Cover CEASEFIRE GULF WAR 1991, French Forces Daguet BPM 647, Mine Clearing Kuwait City (IK15)

April 11, 1991: Entry into force of the definitive CEASEFIRE between the coalition Allies and Iraq

The resolutions adopted on April 3 and 9 (687) by the Security Council officially ended the war; they obliged a defeated Iraq to recognize Kuwait's borders, accept the destruction of its military capabilities (chemical, bacteriological, and nuclear), and pay heavy war reparations. In October, Iraqi industry was placed under UN control.

The rare cancellations of the ceasefire and OPERATION DAGUET

The incredible story of the creation of envelopes No. IK14, IK15, IK20, and IK21 deserves to be told.

During my contacts with the command of the 33rd Reconnaissance Wing (BA 124, Strasbourg), regarding the creation of a stamp and official philatelic souvenirs commemorating the "return from Saudi Arabia," I had mentioned the difficulty of obtaining the postmarks for the Operation Daguet BPMs.

Thanks to our cordial relations, the officers and pilots of the 33rd Reconnaissance Wing launched a unique operation. After preparing four types of philatelic correspondence concerning Operation Daguet, I handed them over to the pilot who would transport them aboard a military air transport on a Transall C160 from Strasbourg to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The boxes containing the letters were wrapped in fireproof paper.

With the "DEFINITIVE CEASEFIRE" coming into effect on April 11, 1991, envelopes No. IK14 were postmarked on that date using the postmark of BPM 644 in Riyadh, headquarters of the French Forces in Saudi Arabia.

As for envelopes No. IK15, they were flown aboard a Mirage F1CR from Riyadh to Al Ahsa Air Base, then by helicopter to Kuwait City to be postmarked with the postmark of BPM 647, serving the first French elements on site. The envelopes returned by the same means!