Military Mail - British Forces Post Office (BFPO)

British Forces Post Office (BFPO)

The origins of the BFPO can be traced back to Saxon times. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle make mention of messengers being sent by King Edward the Elder (899-924) to recall members of the Kent fyrd, but it is generally regarded that the origins of the postal services stem from the Kings Messengers (Nuncii et Cursores) of medieval times. In particular the Royal Post established in the reign of King Edward IV (1461-83) to support his troops engaged in a war against Scotland.

In 1795 Parliament granted the penny postage concession to soldiers and sailors of the British Army and Royal Navy. Four years later, in 1799, the Duke of York appointed Henry Darlot, an ‘intelligent clerk’ from the General Post Office (GPO) as the Army Postmaster to accompany his expedition to Helder.

Thomas Reynolds, as the British Post Office Agent in Lisbon, Portugal was made responsible for coordinating the exchange of the British Army’s mails at the port during the Peninsular War (1809-14). Two Sergeant Postmasters were appointed to work with Reynolds. The sergeants reported to the Duke of Wellington’s the Superintendent of Military Communications, Major Scovell and later Lieutenant Colonel Sturgeon.

After complaints about the mail services to the British troops fighting in the Crimean War (1854-56) the Postmaster General authorised the secondment of GPO staff to organise and distribute mail in the theatre of war. A Base Army Post Office was established in Constantinople and a field post Office with the Army Headquarters at Balaklava.

The provision of a mail service to soldiers was a very ad hoc affair until 1882 when the Army Post Office Corps (APOC) was raised from 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers to accompany the British Expeditionary Force sent to Egypt in the same year. Its task was to perform "Postal Duties in the Field". The 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers was recruited entirely from the staff of the British General Post Office, and was commanded by Lt Col JL du Plat Taylor, whose idea it was to have a Postal Corps.

In 1913 the Army Post Office Corps was re-organised to form the Royal Engineers (Postal Section), under a Director of the Army Postal Service (DAPS), Lt Col W Price RE. The service remained part of the Royal Engineers until it was transferred to the Royal Logistic Corps on its formation in 1993.

At the end of World War I (1914-18), the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) along with the Royal Air Force (RAF) helped to pioneer international airmail services, by setting up airmail routes between Folkstone, England and Cologne (Köln), Germany to service the British Army of the Rhine.

During World War II (1939-45), they popularised the aérogramme, when they adopted it as the Air Mail Letter Card in 1941 to reduce the bulk and weight of mail so that it could be transported by air.

In 1962 the Royal Engineers (Postal & Courier Communications), took over the responsibility for handling the Royal Navy’s mail and thereby became a provider of a tri-service facility based in the old Middlesex Regiment's Depot at Mill Hill.