Article from Stand To! Number 24, 1988
The Army Post Office was in temporary buildings in Great Walk, Regents Park, London. It has been suggested that the first medal worn by the park keeper is the Victoria Cross. (Photo: IWM Q 28,723). Click image for larger version.
Additional to original Stand To! article:- The Park Keeper in the photo would almost certanly be Issac Lodge VC. He won his VC in the South African campaign 1899, joined the Royal Parks as a keeper in 1909 and was awarded the 1911 Police Coronation Medal while there. He went to hospital for an operation in 1923 and died there. His medals are on display at the artillery museum.
Information provided 31st July 2004 by archivist for the Royal Park Keepers/Constables, Mark Watson.
The Royal Engineers provided the Army Postal Service (APS). The British Expedi-tionary Force started with a Base Post Of-fice, an Advanced Base Post Office and two Stationary Post Offices whilst there were three postal clerks at brigade and divisional headquarters. The Director of Army Postal Services, a Colonel, was on the staff of GHQ. The distribution of mail followed the same system as the supply of rations to the troops although experience and the expan-sion of the BEF necessitated changes. The system that emerged for getting letters to the men was roughly as follows.
Letters were addressed to units and forma-tions, not locations. They were collected in London, sorted and placed in unit bags which were then despatched to the base at Boulogne, Calais or Havre. Here they were further sorted in accordance with current location lists supplied by GHQ and sent for-ward by rail to the appropriate railhead. The bags were then transferred to postal lorries of the supply column and conveyed to various "refilling points" where divisional "trains" of horse transport allotted to fighting units refilled from the supply column. The Field Post Offices attached to divisions then took over and later handed the bags to unit post orderlies who distributed the letters to their addressees.
Mail from the troops was sent back un-sorted through the system to base.
FPOs conducted ordinary postal business such as the registration of letters and the sale of postal orders, stamps (although letters were carried free) and war savings certificates and bonds.
During the first week of 1916, the APS handled 65,079 bags from home: by the last week of the year this number had risen to 123,342 having reached a peak of 157,948 earlier in December. In Christmas week 1918, no fewer than 171,840 bags from home were handled.
The Australian FPO at Henencourt in March 1917. This was probably the main post office for the 1st ANZAC Corps. (Photo: IWM E(Aus) 381).
Sorting the mails at a FPO on the Western Front, 31 October 1914. (Photo: IWM Q 53, 349).
Sources: Official History, France and Flanders 1914 Vol 1, Appendix 1 and 1916, Vol 1, Chapter VI.
