80 INTERNATIONAL STAMP EXHIBITION ( 3RD ISSUE ) 25 JANUARY 1980

Army Post Office & Postmarks

 

Post Offices of one sort or another have served the modern Indian Army for the last two hundred years. To begin with, they were postal agencies run by the Army with its own resources but linked with the national system at convenient points. From 1800 onwards there are many references in military records of army postmasters being appointed for specific campaigns. However, the Army Postal Service of today traces its history from 1856 when the first full-fledged self-contained post office was attached to the Field Force sent to Persia to fight the East India Company's last war. From then Army Post Offices (APOs) designated as Field Post Offices (FPOs) and Base Post Offices (Base POs) have accompanied all the Expeditionary Forces sent out of India and to all the theatres of the two World Wars not to mention the numerous operations on the Frontiers.FPOs form an integral part of the Army and are set-up, worked, controlled and closed under the orders of the Army's own Postal Organisation, the Army Postal Service (APS). For Technical and postal purposes, APS functions as a branch of the P&T Department which provides volunteers to man, operate and supervise the APOs.After Independence the Army Postal Service has been expanded to cater for the growth of the armed forces and to cope with new responsibilities such as the handling of all official mail previously dealt with by the Army Signals and the opening of Postal Savings Bank and Life Insurance branches in the APOs. In recognition of its new and permanent status, APS has been constituted into a separate corps with its own colours (white and red), emblem – (Raj Hans (swan) in flight) and motto ‘Amity and Concord’.The basic unit of the Army Postal Service is a Field Post office. FPOs are attached to brigades and higher field formations and they are established, as necessary, on the lines of communication. A number of FPOs are grouped under a Divisional Unit or a Communication Zone Postal Unit. All the FPOs in a particular area are dependent on a Base P0 for receipt and despatch of mail, for replenishment of postage stamps and stores and for maintenance of accounts. Separate units have been designed to meet the postal needs of the headquarters of Corps and Armies. There are specialist Postal units for tracing the mail that cannot be delivered as addressed and for collecting and notifying information regarding the location of units.Mail for delivery through FPOs is not addressed to a post town of destination but to a unit followed by a code name like '56 APO' which directs it to the right Base P0. At the Base P0 a complete record is kept of the units served by its FP0s and their day-to-day locations. All incoming mail is first separated into the main divisions of the Army and then sorted in to separate bundles for each unit. Direct mail bags are closed for each FP0 and they contain unit mail bundles already sorted for immediate distribution at the other end.As befits their army role, FPOs are fully mobile and equipped to function in tents, trucks, bunkers and even in open air. They provide all the main postal facilities to the soldiers and they take pride in being the quickest and most dedicated mail handlers in the world. Base POs work round the clock and FPOs receive and deliver mail on all days of the week without any break for holidays.Soldiers are great patrons of the money order service whose centenary we are celebrating this year. FPOs were among the first Indian post offices to offer this facility to their customers in 1882 when they were on field service in Egypt.The hobby of stamp collecting has long association with the Indian Army, many of whose officers have been pioneers of Indian Philately. The first Commander-in-Chief of Independent India's Army, General K.M.Cariappa was a life long collector of stamps. The Army Postal Service is actively engaged in promoting philately among servicemen. It maintains separate philatelic bureau at its Central Base Post Offices. It is also using philately to project the heroic deeds of our servicemen and the colourful histories of their units by sponsoring stamps and issuing special covers.Date of Issue: 25.1.1980

