Canada Post has unveiled two new stamps to mark the allied victory in Europe during the Second World War.
May 8 is the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, when the Nazis surrendered.
Private Léo Major, who helped liberate the Netherlands, will appear on one stamp; the other will feature factory worker Veronica Foster, who recruited women to the wartime workforce.
They have been chosen to symbolize the Canadians – more than two million of them – who helped the Allies win the war.
Private Major, who was known as the “one-eyed ghost,” single-handedly captured dozens of prisoners and, with the help of the Dutch resistance, forced Nazi forces to retreat from the town of Zwolle.
He earned the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the lasting gratitude of the townsfolk for his heroism.
Foster, meanwhile, helped assemble Bren machine guns at a factory in Toronto during the war.
The Canadian government created a promotional campaign around her that helped motivate a generation of women to work in the war economy.
She is thought to have inspired the fictional “Rosie the Riveter” character in ads that later appeared in the United States.
Stamps and collectibles are available at canadapost.ca/shop.
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