Honouring the fallen: remembering Birmingham postmen

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Honouring the fallen: ceremony held to remember Birmingham postmen who served in the First World War - See more at: http://www.royalmailgroup.com/media/pre ... lZEXx.dpuf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royal Mail held a special ceremony at the National Memorial Arboretum to honour the lives of seven postmen from Erdington who lost their lives in the First World War
The war memorial, featuring their names, is now being displayed at the site following an event held there yesterday (Sunday 20th July)
The centenary of the start of the First World War will be held on Monday 4th August

A special ceremony, honouring the lives of a number of Birmingham postmen who served in the First World War, has been held at the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA).

The event was held yesterday (Sunday 20th July) to rededicate a memorial to the seven postmen at the NMA.

The postmen, who all lived and worked in the Erdington area of the city, were recognised for the sacrifice they made when they were called to war.

The postmen were Alexander Leadbeater, Cornelius Ernest Neal, Frank Concannon, Henry James Holmes, Alfred Edwin Meredith, Albert Edward Sharp and Charles Bull.

A service was led by the Reverend Tony Wood to a congregation that included descendants of the men, as well as representatives from Royal Mail and the Birmingham History Forum.

The memorial stone

The memorial stone had previously been discovered in the remains of a building that was being demolished in the Ladywood area of the city. It is unclear why it was left in the building and was unknown to Royal Mail. There is currently a memorial to former employees who served in war at the Erdington Delivery Office.

The stone was brought to the attention of Linda Harrington, a member of the Birmingham History Forum, who worked with Royal Mail to organise the rededication.

Peter Armitage MBE from Royal Mail, said: “We’re pleased we’ve been able to rededicate this memorial to the seven postmen who served their King and country during the First World War. It is a fitting tribute to the men to have the memorial displayed at the National Memorial Arboretum – the home of remembrance in the UK.

“I would like to thank Linda Harrington from the Birmingham History Forum for bringing the memorial to our attention and her dedication in ensuring these men have been rightly honoured for their service in the First World War.”

Linda Harrington from the Birmingham History Forum commented: “It’s a wonderful dedication to the seven postmen who fought in the war and it’s great that they are being recognised in this way.”

The relatives of the postmen, who attended the memorial service, have also commented:

Hazel Lewis, niece of Henry James Holmes, said: “I would like to thank Royal Mail and the National Memorial Arboretum for installing the plaque so that my uncle and other postmen can be remembered for the ultimate sacrifice they made for us and this country in the First World War. We are extremely proud of him [Henry James Holmes] and his brother Charles, who was also killed in action in 1916.”

Alan Green, grandson of Albert Edward Sharp, said: “Everything that has been done to get the plaque installed at the National Memorial Arboretum is a brilliant achievement.”

Michael Arnold, whose great grandfather’s cousin was Cornelius Ernest Neal, commented: “What a wonderful outcome to this project. Many thanks for all the hard work to the Royal Mail and the National Memorial Arboretum for making this possible.”

Royal Mail’s role in the First World War

Royal Mail played a significant role in the First World War as part of the General Post Office (GPO).

The GPO released 75,000 of its own staff to fight in the war, including 12,000 employees for its own regiment, the Post Office Rifles.

Royal Mail is custodian of around 250 war memorials commemorating those who served in the war. Many of the company’s war memorials were established after the First World War, and feature the names of postal staff who fought for their country.

As part of the company’s centenary commemorations, a database of all these memorials has been published online. Royal Mail worked closely with the British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA) on developing the content for the website. The database can be seen at http://www.royalmailmemorials.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Opens in new window. The website provides searchable information about each individual memorial.

Many of these war memorials are in areas to which the public has access, such as the reception area in a delivery office. Members of the public wishing to visit other memorials can contact sites directly to see if special arrangements can be made. A special remembrance service will be held for each memorial later in the year.

Commemorating the First World War

Royal Mail will be commemorating the First World War with a dedicated programme of remembrance, featuring a five-year Special Stamp series, and a programme of events around the Royal Mail war memorials.

The stamp series has been designed to be as wide-ranging and inclusive as possible. It will feature a collection of subjects including the contribution of the armed services, the role of the Commonwealth Countries and non-combatants and women. The first six-stamp set will be available to the public from July 28th.

In addition, Royal Mail is organising a special remembrance service which will be held at each of its memorials later in the year.

Note to editors:

Royal Mail and Post Office’s involvement in the First World War

At the beginning of the war, the GPO was involved in distributing recruitment forms throughout the country urging enlistment. We then released 75,000 of our own staff to support the war
The GPO had its own regiment, the Post Office Rifles, which comprised 12,000 employees
The Post Office Rifles fought at the Somme and Passchendaele, Belgium, and suffered significant losses. More than half of their fighting force was lost at the Battle of Wurst Farm Ridge in September 1917
Of the 12,000 GPO employees in the Post Office Rifles, 1,800 were killed and 4,500 wounded
The Post Office Rifles’ Cemetery is just outside the village of Festubert, France. It contains the graves of only twenty-six identified Post Office Rifles men but has over ten times as many unnamed tombstones dedicated simply to ‘A Soldier of the Great War’

How letters reached the Western Front:

In December 1914, a special sorting office – the Home Depot – was built to deal with mail to the troops. It was constructed in Regent’s Park in London and covered five acres. It was said to be the largest wooden structure in the world at the time
With 2,500 employees, mostly female, the depot processed letters and parcels bound for the troops. At its peak, 12 million letters and 1 million parcels were passing through the Home Depot each week
Once post sent from the Home Depot, arrived overseas, it became the responsibility of the Army Post Office until it was delivered to the postal orderly of each unit. Despite the volume, the service was highly efficient – on average it took only two days for a letter from Britain to reach the Western Front (unless it was held up by the censor)
Trench warfare also meant that British positions at the front remained fairly static and this enabled a comprehensive network of lorries and carts to develop for written communications and parcels between units at the front
It was normal practice in the trenches for each day’s post to be handed out with the evening meal by ration parties. They would also collect the men’s letters and postcards for home

Letters and parcels in numbers

In 1917 over 19,000 mailbags crossed the channel each day with half a million bags conveyed in the run up to Christmas
Outbound letters to soldiers peaked at more than 12 million a week early in the first quarter of 1918
Outbound parcels soared to just over a million a week by the spring of 1917

Media Inquiries

Simon Feldman
PR Managers (Campaigns)
0207 449 8246/07435 769 017
simon.feldman@royalmail.com


About Royal Mail plc

Royal Mail plc is the parent company of Royal Mail Group Limited, the leading provider of postal and delivery services in the UK and the UK’s designated universal postal service provider. UK Parcels, International and Letters (“UKPIL”) comprises the company’s UK and international parcels and letters delivery businesses operating under the “Royal Mail” and “Parcelforce Worldwide” brands. Through the Royal Mail Core Network, the company delivers a one-price-goes-anywhere service on a range of parcels and letters products. Royal Mail has the capability to deliver to more than 29 million addresses in the UK, six days a week (excluding UK public holidays). Parcelforce Worldwide operates a separate UK network which collects and delivers express parcels. Royal Mail also owns General Logistics Systems (GLS) which operates one of the largest ground-based, deferred parcel delivery networks in Europe.
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