1941 Iraqi coup d'état
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The Iraq coup of 1941, also known as the Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani coup.
In May 1941, four Iraqi nationalist army generals ("the Golden Square") overthrew the regime of the Regent and installed Rashid Ali as Prime Minister. The Golden Square intended to use the war to press for full Iraqi independence following the limited independence granted in 1937. To that end, they collaborated with Nazi German intelligence units and eventually accepted military assistance from Germany. In accepting that help, they compromised themselves and their cause as far as the British were concerned.
Britain reacted by landing troops at Basra which it claimed it was entitled to do under a treaty. The defense treaty was essentially dictated by the British without negotiation or agreement before independence was granted. It gave the British unlimited rights to station and transit troops through Iraq without even having to consult the Iraqi government.
The new Iraqi government many days after moved substantial ground forces to the plateau overlooking the large RAF base at Habbaniya. The Iraqis when they arrived in the area of the base demanded that the British not move any troops or aircraft in or out of the base. The British responded first with a demand that the Iraqis leave the area and then following the expiration of an ultimatum given in the early hours of May 2, launched an attack. The base had a force of 96 mostly obsolete aircraft immediately available. Many, but not all of the aircraft were trainers. The Iraqi airforce which included a number of modern US and Italian built machines proved to be no match. The British had 2200 troops to defend the base and 12 armoured cars. By the second day of fighting, a few more Blenheim fighter bombers arrived.
With assistance from the ground forces at the base, and the Iraqi levies (Iraqi troops raised by the British), the Iraqi troops were forced back to Falluja, the air battle was taken to the remaining Iraqi airforces bases. Habbaniya had essentially lifted the siege with its own resources. Once the reinforcements (British, Palestine, and Arab Legion) arrived in two columns (Habforce and KingCol) across the desert from Palestine and TransJordan, the Iraqi army was cleared from Falluja and pursued along the river valley to Baghdad, which fell within a week with the nominal restoration of the Regent and the pro-British government. British forces in truth ruled the country under military occupation until late 1947.
During the course of the Iraq war, minor reinforcements for the nationalists were received from both Germany and Italy, whose aircraft were crudely painted with Iraqi colours. A few Luftwaffe aircraft flew sorties from Mosul against both the base at Habbaniya and the relieving Commonwealth forces moving across from Jordan to little effect.
However, the Vichy French authorities in the Syrian Mandate had given some assistance to both the pro-Axis Iraqi nationalists and to the Germans (providing staging bases for the Luftwaffe). Even before the end of the Iraq campaign this had led to RAF attacks on airbases in Syria, and would lead to the full scale invasion of Vichy Syria within weeks.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Dudgeon, Air Vice-Marshal A.G. (1941). Hidden Victory: The Battle of Habbaniya.
- de Chair, Somerset. The Golden Carpet.
- "The Battle for Habbaniya - The forgotten war RAF"
