Editing British Forces Post Office (section)

== BFPO addresses and numbers ==
Below is an example of a BFPO address, using the fictitious [[Loamshire Regiment]]:

 12345678 LCPL B Jones
 B Company
 1 Loamshire Regt
 BFPO 61

BFPO 61 is for Milan, Italy. Until the [[handover of Hong Kong]] to China in 1997, [[Postal orders of Hong Kong|Hong Kong used postal orders]] with BFPO 1 being the address for British forces serving in the then [[Crown colony|colony]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wmO0AAAAIAAJ&q=%22BFPO+1%22+Hong+Kong ''Education Committees Year Book''], Councils & Education Press Limited, 1973, page 1095</ref><ref>[http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1373613/then-now-tracking-mail Then & now: Tracking the mail], ''[[South China Morning Post]]'', 7 December 2013</ref>

When sending mail from the UK to a member of HM Forces serving overseas, the sender must address it to the appropriate BFPO number, and not to the country in which that person is based. This is especially important as mail to BFPO addresses is often charged at the inland UK rate, and if it is addressed to an overseas destination with only UK postage attached, this will result in delays.

For security reasons, mail from HM Forces to civilian addresses in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland must be handed directly to BFPO staff, not placed in the post box, and must not have a return military address displayed on the envelope. In addition, mail to those destinations cannot be sent using the [[Aerogram|Bluey system]].

In 2012, in collaboration with [[Royal Mail]], the BFPO introduced [[Postcodes in the United Kingdom|UK-style postcodes]], to help ordering items online, owing to problems with websites not recognising the BFPO addressing format.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/community/news/archive/a-better-deal-for-overseas-personnel-23042012 |title=A better deal for overseas services personnel |publisher=[[Royal Air Force]] Community Support |date=23 April 2012 |access-date=3 July 2012}}</ref> The addresses are assigned to the notional [[post town]] "BFPO" and, as of 2012, the postcodes all begin with "BF1". For example, the above address would appear as:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/73240/bfpo_indicator_list.pdf |title=BFPO Indicator List (version 2012-04) |publisher=BFPO |access-date=30 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.royalmail.com/postcode-finder |title=Postcode Finder |publisher=Royal Mail |access-date=30 July 2012}}</ref>

 12345678 LCPL B Jones
 B Company
 1 Loamshire Regt
 BFPO 61
 BFPO
 BF1 2AY

These UK style postcodes are provided for compatibility with non-BFPO UK addresses and are solely for use within websites, due to the automated sorting process at BFPO they should not appear on items of mail.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.gov.uk/bfpo/buying-goods-online |title=Buying goods online |publisher=British Forces Post Office |year=2013 |access-date=29 March 2013}}</ref>