THE SOLDIERS’ MAIL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1638, 16 November 1916, Page 4

THE SOLDIERS’ MAIL.

It is estimated that the mail to the front reaches a total of 8,000,000 letters and 850,000 parcels weekly and the inward or home mail to Britain nearly 0,000,000 letters weekly. Notwithstanding all the accidents and mischances of war, delivery takes place with surprising regularity; complaints are few, and are mostly due to insufficient or incollected and sorted in London, and correct addresses. All the mails are made up into hags according to each army unit. All parcels are dealt with in the new buildings at Regent’s Park; all letters for British troops in France, at the King Edward Buildings; and letters for all other fronts —Egypt, Salonika, Mesopotamia, ineluding those for the Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand forces —at Mount Pleasant. There is no sorting whatsoever on the way. Each bag reaches its intended unit as it loaves the post office, being placed in the appropriate railway vans on supply trains at the French ports under the direction of the railway transport officer. From the railhead (lie bags are carried by the mechanical transport supply column to the refilling point, where they are taken tip by the regimental transport to the unit and to the post, office orderly who has charge of (he delivery. There is a daily mail to France, and a letter posted in London on Monday, say, may be expected to be delivered on Thursday morning. A home staff of 2,000 men and women, and an overseas staff of 3,000, are now engaged in army postal work; the total number when the war started did not amount to 300. The staff constitutes a branch of the army, its special title being the Royal Engineers' Special Reserve Postal Section, and it is interesting to note that men have been enlisted for this section up to 45 years of age.