Carolee,
it's not a blanket privilege, but one reserved to war-time or occupation troops, and usually overseas, but not always.
Starting in the first war, but not immediately upon embarkation, service members sent overseas could mark the cover "free" or "on active service" or something similar indicating that cover could travel free. That was sufficient.
In the second war, some labels were printed saying "free" or something similar; they weren't necessary, but aided in recognition. free franking was reserved for first class (surface); other classes required postage, as did other services. Some of the Stateside bases also enjoyed free-franking, but i'm not clear on the requirements.
if there's a specific question I'm not answering, ask
David
I was just curious how it all worked and if there was actually stamps affixed at some point. My thinking being - some organization paid for the military folks to have postage. Just a curiosity thing.
Carolee
Keep in mind that until (I believe 1971) a certain time the same "...organization {that}paid for the military folks to have postage.." and the one that employed our military was one and the same (the federal government). So the use of a label (e.g. a postage stamp) was unnecessary to satisfy bureaucratic niceties.
I think most nations permit free mail priviledges to military in combat zones ( however that may be defined ). Interestingly UK personnel were not offered this during the "troubles" in Northern Ireland for purely political reasons - as this was most certainly a combat zone. However the operations were not considered military but as "aid to the civil power" - and for the same reason military gallantry medals could not be awarded.
However to return to free postage - it is an acknowledged fact that the two most important factors in maintaining morale are regular mail and an efficient Field Medical Service, and so free postage is seen as an important aid to the former.Usually only basic letter rates are free -upgrades and parcel post are generally but not universally charged.
In peacetime UK domestic rates are available to servicemen and their families to and from their postings, even when they are stationed overseas - presumably as the base they occupy is considered UK soil as far as mail is concerned. It would be interesting to know whether the RAF fighter pilot serving with a USAF fighter squadron on an exchange posting is considered to be RAF or USAF personnel for mail purposes - presumably no facilities are available for an individual "not connected" to the UK military mail system.
Malcolm
in an earlier posting, i had asked if service men during Spanish American War and later Philippine Insurrection were accorded free franking. Still don't know; I seem to always see stamps on the covers.
In the American Civil War, federal soldiers were allowed to send mail without postage, but the recipient would pay the tab (I see very few of these covers).
David
David enquired about post-free letters from soldiers serving in the Philippines during the Philippine Insurrection. I have five such covers, none of which were sent postage free. Three of them have stamps, and two of them that don't have postage stamps were assessed postage due, indicated by affixed postage-due stamps. I have to say that requiring a soldier to pay postage just adds insult to injury. One of my distant cousins served in the Philippines during that period; he contracted TB, was sent to the army's tubercular hospital at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, where he eventually died.
David is correct about free postage for soldiers posting from military camps in the U.S. during the Second World War. I have a large correspondence from a soldier to his parents in Kansas City. The first is from boot camp, followed by 20 or 30 from other military posts in the U.S. Then there are one or two from Europe. All of covers which originated from within the military were postage free, except for one which went airmail; the soldier, urgently in need of a small loan from his parents, says in his letter that he decided to spring for a six-cents airmail stamp because of the urgency. There is one more letter from the soldier, posted from a POW camp in Germany; turns out he had been captured on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge. He was eventually released.
Included in that correspondence are several V-Mails from his parents, who were hoping to get information about their son, who had stopped writing to them; it wasn't known immediately that he had been captured. One of the letters was sent to their son's commanding officer; it was returned in a special V-Mail envelope which had a window allowing the original return address to be used as the address for delivery. The letter is inscribed with this reason for the return: "Killed in Action". None of the V-Mail envelopes required postage.
As I mentioned several months ago in another thread, after I was wounded in Vietnam and evacuated to the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, I continued to have the privilege of sending letters without postage from the hospital, and I have several of those covers, which my mother and sister saved.
Bob
There was also the requirement that enlisted men have their commanding officer ( Or designated mail officer.) sign the envelope during some of our national adventures.
