STAMP OF APPROVAL 2013:

[Administrator]

A stamp of approval for all, not just some.

The local quest for an MN Stamp of Approval started with an initial communication with the international stamp group Stanley Gibbons which published A Stamp of Approval in GSM Magazine and forwarded a £50 donation that kick started the Captain Foster / Trevessa grave refurbishment / renovation at Merthyr Dyfan Cemetery that was completed last year by Halls Memorials, Barry. Now a simple postage stamp will mean so much to so many.

There are few graves or anywhere to lay a flower to properly pay tribute to loved ones or to visit a lost loved one’s location. There are few graves above the waves - most remain on the ocean bed.

It took some time, but there is at last a stamp of approval for our locals such as Jim Luen of Barry and others of whom little is known. Remembering the few like Jim will help recall all and at last pay an ultimate tribute to our MN men.

LINK: www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/news/letters/10118659.Stamp_of_approval_at_last_for_Merchant_Navy_and_Barry_seamen/

[KG]

The Merchant Navy Prestige Stamp Book:

It has been proposed that the Royal Mail include a poem by Captain Joe Earl in the Merchant Navy Prestige Stamp Book: The stamp book comprises 20 pages, each telling a chronological story of the History of the Merchant Navy. On four of these pages the commemorative Merchant Navy stamps (due for release later this year) will be featured as part of the overall story. The final section of the booklet discusses Merchant Navy day and on the very last page a poem penned by Joe features on its own as a final and particularly potent sign off, made all the more relevant because it comes from a Merchant Seaman.

This is great news, not only because it is a beautiful piece of prose, but that it occupies such prominence. So well done Joe and thanks, I am truly delighted that your thoughtful and sensitive work will be read and appreciated by an wide audience both here in the UK and overseas.

It has taken a while, but the MN Stamp of Approval is getting closer and is especially welcomed during the Year of the Convoy and for them.

K.