Mail to/from British Forces in Germany 1945

[Michael Dobbs]

I have received the following enquiry - is anyone able to suggest any additional publications which he should consult?
I am going to try and put together a response on how mail was handled in BLA at that time.

[color=maroon]I am working on an exhibition detailing the help given by a local Oxfordshire Yeomanry soldier to a survivor, Naomi Kaplan, at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp shortly after liberation in 1945. The soldier, Arthur Tyler, wrote letters to Naomi's family in the USA, to tell them she was alive. I have some of the letters back to Arthur - in the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum archive, and one envelope.

I hope you might be interested in the project, as the postal service is at its core, but I also wanted to ask you whether you might be able to recommend some reading for me on how the letters would have been sent by Arthur Tyler to Houston, and how he would have received replies, given that his unit moved about several times in April/May 1945.

I was thinking of trying Holmes Brig KS: Operation Overlord, Proud EB: History of British Army Postal Service Vol III, and Vallance Col. ET: Postmen at War, but if you had any other suggestions that would be great.

I'd of course be very happy to tell you more about the project and the material that we have in the archive.

Very best wishes, Dr Myfanwy Lloyd
Associate Member, Oxford University History Faculty,
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum www.sofo.org.uk[/color]

Thanks, Mike