The British Army postal service has a long and storied history, tracing its roots all the way back to medieval England with the establishment of the Royal Post during the reign of Edward IV. The responsibility for early postal services fell to individuals who were given various titles across different periods, including the Master of Posts during the Tudor period or the Postmaster General under Charles I, eventually culminating in the establishment of the General Post Office in 1635.

In 1799, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, Prince Frederick, wrote to the Postmaster General to request that a clerk be seconded from the General Post Office in support of the British expedition to Den Helder in Holland. Henry Darlot, a clerk from the Post Office Foreign Section, was appointed as the first Army Postmaster to officially accompany the Army overseas.

In 1859, the first traces of a formalised postal service in the British Army appeared when employees of the General Post Office volunteered to join the 21st Middlesex Rifles Volunteers (Civil Service Rifles). This company was led by John Lowther Du Plat Taylor who resigned from the 21st in 1868 to form the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, which recruited entirely from GPO volunteers. This led to the unit being redesignated as the 24th Middlesex Rifles Volunteers (Post Office Rifles) under the Cardwell Reforms in 1880.

The Army Post Office Corps was formed via Royal Warrant in July 1882 and fulfilled the British Army’s postal needs until February 1913 when it was subsumed into the Royal Engineers, Special Reserve (Postal Section). It was renamed as the Royal Engineers (Postal & Courier Communications) in 1965 and then Royal Engineers (Postal & Courier Services) in 1979 before it was transferred to the Royal Logistic Corps upon its formation on the 5th April 1993.

RLC Postal and Courier Operators are responsible for the provision of the theatre mail service for both private and official mail. They offer counter services, similar to that of a village Post Office, to their fellow soldiers, alongside receiving, sorting and preparing mail for onward movement. The receipt of private mail forms a significant part of the morale of any deployed force and its importance to a successful operation cannot be understated.

During Op TELIC in Iraq and Op HERRICK in Afghanistan, RLC Postal and Courier Operators delivered the rollout of the highly successful E-Bluey service. It allowed serving personnel and their dependants back home to send electronic versions of military airmail over the internet, revolutionising communication between soldiers and their loved ones. Not only could letters be sent via the E-Bluey system, but newsprint, colour photographs and drawings also.

Through the British Forces Post Office (BFPO), field offices and purpose-built facilities at locations like RAF Northolt, the RLC’s Postal and Courier Operators play an essential role in maintaining one of the Army’s vital lines of communication using the latest IT and satellite communication systems to keep soldiers, sailors and aircrew connected to family and friends across the globe.