Volunteer Movement and Formation of The Army Post Office Corps
In 1860, he joined the Civil Service Rifle Volunteers and was promoted to Captain; by 1865 he held the rank of Major and so began a life long association with the Volunteer Movement.
He formed the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers in 1868 and was its Commanding Officer until 1896. In 1880 the regiment was renumbered 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers and he was appointed its honorary Colonel on 27 February 1901.
He proposed at his regiment's 1872 annual prize giving the formation of a reservist Telegraph and Postal Corps and in 1877 the War Office established a committee “to consider the formation of a Corps for the performance of Postal Duties in the Field”. The War Office rejected the committee’s recommendation that such an organisation should be formed, reasoning that it would be too expensive. However, in mid July 1882 du Plat Taylor was authorised by the Postmaster General, Henry Fawcett and the Secretary of State for War, Hugh Childers to organise an Army Post Office Corps (APOC), and on Saturday 22 July 1882 Queen Victoria issued a Royal Warrant to that effect. The Army Post Office Corps was formed from 'M' Company 24th Middlesex Rifles Volunteers and deployed on active service during the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War. Their service resulted in them becoming the first Volunteer unit to earn a Battle Honour (Egypt 1882). The APOC also saw active service during the Suakin Expedition (1884-5) and the Second Boer War (1899–1902). In 1913 the APOC was reformed as the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) Special Reserve.
Read more about this topic: John Lowther Du Plat Taylor
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