Postal regiment

[R5Rich]

We have these guys coming in end of the month. Ten days off from RM for training and then a minimum 19 days a year duty. Has anyone done it? Or does know someone that has? Part of me is a little tempted and I am not really sure why

[Royal_Fail]

P&L in Helmond province?

No thanks

[glenfiddich]

P&L in Helmond province?

No thanks

on a plus side if anyone asks for their giro

[Lounge Lizard]

You will be trading in the proud footsteps of the Post Office Rifles who are best remembered today for their involvement as infantry on the Western Front in the First World War. Their bravery, tenacity and character during the severe circumstances of the trenches are well documented and their endeavours on the Somme, Passchendaele, and elsewhere have earned the regiment high praise and a prestigious place in British military history.
They have many military medals and accolades in evidence of this. Comprised mostly of Post Office employees, approximately 12,000 men fought with the regiment, suffering losses of 1,800 and 4,500 wounded.
Roots of the Post Office RiflesInterest in the Post Office Rifles has understandably focussed on the years 1914-1918. However, collaboration between the Post Office and the Army predates the Great War.
Post Office volunteers went to Paris in 1816 to assist British Forces with communications following the defeat of Napoleon, and sorters also served in the Crimean War (1853-1856).
The association between Army and Post Office was well established by 1867. A series of Fenian bombings in London and Manchester were carried out in the name of Irish Independence. They resulted in the first formation of a group of Post Office volunteers to help defend installations under attack. 1,600 Special Constables enrolled to safeguard these installations which included post offices.
Once the immediate Fenian threat had passed, it was agreed with the War Office on 13 February 1868 that a regiment of 1,000 men be formed from Post Office employees. On 2 March that year, Du Plat Taylor was gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers (Post Office Rifles).
The men of the 49th – later re-numbered as the 24th Middlesex (1880) – formed the backbone of the Army Post Office Corps in the Egyptian and Sudanese campaigns of 1882 and 1885.
In 1882, hostilities in Egypt threatened British control of the Suez Canal. The War Office drew upon the 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers to form the 100-strong Army Post Office Corps. This quickly saw military action at the Battle of Kassassin (9 September) under the command of Captain Sturgeon.
In 1885 The Post Office Rifles were again deployed under Captain Sturgeon. This time it was as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) dispatched to support General Gordon in Khartoum.
During the 1899-1902 South African (Boer) War, the 24th Middlesex contributed 16 officers and over 1,000 men of other ranks to oversee a comprehensive effort of wartime communications. They suffered 46 fatalities from wounds and disease. The regiment was decorated for their efforts.
Though the regiment was relieved of its postal duties after the Haldane Reforms of 1908, it kept its association with the Post Office and continued to recruit postal workers into the Territorial Force under its new title '8th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Post Office Rifles)'.
To accommodate the swell of recruits in the First World War, a second Post Office Rifles Battalion was formed in September 1914. They were titled the 2nd/8th Battalions, London Regiment.
The 2nd Battalion initially served as a reserve regiment, supplying reinforcements for the 1st Battalion but in January 1917 the battalion also moved to the front line in France. They first saw action in the Second Battle of Bullecourt in May 1917.
The Post Office Rifles fought at Ypres and at Passchendaele and suffered tremendous losses. More than half of their fighting force was lost at the Battle of Wurst Farm Ridge in September 1917. Alfred Knight was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery during this battle. They lost 1,800 and 4,500 men were wounded by the end of the War.
Although unique in its composition, the experiences of the PORs were entirely representative of life on the Western Front. The 1st Battalion embarked from Southampton on 17 March 1915 and after a period of training and acclimatisation, entered the trenches to fight in the battle for Festubert on 11 May that year.
The Post Office Rifles fought resiliently to secure and reinforce the British position there but the experience was traumatic.
The regiment saw further action at Loos in the same year and in 1916, POR battalions were involved in some of the worst carnage of the war at the Battle of the Somme. For their part, the PORs entered the hostilities late in the battle (October) but still sustained forty dead, 160 wounded and some 200 missing.
However, the Post Office Rifles were in the thick of the fighting through 1917, at Ypres from the start of the campaign. Many POR descriptions of fighting on the front vividly tell of the grim realities of trench warfare.
Those that survived were commended for the Battalion's achievements. "I thought" said the Divisional General, on parade after an aforementioned attack, "you were a lot of stamp lickers, but the way you fought…, you went over like a lot of bloody savages".
The Post Office Rifles received 145 awards for gallantry including one Victoria Cross for Sgt. A.J. Knight.
In 1921 the 8th Battalion was amalgamated with the 'non-Post-Office' 7th Battalion. This represented a change in the role of the Post Office Rifles. The move was seen by some as a dilution of the Battalion's Post Office identity. It was subsequently merged with a London Anti-Aircraft battalion in 1935. It finds its successor today in the Royal Logistics Corps.

