In May, 1896, under orders from the Home Government, an Expeditionary Force, 3000 strong, was sent to Suakim under the command of Brigadier-General C. C. Egerton, C.B., D.S.O., and a field post office was ordered to accompany it. The chief of the postal staff was Mr. Bennett, who, however, did not hold the rank of Chief Superintendent as the Force was too small. It started on the 22nd May, 1896, and arrived on the 1st June at Suakim, where the Base office was opened. Subsequently a sub-office was opened at Tokar, and the exchange of mails between this office and the Base office was carried on by camel dak twice a week. There was fortnightly communication between India and Suakim by Egyptian steamers, and parcel and letter mails were conveyed by these and by P. & O. steamers. The field post office was closed on the 8th December, 1896.
The Malakand Field Force.
On the 31st July, 1897, the Adjutant-General in India forwarded to the Director-General a scheme for operations in the Malakand country, and Mr. P. Sheridan, Postmaster-General, Punjab and N.-W.F., was requested to make special postal arrangements for the force. Mr. H. C. Sheridan, Assistant Director-General of the Post Office, was placed in charge.
By the middle of August all the troops forming the 1st and 2nd Brigades went across the Malakand to the Swat Valley. In the meantime, fresh trouble having arisen round and about Peshawar, the Government of India issued orders for punitive operations against the Mohmands, who had invaded British territory and attacked the village and fort of Shabkadar, nineteen miles from Peshawar. Accordingly a strong force was concentrated about the place, and Mr. C. A. Stowell was deputed to Peshawar to make special postal arrangements for this force. "The Mohmand Field Force," under Major-General Ellis, left Shabkadar on the 15th September and returned to Peshawar on the 8th October, 1897. During the expedition a small force was sent to Abazai to guard the works of the Swat Canal, and a field post office accompanied it.
On New Year's day of 1898 orders were issued for an advance to Buner, and the 2nd Brigade marched to Katlang, which was at once connected with Mardan by an ekka service, later extended to Sanghao. There were now two ekka services—one from Mardan to Rustam, a distance of nineteen miles, and the other from Mardan to Sanghao, a distance of twenty-one miles. On the 9th January the name of the force was changed to the "Buner Field Force." The postal arrangements for this force, which was not in existence for more than a fortnight, were in the hands of Mr. N. M. Cama, Superintendent of post offices.
The Malakand Field Force began to be demobilized on the 22nd January, 1898, but only a small portion of the troops returned to India. The rest went forward and became part of the Swat garrison. In this expedition arrangements were made for the first time for the sale of newspapers by field post offices, a service which was greatly appreciated. So efficient were the postal arrangements and the regularity of the tonga service that the mails to and from the front travelled with a punctuality which would compare favourably with any long-established line in India.
The Tirah Expedition.
On the 17th September, 1897, the Director-General was asked to make arrangements for a postal service for the Expeditionary Force to be sent against the Afridi and Orakzai tribes on the Kohat and Peshawar frontier. The Postmaster-General, Punjab and N.-W.F., Mr. P. Sheridan, was immediately communicated with, and Mr. van Someren was appointed Chief Postal Superintendent with the expedition.