Iraq’s historic stamps

UK's TimesOnline reports Freddy Khalastchy will be showing his “The Stamps of Iraq” exhibit (588 album pages in 52 frames) to the Royal Philatelic Society in London.

According to the article, Khalastchy, a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London, who has built up the world’s finest collection of the stamps of Iraq, was born and brought up in Baghdad during the late 1950s and experienced at first-hand the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein.

Times reporter Peter Jennings writes, "In order to appreciate the stamps of Iraq it is necessary to understand a little of the history of that country. During the First World War British and Indian troops occupied Basra on November 22, 1914, to protect the oil pipeline from Persia. These troops advanced up the Euphrates and Tigris and after a hard-fought campaign captured Baghdad on March 11, 1917. Turkish postage stamps were overprinted with “Baghdad In British Occupation”.

Two of these are shown above.

To read the entire article, click here.