2014Maritime Malta Series II (Souvenir) - Special Folder

The Maritime Malta Series II ' Commemorations' set consists of four stamps commemorating;
35 years from the End of Military Facilities Agreement and the 200th anniversary of the Malta Police Force.

200th Anniversary of the Malta Police Force 1814-2014

The Malta Police Force is one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded in its present form on 12 July 1814 by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Malta Sir Thomas Maitland. Since then, responsibility for the management and control of the executive police rested with the Inspector General of Police (now the Commissioner of Police), who received his orders from the Governor. Following the granting of self-governance in 1921, the Police Department became the responsibility of the Malta Government.
There are currently about 1,800 serving members within the Malta Police Force of whom around 850 are district police officers situated in various regions. The Force also carries out special activities through its different branches, which include the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Drugs Squad.
Last year the Force launched a new logo to mark the upcoming anniversary. The year 2014 also marks the 60th anniversary since the police headquarters moved to its present location in Floriana.
The police boats depicted in the stamps are captured against a background of two harbours, that of Marsamxett and Sliema and also against the background of two police stations.

35th Anniversary of the End of Military Facilities Agreement 1979-2014

On 31 March 1979 the last British Forces left Malta. For the first time in recorded history, Malta was no longer the military base of a foreign power. The event is known as Freedom Day (Jum il-Symbolically, the Royal Navy was the main protagonist in the event having been the first of the British forces to arrive in Malta in 1800.
Commander of the British Forces in Malta, Admiral Sir Nigel Cecil oversaw the closing of the base and HMS London left Malta on 1 April 1979 in rather inclement weather as scores of people headed by President Anton Buttigieg waved 'good-bye' from the bastions overlooking the Grand Harbour in Valletta.

The two vessels portrayed on the stamps:
HMS Alexander (1800) and HMS London (1979) are depicted in the vicinity of Fort St. Angelo and Fort St. Michael respectively.