APO 77 KOREA 1953 Army Cover 18th AP Sq Korean War Soldier's Mail

It was sent 13 Nov 1953. It was sent from Russell Garrity to John Manning of Providence, RI. It was franked with stamp "Free'.

This cover is in good, but not perfect condition. Please look at the scan and make your own judgement.

Member USCS #10385 (I also earned the stamp collecting merit badge as a boy!). Please contact me if you have specific cover needs. I have thousands for sale, including; navals (USS, USNS, USCGC, Coast Guard, ship, Maritime), military posts, event, APO, hotel, postal history, memoribilia, etc. I offer approvals service with FREE shipping to USA repeat customers.

Military mail, as opposed to civilian mail, refers to the postal services provided by armed forces, that allow serving members to send and receive mail.

Military mail systems are often subsidized to ensure that military mail does not cost the sender any more than normal domestic mail traffic. In some cases, military personnel in a combat zone may post letters and/or packages to the home country for free.

Modern military mail services are provided by most armed forces around the world. In some nations, individual service branches may run their own military mail program.

Contents  [hide] 

1 History

1.1 Beginnings

1.2 Modern military mail provision

2 Selected modern services

2.1 British Forces Post Office (BFPO)

2.2 German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr)

2.3 Indian Army Postal Service Corps

2.4 U.S. Military Postal Service (MPS)

3 Classified information

4 Examples

5 See also

6 References

7 Further reading

8 External links

History[edit]

Main article: History of the British Army postal service

Early forms of military mail may go back to the dawn of civilization. There is some evidence of it dating back to Ancient Egypt of the 2nd millennium BC.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle make mention of messengers being sent by King Edward the Elder (899-924) to recall members of the Kent fyrd,[1] but it is generally regarded that the origins of the postal services stem from the King's 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.[2]

Beginnings[edit]

Clerks organising mail at a post office in London, circa 1808.

In 1795 Parliament granted the penny postage concession to soldiers and sailors of the British Army and Royal Navy.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6]