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Quick Links Contact the BFPO Enquiries Team Freedom of Information |
Mail to HM Forces deployed in Afghanistan A recent Inspection has revealed that mail destined for UK Service Personnel deployed on Operation HERRICK, originating from within the UK, has been discovered among multi-national mail within the Afghan Civil Mail System. These mail items in question had been incorrectly addressed, i.e. the BFPO Number must be the last line of the address, allowing mail for deployed members of HM Forces to travel through the BFPO system, rather than the last line of the address being given as Afghanistan, which results in the BFPO system being by-passed in favour of civil mail, (mail addresses being read by letter sorting machines from the bottom line upwards). To clarify, the word “Afghanistan” should not appear in the address, the BFPO number is sufficient. The end result of such mail being incorrectly addressed is that the identity of members of deployed HM Forces is revealed, potentially exposing them [and their families back home] to security threats. Friends and family wishing to send mail to loved ones deployed overseas on operations are reminded of the importance of correctly addressing their mail. For further information, see below, contact BFPO Enquiries Team or by telephone on 020 8589 3450 or lo-call 08457 69 79 78. How to Address Your Mail It is important that all mail sent through the BFPO system is addressed correctly to ensure a smooth delivery to it's destination address. The following information is provided as a guide to the Do's and Don'ts when addressing mail to BFPO locations including Exercise & Operation.: Do's: 1. Use the following format when addressing your mail: Service No Rank Name For example: 1234567 Pte Joe Bloggs 2. Ensure you write a return address on the reverse of the mail item. 3. Write the address clearly in capital letters, this will aid in the automatic sortation equipment reading the address first time and speed your mail arrival.. Don'ts 1. Do not write any other address details after the BFPO number on the address, as this can lead to mail being diverted to the wrong BFPO location. For example, the following address will lead to the item being redirected to BFPO 12, Belize: 1234567 Pte Joe Bloggs The automatic sortation equipment will read the last line of the address and direct the item to BFPO 12 in Belize. 2. Do not include the destination country in the address. BFPO numbers are similar to a UK postcode whereby the sortation software simply reads the BFPO number and sorts to the appropriate location. 2. Do not use the BFPO headquarters address for onward transmission to the recipient. Royal Mail sortation software will recognise a BFPO address and automatically direct the item to the BFPO sorting office in North London. The item will then be sent to the Returned Letters Branch, if no return address has been supplied the item will be held for a period of 3 months before being destroyed. 3. Do not write any other information on the front of the mail item as this can lead to the item not being automatically sorted and will delay the onward trasmission to the required destination. 4. Do not send items to unnamed individuals i.e. 'To a soldier on the front line'. The free post service for Op Telic/Op Herrick and the yearly Christmas Free Post Service to Operations is only available for friends and family of troops serving on operations. 5. To assist with the correct addressing of BFPO mails, a BFPO address flyer has been issued, for Customers to complete and send to their family and friends. The flyer has been designed to ensure that the address format when used can be read by the BFPO London sorting machines. Failure to comply with this addressing format may result in mail being delayed or in certain cases refused and returned to sender. To download and print this flyer, please click here This document is displayed as a PDFs (Portable Document Format), to read this you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader software. This software can be downloaded free by following the link below.
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