Caption
PHSC postal history study groups PHSC post office data base PHSC postmarks of Canada broken circles, machine cancels, duplex, numeral PHSC Journal PHSC research PHSC membership registration PHSC how to use the site instructions
Username: Password:
Members Login
ALSMW   ¬  Videos   ¬  Books   ¬  Rates   ¬  Exhibits   ¬  Articles   ¬  References   ¬ 

A Guide to Canadian Military Postal History 1636‒1970

by Lt. Col. Roland H. Webb, edited by Robert Toombs, Gray Scrimgeour and Brian Plain

The superbly written 1970 typescript by Lt. Col. Webb resided unpublished at the National Postal Museum / Library and Archives Canada, from shortly after 1970 until November 2013, when the editors started to prepare this original pioneering work for publication. With almost no original text modification, the product is a definitive 555-page, illustrated, indexed, military postal history reference.

History of the project (courtesy of the CMMSG Newsletter)

A hard-bound limited black and white edition was made available in early 2015, but is no longer available.

Below, you will find an outline of the book, along with links to each chapter (in full colour).

Table of Contents
Front matterpdf (416 kB)
Part One: Development of a Military Postal Service
Chapter 1:
The Early Years, 1636–1901		 pdf (3.8MB)
Chapter 2:
The Canadian Contingent in South Africa 1899‒1900
Chapter 3:
The Canadian Postal Corps and Its Field Post Offices in Canada 1909–1941
Part Two: The Postal Service in the First World War
Chapter 4:
The “Home Forces” 1914 ‒ 1920
Chapter 5:
The Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force 6 August 1914 ‒ 11 February 1915
Chapter 6:
The Overseas Military Forces of Canada in Great Britain 1914‒1919
Chapter 7:
The Canadian Expeditionary Force in Northwest Europe 1915‒1919		 pdf (5.4MB)
Chapter 8:
The Canadian Expeditionary Force in Siberia 1918‒1919
Chapter 9:
Canadian Troops in Other Areas 1914 ‒ 1919
Part Three: The Postal Services in the Second World War
Chapter 10:
Canada 1939 ‒ 1947
Chapter 11:
The United Kingdom 1939 ‒ 1947
Chapter 12:
The Mediterranean Area 1940 ‒ 1945		 pdf (1.7MB)
Chapter 13:
Northwest Europe 1944 ‒ 1946
Chapter 14:
Newfoundland 1940 ‒ 1946
Chapter 15:
USA and Alaska 1940 ‒ 1945
Chapter 16:
Hong Kong 1941
Chapter 17:
South East Asia 1942 ‒ 1945
Chapter 18:
Other Areas 1939 ‒ 1946
Part Four: The Postal Services in the Cold War
Chapter 19:
Canada 1946 ‒ 1967
Chapter 20:
Under the United Nations Flag 1949 ‒ 1967		 pdf (13.8MB)
Chapter 21:
With NATO in Western Europe 1951 ‒ 1967
Chapter 22:
Other Areas, 1897–1967
Chapter 23:
Censorship of Forces Mail
Addenda and Appendices
Addendum:
R.H. Webb’s Text Outline
Appendix A:
Evolution of Concessional Postal Rates for the Canadian Armed Forces
Appendix B (by Brian Plain):
Third Echelon
Appendix C (by Brian Plain):
Armed Forces Air Letters (AFALs)
Appendix D:
Abbreviations
Appendix E:
Roland H. Webb: Bibliography		 pdf (187 kB)
Index
 pdf (365 kB)