Australian Army Postal Corps

Inward Mail at Anzac awaiting distribution AWM J02443

AWM J02430

Brief History

This is a generic entry for all aspects of the mail distribution system in Egypt, England and Europe.

Australian Base Post Office London. The staff numbers over seven hundred employees of whom the greater number are women who had to be specially trained for the work. Mail arrives by ship at Liverpool and is bag sorted and despatched by rail to Australian Base Post Office London. Here it is sorted alphabetically and redirected according to the latest information on each soldier's record card. It is then sorted for despatch to AIF units, taken to Folkstone by van and shipped to Boulogne, France, where it is taken by rail truck to field post offices. The mail is taken to trenches by ration party. Mail for Australia is censored and consigned from the field post office, along the same route via Liverpool back to Australia.

Seven men died while in the postal service including at least two as a result of enemy action.

Unit Personnel

England

• James Owen Horrocks 14 May 1916 - 17 Mar 1917

Rouelles France

• William Plant 8 Dec 1918 - 21 Feb 1919
• Herbert Dunbar Cousens 19 Jan - 27 Mar 1919

With Units

• William Rawlinson from 21 Oct 1916 to 11 Jun 1918 - various units at Brigade and Battalion level
• John Richard (Jack) Hall 14 Mar - 20 Oct - 1916 Divisional Post Office Serapeum and France

Individual Awards

• 2 x Officer of the Order of the British Empire
• 2 x Member of the Order of the British Empire
• 3 x Military Medal
• 7 x Meritorious Service Medal
• 8 x Mentioned in Despatches