In 1941 the post office was temporarily closed for about a month because of the Anglo-French invasion of Iraq (during which time mail was carried by diplomatic bag through London), then re-opened under Indian administration. Owing to wartime exigencies, the office used un-overprinted Indian stamps until 1945, when a new set of Indian stamps was overprinted. This phase came to an end with Indian independence; Kuwait was administered by Pakistan in 1947 and 1948, then by the British government directly from 1 April 1948.