Reindeer over Kandahar
Master Corporal Pat McMahon, a postal clerk at Kandahar Airfield, is buried in numerous boxes of Christmas cookie tins he received from home at Christmas 2006.
Tis the Season
The tiny Corps that means so much to the troops.Canada's Military Posties. These men and women are very important part of the military fabric. Especially at this time of year. The movement of mail to the military is a huge job. VERY important and very morale building.
A brief History of this proud Corps.
CHAPTER 2 - HISTORY OF THE POSTAL OCCUPATION
201. EARLY HISTORY
Canadian military mail service has been a fact of life since the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. The first Military Post Office (MPO) was established at Swift Current in 1885 to support the North-West Field Force that was suppressing the Second Riel Rebellion. A Canadian Postal Corps (CPC) detachment was formed in 1900 for service with the Canadian Contingent in the South African or Boer War. It consisted of five persons who had been recruited from the Canadian Post Office Department. This also established the close links between the Royal Canadian Postal Corps and the Canadian Post Office. While Field Post Offices were set up at summer militia camps starting in 1909, the Canadian Postal Corps was not officially established on a permanent basis until 3 May 1911. Up until then, postal units had been formed only when required and then disbanded when the need passed.
202. SERVICE DURING THE TWO WORLD WARS
1. The First World War was the first operational challenge of the new CPC. It rapidly expanded from the few first members who sailed with the First Contingent in September 1914 to operating 37 postal units by the end of the war. Close ties were established with the predecessors of the Logistics Branch, as the first Director of Postal Services was also the Director of Supplies and Transport. The CASC transported the mail forward to the troops as part of the daily resupply routine. The CPC pioneered the use of air for the transportation of priority mails in the closing days of the war. The CPC was small in numbers, with a strength of 2 officers and 98 other ranks in 1916, but it was large in its morale building importance!
2. The CPC was reduced in size during the inter-war years but continued to provide postal services. On the outbreak of the Second World War, it was again mobilized for active duty. CPC personnel served wherever Canadian service men and women were. This included Hong Kong, Kiska, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, India and, of course, the United Kingdom. In 1942, thirty member of the CPC transferred to the RCAF to establish their postal service. By the end of the war, there were 170 MPOs in operation, which were manned by over 5,000 postal clerks. The CPC was demobilized in 1946 and most of the members returned to civilian jobs with the Post Office Department.
203. THE KOREAN CONFLICT TO THE PRESENT
The CPC was reformed when the Korean War broke out in 1950. Its first members were drafted from the RCASC, thus retaining the links with the predecessors of the Logistics Branch. Postal units were formed in Vancouver, Japan and Korea in order to keep the mail flowing into theatre to support 25 CIB and the RCN squadron. At the same time, NATO asked for forces to be stationed in Europe to counter the Soviet threat. CPC units were formed to support 27 CIB of the Canadian Army and the RCAF units in France and Germany. Other commitments arose as the result of UN peacekeeping operations. When the CPC celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1961, it members were serving throughout Canada and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In honour of their devoted service, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, granted the title Royal to the CPC on 20 June 1961, thus creating the Royal Canadian Postal Corps. With integration, the RCPC became part of the Administration Branch but, like the phoenix, rose again to become a separate branch in 1987. The Canadian Forces Postal Services was heavily committed during the Gulf War, operating three Canadian Forces Post Offices, one in Qatar supporting the Air Force, in Bahrain supporting the Navy and in Saudi Arabia supporting the field hospital. Today, the postal service has been united with the Logistics Branch and remains charged with the responsibility of providing the continuing high standard of postal service in peace and war
Presently mail for Afghanistan and ships at sea Like HMCS Charlottetown will all receive parcels and letters in time for Christmas.
It is not too late to go to your local base or Military families resource centre to send your greetings and or gifts to a member far away.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