Here's an example of a WWI Canadian cover sent postage free from France; on arrival in Canada, it had postage applied over the field post office postmark:
Several years ago, a member of the rec.collecting.stamps.discuss Usenet newsgroup posted this explanation for this strategy:
"This explanation is from The Major E.R. Toop Collection of Canadian Military Postal History:
"Mail to Canada from overseas was usually suitably marked'On Active Service' or 'O.A.S.' and went free. Upon its arrival, Canadian postage was affixed at the following cities:
“Halifax, St John, N.B., Quebec, Montreal, Kingston, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and London (Ontario), Winnipeg, Medicine Hat & Nelson R.P.O., Calgary & Vancouver R.P.O., Vancouver and Victoria.
“Until July 28, 1917, it was necessary for these exchange offices to affix Canadian postage stamps to all stampless letters arriving from overseas forces, and to cancel the stamps. An agreement was reached with Great Britain on July 20, 1917 and put into effect July 28, 1917, permitting 'FREE' franking of soldiers' mail. Stamped and cancelled covers are known dated after that effective date."
Bob
P.S. An aside: this cover, sent by a Canadian officer in Flanders to his wife in Victoria, included this poppy, some heather branches, and a four-leaf clover; the letter includes an interesting description of the officers visit to the Front:
Cdj1122 said,
"There was also the requirement that enlisted men have their commanding officer ( Or designated mail officer.) sign the envelope during some of our national adventures."
Thank you all this was very interesting.
Greetings All
Regarding the Canadian military in WW I and WW II we should also keep in mind that once a soldier from the front went 'on leave', he was required to pay postage on letters and postcards home out of pocket. But, once back in 'active duty', he got the 'free mail' privilege again. (As a rule, though, there were some exceptions)
I have different correspondences from 4 or 5 different families on covers / cards in my collection that reveal this.
Chimo
Bujutsu
It was mentioned that military would be able to send letters free. I was just wondering if anyone could explain this a bit more for US military? Was there stamps actually affixed to the envelopes or how was this process done?
Thanks Carolee
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
Carolee,
it's not a blanket privilege, but one reserved to war-time or occupation troops, and usually overseas, but not always.
Starting in the first war, but not immediately upon embarkation, service members sent overseas could mark the cover "free" or "on active service" or something similar indicating that cover could travel free. That was sufficient.
In the second war, some labels were printed saying "free" or something similar; they weren't necessary, but aided in recognition. free franking was reserved for first class (surface); other classes required postage, as did other services. Some of the Stateside bases also enjoyed free-franking, but i'm not clear on the requirements.
if there's a specific question I'm not answering, ask
David
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
I was just curious how it all worked and if there was actually stamps affixed at some point. My thinking being - some organization paid for the military folks to have postage. Just a curiosity thing.
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
Carolee
Keep in mind that until (I believe 1971) a certain time the same "...organization {that}paid for the military folks to have postage.." and the one that employed our military was one and the same (the federal government). So the use of a label (e.g. a postage stamp) was unnecessary to satisfy bureaucratic niceties.
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
I think most nations permit free mail priviledges to military in combat zones ( however that may be defined ). Interestingly UK personnel were not offered this during the "troubles" in Northern Ireland for purely political reasons - as this was most certainly a combat zone. However the operations were not considered military but as "aid to the civil power" - and for the same reason military gallantry medals could not be awarded.
However to return to free postage - it is an acknowledged fact that the two most important factors in maintaining morale are regular mail and an efficient Field Medical Service, and so free postage is seen as an important aid to the former.Usually only basic letter rates are free -upgrades and parcel post are generally but not universally charged.
In peacetime UK domestic rates are available to servicemen and their families to and from their postings, even when they are stationed overseas - presumably as the base they occupy is considered UK soil as far as mail is concerned. It would be interesting to know whether the RAF fighter pilot serving with a USAF fighter squadron on an exchange posting is considered to be RAF or USAF personnel for mail purposes - presumably no facilities are available for an individual "not connected" to the UK military mail system.
