The lives and losses of the Post Office Rifles in the First World War. When the First World War broke out, the post office was the biggest employer in the world. Spanning many ranks and walks of life, the 12,000 men of the Post Office Rifles fought bravely. By the war's end, 1,800 of them had been killed. Those same men who not long before had been sorting and delivering mail, found themselves hoping their own letters would get through to their loved ones at home, and relying on the letters and parcels sent to them for their own much needed morale-boosts.
Using the personal stories and letters of the men who joined the Post Office Rifles, this is a moving account of how the war touched the lives of ordinary men - how it changed communities, how women took up men's working roles, and, of course, the vital role the mail played in the war. Love letters, letters with news of postings, letters from the front line, much-welcomed parcels of food and cigarettes, and sad letters of condolence - together these tell the story of our fallen heroes.
