Exhibition celebrates role of the Post Office in WWI

Britain magazine
Soldiers receiving post at the front

As Britain commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, a new exhibition in Shropshire explores the efforts of the Post Office during the war years.

Britain magazine
Soldiers receiving post at the front
©Royal Mail Group Ltd. courtesy of British Postal Museum & Archive

Last Post: Remembering the First World War will examine the wartime efforts of the British postal system and the iconic Post Office from 1914-18. The exhibition will open in April and will run until 2015.

The exhibition at the Coalbrookdale Gallery at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum in Shropshire, will look at the Post Office, the people involved in its work and how the service continued to operate through the war.

It has been curated by the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) with the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and is to concentrate on a number of themes, including the importance of human contact and communication during the troubled times throughout the war.

Britain magazine
Storing the post at Kew’s Botanic Gardens during the war
©Royal Mail Group Ltd. courtesy of British Postal Museum & Archive

Dr Adrian Steel, director at the BPMA, said: “The First World War Centenary is an opportunity to reflect on the impact that this cataclysmic conflict had upon everyone, not just those fighting on the front line.

“Few organisations had a greater role to play, or a greater impact, over the five years of hostilities than the British postal service,” he added.

The exhibition will be open Monday to Friday from 10 April 2014 to 27 March 2015.

For more information please visit www.ironbridge.org.uk.

Related articles

Royal Mail stamps celebrate 150 years of the Tube
Britain’s must-see museums
Postmen of Britain: videos of their favourite walks
Britain’s top ten…British experiences

Click here to subscribe!