The signing of the Armistice in Allied Commander General Foch's railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne at 5am on Monday 11 November 1918 brought an end to what was then known as The Great War. The cease fire came into effect six hours later - 'the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month' - when silence fell across the battlefields of northern France and Flanders for the first time in over four years.
The fifth and final issue marking the centenary of World War I comprises six stamps - three 1st class and three at £1.55, continuing the themes which have featured in all five issues since 2014. In this issue they are: 100 Poppies by Zafar and Barbara Baran; poetry 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' by Wilfred Owen; 2nd Lt. Walter Tull; Paul Nash's painting 'We are Making a New World'; the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey and RFC Lt. Francis Hopgood's goggles.
The Gold 500 cover focuses on the artefact stamp and carries an image of some WWI goggles framed by an imposing 1914-18 'The War to End All Wars' 22ct gold-blocked design, The cover bears a Poppy Mead, Ashford pictorial poppy handstamp. Numbered limited edition of 500.