Money Order

Stamp Issue Date : 25/01/1980 Postage Stamp Dinomination : 0.50 Postal Stamp Serial Number : 0956 Postal Stamp Name : MONEY ORDER Stamp Information : Among the many things, good and bad, that the modern world has produced, surely the postal system, which covers the world, is one of its most beneficient activities.? -Jawahar Lal Nehru India, during the past hundred and twenty-five years, has built up an impressive postal system. INDIA-80, the first international philatelic exposition to be held in Asia under the aegis of the Federation Internationale de Philatelie, is the Federation Internationale de Philatelie, is the culmination of the celebrations connected with epoch-making events in the history of Indian Post Office. The Year 1979 saw the completion of hundred years of postcard service and fifty years of scheduled carriage of domestic mail by air. 1979 also marked the 125th anniversary of the issue of first Indian postage stamp. A series of special stamps to commemorate these events have been issued and the current set of stamps completes the series. MONEY ORDER: 1880-1980 (50 paise) The introduction of money order service, inter alia for revenue and rent transmission, saved the public from the ardours of long journeys to pay these charges in person. Till 1880, money orders were issued and paid at Government Treasuries. Their small number (283) contined to cause inconvenience to the public. In that year, the business of money order was transferred from the Treasury to the Post Office, which then numbered about 5500. over the years, this service has proved very popular with the people as the payment of the money order is made at the door of the payee. Today more than 108 million money orders are issued and paid annually throughout the country. Philatelic Stamp Description : The design of the stamp features a part of the 1879 record (courtesy: National Archives of India) dealing with the transfer of the service from the Indian Finance & Commerce Department to the Post Office along with some Indian Coins used during the latter half of the last century. The first day cover illustration is an artist?s impression of the hand-operated transfer press, the type of hand-operated transfer press, the type of litho-printing machine used for striking the first postage stamps in 1854 under the guidance of Cat. (later on General Sir) Henry L. Thuillier (inset). The design is based on photographs by courtesy of the Surveyor-General of India. The design of the First Day Cancellation depicts a line drawing of the Hall of Nations, the main venue of the exhibition along with the logo of INDIA-80. Stamp Currency : P Stamp Type : COMMEMORATIVE Stamp Language : English Stamp Overall Size : 2.90 X 3.91 cms Postal Stamp Print Size : 2.54 X 3.5 cms. Number of Stamps Per Sheet : 35 Stamp Perforations : 13 x 13 Postal Stamp Shape : Vertical Postage Stamp Paper : Watermarked paper Indian Stamp Process : Photogravure Number of stamps printed : 30,00,000 Stamp Printed At : India Security Press Indian Stamp's Color : Sepia and Crimson

 Copper Ticket

Stamp Issue Date : 25/01/1980 Postage Stamp Dinomination : 1.00 Postal Stamp Serial Number : 0957 Postal Stamp Name : COPPER TICKET Stamp Information : ?Among the many things, good and bad, that the modern world has produced, surely the postal system, which covers the world, is one of its most beneficient activities.? -Jawahar Lal Nehru India, during the past hundred and twenty-five years, has built up an impressive postal system. INDIA-80, the first international philatelic exposition to be held in Asia under the aegis of the Federation Internationale de Philatelie, is the Federation Internationale de Philatelie, is the culmination of the celebrations connected with epoch-making events in the history of Indian Post Office. The Year 1979 saw the completion of hundred years of postcard service and fifty years of scheduled carriage of domestic mail by air. 1979 also marked the 125th anniversary of the issue of first Indian postage stamp. A series of special stamps to commemorate these events have been issued and the current set of stamps completes the series. COPPER TICKET: 1774 (100 paise) During the administration of Warren Hastings (1774-1785) in India, the Post Office was placed on a better footing than before and steps were taken to make the post available to a limited extent for the carriage of private communications also. A system of carriers connecting the head-quarters of the Government with the principal towns in various provinces was established. An overland route from Madras to Calcutta with a weekly service was introduced in 1770. On 31st March 1774 a regular system of post was brought into force. A Postmaster-General was appointed and postage was charged for the first time at the rate of 2 Annas (1/8th of a Rupee) for every 100 miles (160 kilo-meters). Small copper tickets of 2 Annas in value were introduced as a token of prepayment of postage within the realms of the East India Company. Philatelic Stamp Description : The design of the stamp shows the obverse and the reverse of a copperticket of 1774 (courtesy: G.B. Pai). The first day cover illustration is an artist?s impression of the hand-operated transfer press, the type of hand-operated transfer press, the type of litho-printing machine used for striking the first postage stamps in 1854 under the guidance of Cat. (later on General Sir) Henry L. Thuillier (inset). The design is based on photographs by courtesy of the Surveyor-General of India. The design of the First Day Cancellation depicts a line drawing of the Hall of Nations, the main venue of the exhibition along with the logo of INDIA-80. Stamp Currency : R Stamp Type : COMMEMORATIVE Stamp Language : English Stamp Overall Size : 2.90 X 3.91 cms Postal Stamp Print Size : 2.54 X 3.5 cms. Number of Stamps Per Sheet : 35 Stamp Perforations : 13 x 13 Postal Stamp Shape : Vertical Postage Stamp Paper : Unwatermarked paper Indian Stamp Process : Photogravure Number of stamps printed : 20,00,000 Stamp Printed At : India Security Press Indian Stamp's Color : Mineral Red

Sir Rowland Hill & birthplace Kidderpore