2021 Stanley Gibbons ''Blues'' Single-Sheet Philately Competition

 

I had participated in the Stanley Gibbons ''Blues'' Single -Sheet Philately Competition 2021 and had sent two entries in the ''Main Competition Category''. These were titled ''The Long Walk Home'', An Indian Army Soldier's Journey Through Italian POW Camps and ''Delhi Durbar 1911'', respectively. 

To my pleasant surprise, one of my entries was judged as the ''People's Champ'' as it had been voted for entirely by the philatelic public. 

                                        

2nd Lt Sharma sent his family a censored post card from PG 75 (3450) campo (field or military camp), having sensor stamp and DHP/138 marking. The location of this PG 75 (Prigione di Guerra, meaning ''prisoner of war'') was in Torre Tresca, Bari, in southern Italy on the eastern coast, on the Adriatic Sea. He was later shifted to Compo PG 63.

                                     

From Stanley Gibbons

                                   

The entry that made me ''The People's Champ''. The letters and post cards presented here tell two stories. First, they are a testament to the arduous yet awe-inspiring journey of a soldier, Second, lieutenant (2Lt) J.C.Sharma, whose story lives on through his successors, including me, who followed in his father's footsteps and dedicated their lives to their country, India, and its army, like his father who fought in the World War I, as a lieutenant too. Secondly, these rare documents dating back to the World War II not only serve as an invaluable connect with an important event from our past, but also as treasured family mementoes.

                                  

My second entry, titled Delhi Durbar 1911, when Delhi was declared as the new Imperial Capital of India. It was a grand event to mark the Coronation of King George V as King-Emperor of India, scheduled on December 12, 1911, and was attended by 2,50,000 people. It costed around one million pounds and a year of preparation.