American field post in Germany after the First World War 1918–1935
The field post of the Americans in Germany after the First World War was based on the little experience of the Americans with field post in the war against Spain (in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines as well as against Mexico).
Establishment of US Postal Agencies
The U.S. Postal Administration allowed the establishment of a United States Mail Agency in Bordeaux or another French port on June 13, 1917 , if this should be more advantageous.
By General Order No. 72 of May 9, 1918, civilian leadership was abandoned. The "Military Postal Express Service" was founded. In November 1919, after most of the US soldiers had returned to the States, the postal service was reduced to three field post offices. These three field post offices were: the headquarters in Paris, the field post office of the Third Army in Koblenz and the port post office in Antwerp. All three were linked by a daily courier service. Head of the field post office in Koblenz (APO 927) was Capt. Robert P. Bell, who later became post manager at AFG (= American Forces Germany).
In the meantime, the Third Army in Germany was disbanded. The rest of the remaining tasks were taken over by the newly founded AFG until the withdrawal of the last American troops on January 24, 1923.
The cooperation with the German Reichspost can be described as extremely good. Much of the mail from and to members of the US Army who were not stationed near APO 927 was via the Reichspost. The letters were smuggled into the international postal network via Hamburg. It was different with the international postal orders, which were just as often posted by US soldiers at the Reichspost. They were handed over to the APO 927 in Koblenz and forwarded.
Cancellation
There were the following American field post offices in Germany (see table).
In addition to the APOs of the units, there were also location APOs in Neuwied (APO 910), Koblenz (APO 929 and 934), Trier (APO 930) and Berlin (APO 946), as well as the APO 750 of the 33rd Division, which is stayed in the Saarburg area (Rhineland-Palatinate) from 7 to 16 December 1918 . A small US Navy unit was in Gdansk for a short time. Letters from this group received a one-liner “US Navy Port Office, Danzig, Germany” and were brought by courier to the APO 702 in Paris, where they were stamped.
During the occupation of the American Forces Germany, stamps ("Da" and "Db") were purchased, as they were also common in Germany at that time. It is a two-circle bar stamp with segment above and below. The inscription "THIRD ARMY" is in the upper arc, the APO No. 745 or 951 in the lower arch. This stamp was in use from March 1919 to 1920. Another stamp is known from June / July 1919.
franking
In the early days of the war there was no postage exemption for members of the troops. For unstamped letters marked as “Soldiers Mail”, signed by an officer and stamped by an APO, only the postage was levied from the recipient, but not a collection fee. The US Congress passed a law that introduced postage exemption for the troops by General Order No. 48 of October 20, 1917. However, it did not include special services such as registered mail, express delivery and money services. A fee of 10 cents was payable for such items. Civilian persons who accompanied the troops together with the Red Cross, YMCA or the “Knights of Columbus”, but also civilian post officials of the field post service were excluded from the postage exemption.
The postage exemption was extended to the occupation. It is unusual to find postage-paid letters. They then come from private senders who were allowed to use the field post, but had to pay postage for it, as well as from the dispatch of express or registered letters. Official US mail to locations in Germany was franked by the German Post in order to avoid additional postage charges, or was sent postage free. Post to other countries was franked and canceled with confiscated German stamps in accordance with the rates and regulations of the Universal Postal Union.
See also
swell
- ↑ Haberland, W .: Use of American trademarks in the Philippines 1898-1901, DBZ . September 1988, p. 544 .