Mesopotamia World-Phila

Iraq: under the Ottomans was divided into the Vilayets of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra and the Sanjaq of Zor in the North West desert area.Towards the end of this period the first postal arrangements were organized through the Tartar courier service which included routes from Basra to Aleppo across the Syrian desert and from Baghdad to Constantinople via Mosul and Diarbekr. In 1773 a British residency was set up in Baghdad and in 1868 postal agencies established in the residencies in Baghdad and Basra. Turkey joined the UPU in 1875 from which date it used bilingual obliterators with the date using the Turkish official and Gregorian calendars. In 1914 Turkey joined the Central Powers – Germany and Austria Hungary – and this caused the British to send the Indian Expeditionary Force " D " to Basra with the aim of safeguarding the oilfields at Abadan and Mohammerah and of preventing the Central Powers from having access to the Gulf and so endanger the route between the United Kingdom and India. The I.E.F. " D " : the campaign in Mesopotamia which was originally planned as a limited operation to prevent Basra and its access to the Gulf from falling into the Central Powers hands, ended with nearly one million combatants and support personnel in the field. The campaign can be split into four distinct stages: 6 November 1914 – July 1915: The initial landing by the IEF " D " at Fao and capture of Basra in November 1914 and the limited actions in Southern Mesopotamia. November 1915 – 29 April 1916: The first advance on Baghdad battle of Ctesiphon where the Turkish forces were victorious, retreat to, siege and capitulation of the IEF forces at Kut. Autumn 1916 – April 1917: The second battle of Kut leading to its recapture, advance on Baghdad in December and its capture by the IEF on 11 March 1917. July 1917 – 3 November 1918: Campaign in Upper Mesopotamia and final capitulation of the Turkish VI Army, and the occupation of Mosul following the Armistice. Little action took place during the summer months due to the heat. Indian Field Post Offices were provided to support the Indian and British regiments. No British FPO's served in Mesopotamia during the campaign. A Base P.O and five FPO's accompanied the initial forces in 1914, and four more had arrived by the year end. As the number of troops increased, so did the FPO's reaching 40 by April 1916, 60 by the date of the capture of Baghdad and 91 by the Armistice. On the Central Powers side, the Turkish VI Army had its own FPO's which are scarce. Germany also provided high level military and airforce support through the AOK6 with their own FPO's. With the outcome of the War, the Vilayets of Basra and Baghdad were administered by the British and the position of the Mosul Vilayet was left in balance with both the British and French claiming responsibility. This was resolved in 1920 by the Sykes-Picot agreement under which the French claim was waived in favour of England. The Turks attempted to maintain control over Mosul and abetted the Kurdish insurrections of 1919 and 1922 and in 1921 the province of Sulaimaniya rejected union with the new state while the provinces of Erbil and Rawandooz voted against Feisal as King. Under the treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Iraq was put under the British Mandate although even then the position of Mosul was left unresolved and it was not until 1926 that the border question was resolved. During the British occupation of Mosul Vilayet Indian currency had been used, first by personnel of the IEF, and from 1918 it was the national currency & later in 1932 after the end of Mandate it was changed to fils and dinars. From Ottoman unused stocks of fiscal stamps , six stamps in different face values were overprinted Postage I.E.F. 'D' by the Government Press in Baghdad with new values 1/2 anna, 1 anna, 21/2 anna, 3 annas, 4 annas and 8 annas. Their issue was advised in Postal notice in the 1st of February 1919. A second printing of the 8 annas was made in July 1919. The IEF 'D' postage stamps remained in use in the Division until 1921 when they were replaced by the Iraq in British Occupation stamps as stocks were exhausted. On and after 1 September 1922 I.E.F. stamps were invalidated in Mosul town and division. Several errors and varieties occurred on the I.E.F. 'D' stamps & registered in Stanley Gibbons and other International stamps catalogues.