Posted: 9/24/2009 11:45:10 AM EDT
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Got sent this earlier!
Watch the hypocrites standing in the presence of our troops at the Cenotaph in November. Those in uniform give everything and the men in suits trample on the Military Covenant. Please pass on. Dear Friends and Colleagues As a Father of a Serving Soldier in Afghanistan, I am asking for your help in preventing the loss of the BFPO System. The government is intending to terminate the British Forces Post Office to cut costs. The idiot in charge will seriously damage the morale of our fighting men and women if these plans go ahead. Our gallant warriors have to put up with suicide bombers, lack of proper equipment, being shot at and bleak living conditions. Receiving communications from their loved ones at home brings a little cheer into their difficult lives. I cannot believe that such a malicious act is under serious consideration. There is also the security side to consider. At present letters are addressed to a BFPO number. Details of the whereabouts of our men and women on active service are protected. I am sure that if letters are sent to Private John Doe, Royal Engineers, Afghanistan (for example) would render the families back home vulnerable to terrorist activity. There is a Downing Street Petition which you can give your support to by clicking the following link Downing Street Petition You can assist further by fowarding this email to your friends and family. Here is a brief outline of the history of BFPO...................... As far back as 1799 a need for a Postal Service for troops in the field was considered to be essential. It was not, however, until 1808 during the Peninsular War that the First Army Post Office was put into operation. In 1840 another Army Post Office was put into operation during the first Chinese War. On the 22 Jul 1882 Queen Victoria authorised the formation of the Post Office Corps which was formed from the 24th Battalion Middlesex Volunteers for service in the Egyptian and Sudanese campaigns. The Post Office Corps was then followed by a second Army Postal Corps called The Royal Engineers Telegraph Reserve. In 1889 both Reserve Corps were reorganised into 2 supplementary companies to give an efficient Postal and Telegraph Service during the South African War. Nineteen Hundred and Eight saw a further reorganisation of the 2 reserve companies when they amalgamated into the Royal Engineers (Postal Section) - RE (PS). WORLD WAR I The RE (PS) served during the First World War in France, Belgium, the Dardanelles, Egypt, Palestine, East Africa, Greece, Italy and North Russia. The ingenuity and resourcefulness of RE (PS) personnel was unlimited. As well as by conventional means mail was transported by mule, sleigh, trawler, mine-sweeper in fact any form of transport available at the time. The Home Postal Depot was formed in London in 1914 to fulfil 2 functions. Firstly it served as a central sorting and distribution point for all Forces mails and, secondly, for the training of RE (PS) personnel. During 1918 experiments were carried out using modified aircraft for transporting troops mail by air. Tests proved successful and the first regular airmail service from Folkestone to Cologne was set up in Mar 1919 to provide British troops in Germany with a fast mail service. This was the world’s first scheduled airmail service. Due to the success of the Army airmail service the system was adopted by civil Post Offices worldwide. From 1918 until 1929 a nucleus of the RE (PS) remained in the Army of the Rhine until it was withdrawn in 1929, whilst a detachment also operated in North Russia during the period 1918-1919. WORLD WAR II The Second World War saw the RE (PS) serving on all fronts worldwide and detached with forward troops. During that war it was held by a famous Commander, that his troops could march 3 or 4 days without food on the strength of one letter. RE (PS) personnel landed with the 6th Airborne Division by parachute and glider during the opening of the second front, and postal personnel were amongst the sea assault troops with the 5th and 6th Beach Brigades. Field Post Offices were established on the beach-head within hours of arrival. With the inclusion of British troops as part of the United Nations Forces in the Korean War in 1950, RE (PS) played its part in the support role of 2 British Brigades and with a line of communications Unit in Japan. In the early 50s the formation of NATO, SHAPE, HQ ALFCE and HQ AFFCE saw the reintroduction of Postal units into France. The withdrawal of British troops from Egypt meant the transfer of the Middle East Command to Cyprus and the establishment of the units in Aden and Tripoli. It soon became apparent that the RE (PS) provided a higher standard of service than their civilian counterparts, with the consequent demand for BFPOs to serve in all overseas Commands. An experiment was tried in 1953 whereby the Army Postal Service undertook the responsibility for the transmission of classified mail in BAOR. Gradually the transmission of classified mails worldwide was transferred to the RE (PCS). Following the consolidation of the Service in the 50s the RE (PS), by now RE (Post and Courier Communications) RE (PCC), became organic to every field formation. In 1962 the Home Postal Depot moved its location from Acton, to Inglis Barracks in Mill Hill, North West London, and accepted responsibility for Royal Naval Mails and HM Ships mail from the Civil Post Office. Thus the RE (PCC) became a British Forces tri Service Organisation, (having previously accepted responsibility for RAF mails), and an international military service with its units in NATO. The UK Forces Courier Service was rationalised in 1974 and a Courier Wing was introduced within the Home PCC Depot RE. This Wing accepted the transmission of all classified document carriage within UK in addition of the existing worldwide service. A further reorganisation took place in 1979 to form the Royal Engineers Post and Courier Services, RE (PCS), into 4 PC Regiments and the Depot at Mill Hill renamed the Postal and Courier Depot RE (PCD RE). In 1983 HM The Queen visited the Postal and Courier Depot as part of the Centenary celebrations of the Postal and Courier Service. The RE (PCS) also received the Freedom of the London Borough of Barnet on behalf of the Corps of Royal Engineers.The British Forces Post Office (BFPO) provides mail and Post Office counter services to Forces personnel, their dependants and authorised civilians whilst serving outside Great Britain, and a secure service for protectively marked material for the MOD, other Government departments and Defence related Organisations in the United Kingdom (UK). A service for official mail is also provided through a network of Defence Mail Centres (DMCs) and Ministry of Defence locations within the UK via a comprehensive network overseas. |
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Quoted: done it yesterday.... I wonder what s next..... due to cut backs every combat soldier to be issued with only five rounds ( if you want more will sell you some for 50p per round ). G. Brown ( useless waffleheadedoneeyedcockdrip ) I was at a funeral yesterday and stopped buy the grave of Trooper Phillip Lawrence , 22 years old  |
