The stamps are on a common sheet with the issue 519. The first Paralympic Games for physically handicapped sportsmen, mostly British soldiers – disabled people from WWII, were held on 29th July1948. It took place on the same day as the Opening Ceremony of the XIV Olympic Games. Neurologist Dr. Ludwig Guttmann (1899 – 1980) from Stoke Mandeville hospital in Aylesbury organised a wheelchair archery contest for soldiers with spinal cord injuries. He was convinced that sport is a form of therapy. The first, still British, repetition took place in 1952 in the same location, and athletes from Holland joined it...
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