ABSTRACT
The notion of arming black servicemen in South Africa for combat duties in its Union Defence Forces (UDF) during the Second World War was stamped on by its political leadership, even when it came to stamps. For, in wartime, politics and the postal service intersected in some striking ways. A small story about a small Union of South Africa postage stamp provides a novel opening window through which to glimpse the meaning of firearms in a distinctive national war effort, that of an Allied country which mobilised its volunteers either as soldiering citizens or as soldiering subjects.