[silly suffolk]

lovely piece of writing lounge lizard. there used to be a memorial plauque to the post office rifles here, but it went missing when we moved office. i pray it never ended up in a skip.

[RedBagMan]

http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/page/3 ... ice-Rifles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[arnold cheshire]

We have these guys coming in end of the month. Ten days off from RM for training and then a minimum 19 days a year duty. Has anyone done it? Or does know someone that has? Part of me is a little tempted and I am not really sure why

territorial army guys?

[fmrPOSTIE]

yea its TA.

[Postal Postie II]

I am not doing D2D in Helmond no way!!!

That panorama programme has a lot to answer for!

I said to my DoM after the programme "Did you see Panorama last night and watch that ex-Royal Marine say he couldn't do the job in the time allowed and certainly wouldn't be able to do it 4 times a week?" He said "Yes."

"Does that mean we'll be getting a pay rise then?" I said.
"No". He said. "But you're all getting called up to go to Afghanistan!".

I wasn't laughing.

[DGP1]

Thank f**k I'm too old for any of that now

[dvbuk55]

Thank f**k I'm too old for any of that now

Nonsense, you're not old! I was a reservist and was only released on my 55th birthday and was recalled when I was 42/43 for further training. I was a regular and in my time the TA was a bit of a joke BUT in recent years the regular army has relied more and more on the TA and reservists to maintain their combat status. It's a travesty that at the time of making thousands of service personnel redundant they are recruiting for the TA - it's very like RM letting full timers go and recruiting part timers to replace them.

[DGP1]

Thank f**k I'm too old for any of that now

Nonsense, you're not old! I was a reservist and was only released on my 55th birthday and was recalled when I was 42/43 for further training. I was a regular and in my time the TA was a bit of a joke BUT in recent years the regular army has relied more and more on the TA and reservists to maintain their combat status. It's a travesty that at the time of making thousands of service personnel redundant they are recruiting for the TA - it's very like RM letting full timers go and recruiting part timers to replace them.

Still too old

[bedfordrl]

I have been with the R.E.M.E. TA for five years as a reccy mech ,the missus joined three years ago in 88 squadron ()postal R.L.C. but has since transferred over to R.E.M.E. with me which makes life interesting as we work together and in theory could fight together.

As a rule we mostly get the time off we need , we both changed from specialists with just 19 days a year training to regionals with a minimum of 28 days a year because of the better training and drill nights every week.

The biggest problem is making use of the extra training as these always are on weekends and as we know with only one in six off they rarely fall together.

All of this was achieved after we turned forty , we have found the fact that we are postman and woman an asset as our fitness is much better than most of the others .

Go for it , you will enjoy it.

[dvbuk55]

I have been with the R.E.M.E. TA for five years as a reccy mech ,the missus joined three years ago in 88 squadron ()postal R.L.C. but has since transferred over to R.E.M.E. with me which makes life interesting as we work together and in theory could fight together.

As a rule we mostly get the time off we need , we both changed from specialists with just 19 days a year training to regionals with a minimum of 28 days a year because of the better training and drill nights every week.

The biggest problem is making use of the extra training as these always are on weekends and as we know with only one in six off they rarely fall together.

All of this was achieved after we turned forty , we have found the fact that we are postman and woman an asset as our fitness is much better than most of the others .

Go for it , you will enjoy it.

I'd probably enjoy the drill nights, because they have been few and far between since I turned 40