[25] Quoted from Stamp Collecting, December 5, 1914.
On the outbreak of war the military postal service is organized by the Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs in India according to the requirements of the Army authorities.
The supervising staff is selected by him from a roll of European volunteers for such service maintained in his office, the full war establishment consisting of 6 Directors or Deputy-Directors, 18 Assistant-Directors, 24 Inspectors, and 50 Postmasters. The rest of the establishment is selected by the Postmaster-General of the Punjab.
One Director or Deputy-Director, two Assistant-Directors, and four Inspectors constitute the normal postal personnel of an Expeditionary Force. They wear the ordinary field service uniform of the Indian Army according to their respective ranks, distinguished by the word "Post" on the shoulder-straps.
The following extracts from the Indian Army Order, No. 619, dated November 10, 1913, are of interest:—
"7. The Director or Deputy-Director, or, in his absence, the Postmaster-General under whose orders he is to work, should, on receipt of the first intimation that a force is to be mobilized, take the earliest opportunity to consult the General Officer appointed to command the force, as to the postal requirements of the force in respect of the number of field post offices, the classes of postal business to be undertaken, the establishment to be provided, etc. As far as possible, the wishes of the General Officer commanding should be carried out.
"23. The Director-General will arrange that the treasury nearest to the base office is supplied with about ten times its normal supply of ordinary postage stamps (including post-cards and envelopes) together with a suitable supply of service stamps (including post-cards and envelopes); and that a sufficient stock is maintained throughout the campaign. The base post office should thus be in a position to supply at once the postage stamps required in the field post offices. If there is no treasury at hand, a sufficient supply of postage stamps of all descriptions must be kept at the base post office. The base post office will be supplied with an iron safe, or two, if necessary.
"24. The requisite stamps, scales, bags, and other articles of stock sufficient for six months' requirements will be furnished to the base post office for its own use, and for distribution, under the orders of the Director or Deputy-Director, to field post offices. Section 5 B shows the books, forms, stamps, etc., required for field post offices. All books, forms, and articles of stock should be packed in the prescribed mule trunks, each of which, when packed, should not exceed one maund in weight. The books, forms, and stamps required by the base post office will be the same as those used by a head office in India performing the same classes of business; but in addition to the ordinary stamps it will be supplied with a special 'Postage cancelled' stamp."
Of foreign war stamps, the international quarrels of the last fifty years have produced quite an interesting array. Envelopes posted in Paris during the siege of 1870 bearing the words "Par Ballon Monté" are much prized by collectors. Less sought after are the Alsace and Lorraine stamps which were primarily issued for use by the invading German troops of 1870. Their low price is probably due to the fact that the dies were printed from long after the stamps were withdrawn from currency. From the Balkans we, of course, have many specimens which enrich our collections. Italy, also, has given us war stamps bearing the overprints "Bengasi" and "Tripoli di Barberia." If we turn to the United States, many interesting postal relics will be discovered of the Civil War, whilst numerous varieties of more recent stamps from the States are to be found showing postmarks referring to the Spanish war in the Philippines and Cuba. Then there are Japanese adhesives which were used in China during the fighting which led to the peace of Shimonoseki, and, of course, the Japanese issues which the troops used whilst engaging the Russians must not be overlooked. Lastly, we may point to South and Central America, a continent where war labels are almost as plentiful as those issued in times of peace.