2d. blue, 1855 issue, perforated, with large crown as watermark. 4d. rose-carmine, 1856 issue, with large garter as watermark. 6d. lilac, 1854 issue, with embossed head. Specimens of the above which franked the correspondence of members of the Crimean expeditionary force may be recognized by the distinctive obliteration marks which were as follows:-- 1. A crown placed between two stars with straight bars above and below, the whole forming an oval. 2. A star placed between the cyphers; then as No. 1. 3. A circle containing the inscription "Post Office, British Army," together with the date. [Illustration: A SOLDIER'S COMMUNICATION POSTED DURING THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR.] [Illustration: A SIMILAR COMMUNICATION FROM "SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE."] In 1882, a British Army Post Office Corps was formed by Colonel du Plat Taylor for service under General Wolseley in Egypt. The men were chosen from the old 24th Middlesex, a regiment better known as the Post Office Volunteers. The party landed at Alexandria, but soon proceeded to Ismailia where a base was established. From these headquarters a number of field offices sprang up, but their positions altered as the army moved forward. There is no doubt that the duties performed by this postal corps gave much satisfaction, both to the troops and the authorities at home, for its services were again requisitioned when the Suakim expedition set out under the leadership of Sir Gerald Graham. The stock of stamps taken to Egypt consisted of the current 1d. lilac and 2½d. blue of England, but those used during the expedition were obliterated by a hand stamp bearing either a number of dots shaped to form a small lozenge, or a circle containing the inscription "British Army Post Office, Egypt," and the date. Obliterations bearing dates in 1885 belong to the Suakim expedition. When Kitchener went to the Sudan in 1897, the Egyptian Government set up a postal department at Wadi Haifa Camp for the special use of the British and Egyptian forces. The stamps sold on this occasion were the current Egyptian labels, but they were overprinted with the word "Soudan" in both French and Arabic. Unfortunately, many forged overprints have been added to genuine Egyptian stamps of the higher values, so that collectors must be cautious when purchasing specimens. Of the work of the Army Post Office Corps in South Africa during the last Boer War much interesting matter could be written. Mr. F. J. Melville gives the following description in his capital book "The Postage Stamp in War" (price one shilling).