Gibraltar's 2004 "Occupation" issue commemorates the wartime period from 1940 to 1944, when nearly the entire civilian population — roughly 16,000 people — was evacuated to Britain, Madeira, Jamaica, and Northern Ireland to allow full militarization of the Rock. Many evacuees were not permitted to return until 1951, years after the war ended, due to continued strategic restrictions.
Gibraltar's 2004 "Occupation" issue commemorates the wartime period from 1940 to 1944, when nearly the entire civilian population — roughly 16,000 people — was evacuated to Britain, Madeira, Jamaica, and Northern Ireland to allow full militarization of the Rock. Many evacuees were not permitted to return until 1951, years after the war ended, due to continued strategic restrictions.