Beginnings

The Post Office Rifles first came into being after 1,600 Post Office staff were enrolled as Special Constables under Major J.L. Du Plat Taylor of the 21st Middlesex Civil Service Volunteers (Post Office Company). This was done in response to explosions in London and Manchester and disturbances elsewhere that were staged in 1867, in the name of Irish independence.

Once the original threat of violence had passed, it was proposed that the Special Constables who were willing should form a permanent volunteer regiment. On February 13, 1868, after the Postmaster General (whom Du Plat Taylor served as Private Secretary) gave his approval to this, the War Office sanctioned the formation of a 1,000-strong regiment. On March 2 that year, Du Plat Taylor was gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers (Post Office Rifles).

In 1877, Du Plat Taylor suggested that an Army Postal Corps be founded in the Regular Army. However, due to an apparent lack of funds, this ide was not taken up at that time.

In 1880, a national reorgnisation of the Volunteer corps led to another name change, whereby the regiment were renumbered the 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers (Post Office Rifles).

Egyptian Campaign

By 1882, the War Office was in a position to reconsider the proposal of an Army Postal Corps, motivated by the outbreak of hostilities in Egypt. Du Plat called for 100 men of the regiment to serve abroad and the Army Post Office Corps was born.

They set off from Portsmouth on August 8, 1882, commanded by Captain Sturgeon, who went on to become the Postmaster of Norwich.

By October 23 of the same year, they were back in England. During the Egyptian Campaign, they became the first British Volunteers to come under fire at the Battle of Kassassin . They did not suffer any losses.

Sadly, however, the Egyptian Campaign did eventually result in the Post Office Rifles' first fatality; Corporal F.G. Stocker died from an illness after returning to England.

Sir Garnet Wolseley, commander of the Egyptin Campaign, praised the work of the Army Postal Corps: "Their services have been so vluable that I hope a similar corps may be employed on any future occasion on which it may be necessary to despatch an expeditionary force from this country."

On its return from Egypt, the Secretary of State for War ensured that the Army Post Office Corps was embodied in the reserve of the Royal Engineers.

South African Campaign

In October 1899, the Army Post Office Corps was called up to serve in South Africa.

As the January 1900 issue of the Post Office staff magazine, St-Martin's-Le-Grand, reported: "From 1885 till the present year, the Army Post Office Corps has lived in the easy obscurity of peace, and now again has answered the summons to the field."

An efficient postal service was quickly established by the men, under difficult conditions. However, a young war reporter by the name of Winston Churchill criticised the service. Writing in the Morning Post, he complained about the number of letters which had been delayed, mis-delivered or lost.

Post Office volunteers from other companies of the 24th Middlesex also chose to fight as riflemen. The contribution made by the 24th was said to be the largest made by any Volunteer regiment. A total of 16 officers and 1,000 men played their part. Of these, 2 were killed in action, with 44 fatalities coming about as a result of disease.

In recognition of its bravery and unique status, the 24th Middlesex was the only volunteer regiment given the honours 'Egypt 1882' and 'South Africa 1899-1902'.

After South Africa

More changes were introduced upon the creation of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Bill of 1907. This Act brough the part-time Volunteer (rifleman) and Yeomanry (mounted) regiments from across the country together into a single Territorial Army in 1908. As a result of this, the 24th Middlesex became the 8th Battalion, City of London Regiment (Post Office Rifles).

World War I

The Post Office Rifles served with distinction in the Great War. They arrived in France on March 18, 1915. By the end of the war, 1,800 men from the Post Office Rifles would be dead and 4,500 more would be wounded.

After the outbreak of the war, the sheer number of recruits was so great that a second Post Office Rifles battalion, the 2nd/8th Londons, was formed in September 1914. Between them, the two battlions earned the London Regiment 27 Battle Honours.

At the Battle of Wurst Farm Ridge , in September 1917, the 2nd/8th lost over half its fighting strength, dead or wounded, but its men were awarded a total of 40 gallantry medals. These included a Victoria Cross won by Sergeant A.J. Knight, making him the only Post Office Rifleman to win this honour.

After the Great War

Further reorganisations took place after World War I. Many saw these changes as a dilution of the battalion's Post Office identity. Included in these reorganisations was the amalgamation of the 8th Battalion with the non-Post Office 7th battalion in 1921. In 1935, it was converted from infantry to the 32nd (7th City of London) Anti-aircraft Battlion, Royal Engineers. In 1940, it became the 32nd Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery.

Memorials to the Post Office Rifles

Memorials to the Post Office Rifles can be found at Paignton War Memorial, at St. Lawrence Parish Church, Abbots Langley, and on a plaque outside the Uckfield village church. A Book of Remembrance is placed in the church traditionally associated with the Post Office Rifles at St. Bodolphs in Aldersgate, London EC1.

There is no formal memorial to the Rifles in France, but many of the fallen from the Great War have their names recorded on memorials such as the Menin Gate at Ypres and Sir Edward Lutyens' memorial to the missing at Thiepval.

Correspondence

Captain Home Peel, the Adjutant of the 1st/8th Post Office Rifles was killed in action on March 24, 1918. The Heritage Royal Mail archive contains some letters and other documents relating to his wartime service.

These paint a picture of a typical officer educated at Charterhouse and employed by the India Office prior to World War I.

The most astonishing item is a letter written of German military stationery, the purpose of which was to comfort Mrs. Peel. This humanitarian gesture was made by E.F. Gayler, who describes himself in the letter as 'late of 45 Stainton Road, Entcliffe, Sheffield'. In this letter, he writes: "Although enemy and sometime deeply hurt by the ridiculous tone of your home press, I feel it a human duty to communicate these sad news. Capt. Peel was killed in action near Longueval and died, as it seems by the wounds received, without suffering."

Sources

The Post Office Rifles: Defending Britain from within and without