This week, seventy years ago, German reinforcements, from the Luftwaffe, arrived to aid the Iraqis in their war to oust the British from their country. They would soon be joined by the planes of the Regia Aeronautica.
    The origin of this situation began, as did the war itself, with World War I.  World War I pitted the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom & Empire, the Bulgarian Kingdom and the Ottoman-Turkish Empire - known as the “Central Powers” - against, essentially, the rest of the world.  After the defeat of the Central Powers and the formation of the League of Nations, Turkey was, pursuant to the Treaty of Sévres and later the Treaty of Lausanne, stripped of its Arab possessions and they were awarded to France and Great Britain as “Mandates” to administer. One of the Mandates, which the British were tasked with administering, was Iraq. In 1932 Great Britain granted Iraq its independence - sort of.
    Already, it was a source of oil, which the British sought to protect. In 1921, the British had tapped Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi to be King Faisal I of Iraq. It didn’t hurt that he had fought with “Lawrence of Arabia” against the Turks, had lived in England and was related to the Prophet Muhammad. A year after the British granted the Kingdom of Iraq its nominal independence, Faisal I, died, and was succeeded by his son Ghazi.
    The “independence” which the British granted to Iraq, in 1932, was similar to that which the United States envisioned for the country when it attacked Iraq 70 years later - military bases, guaranteed oil, British “advisors” to the Iraqi government, Iraqi assistance in any war in which Britain was involved, and the separation of Kuwait into a separate country.
    When King Ghazi was killed in a car crash, on April 4, 1939, he was succeeded by his four-year-old son, Faisal II. Because of his youth, his father’s cousin and brother-in-law, pro-British Prince Abd al-Ilah was named Regent. Although Great Britain pushed for a Declaration of War against the German Reich from the Kingdom of Iraq, in accordance with the pre-independence treaty which it had imposed upon Iraq, the best that it could get from Iraq was a severing of relations with the Reich. When the Kingdom of Italy declared war on Great Britain, Iraq refused to even break relations with the Italians.
    On March 31, 1940, Rashid Ali al-Galani became Prime Minister. He was a nationalist and wanted the British out of his country. He was forced to resign, on January 31, 1941, by the pro-British Regent. However, backed by four colonels, known as “The Golden Square,” he was reinstalled, on April 3, 1941, and the Regent left Baghdad for British protection. He went first to the RAF base a Habbinayi. The British then transported him to Basra, after Indian troops secured that city, where he resided on the gunboat HMS Cockchafer. The new Iraqi Prime Minister named a new Regent for the child-king - Sharif Sharaf - who spent his time as Regent praying and tending his garden, leaving matters of state to the Prime Minister.
    A joint Italian-German declaration of support, promising military and financial assistance to Iraq was issued April 9, 1941. On April 16, Germany issued a statement promising to “support” any action against the British. These statements were misinterpreted by the Iraqis as guaranteeing that the mighty German Wehrmacht would come to their, immediate, aid in any war with Britain.
    The anti-British sentiment was stoked, in part, by the collapse of the Arab Revolt in Palestine. After its collapse, many of its ringleaders fled to Baghdad, including Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Huseini - The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. When relations between the Kingdom of Iraq and the United Kingdom began to unravel, the Grand Mufti issued a fatwa calling for a holy war against the British. In return, the British sent David Raziel, commander of Irgun, Ya’akov Meridor, Raziel’s successor in Irgun, and two others to Iraq, on May 17, 1941, to kill the Grand Mufti. The Irgun was a Jewish paramilitary organization operating in Palestine. It was more aggressive than the Haganah.
    On April 18, 1941, the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Donald Powell, captured the southern port city of Basra. Two weeks later an Iraqi counterattack failed to dislodge the Commonwealth forces. Four more Indian brigades would arrive by the middle of June. Twentieth Indian was a part of Tenth Indian Infantry Division, commanded by Major-General William A. K. Fraser, who arrived at Basra with the 20th, and took command of all ground forces in Iraq.
    In response, on April 30, Iraqi armed forces occupied the heights surrounding Habbanayi Royal Air Force Base, which was located near Lake Habbanayi, about 60 miles outside of Baghdad. Later, Iraqi troops occupied Fallujah, Ramadi and the bridges over the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The next day Iraqi soldiers attacked, and captured, the small British outpost at Rutbah, about 125 miles west of Baghdad, near the Transjordanian border, in western Al-Anbar province, on the Amman-Baghdad Highway. A company of the Arab Trans-Jordan Defense Force was ordered to retake the fort, but refused to cross the Jordanian/Iraqi border.
    On May 2, 1941, the R.A.F. began launching its “Shock and Awe” air strikes from Habbanayi against Iraqi air bases and military positions. Within a few days, Iraqi air power had been destroyed. But help was on the way. On May 11, the first three German planes arrived in Mosul, after a stop in Syria. That same week, the Iraqis seized the oil wells, at Mosul, and closed the pipeline running to Haifa, from which the Royal Navy derived its fuel for the Mediterranean Fleet. Although the Turks offered to mediate the disputes, the British declined.
