Ascension Islands Stamps
1946
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean and forms part of a British Overseas Territory together with Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha. It is about 1,000 miles from the coast of Africa and 1,400 miles from the coast of Brazil. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, of which the main island, Saint Helena, is around 800 miles to the southeast. The territory also includes the sparsely-populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago, some 2,300 miles to the south.
The island is named after the day of its recorded discovery, Ascension Day.
In 1939 the island became important as a high-frequency direction finding radio station covering the mid-Atlantic trade routes. The islands did not see much action during the war but the American 38th Combat Engineering Battalion of the US Army Corps of Engineers did construct a runway on Ascension Island (Wideawake Airbase IATA: ASI, ICAO: FHAW). The first aircraft to use the runway was a Fairy Swordfish from HMS Archer in June 1942 and the airfield went on to be used by more than 25,000 aicraft as a staging post during the war.
The island's main military use was to support amphibious and anti-submarine warfare operations, primarily against the German Kreigsmarine , using Catalina flying boats. The island was also used as a stopping off point for aircraft crossing the Atlantic from the US to the war zones in Europe and Africa.
1946
SG 48 and 49
Victory
Issued: 21st Oct 1946 and printed recess by the Del La rue company on 'Multi Script CA' paper and perf 13½:14. These stamps are part of a larger issue called the 'Victory Omnibus Issue' and feature a portrait of King George VI with an image of the Palace of Westminster and the river Thames in the background.
