150th anniversary of Burke and Wills expedition - 2010 AUSTRALIA

The 150th anniversary of the Burke and Wills expedition, the first south - north crossing of the continent is celebrated today with the release of a collectable souvenir stamp set by Australia Post.

Australia Post Philatelic Group manager, Noel Leahy, said, "As our most celebrated Australian pioneers we remember Burke and Wills as men who were willing to risk their lives to chart Australia's unknown interior and impart their knowledge for the betterment of our country. Our 150th anniversary stamp set retells the story of their ill-fated expedition in four collectable stamps to honour the great personal sacrifice they made in their endeavor". The four stamps in the anniversary set include:

1. Crossing Australia - featuring an image of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills. Burke and Wills hoped to be the first Europeans to cross Australia from the south to the north. While the explorers reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, the expedition ended in tragedy.
   
   
2. Leaving Melbourne - a jubilant scene of Melbourne well wishers at Royal Park as the expedition leaves the city. The party set out for the interior with Burke riding his grey horse "Billy", Landells and the naturalist Ludwig Becker on camels, and the sepoys leading four or five camels by hand.
   
   
3. Return from the Gulf - a journey of some 700 miles from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria was made on a daily ration of four ounces of flour, sticks of dried meat and a few biscuits. Not being enough to sustain four men, the expedition's horse and one of the camels supplemented their diet. This however was not enough to save Gray, who died on 17 April 1861.
   
   
4. Towards Mount Hopeless - having arrived back at Cooper's Creek only to find their support party had left that morning they struck out for the South-Australian cattle station at Mount Hopeless. During the difficult journey to Mount Hopeless, the Aboriginal people became key players. They provided Burke, Wills and King with sustenance, however they moved camp often, leaving the explorers behind. Finally the European explorers struck out on their own for Mount Hopeless, only to turn back because of lack of water. But it was all in vain as on or about 28th June 1861 both Burke and Wills had perished. King, however survived and was found on 15 September 1861 by a search party from Melbourne.

South magnetic pole - 2009 AUSTRALIA

January 2009 marks the centenary of the first expedition to the South Magnetic Pole, and the recent stamps issued by Australia on 8 January 2009 commemorates that milestone in polar science and exploration. Historical images from the expedition tell the narrative of the journey, in combination with the typography, which forms a graphic element of the story. The bold white text represents the vast Antarctic landscape and its staged incline across the designs symbolises the increasing difficulty of a journey and the endurance required of the men. The sparse visual approach to the design also conveys the idea of the men at the mercy of the elements.

Lost soldiers of Fromelles - 2010 AUSTRALIA

The Royal Australian Mint continues its commemorating the Lost Soldiers of Fromelles. The battle occurred in France on July 19-20 in 1916. Fromelles was a combined operation between British troops and the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). It would be the first occasion that the AIF saw action on the Western Front. The Australian War Memorial describes the battle as "the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history." Known as Australia’s bloodiest day, during the 1916 battle the 5th Division suffered 5533 casualties. There was speculation for many years regarding the existence of an unmarked and forgotten mass grave near Fromelles, containing the remains of Allied soldiers killed during the battle and subsequently buried by the Germans. In 2007, a non-invasive geophysical survey, commissioned by the Australian Government, was conducted by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Department (GUARD). The survey gave readings consistent with pits containing the remains of hundreds of soldiers. A subsequent metal detector survey led to the discovery of Australian Army artefacts at the site. Ninety two years after the battle, a mass grave of British and Australian Soldiers was rediscovered in Pheasant Wood, a portion of the soldiers missing in action. After an identification process, our lost soldiers will be laid to rest with dignity and full military honours in individual plots at a new War Cemetery, situated as close as possible to where the soldiers were found. The coin design is based on the Cobbers Statue which stands in Fromelles and was developed in partnership with the Australian Fromelles Project Group.

Kokoda - 2010 AUSTRALIA

Kokoda in Papua New Guinea holds a special place in Australia's military history. The Kokoda Track Campaign was fought here between July and November 1942 between Japanese and Allied - primarily Australian - forces in the then Australian territory of Papua. Australia Post's issuing policy normally restricts stamp issues to celebrating anniversaries in multiples of 50 (i.e. 50th, 100th etc.), however for joint issues special consideration is applied

The Kokoda campaign, remembered as Australia's toughest battle against the Japanese in World War II, is being commemorated with a new stamp.

Australia Post and Papua New Guinea Post have issued a joint Kokoda stamp in honour of the soldiers who fell fighting along PNG's notorious Kokoda Track.

In a first between the two nations, five stamps have been released depicting the relationship forged during the Kokoda Campaign of 1942, during which more than 600 diggers died.

Australia Post Philatelic Group manager Noel Leahy said the stamp issue built on the bonds forged in war.

"A remarkable bond was formed in 1942 that continues to this day," he said.

"This is one of Australia's most dramatic wartime involvements and we felt that to commemorate it was extremely important.

"We're also thrilled to be doing a joint issue with PNG.

"This is the first time we have done this and we hope it further demonstrates Australia's growing relationship with PNG," he said.

Australia Post said two stamps portray the difficult conditions and the close bonds forged through the battle's adversity.

Another shows the memorial along the Kokoda Track, at Isurava.

One of Australia's most prolific stamp designers, Brian Clinton, who also designed a 2008 Anzac Day commemoration stamp, illustrated the Kokoda five.

Robin Hood - 2010 AUSTRALIA

Celebrating the release of the new Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, this pack features two sheetlets of 10 Russell Crowe stamps and 10 tabs. There is no Cate Blanchett stamp in the sheetlet as Australia Post advises the licensing agreement was not taken up by Cate Blanchett's screen management company.

Gummed Sheetlet Stamps
The sheetlet stamp is a very close match to the original issue 22 January 2009, but is new for two reasons:

• the stamp has an attached tab
• the stamp is printed by a new printer

The background is not white, rather light blue-grey as it was with the original stamp. A white background version of the Russell Crowe stamp does exist from the AFI Film Lovers Pack.