Feldpost 1914-1918
Exemples
Sedentary field post offices:
Feldpoststation no. 77.
This post office had previously belonged to the 7th Army and had been based in VALENCIENNES since September 1914. It joined the 6th Army in October 1914. He remained there until 29th June 1915, when he returned to the 7th Army.
This is a misuse of the stamp "Eigene Angelegenheit des Empfängers" (personal affairs of the addressee). This stamp was used before and at the beginning of the war to indicate that it was private correspondence. Before the war, private correspondence between soldiers was postage free for cards and letters weighing up to 60g up to the rank of sergeant. This stamp was therefore used to justify free postage. During the war, this stamp acquired the same function as a unit stamp. It could be used instead of a unit stamp to prove the sender's (military) position and thus the postal allowance.
Feldpoststation no. 7, Feldpoststation no. 407:
Field post office no. 7 (Bavarian) moved to VALENCIENNES in mid-December 1914. it was close to one of the 3 "Postumschlagstellen" of the 6th Army. The Postumschlagstelle (transhipment centre) received the wagons of mail bags for the soldiers assigned to the VALENCIENNES sector and temporarily stored these bags. Each army post office (whether sedentary or not) came here to collect the mailbags. This centre was necessarily close to the station. Feldpoststation no. 7 must have been on the same premises as the "Postumschlagstelle".
Bavarian field post office no. 7 was renamed 407 on 1 March 1916 and transferred to DOUAI on 22 December 1916.
Feldpoststation No. 12:
This field post office was opened in VALENCIENNES at the end of 1914 and closed at the beginning of 1915. It served the 6th Army's rear area Aviation Depot at La Briquette.
Post office of the Lines of communication Inspectorate of the 6th Army:
It was set up in Valenciennes at 98 rue de Famars on 13 November 1914.
This office used differently worded date stamps:
- Feldpoststation n° 2 der 6. Armee.
- Feldpostanstalt Et. Insp. 6. Armee.
On 1st March 1916, the offices serving the Lines of communication Inspectorate were grouped together under the name "Feldpoststation 402". This office left VALENCIENNES to TOURNAI (Belgium) on 30th September 1916 when the 1st Army replaced the 6th in the VALENCIENNES area.
Card showing Feldpostsekretär BLAU assisting Feldpostsekretär STUMPFEGGER who ran this office.
Note that the date stamp has the particularity of showing the day, month and year. Previously, only the month and year were shown.
Office no. 292 (Feldpoststation no. 292, then Deutsche Feldpost 292):
When the Lines of communication Inspectorate of the 1st Army moved to VALENCIENNES on 1 October 1916, field post office no. 292 replaced post office no. 402 at 98 rue de Famars. On 15th February 1917, this post office was renamed Deutsche Feldpost 292. On 20th April, the 1st Army left VALENCIENNES and was replaced by the 2nd Army.
Feldpoststation no. 411, then Deutsche Feldpost 411:
Field post office no. 411 was opened in ST AMAND LES EAUX on 10th April 1916. It evacuated this commune in mid-October 1918.
On 15 February 1917, post office no. 411 was renamed "Deutsche Feldpost 411". As with the other field post offices, the date stamp was filed.
This card was sent by a soldier posted to the Engineer Recruit Depot.
Feldpoststation no. 419 (Deutsche Feldpost 419):
it was opened in DENAIN on 10 August 1917 and was part of the 6th Army. On 5th November 1917, it came under the control of the 2nd Army. In March 1918, the 17th Army took over this post office.
Feldpoststation no. 45 (Deutsche Feldpost 45):
Field post office no. 45 was the 2nd Army's Lines of communication Inspectorate office. It moved to Valenciennes on 20th April 1917. It left the town in September 1918.
Feldpoststation no. 408 Deutsche Feldpost 408:
Feldpost office no. 408 was set up in MARQUETTE EN OSTREVENT on 12 June 1917, then in BOUCHAIN on 2 November 1917, where it handled the mail of the units of the IX Reserve Corps.
Army Corps post offices:
The post office of the XIth Army Corps (Feldpostamt XI. Armeekorps):
The XI Corps post office arrived in VALENCIENNES on 4 October 1915. It left the town on 9 October to join the 7th Army.
The post office of the XIIIth Army Corps (Feldpostamt XIII. Armeekorps):
The post office of the XIII Württemberg Army Corps arrived in VALENCIENNES on 10 October 1914. It left on the 15th to move to MARCQ EN BAROEUL.
Divisional post offices:
The 3rd Guards Infantry Division:
It moved to VALENCIENNES on 6th June 1916 and remained there until 1st July 1916.
The 5th Infantry Division:
The post office of this division moved to VALENCIENNES on 2 August 1915 and left this town on 7 September of the same year.
It returned to VALENCIENNES on 4 July 1916 until 9 July 1916.
The 13th Reserve Division:
This division arrived from the 7th Army in the VALENCIENNES area at the end of October 1915. Its post office moved to ANZIN on 31st October 1915. It left to join the 5th Army on 25 December 1915.
The 25th Reserve Division:
The post office of this division moved to VALENCIENNES on 10 October 1914. It left VALENCIENNES for COMINES (France) on 14 October of the same year.
The 56th Infantry Division:
According to B. KOOP's book, the 56th Infantry Division arrived in the Nord (at RACHES) in July 1916. It was apparently not stationed in the VALENCIENNES area. However, although this Division belonged to the 5th Army, we know from “Histories of the 251 Divisions of the German Army” that it left the Eastern Front at the end of June 1915 and was sent to rest in the VALENCIENNES area (without further details) in July 1915. It left VALENCIENNES at the end of July 1915 for SARREBOURG (where it was in August). VALENCIENNES was then still the sector of the 6th Army. However, as the Division was in Reserve, it was subordinate only to the High Command and not to any particular Army. Given the transport times for an entire division, it is therefore reasonable to assume that this Division remained in the area for one or two weeks (probably between 10th and 20th July).
