imposed its laws and, from 1948, its apartheid policy.

In 1966, uprisings and demands by African leaders led the United Nations to assume direct responsibility over the territory. It recognized the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) as the official representative of the Namibian people in 1973. Namibia, however, remained under South African administration during this time. Following internal violence, South Africa installed an interim administration in Namibia in 1985. Namibia obtained full independence from South Africa in 1990, with the exception of Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands, which remained under South African control until 1994. Namibia has a population of 2.1 million people and a stable multi-party parliamentary democracy. Agriculture, herding, tourism and the mining industry - including mining for gem diamonds, uranium, gold, silver, and base metals form the backbone of Namibia's economy. After Mongolia it is the second least densely populated country in the world. Approximately half the population live below the international poverty line, and the nation has suffered heavily from the effects of HIV/AIDS, with 15% of the adult population infected with HIV in 2007.

Åland – The Battle of Bomarsund

 I present here a few cards showing the sea battles near Bomarsund a nineteenth century fortress in Sund on the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea. It was built in 1832 by Russia but destroyed twenty-two years later in 1854 in the Crimean War by a British-French fleet. The Battle of Bomarsund was fought between the Russian defences at Bomarsund and an Anglo-French task force. After a week of fighting the British stormed the "remaining" fort and at the end of the battle the fort of Bomarsund was destroyed. Royal Navy mate Charles D. Lucas throws a live Russian artillery shell overboard by hand before it explodes, for which he is awarded the first ever Victoria Cross in 1857. The twenty-year-old Irish Mate later rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. Three hundred Finnish grenadiers defending the fortress were captured and taken to Lewes Prison in the United Kingdom. They were later allowed to return to Finland, and they returned with a song telling about their battle and imprisonment, called the War of Åland.

In the Treaty of Paris 1856, the entire Åland Islands were demilitarised, which is a status that has been preserved to this day. For those interested in more details please see my post dated 29^th April 2010 on my blog http://letstalkstamps.blogspot.com/search/label/War .These lovely cards with the paintings of that famous battle were sent to me by My Dear Friend Pia.

Russia – Cruiser Aurora

Aurora is a 1900 Russian protected cruiser, currently preserved as a museum ship in St. Petersburg. She battled the Japanese Navy in the Russo-Japanese War. One of the first incidents of the Communist Revolution in Russia took place on the cruiser Aurora. During the First World War the ship operated in the Baltic Sea. In 1915 her armament was changed to fourteen 152 mm (6 in) guns. At the end of 1916, the ship was moved to Saint Petersburg (later Petrograd) for a major repair. The city was brimming with revolutionary ferment and part of her crew joined the 1917 February Revolution. A revolutionary committee was created on the ship (Aleksandr Belyshev was elected its captain). Most of the crew joined the Bolsheviks, who were preparing for a Communist revolution.

On 25 October 1917, Aurora refused to carry out an order to put to sea, which sparked the October Revolution. At 9.45 p.m. on that date, a blank shot from her forecastle gun signalled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace, which was to be the last episode of the October Revolution. The cruiser's crew actually took part in the attack. Oxana sent me this card.

Germany - Lighthouses

Standing in splendour on a sandbank is Westerhever lighthouse (below), flanked by two former keepers' houses. Today a popular landmark, it was built to guide shipping through the treacherous sandbanks off the Eiderstedt peninsula and into the Heverstrom. The red and white striped tower has 157 steps. From the top there are panoramic views of the Eiderstedt peninsula and the islands off the North Sea coast. And above is the Lighthouse at List Ost on Sylt, Schleswig-Holstein, in Germany. My Dear Friend Merja sent these cards.

Israel - Sinai Peninsula

Vera from Israel sent me this map card of The Sinai Peninsula; Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt which is about 60,000 km² (23,000 sq mi). It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa. In addition to its formal name, Egyptians also refer to it affectionately as the "Land of Fayrouz", based on the Ancient Egyptian "Dumafkat", which has the same meaning. The bulk of the peninsula is divided into two Egyptian governorates (with three more splitting the Suez Canal area), and has a population of approximately 500,000 people.

The region has historically been the center of conflict between various political factions, based largely on its location. In addition to periods of direct rule by Egyptian governments (including the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, and the modern Egyptian republic), it was like the rest of Egypt also occupied and controlled by the Ottoman Empire, and the United Kingdom which occupied Egypt from 1882 onwards. Israel occupied Sinai in the Suez Crisis of 1956, and again during the Six Day War of 1967. In the October War of 1973, it was the site of fierce fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces. In 1982, after the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from the entirety of Sinai. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant regions in Abrahamic faiths.

Netherlands - Friesland

Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands. Up until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân. Nevertheless, Friesland remains in common usage, being the Dutch (and English) name for the province. Friesland has 646,000 inhabitants (2010) and its capital is Leeuwarden (W.Frisian: Ljouwert), with 91,817 inhabitants, in the center of the province. Fryslân distinguishes itself from the other eleven provinces by having its own language, West Frisian, which is also spoken in a small adjacent part of the province of Groningen, to the east. Closely related languages, East Frisian ("Seeltersk", which is different from "East Frisian (Ostfriesisch)", a collection of Low German dialects of East Frisia) and North Frisian, are spoken in the Saterland and in North Friesland areas in Germany, respectively. Friesland is mainly an agricultural province. The famous black and white Frisian cattle and the well known black Frisian horse originated here. Tourism is another important source of income, principal greatest tourist destinations including the lakes in the south west of the province, and the islands in the Wadden Sea in the north. Another interesting feature is the presence of many windmills. There are 195 windmills in the province of Friesland, from a total of about 1200 in the entire country. This lovely map card of the area was sent to me by Mariska.