FDC #3: France: Munich Olympics 1972

Hello Pals!
I am here after a little absence. I have to show you a beautiful cover from my Olympics collection. It is an official FDC from France marking the event of Munich Olympics 1972 held of course in Munich (Then West Germany).

Unfortunately, the event saw a massacre on September 5 by some members belonging to the Black September Organization who broke into the Olympics village and took 11 Israeli athletes hostage in their apartment. They killed two of the athletes in their apartment after fighting back.

Afterwards during a botched German rescue attempt at the military airport of Furstenfeldbruck, where the captors with their hostages had been transferred by helicopter, ostensibly to board a plane bound for another country, all the surviving Israeli hostages were killed by a terrorist who threw a grenade into the helicopter carrying the hostages in one helicopter and another terrorist who sprayed the second helicopter with machine gun fire.

The games were suspended for some time but the Olympics committee decided that "the Games must go on". Competition resumed a day later.

The 1972 Munich Olympics were officially named as Games of the XX Olympiad. The official motto of the games was "The Happy Games". The emblem of the Games was a blue solar logo (the "Bright Sun"). The Olympic mascot, the dachsund "Waldi", was the first officially-named Olympic mascot.

France finished in 17th position in the final medal rankings, with two gold medals(Cycling, Men's 1000m Sprint and Sailing, Men's Finn) and 13 medals overall. Pakistan also competed in the event and managed to win a silver medal in Men's Field Hockey Team Competition.

I think that this particular cover was issued during the torch relay of Olympics. Can anyone put me wise on this issue? The FDC was sent to me by M. Chapeau Jean-Michel from France. Thanks Michel for such a nice cover.

FDC#2 from Pakistan: Centenary Celebration of Catholic Cathedral Church; Lahore; Pakistan in 2007

Today I am here to share with you a wonderful FDC featuring a very nice and historical stamp issued on the occasion of the Centenary Celebration of Catholic Cathedral Church in Lahore, Pakistan. The Catholic Cathedral Church in Lahore has a rich history to offer. This magnificent edifice was constructed by the Belgian Capuchins in a prominent place in the heart of the city and consecrated on 19^th November 1907 as the mother Church of the diocese of Lahore. It replaced the historic old Pro-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception built in 1861 near the famous Anarkali bazaar, outside the Old City.

The stamp was of Rs 5 denomination and was issued on 19th November 2007. I have a couple of such covers available for swap if anyone is interested. I can swap it for FDCs depicting themes like Olympics, Football, etc.

FDC#1 from Pakistan: SAF Games Islamabad 2004

My Dear Friends!
Hello again!
I have been missing my blog for a while now. Finally I have got a scanner and I am good to go with my posts. So here is the first FDC to show you from my collection. It is one of my favorite ones.

The FDC was issued on the event of 9th SAF Games held in Islamabad, Pakistan on 29 Mar to 7 Apr 2004. For those of you who do not know the details, SAF Games stand for South Asian Federation Games. The countries included in SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation) participate in these games. There are in fact 7 members of the organization including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan. In April 2007, Afghanistan also joined the organization as the 8th member.

The stamp sheet issued on the occasion contained 16 stamps of value PKR2 each. On the stamps the players are featured in different sporting styles while on the border of the sheet, a bear named Baloo which was the mascot of the event is featured with the SAF Games Torch. Baloo can also be seen on each stamp in the background in different sporting postures.

I also attended the opening and the closing ceremonies held in the Jinnah Stadium Islamabad and it was some real great time. Especially the fire works performed by a teamof specialists from China was brilliant.

Please pray for my dad!!!

My dear friends!
Hello!
I hope and pray that you all are fine and happy.
I have been away from my blog for quite sometime now.
My dad had a heart attack about ten days back, so I was at home with my family. He remained admitted in the hospital for some days before undergoing angiography followed by an angioplasty procedure.
By the grace of God, everything is fine now.
I would request all my collector friends to please pray for his health and happiness.
May God bless you all and we can continue swapping everything from stamps, phonecards, FDCs, coins to any item imaginable.
If you need any collectible from Pakistan, please feel free to contact me on faisalcheema44@gmail.com
Best Regards