60th Anniversary of the End of World War Two Home, The Collection, Go to Order Page, Mailing List

Fiji is among countries preparing to issue stamps in commemoration of the end of World War Two in 1945.

Six countries have allied themselves to a Crown Agents series with a common format and title "The Route to Victory". A total of 60 stamps have been organised.

The route to victory was a lengthy and tortuous trail and Fiji's stamps chart some of the significant milestones in the campaigns in which the whole world become embroiled. Sir Winston Churchill (Britain's political leader) is featured as a relatively young man (aged 65 at the outbreak of hostilities in 1939): the other powerful personality in Fiji's 10-piece commemorative block is the American Supreme Commander is Chief, General Eisenhower.

Fijian troops saw action in several theatres of war, playing a particular role in nearby Solomon Islands where they cooperated with patriotic Melanesians and Europeans in spying on Japanese enemy movements (on land and at sea) and reporting these to the Allies by short-wave radio transmissions.

The rest of the set is devoted to the hardware of war; a Japanese aircraft over Suva harbour in Fiji, a British Lancaster bomber participating in 1943 morale-boosting 'Dambusters' mission, a German tank in the Ardennes Forest (Northern France) 1944, and battleships on patrol and in action at sea.

Similar coverage of personalities, action stations and important successes along the "Route to Victory" are included in the supporting 'minibus' issues of British Indian Ocean Territory, Kiribati, Nauru, St. Helena and Solomon Islands.

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