SHIPS have always been a favourite subject for stamps. Yet among this multipli- city of stamps concerned with the sea, comparatively little attention has been paid to that very necessary aspect of life at sea, namely, the life-boats which are, from time to time, called to rescue those in peril at sea, and, not entirely unrelated thereto, the lighthouses which warn ships of impending danger. Although not as numerous as their importance suggests, these stamps do exist, and we shall now consider some of them.

It is not every article on a thematic aspect of philately that could be started with stamps from Great Britain, so it is all the more pleasing that we can do so in this case. A set of three stamps was issued in 1963 to mark the holding of the Ninth International Life-boat Conference in Edinburgh from 3rd-5th June of that year. These conferences are held every four years, but this was the first since 1924 to be held in Great Britain.

OLD ALDEBURGH BOAT The 2|d. value shows a Westland Widgeon helicopter lifting a man from a 37-foot Oakley life-boat. Such helicopter life-boat rescues have become quite common since the service was introduced in the late 1940s. The 4d. value shows a late nineteenth-century life-boat that was in use at Aldeburgh. It is unusual in being clinker built, instead of the more conventional common double diagonal skin. The main design of the Is. 6d. value shows three life-boat men in theirtraditional yellow oil-skins, two of the men wearing sou'westers and the other a blue and white service cap. Since then, of course, the new life-jacket and protec- tive suit has been introduced.

We now move on to various other countries that have issued stamps showing life-boats. Our first examples come from the Netherlands, a country which has, more than most in Europe, had to contend with the dangers of the sea. The Netherlands issued a set of two stamps in 1924, commemorating the centenary of the Dutch Life-boat Services. One of the stamps shows ships in stormy weather at sea, while the other shows a life-boat ready to be launched. The designs are rather stylised in nature. The Netherlands issued a further set of four stamps in 1933 bearing supplements in aid of seamen's funds. One of the stamps in the set shows a life-boat being rowed towards a sinking ship. The Netherlands have issued many other stamps connected with the sea and ships, but no others dealing with life-boats as such.

HUNGARY Our next example comes from Hungary and, although it is not perhaps a life-boat in the traditional sense, it does show people being rescued by boat during a flood, so is worthy of inclusion for that reason. The stamp was issued in 1965, again with a surcharge, in aid of a fund for flood victims, when there were serious floods in the Danube. It shows a motor-powered boat carrying victims against a background of inundated houses. Flooding of the Danube is by no means rare in Budapest.

Denmark, in 1960, marked the 400th anniversary of the Danish Lighthouse service by issuing a stamp showing an ancient so-called bascule light which, in previous centuries, performed the function of modern lighthouses.

Norway, too, has more than once referred to her life-boat service on her postage stamps. The 50th anniversary of the National Life-boat Institution was celebrated by a set of four stamps in 1941. Two of the stamps show Colin Archer and a sailing vessel, while the others show a life-boat. The service was founded in Oslo in 1891 and began its activities in 1893 with the life-boat Colin Archer.

It was named after its builder, Colin Archer, a Norwegian-born Scot, who also built the Polar ship From. The Colin Archer went to the assistance of more than 1,600 vessels during her 40 years' service.

Sweden and Iceland have also issued life-boat stamps as did Germany prior to World War II.

THE UNITED STATES Moving across the Atlantic, we find that the United States issued a stamp in 1945 to commemorate the U.S. Coast Guard Service. Although the United States Coast Guard was originally created by an Act of Congress approved in January, 1915, its antecedents, the revenue cutter service and the lighthouse service, go back to 1790, when the revenue cutter service was approved by Washington, largely for the protection of the coasts and to look after the mari- time interest of the newly constituted United States. The former lighthouse service had had its beginning one year earlier, in August 1789. The stamp shows landing craft and a supply ship, recalling the part played by the service in World War II.

Finally, we have a stamp from the Cayman Islands, a group in the British West Indies. Until August 1962, they formed a dependency of Jamaica, but then became a Crown Colony. The stamp comes from a pictorial set issued in 1953 and shows the lighthouse at South Sound on Grand Cayman island..