Hi all, I have just sent off my first pack of letters and games to 1st SG Currier's chaps and was wondering if anyone here knows of a good way to send mail to US troops from BRITAIN?

 I assumed that I could just send via BFPO but it seems that new guidelines mean I have to pay full US airmail rates just as if I was sending mail to any civilian resident in the USA. Surely there is a cheaper and better way of doing this, does any Brit here have knowledge of this?

 Also does any Brit here know if the ban on sending food to US troops from the UK is still in place? 

 Many thanks,

Miriam J

Hi Miriam...

Check out this forum thread...  http://forum.anysoldier.com/forums/t/9342.aspx

You can save lots if you ship via Amazon.

I've heard about the ban but not sure if it's been lifted. Also...on the flip side...I was trying to find a way to send care packages from the US to UK soldiers in Afghanistan. I found this web site: http://www.supportoursoldiers.co.uk/index.html  I'm going to give it a try.

Jen

 Thanks Jen! Sadly Amazon.co.uk does not allow me to send packages to non-BFPO addresses. I really wish we had a website like this for the British troops! supportoursoldiers.co.uk looks like a good site though. Many thanks for your suggestions.

M

Have you tried using Amazon.com instead of co.uk? I just successfully placed an order there, you'll just have to create a separate account there and enter an APO AE shipping address manually with each order (in my case: Poland vs. APO AE). There are many restriction on what Amazon.com will and will not send to an APO address (e.g. no food, ditto most toilettries) but it's good for books or CDs.

For sending directly from the UK, add Germany to the APO AE address; worked for me so should work for you, and you'll pay the cheaper within-the-EU shipping rates.

Marta 

 Thanks Marta! That's a great tip. Do you know if your package arrived safely with Germany added? Was that recently?

Miriam

Yes it did, I just got a reply yesterday. It only took 10 days to reach Afghanistan! Make sure though that you add Germany only to APO/FPO AE addresses (that is, those whose mail gets routed through Europe).

Marta 

 Wow that's awesome! I will defo try that. The clerk sent my last package "care of/via BFPO" so I think it may get returned...or that some poor British Forces clerk will be very, very confused...! I think 10 days must be even quicker than sending it direct from the USA. It probably gets routed through Manheim. Thanks for the tip Marta!

By the way, I am part Polish myself, my Mum is half Polish and plenty of our Polish family were in the forces. Some of my Polish family were WWII officers- one of my uncles survived Katyn.

Although no one from my family is in the military right now, both my granfathers fought in WWII, and my family are survivors of the Wolyn massacre/genocide. It's quite amazing that your uncle survived Katyn!

 I just wanted to let you know that I bought some movies for one of my soldiers via Amazon.com and I got the news that the package arrived in Afghanistan safe and whole :)
 

 Thanks for letting me know about the movie, Clouddancer :) I may try Amazon to send stuff next month. I just sent a package of letters and cards off this week and tried sending it via Germany and it worked this time, went through at EU rates, which was much cheaper. Our post office workers here are very nice and patient, and understood about putting a customs sticker on the package.

 It was a close call at Katyn- my uncle (well, he is my great-uncle) was on a truck loaded with fellow prisoners and could hear the sounds of firing coming from the woods but for some reason his group was not taken then and went back to the camp. He survived the whole war as did all his mother and all three brothers even though they were all seperated and taken to different places.