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Anglo-Iraqi War
Part of Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatre

British troops looking at Baghdad, 11 June 1941.
Date2 May[1] – 31 May 1941.[nb 1]
Location
Result British victory
Belligerents
Iraq Iraq
Nazi Germany Germany
Italy Italy

United Kingdom United Kingdom

Commanders and leaders
Iraq Rashid Ali United Kingdom Edward Quinan
Strength
Four divisions[3]
50 – 60 Iraqi aircraft[4]
About two divisions
Casualties and losses
2,500 casualties
~6,000 prisoners
1,200 casualties[citation needed]
28 aircraft[5]

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The Anglo-Iraqi War was a conflict between the United Kingdom and the nationalist government of Iraq during World War II. The conflict lasted from 2 May to 31 May 1941. The British campaign to subdue Iraq was codenamed Operation Sabine. The conflict is also referred to as the Rashid Ali Rebellion. The campaign resulted in British re-occupation of Iraq and further fuelled nationalist resentment of the British-supported Iraqi monarchy.

Background

The Kingdom of Iraq (also referred to as Mesopotamia) was governed by Britain under a League of Nations mandate (British Mandate of Mesopotamia) until 1932, when it became nominally independent. Before granting independence, Britain imposed several conditions under the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930. These conditions included military bases for British use and the free movement for British troops through the country without restriction.[verification needed] Following 1937 there was no British troops left in the country and the Iraqi government was responsible for internal security.[6] In accordance with the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty the Royal Air Force (RAF) had been allowed to retain two bases; RAF Shaibah, near Basra, and one at Habbaniya. These bases were used as staging posts for the air route betwen Egypt and India. RAF Habbaniya was protected by a small detachement of RAF ground forces and locally raised Iraqi forces.[6]

The conditions of the treaty were imposed by Britain to ensure continued control of Iraq's oil resources.[citation needed] Many Iraqis resented these conditions[citation needed] and felt that their country and its monarchy were still under the effective control of Britain.[citation needed]

When World War II broke out in September 1939, Britain wanted Iraq to declare war on Nazi Germany.[citation needed] The Iraqi government broke off diplomatic relations with Germany but in June 1940, did not take the same step against Italy.[6] In March 1940, the nationalist and anti-British Rashid Ali replaced Nuri as-Said. Ali made covert contacts with German representatives in the Middle East, though he was not yet openly pro-Axis.

In January 1941 there was a political crisis, there was the threat of civil war in Iraq. Rashid Ali resigned as Prime Minister of Iraq[7], on 31 January,[citation needed] and was replaced by Taha al-Hashimi.[7] Italian setbacks in North Africa and elsewhere started to change public opinion in Iraq.[citation needed]

Coup d'état

Amir Abdul Illah, the regent of Iraq, learnt of a plot to kill him and fled Baghdad to RAF Habbaniya. From here he was flown to Basra and given refuge on the HMS Cockchafer.[7] On 3 April Rashid Ali, along with four top level Army and Air Force officers; known as the "Golden Square", seized power via a coup d'état.[7] On 3 April Ali once again became Prime Minister. He did not overthrow the monarchy but moved to restrict British rights under the 1930 treaty.[citation needed]

Allied response

Following the coup the British Chiefs of Staff were in favour of armed intervention however the three Commander-in-chiefs[nb 2], already heavily committed with fighting in Libya and with the Battle of Greece, suggested the only forces they would be able to use against Iraq was a single battalion of infantry, based within Palestine, and the aircraft already based within the country.[8] The Government of India had a long standing commitment to prepare one infantry division in case it should be needed to protect the Anglo-Iranian oilfields, in July 1940 the leading brigade of this division was dispatched to Iraq but was later diverted to Sudan.[9] British India Command had been investigating the move of troops by air from India to Shaibah when the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, asked what force could be quickly sent from India to Iraq. The responce from India was that the majority of one brigade group, that was due to set sail for Malaya on 10 April, could be diverted to Basra and the rest of the group dispatched ten days later. In addition 390 British infantrymen could be flown into RAF Shaibah. It was also stated that when shipping available this force could quickly be built up to division strength.[4] On 10 April this offer was accepted by London. On the same day General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command, informed London that he could no longer spare the one battalion in Palestine and urged for firm diplomatic action, and possibly an demonstration of air strength, to be taken rather than military intervention.[4]

