Saudi Arabia: Development Of The Postal Service (1801 - 2001)

Introduction | Pre-Stamp | Free Franking Ottoman Official Mail | Ottoman Mail 19th C | Ottoman Mail 20th C | Ottoman Mail WWI | Hijaz - King Hussein | Hijaz - King Ali | Najdi Sultanate Post | Hijaz and Najd | Saudi Arabia | Map

5 Ottoman Mail - World War I

Octagonal "MEDINE 1" 17/3/16 cancel, Type MD-23, on 1 pi ORDINARY RATE and 10 pa WAR ORPHANS TAX to GALATA, ISTANBUL 3/4 (back). Madinah Star and Crescent MILITARY CENSOR h/s dated 1331 A.H. (1915-16) top centre; delivery route no. "10" cachet to left of stamps.

"MEDINE 4 20-10-16", Type MD-22, on 30 pa P/C RATE including WAR ORPHANS TAX to ISTANBUL 5/11; passed by MILITARY CENSOR h/s in Madinah. MADINAH 30/10/16 on 1 pi ORDINARY RATE and 10 pa WAR ORPHANS TAX, with Star and Crescent h/s of Madinah military censor, via DAMASCUS to ALEPPO 8/11. This letter would have travelled on the fortified Hijaz Railway to Damascus, the only Ottoman lifeline to a Madinah under siege by Arab irregulars.

FREE FRANKING postcard from a soldier at the MADINAH Red Crescent Hospital, m/s 19/10/16, to ISTANBUL; top center and left is m/s "SOLDIER'S LETTER" and "MADINAH THE LUMINOUS 19/10/16", respectively. Large circular cachet of the Madinah branch of the Red Crescent, Type MD-25, but no dated cancel.

Ottoman "FIELD POST OFFICE 28" 20/10/17 from MADINAH on 20 pa POSTCARD RATE and 10 pa ORPHANS CHARITY on p/c to KASIMPASHA (Istanbul) 9/11. Type MD-25, local "OTTOMAN RED CRESCENT - MADINAH THE LUMINOUS BRANCH" cachet to side of stamps and MADINAH MILITARY CENSOR Star and Crescent h/s below. Sent by a Medical Corps nurse. One other p/c has been recorded with "F.P.O. 28" but in this instance as an arrival cancel on an incoming p/c. It is dated c. 18/11/17, so the use in Madinah of this "SAHRA POSTASI 28" Type MD-26, was for at least 2 months.

AL ULA 23/11/17 parcel card, franked with 40 x 1 pi and 20 pa totalling 40 ½ pi on front and back for 4,350 Grams; via DAMASCUS 8/12 and ALEPPO 15/12 to BOURDOUS, Turkey, 19/12. "PARCEL No. 142" bottom left; recipient's negative seal above, with m/s date of collection "30/12/17". "EL-ULA" cancel, introduced c. 1909, has been recorded used as late as 1936 in the Saudi era. During its construction, the Hijaz Railway reached AL ULA in August 1908. Beyond this point, only Muslim workers and engineers were allowed.