Two World War II ships which are remembered at an annual event organised by Navy veterans in the Channel Islands now feature on a new stamp from the Guernsey Post Office.

The Guernsey Association of Royal Navy and Royal Marines (GARN&RM) – the equivalent of the Royal Naval Association – has hosted a Charybdis Memorial Weekend since the end of hostilities, and it regularly attracts up to 60 survivors or their relatives from the anti-aircraft cruiser and her destroyer escort HMS Limbourne.

Now the two ships have been given pride of place on the £1.50 Guernsey stamp in a series depicting milestones in World War II which had particular significance for the island.

The ships were engaged in Operation Tunnel on October 23, 1943, when they were torpedoed and sunk in St Malo Bay.

Charybdis lost 460 of her crew – the biggest single death toll in the English Channel – and dozens also died on the destroyer.

Some 20 bodies were washed ashore in Guernsey from the Limbourne, and were buried by the Occupying Germans with full military honours.

More than 5,000 islanders attended the funerals in St Peter Port, bringing with them 900 wreaths.

The other stamps in this issue feature the Dambusters Raid of May 1943.

For more details of the Guernsey Philatelic Bureau see www.guernseypost.com or telephone 01481 716486.

This year’s memorial weekend – the 60th anniversary of the sinkings – is to be held from Friday October 3 to Sunday October 5.

Among the events planned are a dinner/dance, a wreath-laying service from a local lifeboat, a football match between a Guernsey team and a Royal Navy side, Beat retreat and a concert by the Band of the Royal Marines, and a Memorial Service at the cemetery.