On 13 April the Royal Navy force of four ships in the Persian Gulf were reinforced by two cruisers and the HMS Hermes. On 16 April the Iraqi Government was informed that the British were going to invoke the Anglo-Iraq treaty to move troops through the country to Palestine. Rashid Ali raised no objection and the next day the 1st Battalion King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was flown into RAF Shaiabh. The following day the Indian 20th Infantry Brigade, the 3rd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery and the headquarters of the 10th Indian Infantry Division landed at Basra.[4] A further three ships brought ancillary troops on 29 April.[10] Major-General William Fraser, the commanding officer of the 10th Indian Infantry Division, then assumed control over all land forces based within Iraq.[4]

Following the landing of these troops, Rashid Ali requested that they be moved quickly through the country and that no more should arrive until the previous force was gone.[11] The British Ambassador, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis,[12] referred the issue to London who replied that they had no interest in moving the troops out of the country and wanted to establish them within Iraq. Cornwallis was also informed not to inform Rashid Ali, as he had taken control of the country via a coup d'etat, had no right to be informed on troop movements.[13] On 30 April the 10th Indian Infantry Division's second infantry brigade disembarked in Iraq without incident. When Ali was informed that ships containing British forces had arrived on 30 April he refused permission for troops to disembark from them and began organising for an armed demonstration at RAF Habbaniya.

21st Indian Infantry Brigade began Operation Regatta, an advance from Basra by boat up the Tigris River;[citation needed] while the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade deployed by steamer and barge from Basra to Kut, a move codenamed Operation Regulta.[citation needed] Between 27 – 30 April around 300 men of the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was flown from RAF Shaibah to RAF Habbaniya to reinforce the base.[3]

Resolution

Iraqi moves

Map of Iraq during World War II.

The Iraqi Army had four infantry divisions.[3] At full strength, each division had three brigades. The Iraqi 1st and 3rd Divisions were stationed in Baghdad. One brigade of the 1st Division was motorized. The Iraqi 2nd Division was stationed in Kirkuk, and the 4th Division was in Al Diwaniyah, on the main rail line from Baghdad to Basra.

On 30 April 1941, twelve days after the initial British landings in Basra, about 6,000 Iraqi troops with 30 artillery pieces occupied the high ground to the south of the Habbaniya airfield. The Iraqis demanded that no movements, either ground or air, take place from the base. The British refused the demand and then themselves demanded that the Iraqi army leave the area at once. The British issued a further ultimatum in the early hours of 2 May. After it expired, at 0500 hours the British began bombing the Iraqi position, and the Iraqis responded by shelling the base.[14]

RAF Habbaniya was a training base and a refuelling point for flights to India. The British had there some 35 pilots and 96 mostly obsolete aircraft (of which 56 were fit for operations.[15]) Many of the aircraft were trainers, which were modified on the spot to carry bombs and other offensive weapons. On 3 May, four Bristol Blenheim fighter-bombers arrived to strengthen the base further. On the ground, Habbaniya was defended by 2,200 men and 18 armoured cars. The British ground forces included the recently arrived King's Own Royals, and locally recruited RAF Levies, which were mainly Iraqi Assyrians and Kurds. The Levies played a significant part in the defence of the base and later the attacks on Fallujah and the advance on Baghdad. Colonel Ouvry Lindfield Roberts, a senior staff officer from 10th Indian Division, was flown in to command the Habbaniya ground forces. Two World War I howitzers that had been decorating the entrance of the officers' mess were put in working order by some British gunners.

From 2 May to 6 May, the dwindling force of training aircraft flown by student pilots and their instructors bombed the Iraqi positions on the plateau. On 6 May Colonel Roberts ordered a sortie by the King's Own supported by Iraqi levies, some armoured cars, and the old howitzers.[16] After a hard fight the Iraqi force withdrew from the plateau. Meanwhile Iraqi reinforcements were approaching. They met the retreating force on the Fallujah road some five miles (8 km) east of Habbaniya. Just at that moment, every remaining available aircraft from RAF Habbaniya arrived to attack the reinforcing column. The two Iraqi columns were paralysed and within two hours over 400 Iraqi prisoners were taken and more than 1,000 casualties inflicted. On the morning of 7 May British reconnaissance found the plateau vacated.[16]

Meanwhile, forced into action by London, in early May Wavell put together in Palestine a force to cross the desert and relieve Habbaniya. The force was commanded by Major-General John Clark and was called Habforce, comprising British 4th Cavalry Brigade, a battalion of The Essex Regiment, the Arab Legion Mechanised Regiment, a field artillery battery and a troop of anti-tank guns. Operations in Iraq also passed in early May under the control of Wavell's Middle East Command.