    Command of Commonwealth ground forces, in Iraq, passed from Maj.-Gen. Fraser, on May 8, 1941, to Lt.-Gen. Edward Quinan, due to General Fraser’s illness.
    Meanwhile, British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, had ordered British Middle East Commander, General Sir Archibald Wavell to send reinforcements from Palestine. However, Palestine had already been denuded of most troops for service in Greece, North and East Africa. Major-General George Clark was assigned the task of scrapping together something. This “something” was labeled “Habforce,” short for “Habbanayi Force.” Since the Habbanayi position was surrounded, time was of the essence, so Gen. Clark divided his force into two columns, one of which was labeled “Kingcol,” short for “Kingstone Column,” for its commander Brigadier-General James Kingstone.
    “Kingcol” consisted of the Fourth Cavalry Brigade, two companies of the Essex Infantry Regiment, an RAF armored car company and a battery of 25 pound howitzers. The remainder of “Habforce,” commanded by Lt.-Col. John S. Nichols consisted of the balance of The Essex Regiment, the rest of the field artillery regiment, an antitank battery and a 400-man detachment of the Arab Legion. The Arab Legion retook Rutbah on May 10.
    The next day, “Kingcol” departed from Haifa, on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine, bound for Habbaniya, 500 miles distant, in 130 degree heat. Accompanying “Kingcol” was Marine Captain James Roosevelt, oldest son of the American President.
    The first supplies, from the Axis countries, arrived from Vichy French Syria on May 13. That same day, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, in exile in Baghdad, issued a call, by radio, summoning all Muslims to join in the fight against Great Britain.
    The Luftwaffe attacked “Kingcol” on May 16. Two days later, “Kingcol” arrived at Habbaniya, but by then the Iraqis had abandoned the siege. That same day, Maj.-Gen. Fraser, Tenth Indian Division’s commander, having fallen ill, was replaced by Maj.-Gen. William Slim. Gen. Slim ended the war highly decorated and in 1949 was handed the field marshal’s baton. The Jewish assassin, David Raziel, sent by the British to assassinate the Grand Mufti, was killed on May 20, during a bombing raid on Habbaniya by the Luftwaffe.
    The next objective, for Commonwealth troops, was Fallujah, which guarded the best bridge across the Euphrates River to Baghdad. At that time, it was a town of 10,000. Before the American invasion, it had grown to a city of 600,000. After Commonwealth forces surrounded the town, the RAF bombed it into submission and on May 19, the 300 defenders surrendered, at no cost to the invaders. On May 22 the Iraqi Sixth Infantry Brigade unsuccessfully attempted to retake the town. The rest of “Habforce” arrived on May 25. The following day, a fighter squadron from the Regia Aeronautica Italia arrived in Kirkuk and began attacking the British troops coming from Fallujah to Baghdad.
    Within the week, Commonwealth forces, even though outnumbered by more than 15 to one, were headed to Baghdad. On May 27, planes of the Regia Aeronautica Italia arrived at Mosul. On May 28, the 21st Indian Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Charles J. Weld, moving up from Basra, captured the ancient city of Ur, birthplace of Abraham.
    On May 29, after stealing the Iraqi soldiers’ monthly pay of 17,000 dinars, Prime Minister Rashid Ali, other members of his government and the Grand Mufti were on their way to Persia/Iran and then to Germany by way of Turkey and Italy. Two days later, an Iraqi delegation headed by the Baghdad Mayor met the British at the Washash Bridge and executed an armistice. The same day, the Italians, seeing that the jig was up, escaped to Syria.
    On June 1, the Regent, Prince Abd al-Ilah reentered the Iraqi capital and resumed his position, which he held until the King reached majority. As would happen 70 years later, the city was torn apart by rioting and looting, with many Jews being killed.
    Gurkhas occupied Mosul on June 3 and Kirkuk a few days later.
    A new Iraqi cabinet is formed, on June 4, with British assistance.
    Upon their arrival in Germany, the Iraqi leaders were welcomed as Iraq’s government-in-exile.
    The Commonwealth forces lost 60 killed and 28 planes. The Iraqis suffered 1,750 casualties, of which 500 were fatalities. Their entire air force was destroyed. In addition, 29 German and 12 Italian aircraft were lost.  
    On November 28th der Führer received the Grand Mufti who told him that, “...the Arab world was firmly convinced that a German victory, by virtue not only of the large army, brave soldiers and brilliant military strategists at the German’s disposal, but also because Allah could never grant victory to an unjust cause.”  Der Führer responded by informing the Grand Mufti of his plans for the Jews. Subsequently, the Grand Mufti assisted in recruiting Bosnian Muslims for the SS Handschar (Sword) Division which was used, primarily, to fight Marshal Tito’s partisans in Yugoslavia.
    The Commonwealth forces in Iraq were later used in the invasions of Syria and Persia/Iran. The British continued to occupy Iraq until the end of October 1947, all of which made no friends in the Arab world for the West.

NEXT WEEK: KINGDOM OF CROATIA ESTABLISHED

Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own.