Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Can you help identify war memorials on your patch? If so, you'll be helping look after an important part of our heritage while honouring Fallen colleagues.
Royal Mail Group and the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) are developing an extensive database of memorials on Royal Mail premises, and the BPMA currently is looking for and tracking over 300 memorials.
But, the immediate challenge is to make sure they know precisely how many memorials we've got, and where they are.
The aim is to complete the survey before Remembrance Day on Sunday November 9, 2008. The day will mark 90 years since the First World War ended.
War memorials come in all shapes, sizes and materials, and the BPMA team wants to know about all of them - no matter how big or small, or what their condition.
Once the initial list has been created, the BPMA are keen to hear from volunteers who will assist them in getting more information about the memorials. Even if you aren't aware of a war memorial, the BPMA would still be happy to hear from you if you are interested in the project.
In excess of 160,000 of our colleagues lost their lives in 20th century conflicts. Identifying war memorials on your premises means you'll be helping towards taking proper and respectful care of them.
Contact: memorials@postalheritage.org.uk
Database lists Royal Mail war dead. November 7, 2008.
The first full register of hundreds of war memorials honouring the sacrifices of Royal Mail workers who died during the First and Second World Wars has been published.
After a year of research by historians, more than 300 memorials across the UK have been listed online for the first time.
The Royal Mail said the number of memorials reflected the heavy involvement in each war by employees of the then General Post Office (GPO).
An estimated 85,000 GPO employees fought in the Great War and 8,500 lost their lives, with more than 12,000 employees fighting with the Post Office Rifles, a regiment whose members were awarded 40 gallantry medals.
Chris Taft, curator at the British Postal Museum and Archive said: "Identifying and recording Royal Mail's war memorials had brought home the terrible impact that the First and Second World Wars had on communities.
"Some memorials list the names of more than a hundred people from just one office who were killed in battle. The memorial that was placed in Birmingham General Post Office, for example, listed the names of 134 people. Losing that many colleagues over such a short time was just as devastating then as it would be to us now.
"It is only when you gather this information together that you can really imagine the effect that these conflicts must have had."
The database lists an array of monuments, from traditional bronze statues and stained glass windows to scrolls of honour and large hillside chalk images, and can be accessed at (please click):
Thursday 6 November 2008 - Sunday 15 February 2009
Last Post: Remembering the First World War
Last Post: Remembering the First World War is a fascinating exploration of the role of the Post Office during the First World War. In 1914, the Post Office employed over 250,000 people, delivered billions of letters and parcels annually, and was responsible for telegraphs, telephones and banking services. The outbreak of war saw many changes to the organisation and its workers, who played an important role in the war effort.
Last Post tells the stories of the role of postal workers at war and on the Home Front, through medals, uniforms, correspondence and treasures from both the BPMA and the Imperial War Museum collections. Find out about the Post Office Rifles and their brave action on the battlefield, the increasing role of women in the war effort, postal censorship and spycatching, and the determination of the Post Office to maintain an essential postal service for military and civilian correspondence against all odds.
The BPMA is delighted to present the exhibition at The Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms, from Thursday 6 November 2008 until Sunday 15 February 2009.
Event details: External exhibition - Last Post: Remembering the First World War.
Location: The Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms, Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London SW1.
Date: Thursday 6 November 2008 - Saturday 14 February 2009.
Time: 9.30 am - 6.00 pm (last admission 5.00 pm).
Price: See The Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms admission charges for details. Pre-booking required? Tickets can be booked, but booking is optional.
Suitable for? Anyone interested in postal or military history, particularly the First World war.
Related events:
Talk: Women Workers in the Post Office, 1914 - 1939
Film Screening: Britain At Bay (1940)