German involvement

The Iraqi Air Force (IAF) was on paper better equipped than the local RAF strength. But by 10 May, bombing by aircraft from Habbaniya disabled the IAF as a fighting force.

However, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) now intervened. At the direction of German Colonel General Hans Jeschonnek, the Luftwaffe sent Sonderkommando Junck under the command of Oberst Werner Junck to Iraq. Junck's unit flew 15 Heinkel 111s and 14 Messerschmitt 110s into Mosul via Vichy French airbases in Syria, arriving from 10 May to 12 May, then commenced regular aerial attacks on Habbaniya.[17] Plans were drawn up to supply ground warfare equipment and also troops, but the German high command was hesitant and required the permission of Turkey for passage. In the end, the Luftwaffe found conditions in Iraq intolerable, as spare parts were not to be had and even the quality of aircraft fuel was far below the Luftwaffe's requirements. Less and less aircraft were servicable each day and in the end all Luftwaffe personnel were evacuated on the last remaining Heinkel He 111. Only one German aircraft was lost in action, due to Iraqi friendly fire.[18]

British counterattack

On 18 May Kingcol (named after its commander, Brigadier James Kingstone), the flying column of Habforce, arrived at Habbaniya from the British Mandate of Palestine, too late to intervene at Habbaniya but in time to participate in the thrust from the base towards Falujah and thence Baghdad to force an early Iraqi capitulation.

On 8 May 1941, Colonel Ouvry Roberts, commanding a force of the King's Own Royal Regiment, RAF Armoured Cars, RAF Iraq Levies, and the reinforcements from Kingcol, crossed the river and then overcame the other water obstacles created by the flooding using improvised cable-drawn ferries, and moved on Fallujah. After nearly a whole day of fighting, Fallujah was taken by the evening of 19 May. Kingcol then pressed on to Baghdad.[19]

By the time of the Fallujah battle, British aircraft were operating unopposed against the Iraqi army. The British managed this despite the presence of twin engine fighters and medium bombers from the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and by a squadron of biplane fighters from the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica). The German and Italian aircraft were painted in Iraqi markings (recalling the aircraft of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War).[citation needed]

Iraqi collapse

The British forces pressed on to Baghdad, where the government of Rashid Ali collapsed. Rashid Ali and his supporters fled to Persia and then on to Germany. On 31 May 1941, an armistice was signed[20] and the monarchy and a pro-British government was put back in place. British forces remained in Iraq until 1947 and the country remained effectively under British control. The British considered the occupation of Iraq necessary to ensure that access to its strategic oil resources be maintained. Iraq was subsequently used as a base for some of the troops used to attack Syria in the Syria-Lebanon campaign in June and July 1941 and also the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August to September 1941. Forward defences against a possible German invasion from the north were created in 1942. After 1942, Iraq and Iran were used to transit war material to the Soviet Union.

While Rashid Ali and his supporters were in alliance with the Nazi regime in Germany, the war demonstrated that Iraq's independence was at best conditional on British approval of the government's actions.

Military occupation of Iraq continued for two years after the war was over, finally ending on 26 October 1947.

See also

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ^ On 30 May Rashid Ali and his supporters fled to Persia. At 4a.m. 31 May on a bridge across the Washash Canal the armistice was signed.[2]
  2. ^ See Middle East Command#Role of Middle East Command for further details on the three Commanders-in-Chief based within the Middle East.
Citations
  1. ^ Playfair, pp. 182 – 183
  2. ^ Playfair, pp. 192, 332
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Playfair, p. 182
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Playfair, p. 179
  5. ^ Playfair, p. 193
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Playfair, p. 177
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Playfair, p. 178
  8. ^ Playfair, pp. 178 – 179
  9. ^ Playfair, pp. 177 – 178
  10. ^ Mackenzie, pp. 92 – 93
  11. ^ Playfair, pp. 179 – 180
  12. ^ Playfair, p. 178
  13. ^ Playfair, p. 181
  14. ^ Mackenzie, pp. 93–94
  15. ^ Mackenzie, p. 95
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Mackenzie, p. 96
  17. ^ Mackenzie, p. 100
  18. ^ Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
  19. ^ Mackenzie, p. 103
  20. ^ Mackenzie, p. 104

References

  • Mackenzie, Compton. Eastern Epic: Volume 1 September 1939-March 1943 Defence. Chatto & Windus London. ISBN B000KZ3DAY. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)
  • Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. pp. 544 pages. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
  • Playfair, I.S.O. (2006). The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume II The Germans come to the help of their Ally (1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series, Official Campaign History. Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84734-427-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origdate= ignored (|orig-date= suggested) (help)

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