Stamp, Ethiopian Irregular Brigade, 1941 (c)

Wooden, engraved in relief with a lion and Amharic script.

During World War Two (1939-1945), Lieutenant-Colonel H T Curle, a former King's African Rifles officer and veteran of the East African colonial service, raised a force of Ethiopians to undertake guerilla warfare against the Italians and co-ordinate their activities with the invading British forces. These stamps, engraved with Amharic script and the lion of Judah emblem of Emperor Haile Selassie, were used to mark orders and other documents.