Fig. 67 illustrates the postmark of the present base post office of the Indian troops in China, located at Tientsin.
On the suppression of the Boxer rising the troops of the Allies were in occupation of Chihli, and the Pekin Shanhaikwan railway was divided up between the English, Japanese, Germans and Russians. By February, 1901, the administration of the whole of the line was in the hands of the British, but it was under the control of a Board consisting of a British director and two deputies, one German and the other Japanese.
At this period the Allies had about 100,000 men in Chihli, but the British troops were stationed at various stations on the line. To facilitate the prompt delivery of the letters of these British troops, the postal superintendent of the British force applied for a sorting van to be attached to the train so that letters could be dealt with en route.... To this application the reply was that no concession could be given to the British which
was not given to all the other forces, and that as the service was then restricted to one train a day, such a concession might result in the train consisting largely of mail vans. But to meet the general convenience, subject to the British postal authorities undertaking to receive and deliver the letters of all nationalities posted at the stations or in a box attached to the van, thus
making the service international, a van was placed at their disposal from April 20, 1901. The new facilities were announced in the circular, of which a facsimile is given (Fig. 68), and the extra fee was collected by surcharging and selling a number of ½ cent Chinese stamps "B.R.A. 5 Five Cents" in black or green ([Fig. 69]). The B.R.A. stands for British Railway Administration.
DIRECTOR OF RAILWAYS: CIRCULAR No. 15 d/ 15: 4: 1901.
BRITISH RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION.
RAILWAY POSTAL SERVICE.
1.—In order to allow of letters being posted up to the latest possible time, it has been arranged, with effect from the 20th April, 1901, to open post offices at the Railway Stations at Peking, Tientsin, Tongku, Tongshan and Shanhaikwan. These offices will open an hour before the advertised time of departure of the trains carrying the mails and will close ten minutes before the trains leave.