Stephen was elected Vice-Regent by the Hungarian Parliament on 19 Feb, 1942, in order to provide a line of succession in case something happened to the Regent. During the summer of 1942, he was sent to the Russian front as a pilot of the Hungarian Air Force. Worried about his safety, the Regency ordered him to return home. Unfortunately, this was not to be. On Aug. 20, 1942 (St. Stephen's Day, Hungary's national holiday---also the name-day of those christened 'Stephen'), the Vice-Regent went for a training flight before returning home (to celebrate his name-day). This was to be his last flight. The Italy-made Carponi aircraft Horthy was flying crashed headlong into the ground, killing him instantly.
The stamp depicted above was printed in press sheets of 150 stamps. These were cut into post office sheets of 100 and 50 each. The 50-stamp sheets contained two plate varieties: one showing seven stars in the sky, and the other nine. All of the other stamps had eight stars. The upper part of the design also shows the legendary Hun warriors of the Milky Way.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment