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17November — December 2021 • First Days
Part 13On January 2, 1939, Finland issued a set of four semi-postal values with a distinctive
red cross on each stamp, hovering over what appears to be a battlefield. In fact, the scene reflects the 1859 battle at Solferino, Italy with the forces of France and Italy on one side and those of Austria against them. The battle was grim with much bloodshed, high casual-ties of dead and wounded, and many missing in action on both sides.
The resultant horrors stimulated a Swiss businessman and social activist to lay the foundation for an organization that would provide humanitarian relief in the future. Henri Dunant, born in Geneva, witnessed the aftermath of the battle and immediately set about organizing the local women to establish temporary hospitals to tend to the wounded. He wrote a book about these experiences and urged that a neutral organization be created to provide care to soldiers wounded in battle.
His efforts resulted in the First Geneva Convention in 1864 “for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick Armed Forces in the Field.” Thus the Internation-al Committee of the Red Cross was established in Geneva, which later spawned many Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world to offer aid in emergencies. In 1901 Dunant was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Finland set marks the 75th anniversary of that First Geneva Convention. The sup-plemental cost of each stamp was for the benefit of the Red Cross. The four values were
The Battle of Solferino by Carlo Bossoli, 1859.
Finland Birth Certificatesby Alan Warren
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18 First Days • November — December 2021
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
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19November — December 2021 • First Days
50 + 5 penni, 1 ¼ marks + 15 penni, 2 marks + 20 penni, and 3 ½ marks + 35 penni. The covers shown here all bear a complete set of the four values. They are all registered and the first three were sent outside of Finland. The rate for a letter abroad was 3 ½ marks and the registry fee was 2 ½ marks. Thus all the covers are overpaid.
Figure 1 to Sweden bears a boxed 4-language cachet and a hand cancel. Figure 2 to New Zealand is also hand cancelled but with a bridge cancel. Figure 3 to Germany has an even larger diameter bridge cancel and a Christmas seal. However, it is a second day cover as it was postmarked on January 3. This cover may have contained some of the new stamps as the reverse shows that it was slit open and resealed at the destination city of Königsberg with a currency control label (Figure 4).
The remaining covers are unofficials and were sent locally. Figure 5 was mailed at Hangö and Figure 6 at Lohja. The latter has a handstamped “KIRJATAAN” beneath the registry label. The Finnish word means “recorded,” i.e., registered. q
Figure 3.
Figure 4.
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20 First Days • November — December 2021
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
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