Anglo-Iraqi War

World War II
	Iraqi flag of 1941.; Iraqi national flag at the time of the British invasion.
Date	April 18 - May 30 1940
Location	Iraq
Result	Decisive British victory
Belligerents
Iraq	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
	General Wavell
Strength
five divisions	about two divisions
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Anglo-Iraqi War was a short war, fought between the United Kingdom and the Iraqi nationalist government, from April 18, 1941 to May 30 of the same year. Although it was barely a month long, the war resulted in a renewal of British occupation of the country and further fuelled nationalist resentment of the British supported monarchy.

Causes

Although Iraq was officially granted independence from the United Kingdom in 1937, a number of conditions were stipulated under the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930, including air bases and free movement for troops through the country. Many Iraqis, especially nationalists, were angry at these conditions and felt that their country was still suffering from exploitation by Britain.

In 1939, the government of Nuri as-Said wanted to declare war on Germany and the Axis following the September invasion of Poland. However, the anti-British sentiment meant that the government was only able to cut off diplomatic relations with Germany. An openly pro-Axis prime minister, Rashid Ali, staged a coup d'etat, overthrew the Government, and attempted to restrict the rights granted to the British under the 1930 agreement. Rashid Ali had already done a deal with the Axis representatives in the area that he would hand over Iraq's oil supplies to them, and also the two British air bases for Axis occupation and use.

The British Army's Middle East Command in Cairo hastily assembled a formation known as Iraqforce — which included the Indian 10th Infantry Division under the command of General Sir Edward Quinan — and it landed at Basra on April 18.

There were two main British military bases in Iraq, at Basra and at Habbaniya, west of Baghdad. On April 30 the Iraqi Army surrounded the isolated and poorly-defended Royal Air Force base at Habbaniya and warned that any military activity would be considered as hostile.

British response and resolution

Although Habbaniya had no offensive aircraft, RAF personnel converted as many of the training aircraft as possible to carry weapons. The Iraqis laid siege to Habbaniya with infantry and artillery, and the RAF retaliated by bombing the Iraqi forces. The base effectively relieved itself by its determined action, and the small garrison was augmented by another British relief force Habforce, and its flying colum KingCol moving in from Palestine. With these forces the larger but poorly-trained Iraqi Army was defeated in a see-saw battle for Fallujah despite direct aid received from the German Luftwaffe. British forces pressed on to Baghdad, where the government of Rashid Ali collapsed. Rashid Ali and his supporters fled to Iran and on the first day of June an armistice was signed and the monarchy restored.

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