Mail to Troops: Keeping Up Morale

Keeping up morale is an essential part of any war effort, both for those in the services and people at home. Making sure messages got through was the combined work of the GPO and the Forces postal service. After D-Day mail followed the troops through Europe as they advanced on Berlin. 

To keep the enemy from knowing the location of British forces, should mail be intercepted, all Forces mail was stamped with directionless markings such as ‘Maritime Mail’. Servicemen had no address and letters found them by a numbered field post office.

The GPO also shipped thousands of Red Cross parcels to British troops and prisoners of war all over the world. 

Civilians were provided with pre-paid envelopes to write to prisoners of war. After VE day the Post Office Savings Bank was still encouraging the public to fund fighting and support troops in the East, as the poster on this page shows.

Many of the events, personalities and machines of World War 2 have been commemorated on postage stamps. If you have enjoyed this online slideshow about the GPO & the Home Front, why not take a look at World War 2 in Stamps, for some of the stories behind the artwork.