Following the British conquest of Palestine and its immediate vicinity, the British established a military administration known as the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA). After capturing Jerusalem, one of the first tasks of the British Military Administration was to supply postal services to the civilian population. It was decided that the British Army Post Offices would provide the service. The post office in Jerusalem was opened on December 16, 1917, one week after the surrender of the city. Since no stamps were available, the civilian letters were posted free of charge, similar to army mail; this privilege was withdrawn on February 10, 1918 with the arrival of the first British EEF stamps. During the next few months, the stamps were only supplied to three British Military Post Offices: SZ-44 — Jerusalem, SZ-45 — Jaffa and GM-1 — at Beer Salem near Ramleh. “Pre-paid” mail was brought to these offices, stamps were affixed and cancelled and the letters were forwarded on. With the gradual distribution of postage stamps to all military post offices, this provisional “pre-payment” arrangement was abandoned in July 1918. Britain was awarded the Mandate for Palestine by the League of Nations at the San Remo Conference in 1920. In February 1947, the British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin decided to return the Mandate for Palestine to the United Nations, which voted for the Partition Plan on November 29, 1947, and the British left Palestine on May 15, 1948.