COVER N. 504 - FRANCE

Postmark: 58 - Corbigny Nièvre 26.08.2024

Sent of the 26th August; received on the 29th August 2024

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As mentioned in my previous post, I could only receive a letter from the Philippines since it was resent me from France, inside a large envelope with very interesting stamps on it, as usual.

Mon très grand Merci, Jean-Pierre pour votre disponibilité et générosité.

- The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements owe their existence to the thinking and actions of  Henry Dunant (1828-1910) a Swiss humanitarian activist and pacifist, who would eventually be the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize, in 1901.

Horrified by the horrors of the aftermath of the Solferino battle, after which some 40,000 dead and wounded were left to their fate on the battle fields by the French and Austrian armies, he wrote down his thinking on the need for the establishment of an organisation that, in case of conflict, would take care of the wounded, irrespective of which side they were fighting for, in a book entitled "A Memory of Solverino".

Inn 1863, the President of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, Gustave Moynier (1826 – 1910), having read Dunant's book, proposed its discussion within the Society and a special Committee - firstly known as the Committee of Five, (for such was the number of its members) was thus created which would in time change its name, first to "International Committee for Relief to the Wounded" and later, in 1876, to the designation by which it is still today recognised: The International Committee of the Red Cross.

In 1864 The European nations as well as Brazil, Mexico and the United States were invited by the Swiss Government for a diplomatic conference that took place in Geneva. France was one of the countries which attended the conference and, as such, also one of the 16 States that signed the first "Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field".

This also led to the establishment of the "Société française de secours aux blessés militaires" forerunner of the Croix-Rouge Française, which was established in 1940, during the Second World War.

In time, as it is well known, the Red Cross and Red Crescent scope of actions transcended the battlefields and  nowadays, first respondents from the Red Cross/Crescent  are a fundamental asset in almost the totality of the world's countries' civil protection plans and programmes.

On 23OCT2023, La Poste issued the souvenir-sheet Jean-Pierre used on the cover, aiming at raising awareness for the  recruitment of voluntary first-responders of the French Red-Cross, as made clear by the legend on the sheet: "Deveir Secouriste Bénévole à la Croix-Rouge Française" (to become a voluntary first-responder for the French Red Cross).

Each of the three 1,16€ stamps is illustrated with an image of a volunteer, identified by his/her name, age and location,  performing some kind of action inherent to his/her activity as a member of the Red Cross.

The price of the souvenir sheet includes an extra charge of 2€ which will be given to the French Red Cross.

- Lyon is the subject of a very nice illustration on the 0,555€ stamp issued on 07APR208 as part of a 2 x 0,55€ stamp set featuring views from French cities (the companion stamp is dedicated to La Rochelle).

The bridge depicted in the stamp is the Passerelle Paul-Couturier, and 87 metres long bridge over the Saône. First built in 1853 and named Passerelle Saint-Georges, it was destroyed during the 2nd World war and rebuilt in 1944. Its current designation dates of 2003 and honours a priest known for the promotion of ecumenism. 

To complete the required postage, three Marianne stamps (0,10 and 2x 0,01 €) of the 23JUL2018 issue were used.

According to the postmark, the letter was mailed from the city of Corbigny, Nièvre Department, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

As frequent, an upside down mechanical obliteration is also present on the base of the  letter.