Gun site
Piece details
Identity
- Piece codeStamp code YYYY.ENT.SS-PP — series code plus stamp order (e.g. 1900.CGH.01-02).
1966.BEC.01-03- SeriesThe set this stamp belongs to.
- 25th Anniversary of the Bechuanaland Royal Pioneer Corps
1966.BEC.01· piece 3 of 4 - EntityPostal authority that issued the stamps (country, territory, or historical entity).
Bechuanaland Protectorate (BEC)- Year / date
- 1966-06-01
- Face valueDenomination on the stamp; +n is a charity surcharge when present.
- 15 c
- Format
- Stamp
- TypeIssue kind. Charity issue = postage + voluntary surcharge (e.g. 6+4), not an overprint.
- Commemorative
- Colors
- Multicolour
- CollectionIn collection if you have it; Purchased if it is bought but not yet received (do not buy again); Wanted otherwise.
- ✓ In collection
Production
- Designer
- Victor Whiteley
- Printer
- Harrison & Sons
- PerforationsHole gauge between stamps (e.g. 12, 13½). Higher ≈ finer.
- 14½
- Printing
- Photogravure
Catalog numbers
- DomfilDomfil thematic catalog number (scouting).
- 966.7
- ScottScott catalog number (Americas).
- GB-BE 212
- MichelMichel catalog number (Europe / DE).
- GB-BE 187
- YvertYvert & Tellier catalog number (FR).
- GB-BE 151
- Stanley GibbonsStanley Gibbons catalog number (UK / Commonwealth).
- GB-BE 200
Notes
Left panel: blue-toned gun crew at a field piece, captioned “A BECHUANA GUN-SITE IN ACTION”. Right panel: magenta field with St Edward’s Crown, Queen Elizabeth II, “15 CENTS” and “BECHUANALAND ROYAL PIONEER CORPS”; “BECHUANALAND PROTECTORATE” across the foot in green.
Series history
On 1 June 1966 the Bechuanaland Protectorate issued a commemorative set for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Bechuanaland Pioneers and Gunners, the wartime military formation associated with the Bechuanaland Royal Pioneer Corps. The unit had been raised in 1941. Each stamp carries a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with St Edward’s Crown, the corps title, and the protectorate name at the foot.
The four values show a British Haslar smoke generator with Bechuana operators (2½ c), a bugler sounding the Last Post in the desert (5 c), a Bechuana gun-site in action (15 c), and the regimental cap badge with the motto Labor omnia vincit (35 c).
Victor Whiteley designed the set. Harrison & Sons printed it in photogravure, perforated 14½, on paper watermarked St Edward’s Crown Block CA.