1918

Not only did the First World War claim millions of lives, it changed the course of history and transformed the lives of
generations to come. This is the fifth part of a five year commemorative programme marking the
centenary of its outbreak. Each year of the war has been explored though a stamp which covers six key themes: Poppies, Poetry, War Art, Memorials and Artefacts. These themes combine to form a beautiful and poignant collection which serves as a fitting way to commemorate this tragic conflict. The stamps commemorating 1918 are as follows:

 1st CLASS - 100 POPPIES, ZAFER AND BARBARA BARAN
The poppy has been one of the enduring symbols of the First World War and has come to be
associated with remembrance. To mark the centenary of the end of the war, Zafer and Barbara Baran
photographed one hundred poppy flowers, layering the images together to create 100 Poppies. 
1st CLASS - ‘ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH’, WILFRED OWEN
In ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, British Army officer and poet Wilfred Owen mourns the waste of young
lives, cut short by wailing shells and the rattle of rifle fire. Killed in action in 1918, a week before the
armistice, Owen has become one of Britain’s most celebrated war poets. 
1st CLASS - SECOND LIEUTENANT WALTER TULL
Second Lieutenant Walter Tull was born in Folkestone in 1888 and orphaned after the death of his
English mother and his Barbadian father. He became known as a professional footballer. After war
broke out, he served in the Footballers’ Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and fought on the
Somme. Commissioned in May 1917, Tull became the first mixed-race Army officer to command
troops in a regular unit. After fighting in Italy, he returned to the Western Front. On 25 March 1918,
he was killed in action. Having no known grave, Tull is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.
£1.55 - WE ARE MAKING A NEW WORLD, PAUL NASH
In 1914, Paul Nash enlisted as a private in the Artists’ Rifles and was later commissioned into the
Hampshire Regiment. Invalided home in May 1917 following an accident, he returned to the front in
November 1917 as an official artist. He was appalled by the sight of the Ypres Salient. In We Are
Making A New World – titled with bitter irony – Nash depicts a bleak and hopeless sunrise over a copse
of shattered trees.
£1.55 - THE GRAVE OF THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR, WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
On Armistice Day, 11 November 1920, an Unknown Warrior was buried at Westminster Abbey, after
being chosen at random from several unidentifiable sets of remains and solemnly conveyed from
France. Enormous crowds gathered in silence to witness the procession through London, and King
George V unveiled the Cenotaph at Whitehall before following behind the coffin to the Abbey.
£1.55 - LIEUTENANT FRANCIS HOPGOOD’S GOGGLES
Lieutenant Francis Hopgood joined the Royal Flying Corps in March 1918, transferring from the Artists’
Rifles. On 10 April – a few days after the Royal Flying Corps had been incorporated into the new Royal
Air Force – Hopgood was shot down. Crash-landing behind German lines, he was captured and held as
a prisoner of war. Clear sight was vital to a pilot’s ability to survive aerial combat. Hopgood’s goggles
are fitted with custom prescription lenses in Triplex safety glass, which survived his crash-landing
without breaking into pieces.