China Expeditionary Force (C.E.F)

My first post on this blog about interesting philatelic items about the Indian Armed Forces will be about the China Expeditionary Force. Before I get down to the CEF, I wish to tell you that these stamps were given to me by a young fellow who was a neighbor of mine in 1947 and 1948.  He was 17 and I was a tad less than 7. He used to teach us (me and my friends) the finer points in the game of cricket. Actually, we learnt more about fielding and some bowling, as this guy would be batting most of the time. My Mother had just introduced me to this great “hobby of kings”. Ali as we all called him was a passionate stamp collector. So once in a while he would let me sit by him when he was browsing through his albums. Needless to say, I was under strict instructions not to touch anything. In 1948, Ali’s Father decided to seek his fortune in the newly created Pakistan. So on the eve of his departure, Ali gifted me these and some other stamps as well. Now lets get down to the CEF.

The 'China Expeditionary Force' (C.E.F) was created at the behest of the British government in India in 1900. This force consisting of two brigades was sent to Peking, China during the Boxer uprising. Since regular exchange of correspondence was foreseen between the soldiers and their superiors and relatives back in India, a postal staff under Mr. V. T. Van Sumeran was also sent to China.

The Indian stamps were overprinted with the words C.E.F so that their use could be monitored within a certain region and thus prevent their misuse. The postal staff was under orders to issue the stamps only to C.E.F  military personnel in uniform. The postal rates in effect in China were the same as those prevalent in India at that time. The first use of these stamps was recorded in August 1900.

 As difficulties were experienced in rendering postal services to the troops stationed at or near railway stations where there were no post offices, special combined post and railway mail service between Peking - Taku - Tienstein and Shan Hi Kwan were introduced. The letters were also sorted, accepted for onward dispatches, in trains, and delivered at each railway station the trains halted, where the postal staff also sold stamps and stationary. In August 1901 when a large reduction of troops in China were made, the postal staff was also reduced with 14 post offices closing down. This was the largest postal contingent ever set out of India with an expeditionary force.

Twenty post offices were opened during this campaign and post offices were provided with distinguishing  number as follows:

F.P.O. 1 Peking (Legation Gate)	F.P.O. 11 Sinho
F.P.O. 2 Peking (temple of Heaven)	F.P.O. 12 Howhiwa, later Matoo
F.P.O. 3 Tungchoo	F.P.O. 13 Liu Kung Tao
F.P.O. 4 Tienstein (Advance Base)	F.P.O. 14 Shan Hi Kwan
F.P.O. 5 Shanghai (Tienstein L. C. Rd)	F.P.O. 15 Shan Hi Kwan
F.P.O. 6 Shanghai	F.P.O. 16 Chin Wang Tao
F.P.O. 7 Peking (Tartar City)	F.P.O. 17 Wei Hai Wei
F.P.O. 8 Unknown	F.P.O. 18 Tienstein
F.P.O. 9 Yangstum	F.P.O. 19 Reserve
F.P.O. 10 Shanghai	F.P.O. 20 Tienstein or Peking

In addition to the above post offices, there was an Indian Base forwarding office in Hongkong. As the main body of Indian troops were withdrawn in 1906, only six of the

main post offices were kept open for the convenience of the Indian troops, constituting the North China command viz. F.P.O. - 1, 4, 5, 6, 14 & 15 F.P.O. no. 5 at Tienstein  was the only post office which operated till September 1939, when the last garrison was withdrawn from North China, by an agreement signed between Great Britain and Japan.

Examples of Indian stamps used from these post offices are scarce. During this expedition the Peking - Shan Hi Kwan railway was first divided up between Germany, Japan and Russia but, in February 1901 the entire railway line was handed over to British authorities for its administration. A postal box was attached to the railway postal van for the convenience of the public and a special Chinese stamp , 1/2 cent value was overprinted BRA/5/cents in three lines for payment of late fee on letters posted at the last minute. This stamp is found generally used on covers in combination with C.E.F. stamps. 

In the beginning of the expedition the field post offices were supplied with ordinary Indian stamps but due to the difficulty in accounting, the Queen Victoria series from 3 pies to Re.1/- were overprinted with the letters C.E.F. at the Government of India Central Printing office, Calcutta. These stamps are shown below. They were issued on Aug 16th 1900.

I hope you liked this post. Bye for now.