Alderney issues Man Posted To stamps recalling Major Palmer’s 1940 journey by post

Alderney released a new two-stamp se-tenant issue on 1 September 2026 telling the story of Major “Peabod” Palmer, who in 1940 managed to travel from Guernsey to Alderney under postal supervision after treating himself as a parcel. The issue forms part of Guernsey Post’s Man Posted To series and pairs with a companion Sark issue about an earlier journey made in 1905.

According to Guernsey Post, Palmer had been stranded in Guernsey for around two weeks because he could not obtain passage on the ferry service to Alderney. After consulting the Post Office Guide, he concluded that there was no explicit rule preventing a person from being sent by post. He therefore presented himself at Guernsey Post Office and asked to be accepted as a postal item. Arrangements were eventually made for a postal worker to escort him to the harbour.

The ferry captain initially objected because Palmer was neither conventional cargo nor ordinary mail. When only two of twelve booked passengers appeared, however, Palmer was allowed to travel and was placed in the hold. On reaching Alderney, he was taken to the postal sorting office before being formally delivered to his home by a local postman. The episode has since become one of the Channel Islands’ most unusual postal-history stories.

The philatelic issue consists of a £2 x 2 se-tenant pair designed by Keith Robinson and printed by bpost using offset lithography. Guernsey Post lists the stamp size as 33 mm by 40 mm, with Tullis Russell Tru White Litho Gummed 110gsm paper. The stamps are arranged as two rows of five se-tenant pairs, and the listed perforation is 1.1 x 1.667.

The issue is particularly attractive to postal-history and thematic collectors because it turns an extraordinary use of postal regulations into a modern commemorative subject. Together with the Sark companion release, it frames the first and last known examples in this Channel Islands story of people effectively posting themselves between islands.