World War II - 13 stamps Wehrmacht 1944

Wehrmacht Day 1944

On the occasion of "Memorial Day", March 12, 1944, the second set of 13 "Wehrmacht" stamps was issued. The stamps also included an envelope-tax, a very widespread fact in Nazi philately, as a collection channel for different purposes.

Since Nazi Germany began to annex and invade territories, a debate arose as to which name best defined the new enlarged German state and therefore to use, "Deutsches Reich" or "GrossDeutsches Reich". In philately it was not until 1944 when the term "GrossDeutsches Reich" started to be used, which can be seen in this second set of stamps.

10 pfennig: in this stamp of the second series we see a "Scheinwerfer" or beacon that was used as support for the Fliegerabwehr (Fliegerabwehrkanone) or anti-aircraft batteries.

16 pfennig: one of the prides of the "Kriegsmarine" (Navy) were the "Schnellboot" or torpedo boats. These were a clear example of how German engineers sharpened the ingenuity to circumvent the rearmament prohibition established in the Treaty of Versailles.

20 pfennig: Arado hydrofoils were the aircraft used by the German Navy for reconnaissance missions during the war in the Atlantic. It first took flight in 1938.

24 pfennig: on this stamp we see an "Eisenbahngeschutz", a cannon that was carried on the railroad tracks. This type of gun was especially functional as it allowed very heavy guns to be moved quickly across the continent if necessary.