Former Dockyard apprentices yesterday unveiled four new commemorative stamps honouring Bermuda tradesmen.

Reverend Malcolm Eve and Lionel Phillips presented the series, which is now on display at the General Post Office on Church Street.

The stamps highlight those workers who serviced, equipped and supplied ships of the Royal Navy at the West End.

"The Dockyard apprentices, in terms of leading in this community, took the opportunity to rise to some of the highest levels," said Telecommunications Minister Michael Scott.

"Members who spring to mind are the Honourable C. Eugene Cox, the former Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier, and the Reverend Malcolm Eve, the immediate past presiding Elder of the African Methodist Church."

Mr. Scott praised the role the apprentices played, saying they helped "to build the Bermuda we know today".

Bermuda Stamp Design Advisory Committee chair Dame Jennifer Smith was also in attendance.

"The Stamp Design Advisory Committee wanted to honour the Bermuda Dockyard apprentices as part of our Pioneers of Progress stamp series," she said.

"The liner notes, which were prepared by Dr. Edward Harris of the Bermuda Maritime Museum, are certainly not long enough to mention all that Bermuda owes to the Dockyard and its apprentices, to the great contribution that they have made to this Country.

"We hope that those of you who are not aware of their history will be inspired by these four stamps and the related public display on the post office walls, to research this part of Bermuda's history."

The stamps were designed by Government with assistance from the Bermuda National Museum's collection of historic photographs.

A 35-cent stamp features a scene, circa 1880, of the HMS Urgent in the Dockyard's first floating dock. The 70-cent stamp shows the Dockyard gate, plus a detail of the Dockyard clock that regulated the working day at the facility. The 85-cent stamp depicts senior shipfitter George Dixon seated behind a power saw, and the $1.10 stamp shows a group of workmen and tools outside the chief constructor of the Yard's shipfitting shop.

"I'm deeply honoured," Mr. Phillips said afterwards. "These tradesmen not only kept the Royal Navy going, they did a lot for Bermuda."

Hundreds of young Bermudians had gone through training in the Dockyard in a changing series of different trades, the former engine fitter said.

The apprenticeship scheme was closed down in 1950.

The Dockyard apprentice display will remain outside the post office until the next stamp launch, probably early next year.