>Royal Mail has dedicated a post box in honour of a postman who received a Victoria Cross for his bravery during the First World War
>Today (Wednesday 29th October) marks the centenary of Sergeant John Hogan VC’s heroic actions to recapture a trench in 1914
>A special plaque has been attached to the post box in Royton, Greater Manchester, highlighting Sergeant Hogan’s courage
>This forms part of Royal Mail’s five year programme of remembrance for the First World War
Royal Mail has dedicated a post box in honour of a heroic postman who served in the First World War.
Royal Mail has recognised the bravery of Sergeant John Hogan VC by unveiling a special plaque on a post box in his hometown of Royton, Greater Manchester.
Today (Wednesday 29th October) marks the centenary of Sergeant Hogan’s courageous actions in 1914, near Festubert, France.
Sergeant Hogan, was 30-years-old and served in the 2nd Battalion, The Manchester Regiment, British Army. He faced extreme danger after his trench was attacked and taken by German soldiers.
Working alongside a member of his regiment, Sergeant Hogan succeeded in regaining the trench, killed eight of the enemy, wounded two soldiers and took 16 prisoners.
Sergeant Hogan later received the prestigious Victoria Cross for his bravery.
The post box is located outside the Post Office in Royton. The address is 60 Rochdale Road, Oldham, Lancashire, OL2 6QQ.
The inscription on the plaque reads:
“Sergeant John Hogan VC
Born in Royton, Lancashire
Manchester Regiment and Postal Worker
Awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery near Festubert (France) on 29 October 1914, when, after their trench had been taken by the Germans, and after two attempts at recapture had failed, they voluntarily decided on the afternoon of the same day to recover the trench themselves, and, working from traverse to traverse at close quarters with great bravery, they gradually succeeded in regaining possession, killing eight of the enemy, wounding two, and taking sixteen prisoners.
His Victoria Cross is on permanent display at Oldham Civic Centre.”
Stephen Carter, Oldham Delivery Office Manager, said:“We’re delighted to be dedicating this post box in honour of Sergeant John Hogan, on the centenary of his courageous actions.
“His bravery undoubtedly played a key role in keeping countless British troops alive in the trenches and we hope this is a fitting and lasting tribute to him.”
The dedication of the post box ties in with a ceremony that is also being held in Royton by Oldham Council. A special memorial stone will be laid in Sergeant Hogan’s memory at Royton Memorial Park.
Commemorating the First World War
The dedication of the post box forms part of Royal Mail’s five year programme of remembrance for the First World War.
The company has launched a landmark series of Special Stamps to commemorate the war that will be issued from 2014 to 2018. The first set of six stamps were issued at the end of July and feature striking imagery of memorials, artefacts and portraits that are relevant to 1914, the beginning of the conflict, as well as newly commissioned artwork.
The stamps launched in July and can be purchased via http://www.royalmail.com/firstworldwar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, by phone on 03457 641 641 and in 10,000 Post Offices throughout the UK.
Royal Mail has also created an online database of around 250 war memorials that are in its care, commemorating those who served in the war. Many of the company’s memorials were established after the war, and feature the names of postal staff who fought for their country.
The database can be seen at http://www.royalmailmemorials.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. 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.
Royal Mail’s involvement in the First World War
· At the beginning of the war, the General Post Office (GPO) was involved in distributing recruitment forms throughout the country urging enlistment. The GPO released 75,000 of its 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 days 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
- See more at: http://www.royalmailgroup.com/royal-mai ... WO8fb.dpuf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;