Iraqforce - History

History

During World War I, the British Army defeated the Ottoman Army on the Middle Eastern Front during the Mesopotamian Campaign. Subsequently, the League of Nations designated Mesopotamia as a mandate territory, the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. From 1920 to the early 1930s, "RAF Iraq Command" was created as an inter-service command in charge of all British forces in the mandate-controlled Kingdom of Iraq. The command consisted of Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, British Army, Commonwealth, and locally raised units and was commanded by an RAF officer normally of Air Vice-Marshal rank.

In 1932, the British mandate in Iraq ended. However, per the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930, the United Kingdom was permitted to maintain troops in Iraq. In 1933 or 1934, RAF Iraq Command was renamed the "British Forces in Iraq." By the late 1930s, these forces were restricted to two Royal Air Force stations, RAF Shaibah near Basra and RAF Habbaniya west of Baghdad.

On 1 April 1941, during World War II, Rashid Ali seized power in Iraq via a coup d'état. He was supported by three top level Royal Iraqi Army officers and one top level Royal Iraqi Air Force officer who were collectively known as the "Golden Square." Rashid Ali proclaimed himself Chief of the "National Defence Government." His new government was immediately recognized by Nazi Germany. It was openly pro-Nazi and anti-British.

Sabine Force was initially despatched from Karachi by GHQ India to seize and secure the port of Basra and to supplement the existing British Forces in Iraq at RAF Shaibah and RAF Habbaniya. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill saw Basra as a major supply base in the future for material from the United States. Churchill did not recognize Rashid Ali's "National Defence Government" as legitimate. Churchill also wanted to reinstate a more compliant Iraqi government and to protect British interests in Iraq, notably the oilfields of which the British-owned Anglo-Persian Oil Company was concession holder.

On 18 April, a brigade from Karachi landed and Basra was captured. On 30 April, a second brigade arrived. The Rashid Ali government demanded that the British forces be removed from Iraq and Iraqi forces took up positions around RAF Habbaniya. On 2 May, British aircraft from Habbaniya launched a pre-emptive attack on Iraqi forces throughout the country.