THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE DURING THE GREAT WAR
In 1914, when war broke out, a large postal contingent accompanied the
troops sent to France. It was under the control of Mr. Pilkington,
Assistant Director-General of the Post Office, who had the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel, and it comprised one Base Office and 22 field
offices, with a staff of 13 supervising officers, 22 field postmasters,
84 clerks and 78 menials. During the early years of the war the work
performed by this staff was very heavy. Frequently over 23,000 letters
and 2000 parcels would arrive for the Indian contingent in one day,
while newspapers published in England were regularly received for
delivery to the troops. At the end of 1916 the Indian field postal
staff in France was considerably reduced, as large numbers accompanied
the Indian troops transferred to Egypt and Mesopotamia, and at the end
of the war only one or two field offices remained to serve some Labour
Corps units which had been left behind.
At the end of 1916 Mesopotamia was the most important theatre of
war so far as the Indian Post Office was concerned. A small field
postal contingent was sent in 1914 and was steadily increased as the
operations extended. Mr. A. B. Thompson, Deputy Postmaster-General,
was the first Director of Postal Services. He was succeeded in 1917
by Mr. A. J. Hughes, who had been Deputy Director in Egypt. By the
end of 1917 the army was so large and the work of the Post Office
so extensive that it was decided to place an officer of the rank of
Postmaster-General in charge, and Mr. H. A. Sams, Postmaster-General,
Central Circle, was selected to be Director of Postal Services in
Mesopotamia. By 1918 the staff consisted of 17 superintendents,
45 inspectors, 2 base postmasters, 7 deputy postmasters, 79 field
postmasters, 542 clerks and 797 menials. The Field Post Office in
Mesopotamia had not only military work, but also a great deal of civil
work. The magnitude of the business may be gauged by the following
monthly figures:--
ABOUT
Number of letters received and despatched 12,000,000
Number of parcels received and despatched 70,000
Number of money orders issued and paid 67,000
Value of money orders issued and paid Rs.30,00,000
Large numbers of British postal orders were also sold and Savings Bank
business was freely transacted.
During the year 1916 a great deal of difficulty was experienced in
Mesopotamia in dealing with returned letters, the addressees of which
could not be traced. To dispose of these a Returned Letter Office was
established at Basra, for which a staff of 165 permanent base men was
employed. Subsequently, as these men were released or recalled to
military duty, their places were taken by Anglo-Indian boys recruited
in India. The establishment of the Returned Letter Office put a stop
to very many complaints regarding loss of letters. The office used to
deal with about 200,000 articles a month and worked very efficiently
under the supervision of the Base Postmaster, Basra.
Upon the fall of Kut the field post office there shared the fate of the
garrison, and a number of postal officials were taken prisoners of war
by the Turks.
From the beginning of 1918 to the end of the war the postal service in
Mesopotamia was extremely good, and both in Basra and Bagdad a regular
local post was established and deliveries by postmen were introduced.
At the end of 1918 a number of civil post offices were opened and
steps were taken to close down field post offices wherever possible.
From the 1st May, 1919, the postal administration of Mesopotamia was
finally handed over to the civil authorities and almost all the field
post offices were withdrawn, but a very large proportion of the Indian
Field staff remained in the country and took service under the new Iraq
Government.
Next in importance to Mesopotamia came the Indian postal services in
Egypt, Palestine and Salonika, and in these places the Indian field
post offices worked side by side with the British Army Postal Corps.
In 1915 they were under the control of Mr. A. J. Hughes as Deputy
Director, who was succeeded later by Mr. S. C. Sinclair. In 1915
Indian field post offices were sent to Gallipoli, and the work done
by them there won the warm appreciation of the military authorities.
The extension of operations to Palestine necessitated the despatch of
a number of field post offices to that country. In 1918 it was found
necessary to separate the postal contingent at Salonika from the
control of the Deputy Director in Egypt, and the force was placed in
charge of Mr. A. Gillespie as an independent Assistant Director, with
a staff of 1 base postmaster, 2 inspectors, 28 field postmasters and
clerks and 36 menials. The Salonika postal service extended to Baku and
Constantinople, where there were Indian field post offices.
Field post offices were sent to East Africa in 1914 under the
control of Mr. K. A. Appleby, who was subsequently made a Brevet
Lieutenant-Colonel. The organization consisted of a base office, 25
field post offices, with a staff of 4 superintendents, 6 inspectors, 1
base postmaster, 25 field postmasters, 76 clerks and 67 menials. About
a million letters and parcels were handled monthly by this staff, and
work had to be carried on under the most trying conditions, as many of
the mail lines traversed country covered with thick jungle. In 1917
and 1918 the whole postal service of German East Africa was carried
on by the Indian Field Post Office, and the greatest credit is due to
Lieutenant-Colonel Appleby for the excellent arrangements made by him.
