Sevenoaks Talk: Postman's Park: The Army Postal Service in WW1 with Dr John Price

About the speaker:

John is a social and cultural historian who takes a ‘People’s History’ approach to nineteenth and twentieth-century British history and the history of London.

John’s primary area of research is ‘everyday’ heroism, acts of life-risking bravery, undertaken by civilians in commonplace surroundings. He is also interested in social movements and popular protest, in particular, how popular manifestations of contentious politics, such as marches, demonstrations, strikes and riots, can be better understood and analysed by historians. John also researches urban walking and, more specifically, the relationships between historians, urban walking and urban/metropolitan history.

Public Engagement and Knowledge Exchange are at the heart of John’s work, including projects on the 1977 Battle of Lewisham and on the passengers who arrived on the Empire Windrush in 1948.

John is a Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at Goldsmiths, University of London.

About the Talk:

Postman's Park. On the eve of war the Post Office not only handled a yearly total 5.9 billion items of post but was responsible for the nation’s telegraph and telephone systems, as well as providing savings bank and other municipal facilities at thousands of branch post offices. Many of these services changed as a result of the First World War and the Post Office was crucial to both Britain’s communications and war effort during this great conflict.

When war was declared in 1914 an outbreak of national fervour saw huge numbers of men clamour to enlist with the armed forces, including 11,000 Post Office staff. By the end of the war the Post Office had released 75,000 staff for war services.

The Army Postal Service (APS) was set up responsible for army mails in all theatres of war, the APS not only handled mails between Britain and the forces abroad but coordinated communications between units at the front. With the onset of trench warfare, all mails bound for troops on the Western Front were sorted at the London Home Depot by the end of 1914. Covering five acres of Regents Park, this was said to be the largest wooden structure in the world employing over 2,500 mostly female staff by 1918. During the war the Home Depot handled a staggering 2 billion letters and 114 million parcels.

Doors open 10.45am, meeting starts 11am.

 No booking, just turn up.

The Society is a registered charity and membership fees and donations are an important part of our income. The Talk is free to members but guests and visitors are asked to make a donation towards hall hire and speaker's fee. There will be a donations box at the venue.

There is a large public car park (payment required, 50p for 2 hours, £1 for 3 hours) adjacent to the hall but it can be busy.