Feldpost 1914-1918
Examples
During World War I, VALENCIENNES served as a strategic location for the German military postal service, known as the Feldpost. Several field post offices were established in the region to manage the correspondence between the front lines and the home front.
Sedentary field post offices:
Feldpoststation no. 77.
This post office was initially part of the 7th Army and was stationed in VALENCIENNES from September 1914. In October 1914, it was reassigned to the 6th Army, remaining until 29 June 1915 before returning to the 7th Army.
The 'Eigene Angelegenheit des Empfängers' stamp, translating to 'personal affairs of the addressee,' was initially used to denote private correspondence. Before the war, such mail was postage-free for cards and letters up to 60g for ranks up to sergeant. During the war, this stamp served as a unit mark, validating the sender's military status and justifying postal privileges.
Bavarian Feldpoststation no. 7, Feldpoststation no. 407:
Bavarian Field Post Office no. 7 was relocated to VALENCIENNES in mid-December 1914. It was situated near one of the three Postumschlagstellen (transhipment centres) of the 6th Army. The Postumschlagstelle received wagons filled with mailbags destined for soldiers assigned to the VALENCIENNES sector and temporarily stored them. Each army post office, whether stationary or mobile, would come here to collect its allocated mailbags. Given its function, the transhipment centre was necessarily located close to the railway station.
It is highly likely that Feldpoststation No. 7 operated from the same premises as the Postumschlagstelle. On 1 March 1916, it was renamed 407 and subsequently transferred to Douai on 22 December 1916.
Feldpoststation no. 12:
This field post office was established in VALENCIENNES at the end of 1914 and closed at the beginning of 1915. It served the Aviation Depot of the 6th Army's rear area, (Etappen-Flugpark 6) located at LA BRIQUETTE.
Post office of the Lines of communication Inspectorate of the Bavarian 6th Army:
This post office was established in VALENCIENNES, at 98 Rue de Famars, on 13 November 1914.
It used date stamps with different inscriptions:
Feldpoststation no. 2 der 6. Armee
Feldpostanstalt Et. Insp. 6. Armee
On 1 March 1916, the offices serving the Lines of Communication Inspectorate were consolidated under the name "Feldpoststation 402". This office relocated from VALENCIENNES to TOURNAI(Belgium) on 30 September 1916, following the replacement of the 6th Army by the 1st Army in the VALENCIENNES area.
A card depicting Feldpostsekretär Blau assisting Feldpostsekretär Stumpfegger, who was in charge of this office.
Notably, the date stamp on the card includes the day, month, and year—a distinctive feature, as previous stamps displayed only the month and year.
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 established in SAINT-AMAND-LES-EAUX on 10 April 1916. It evacuated the commune in mid-October 1918.
On 15 February 1917, Post Office No. 411 was renamed "Deutsche Feldpost 411". As with other field post offices, the date stamp was filed.
This card was sent by a soldier stationed at the Engineer Recruit Depot.
Feldpoststation no. 419 (Deutsche Feldpost 419):
It was established in DENAIN on 10 August 1917 as part of the 6th Army. On 5 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 established in MARQUETTE-EN-OSTREVENT on 12 June 1917. It was then relocated to BOUCHAIN on 2 November 1917, where it handled the mail for the units of the IX Reserve Corps.
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 15 October 1914 to relocate to MARCQ-EN-BAROEUL.
Divisional post offices:
3rd Guards Infantry Division (Feldpostexpedition der 3. Garde Infanterie Division).
The 3rd Guards Infantry Division moved to VALENCIENNES on 6 June 1916 and remained there until 1 July 1916.
5th Infantry Division (Feldpostexpedition der 5. Infanterie Division).
The post office of this division relocated to VALENCIENNES on 2 August 1915 and left the town on 7 September 1915.
It returned to VALENCIENNES on 4 July 1916 and remained there until 9 July 1916.
13th Reserve Division (Feldpostexpedition der 13. Reserve Division).
This division arrived in the VALENCIENNES area from the 7th Army at the end of October 1915. Its post office relocated to ANZIN on 31 October 1915. It departed on 25 December 1915 to join the 5th Army.
The 25th Reserve Division (Feldpostexpedition der 25. Reserve Division).
The post office of this division relocated to Valenciennes on 10 October 1914. It departed for Comines (France) on 14 October 1914.
56th Infantry Division (Feldpostexpedition der 56. Infanterie 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, Histories of the 251 Divisions of the German Army confirms 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 departed VALENCIENNES at the end of July 1915 for SARREBOURG, where it was stationed in August 1915.
At that time, VALENCIENNES was still within the 6th Army’s sector. However, since the division was in Reserve, it was directly subordinate to the High Command rather than any specific army. Given the logistical constraints of transporting an entire division, it is reasonable to assume that the 56th Infantry Division remained in the VALENCIENNES area for one or two weeks, most likely between 10 and 20 July 1915.
Army Corps post offices:
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 1915 to join the 7th Army.