In 1918 Lieutenant Kilman was sent to take control of the field
post offices attached to the East Persian Cordon between Meshed and
Dalbandin. The East Persian Cordon was subsequently known as the Force
in East Persia, and the postal organization consisted of 1 Base post
office and 13 field post offices, with a staff of an Assistant Director
of Posts and Telegraphs, 1 inspector, 1 base postmaster, 13 field
postmasters, 31 clerks and 54 menials.
A field post office contingent was also sent to Bushire in 1918 in
connection with the operations between Bushire and Shiraz. This was
placed under the control of Mr. C. F. Quilter as Assistant Director,
who was also given control of the postal arrangements of the British
Mission Escort in South Persia operating from Bunder-Abbas to Kerman
and Shiraz. The British Mission Escort commenced its operations
early in 1916 and its postal arrangements were in charge of Captain
Greene, R. E., Superintendent of post offices, prior to their being
taken over by Mr. Quilter. Up to March, 1919, the postal organization
of the Bushire Force and British Mission Escort consisted of 2
Base post offices and 18 field post offices, with a staff of an
Assistant Director, a Deputy Assistant Director, 2 inspectors, 2 base
postmasters, 18 field postmasters, 49 clerks and 86 menials. From
April, 1919, the Force was considerably reduced and a large portion of
the field postal staff was withdrawn.
The operations in the neighbourhood of Aden led to the establishment of
a few field post offices under the postmaster of Aden, who carried out
this work in addition to his own.
The total number of officials of the Indian field post offices serving
with the various Expeditionary Forces in 1918 was about two thousand,
and with this large contingent serving abroad the Department in India
had to undertake the difficult task of equipping and despatching
regular reinforcements to the several theatres of war. In order to deal
with the enormous quantity of Army mails, both originating in India and
received from abroad, two special base offices were established, one
at Bombay and one at Karachi. The Base Office in Bombay was converted
in 1918 into a Base Postal Depot, and in addition to dealing with the
mails for the troops it was also assigned the duty of recruitment
and mobilization of postal reinforcements. The establishment of the
Base Postal Depot in Bombay solved many of the difficulties which
attended the organization of field post offices and the disposal of
mails for armies in the field. The depot was divided into four main
sections for Enquiry, Sorting, Mobilization and Correspondence. The
chief duty of the Enquiry section was to ensure the correct delivery of
correspondence for the troops that had returned or had been invalided
from the field. This section was in charge of a lady Superintendent
with forty lady clerks, and their duty was to keep up to date a regular
record giving the names, designations and addresses of officers and
men who had returned to India. The Enquiry section kept its records
by means of index cards, of which there were over 133,000 when the
armistice was declared. About 330,000 letters monthly were disposed of
in this section.
In the Sorting section the average number of postal articles dealt
with in a month was about one million. The sorting of mails for all
the forces was done by units, separate bundles or packets being
prepared for the officers and men with each unit. These mails were
then forwarded ready sorted to the base offices at the various fronts,
where they were distributed to the field offices serving the units in
question.
The Mobilization section dealt with all matters relating to the
mobilization of the staff recruited in India for service overseas. Only
men who had volunteered for field service were taken, and on receiving
orders these men reported themselves to the Officer Commanding, Base
Postal Depot, Bombay, who arranged for their kit, uniform and transport
to the force for which they were detailed. The Correspondence section
dealt with all complaints regarding postal articles for the field
forces, and, by being in close connection with the Enquiry branch, it
was able to dispose of a large number of complaints without delay.
The Base Postal Depot, Bombay, was thus the most essential factor
in the whole postal organization, and the smooth working of mail
arrangements for the Expeditionary Forces depended very largely upon
its efficiency. The Depot was directly under the control of the
Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs and in charge of Captain Love,
a pensioned officer of the Department, who had retired as Presidency
Postmaster, Bombay.
To reward the good work done by the Indian postal staff in the field,
no less than fifty-two personal distinctions were granted and over
three hundred men were mentioned in despatches. The Department may
well be proud of its achievements during the war. Volunteers were
always ready to come forward for service in the worst places and many
lost their lives. The best proof of their work, however, is the high
reputation which the Post Office of India has earned among all branches
of the Army.