Viscount Cunningham & HMS Warspite

Viscount Cunningham of Hyndehope, also known as Andrew Browne Cunningham or ‘ABC’, features on this 29p stamp from 1982.

Cunningham was the naval Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean until 1942, and was first Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff by the end of the war. He was responsible for the Allied evacuation of Crete when the German 'Operation Mercury' re-took the island in 1941. Army commanders worried that he would lose too many ships in his efforts to ensure that the navy did not let the army down. Cunningham famously responded: "It takes three years to build a ship, but three centuries to build a tradition."

Cunningham is pictured with HMS Warspite, one of nine Royal Navy ships to bear the name.

This one is the Queen Elizabeth class battleship, which Cunningham warmly referred to as ‘The Old Lady’. Warspite fought in the Battle of Jutland in the First World War, and in many theatres, including supporting the D-Day landings, during World War 2.

Cunnigham and Warspite are part of the Maritime Heritage stamp issue from 1982. Other stamps depict Henry VIII and the Mary Rose, Admiral Blake and Triumph, Lord Nelson and HMS Victory, and Lord Fisher with HMS Dreadnought. The stamps were designed by Marjorie Saynor.