Wartime history records
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The Royal Mail Archive may not seem to be an obvious place to look for records about wartime, but the postal service was often an integral part of this country’s response to conflicts.
There are some specific groups of records in the archive concerning wartime history, for example:
- POST 56 Post Office: War and Civil Emergencies 1859-1969
- POST 47 Post Office: Army Postal History 1888-1975
Other more general POST classes on the day-to-day running of postal services may also include information on wartime.
The effect of the First and Second World Wars was much more widespread than previous wars. Like any public industry, postal services were severely affected. As a result, both wars are mentioned in different contexts throughout our archive. Search for particular topics that interest you in our online catalogue.
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Access
The best way to see all our wartime history records is to visit The Royal Mail Archive in Freeling House (see the Visiting section
for details). A few records are yet to be catalogued but most have been
processed. You can search for them in our online catalogue. To protect original material some
records may be on microfilm. Issues of St Martin's Le Grand are available on open shelves in the Search Room.
Letter to Rowland Hill about mail during the Crimean War, 25 June 1854, Finding number: POST 29/71
This
letter was written from Constantinople to inform Rowland Hill that
postal arrangements were not operating as they should there. Letters
for officers in both the Army and the Navy were being delayed because
the postage had not been paid in advance.
The letter is part of a folder entitled 'Crimean War. Postal Arrangements'. A newspaper article in the folder supports this letter and comments on the 'unsatisfactory' Post Office department compared to its French equivalent 'which is perfection'.
These documents are interesting because they reveal an element of Post Office work that may not at first spring to mind.
Large image of first page of the letter (445.6KB)
Large image of second page of the letter (329.9KB)
Post Office Rifles: history of origin of Corps, c. 1913, finding number: POST 30/2691A
This
is the first page of a folder on the history of the Post Office Rifles.
It explains that the corps was created in 1868 as the 49th Middlesex
(Post Office) Rifle Volunteers.
The Post Office Rifles are best known for their contribution to the First World War. They were however also active in the Egyptian and Sudanese campaigns of 1882 and 1885, and the Boer War of 1899-1902.
You can find out more from our Post Office Rifles History page.
Large image (511.8KB)
Poem in St Martin's Le Grand, April 1916, p. 192, finding number: POST 92/1145
This poem was printed in the Post Office Magazine St Martin's Le Grand in April 1916. It was a humorous effort to encourage people to contribute to the war effort by saving some money with war savings.
Large image (271.5KB)
Photograph of school children sorting the mail, 1942, Finding number: POST 56/14, ref: 285992
This photograph shows school children in Reading sorting through the mail during the Second World War. One challenge faced by the Post Office, like all other employers, was tackling the labour shortages that resulted from mass conscription.
The ethos in the Post Office during the war was to 'stand firm and carry on' (POST 56/173, 1941).
The folder to which this photo belongs also contains photographs of staff sorting mail during black-out conditions and of workers at a telephone exchange continuing with their work with their gas masks close to hand. Many of these are official photographs produced to show that Post Office was continuing to work despite adversity.
Large image (791KB)
