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Stamps celebrate Island's links with RAF

A new set of stamps celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force has been issued by the Isle of Man Post Office.

The RAF came into existence in April 1918 when the personnel and resources of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service were combined to become the ‘Third Service.’

Twenty-one years later RAF bases started to open in the Isle of Man, beginning with RAF Jurby in September 1939.

RAF Andreas was built as a fighter airfield to relieve the pressure at Jurby and opened two years later, while the civilian aerodrome at Ronaldsway was taken over by the RAF in 1940 and became RAF Ronaldsway.

RAF Air-Sea Rescue marine craft were based at Ramsey, Peel, Douglas and Castletown during the war years.

(Image: One of the set of six RAF stamps).



The unit remained at Ramsey after the war and the slipway and buildings are now part of Ramsey Shipyard.

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