U.S. #2838b
1994 P-51s Escort B-17s on Bombing Raids, 1944 – World War II

• Part of the fourth souvenir sheet issued to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of World War II
• Sheet includes 10 stamps plus a world map

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Series:  World War II
Value: 29¢ (Individual stamps), First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  June 6, 1994
First Day City:  Two main ceremonies in Washington, DC and  St. Mere Egilse, Normandy, with additional smaller events in:  Fort Dix, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; New York, New York; Clarksville, Tennessee; Fort Sam Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Houston, Texas; Bangor, Maine; Charleston, South Carolina; Virginia Beach and Richmond, Virginia; and Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Quantity Issued (if known):  120,600,000
Printed by:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method:  Offset, Intaglio
Format:  Sheetlets of 10 (arranged in 2 strips of 5, one across the top and one across the bottom of the sheetlet, with world map in between)
Perforations:  11.1 (Eureka off-line perforator)
Tagging:  Overall, large block covering stamps and part of selvage

Why the stamp was issued:  This souvenir sheet was issued to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of World War II.  It was the fourth in a series of five that were issued over the course of five years.

About the stamp design:  Shows two planes dropping bombs as a fighter plane accompanies them overhead.  The planes have the Army Air Force insignia of a white star and blue circle as well as a white H beneath a large white rectangle enclosing an olive-drab-colored B. 

Special design details:  The USPS intended for the equipment and troops shown on the World War II stamps generic.  However, collector Theodore W. Bozarth wrote to Linn’s Stamp News saying the insignia of the 95^th Bomb Group (Heavy) was included on the tail of the B-17 on this stamp.  The group was the first 8^th Air Force group to reach Berlin and the only one to win three Presidential Unit citations.  Bozarth was a navigator with the 9^th in 1943 and 1944.

First Day City:  The stamps were dedicated in two ceremonies on June 6^th:  one at the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, and one in the town of St. Mere Egilse in Normandy.  First Day of Issue postmarks read “USS Normandy.”  Thirteen additional cities held events for the stamps’ First Day of Issue and offered pictorial cancellations.  

The ceremony at Lubbock Texas, was special as it was the same city in which World War II pilots were given glider training at the old South Plains Army Air Field.  One of those pilots was Werner Birkelbach, who flew an antitank gun and four soldiers to Normandy before dawn on D-Day.  Fifty years later, on the World War II stamps’ First Day of Issue, Birkelbach flew a modern sailplane 35 miles from Littlefield, Texas, to Lubbock to deliver cacheted covers bearing the new stamps.  They were all given First Day of Issue postmarks at the end of the trip.

Pre-First Day Usage:  Linn’s Stamp News found that a “P-51s escort B-17s” stamp was used on cover postmarked Rock Hill, New York, on June 3^rd, three days before the stamps were officially issued.  This was the earliest known usage of the one of the World War II stamps.

About the World War II Series:  As the 50^th anniversary of World War II was approaching, the US Postal Service wanted a series that would recognize the key events of the war and the important contributions America made to the Allied victory.  Rather than issue a large number of stamps, the USPS decided to create five sheetlets, each commemorating one year of America’s involvement in the war.  Each sheetlet had 10 different stamps arranged in two horizontal strips of 5.  In the center was a world map with Allied and neutral nations in yellow and Axis-controlled areas in red.  Notes on the map highlighted key developments that occurred that year.  The stamps each featured important events that took place during the year, as well.

History the stamp represents:  Before World War II began, aviation experts claimed the long-range bomber was the most advanced weapon in the world, capable of wiping out cities and destroying an enemy’s ability to continue fighting.  By the end of the war, their theory had been proven true.

Relying on the cover of darkness to evade the enemy’s fire, Great Britain favored “area bombing” – heavily bombing an area in hopes of hitting a target – a campaign that was both costly and ineffective.  In 1942, the United States joined the air war against Germany.  Favoring day raids on specific targets, the US used the popular B-17 to carry out its bombing campaign.  Fitted with heavy armor and numerous guns, these “Flying Fortresses,” as B-17s came to be called, were able to withstand fierce fighter opposition.

A year later, the US and Great Britain launched a bombing campaign against Germany that lasted until the end of the war.  After heavy initial losses however, it soon became apparent that for the raids to be truly successful, long-range escort fighters such as the P-51 Mustang were necessary.  By the end of the war, the US Army Air Force had dropped more than 2 million short tons of bombs and destroyed over 40,000 enemy planes.