Malcolm
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
in an earlier posting, i had asked if service men during Spanish American War and later Philippine Insurrection were accorded free franking. Still don't know; I seem to always see stamps on the covers.
In the American Civil War, federal soldiers were allowed to send mail without postage, but the recipient would pay the tab (I see very few of these covers).
David
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
David enquired about post-free letters from soldiers serving in the Philippines during the Philippine Insurrection. I have five such covers, none of which were sent postage free. Three of them have stamps, and two of them that don't have postage stamps were assessed postage due, indicated by affixed postage-due stamps. I have to say that requiring a soldier to pay postage just adds insult to injury. One of my distant cousins served in the Philippines during that period; he contracted TB, was sent to the army's tubercular hospital at Fort Bayard, New Mexico, where he eventually died.
David is correct about free postage for soldiers posting from military camps in the U.S. during the Second World War. I have a large correspondence from a soldier to his parents in Kansas City. The first is from boot camp, followed by 20 or 30 from other military posts in the U.S. Then there are one or two from Europe. All of covers which originated from within the military were postage free, except for one which went airmail; the soldier, urgently in need of a small loan from his parents, says in his letter that he decided to spring for a six-cents airmail stamp because of the urgency. There is one more letter from the soldier, posted from a POW camp in Germany; turns out he had been captured on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge. He was eventually released.
Included in that correspondence are several V-Mails from his parents, who were hoping to get information about their son, who had stopped writing to them; it wasn't known immediately that he had been captured. One of the letters was sent to their son's commanding officer; it was returned in a special V-Mail envelope which had a window allowing the original return address to be used as the address for delivery. The letter is inscribed with this reason for the return: "Killed in Action". None of the V-Mail envelopes required postage.
As I mentioned several months ago in another thread, after I was wounded in Vietnam and evacuated to the U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, I continued to have the privilege of sending letters without postage from the hospital, and I have several of those covers, which my mother and sister saved.
Bob
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
There was also the requirement that enlisted men have their commanding officer ( Or designated mail officer.) sign the envelope during some of our national adventures.
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
Here's an example of a WWI Canadian cover sent postage free from France; on arrival in Canada, it had postage applied over the field post office postmark:
Several years ago, a member of the rec.collecting.stamps.discuss Usenet newsgroup posted this explanation for this strategy:
"This explanation is from The Major E.R. Toop Collection of Canadian Military Postal History:
"Mail to Canada from overseas was usually suitably marked'On Active Service' or 'O.A.S.' and went free. Upon its arrival, Canadian postage was affixed at the following cities:
“Halifax, St John, N.B., Quebec, Montreal, Kingston, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and London (Ontario), Winnipeg, Medicine Hat & Nelson R.P.O., Calgary & Vancouver R.P.O., Vancouver and Victoria.
“Until July 28, 1917, it was necessary for these exchange offices to affix Canadian postage stamps to all stampless letters arriving from overseas forces, and to cancel the stamps. An agreement was reached with Great Britain on July 20, 1917 and put into effect July 28, 1917, permitting 'FREE' franking of soldiers' mail. Stamped and cancelled covers are known dated after that effective date."
Bob
P.S. An aside: this cover, sent by a Canadian officer in Flanders to his wife in Victoria, included this poppy, some heather branches, and a four-leaf clover; the letter includes an interesting description of the officers visit to the Front:
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
Cdj1122 said,
"There was also the requirement that enlisted men have their commanding officer ( Or designated mail officer.) sign the envelope during some of our national adventures."
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
Thank you all this was very interesting.
re: A question in reguards to something mentioned in - Note to self: Covers aren't necessarily unique!
Greetings All
Regarding the Canadian military in WW I and WW II we should also keep in mind that once a soldier from the front went 'on leave', he was required to pay postage on letters and postcards home out of pocket. But, once back in 'active duty', he got the 'free mail' privilege again. (As a rule, though, there were some exceptions)
I have different correspondences from 4 or 5 different families on covers / cards in my collection that reveal this.
Chimo
Bujutsu