The series depicting Greenland during WWII is nearing the end, as Greenland Post has introduced the fourth set out of five issues. The fifth and final part will be issued in 2020, which is also the 75th anniversary of the end of the war. The fourth part consists of two stamps with one of the stamps focusing on the influence the war had on everyday life in Greenland, and the other stamp focusing on the strategic influence of Greenland. The stamps, along with all the other stamps of the series, is designed by artist Naja Rosing-Asvid and engraved by Martin Mörck.
The first stamp features people listening to the radio, as well as the images of Greenland’s newspapers. With the isolated geographic position in the world, Greenland used to rely on information flowing in, in the form of brief telegrams. This led to the creation of the newspaper Greenland Post, which was printed in Danish, and later – in the 1950s – converted into a dual-language newspaper, which is still printed once a week today under the name AG. As was the case in the rest of the world, radio had been adopted in Greenland in the 1920s.
The second stamp of this issue depicts one of the fifteen weather stations that were operated by Greenlanders for the Americans, and which provided weather reports used in the planning of D-day in Normandy in June 1944. The stamp also depicts a more direct way that Greenland assisted in the war efforts – the sleigh patrols, which assisted with weather reports for the Allied forces. However, the sleigh patrols also played a vital part in keeping the Germans out of Greenland. The Sirius Patrol still patrols North-eastern Greenland today, where it enforces sovereignty.
Take a look at other WWII stamps.
