Silver Half Ounce 2018 Czechoslovak Airmen - Stonewall, Coin from Niue - detailed information

Niue, a sovereign state in free association with New Zealand, uses two official legal tender currencies. The New Zealand Dollar is the circulation currency for daily transactions, while the government also authorises legal tender coins in the Niue Dollar currency for collector's purposes.

A number of mints issue a large variety of commemorative, bullion and collector coins under the authority of Niue. These coins are dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to Niue itself. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes, based on the troy ounce - such as the half ounce of silver format (abbreviated as 1/2 oz Ag, where "Ag" comes from the Latin word for silver, Argentum).

This coin was issued as part of a four-coin set commemorating Czechoslovak airmen who fought as part of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II, and marks the Stonewall Operation which sank the German blockade breaker SS Alsterufer.

The Mint says about it:
The 2018 coins in the set commemorate significant events: the first deployment of the 310th fighter wing in the Battle of Britain, the emergency landing of the KX-B airplane, the Stonewall operation that sank the German blockade breaker SS Alsterufer, together with the triumphant return of the Czechoslovaks to their homeland. On the obverse side of each there is an inscription marking all dates related to the individual reverse sides.

What was behind the code name "Stonewall"? Five ships , whose task was to break the British naval blockade and strengthen the German war machine, sailed from Japan in 1943. It was not about battleships, but about cargo ships that carried vital commodities in the crucial year of the war. They sailed fast and unescorted in order to escape the enemy's attention. Yet they were armed for all cases, and were called "blockade breakers". Alsterufer, which had 344 tons of tungsten for tank armour, was the most important of these. It escaped when the British patrol aircraft saw it in the North Atlantic, and the German Air Force and Navy came to help. The British wanted the ship sunk at any cost, so the race with time started. Eight Czechoslovaks, who were crew members of the Liberator bomber 311 brigade, were also involved in the hunt. In spite of the danger from furious Alsterufer gunfire, they made a headfirst air strike and repeatedly hit it. The ship sank with the precious cargo, which represented the year-round consumption of the imperial warfare economy. No wonder the airmen soon became celebrities - British newspapers, Parliament and even King George VI voiced their appreciation for them.