1971, printed British folded 'POST CARD-REPLY', bearing 2½p Machin, the reply section cancelled dc 'MORGENSTER / RHODESIA' for the 27th July. Printed address to Sussex. A scarce office on cover.

Note: The sender of this item, R. King, apparently posted the same post card to all existing Post Offices in the Commonwealth, including Rhodesia, as usage of these reply cards was soon to be abolished.

£40

The start and escalation of the Bush or Terrorist war in Rhodesia required the establishment of a specific postal service to suit the special requirements of the service members and those who wished to communicate with them, as the existing postal network did not operate in the remote and hostile environments service members were often located in. In collaboration with the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, the Military Post Office (MPO) was established in February 1974, serving Operation Hurricane in the north and north east of Rhodesia, which grew and became more complex with time and the escalation of the war. The system developed was as follows: Service members received, upon call-up, specially printed M.P.O. labels which they were required to complete. A 'specimen' label would be given to any member of the general public who wished to communicate with them. On this label was indicated their regimental number, name and initials, company and unit. Additional completed labels were then affixed to any postal article, charged and posted in the normal way. All postal items bearing such labels were, initially, sorted and delivered to 2 Brigade Headquarters, Old Cranborne Barracks. They were then sorted there and delivered to sub MPO's in the operational areas. Should it be required, they were further delivered into the field by whatever Military Transport was available. The system was expanded into the Operation Thrasher area in the eastern border district, then into Operation Repulse in the Fort Victoria area, with a corresponding increase in sub MPO's and delivery networks.

A far more detailed explanation of this service can be found in the article written by Cecil Russell, a copy of which is available upon request)

The labels used were as follows: MPO 2 Salisbury, GREEN, Operation Hurricane
MPO 3 Umtali, SALMON, Operation Thrasher
MPO 4 Fort Victoria, WHITE, Operation Repulse
MPO 5 Gwelo, GREY, Operation Grapple
MPO 1 Bulawayo, YELLOW, Operation Tangent – although this saw limited use with the cessation of hostilities.

The system of MPO's catered for all postal articles addressed TO service members. Mail FROM service members were sent without charge, and required the endorsement 'Forces Mail' and relevant unit handstamp.

The selection offered below is related to the MPO system. It is interesting to note that these covers exist in far smaller quantities than mail sent from service members, which is strange as one would assume that members of the public would be in a better position to communicate with, rather than receive mail from them. A possible explanation is, to a service member in a hostile and remote area, the last thing on his mind would be to retain an envelope for the sake of philatelic prosterity.