The first stamps issued by

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

were forced upon the island by the shortage of British stamps in 1941 during the

German occupation of the Channel Islands The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are two island countries and British ...

Guernsey Post Guernsey Post is the postal service for the island of Guernsey, Channel Islands. It includes a Philatelic bureau, and regularly issues both Definitive stamp, definitive and Commemorative stamp, commemorative stamps. It also provides postal ser ...

has issued

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s in the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies. Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under the t ...

since its creation in 1969 when the postal service was separated from the

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

. From 1983 Guernsey has issued stamps designated

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...

Early issues

In 1940

was occupied by

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

forces and the supply of postage stamps from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

ceased. Not wishing to use

Feldpost ''Feldpost'' is the German military mail service. Its history dates back to the 18th century in the Kingdom of Prussia during the Seven Years' War and War of the Bavarian Succession and has existed ever since in different forms and shapes. Histo ...

stamps and with the local stocks running out, the first solution in December 1940 was to cut, diagonally stamps so turning a 2d stamp into two 1d stamps. Then in 1941 a simple stamp design was created by E.W. Vaudin with the main design adopted by both Jersey and Guernsey and feature three heraldic lions, a form of resistance against the occupation as the shield is that of both Guernsey and of the Duke of Normandy, the stamps also include four small V's for victory. In 1947, for the 3rd anniversary of liberation, the Royal Mail issued two stamps, designed primarily for use in the Channel Islands depicting the gathering of Vraic (seaweed). QEII REG G 026

In 1958 the idea of

Country definitives Country definitives, formerly known as regional postage stamps of Great Britain are the postage stamps issued for regions of the United Kingdom, reflecting the regional identity of the various countries and islands of the British isles. Postage st ...

resulted in regional postage stamps being printed in Britain. Eric Piprell designed the Guernsey stamps. These show the Crown of William the Conqueror and the Guernsey lily.

Guernsey Post

1969-1989

Pre decimal

Decimal

1990-2009

¹Local - postage within the

²UK - postage to the United Kingdom
³EUR - postage to Europe
⁴ROW - postage to the Rest of the World
⁵INT - International postage

2010-2019

References

{{Guernsey topics , state=collapsed

External links

Guernsey Stamps
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