IOR/L/PS/20/C204

This volume is a report submitted to the British Air Ministry by Air Vice-Marshal John Frederick Andrews Higgins. It consists of a chronological narrative of significant military events in Iraq during his time as Air Officer Commanding, British Forces in Iraq, from April 1924 until November 1926. It is divided by year and by geographical area.

The report discusses general military activities undertaken during the period, including the aerial observation of settlements and groups deemed potentially dangerous to the Government, the movements of British and Iraqi troops, and the training of the Iraq Army by British officers.

It notably covers the following:

• Turkish attempts to assert control over the Mosul Vilayet, including ‘infiltration’ of northern Iraq by Turkish personnel, the build-up of troops on the Turkey-Iraq border, and incursions of Turkish cavalry units across the border, which were stopped by British aerial bombardment
• British planning for the defence of Mosul in the event of a full-scale Turkish invasion, the eventual resolution of the Turkey-Iraq border dispute by the decision of the League of Nations, and a subsequent agreement between Turkey, Iraq, and Britain
• Kurdish resistance to British occupation and the central Iraqi Government, focusing on the continuing anti-British activities of Shaikh Mahmud Barzanji [Maḥmūd Barzanjī], particularly: British ground and aerial attacks on Kurdish villages; a clash between Assyrian levy troops and local Muslim inhabitants at Kirkuk; the suppression of an uprising led by Shaikh Mahmud, including discussions with Riza Khan [Reżā Shāh Pahlavī, Shāh of Iran] about coordination between Iraq and Persia [Iran] against Shaikh Mahmud; British attempts to protect Jaf [Jaff] tribespeople from Shaikh Mahmud’s demands for money during their migration to Persia; and punitive attacks by the British on tribesmen from the Auroman [Hawraman] region for supporting Shaikh Mahmud
• Issues in southern Iraq, primarily involving Akhwan [Ikhwān] raids on nomadic Iraqi herding communities, including: steps taken by the British Government to prevent these raids, such as improved communications in the desert borderlands; aerial bombing of raiding groups; and the detailed mapping of the area to improve the accuracy of British counterattacks against the Ikhwan. The report also mentions the bombing of the house of Shaikh Salim Al Khayun [Sālim al-Khayyūn] in the village of Chubaish [Al-Chibayish], and the Shaikh’s subsequent surrender to Government authorities
• Fighting between the forces of ‘Daham, Chief of the Syrian Shammar Jarba’ [Dahhām bin al-Hādī bin al-ʿĀṣī al-Jarbā] and ‘Ajill, Chief of the Iraqi Shammar Jarba’ [‘Ujayl al-Yāwar al-Jarbā], and details the deployment of British armoured cars and aeroplanes to assist Ajill in fighting Daham’s forces.

The report contains six appendices:

• ‘Appendix A- Forces in Iraq, April, 1924’
• ‘Appendix B- Note on History of Sheikh Mahmud Prior to April, 1924’
• ‘Appendix C- Composition of Frontier Force under Colonel Commandant H.T. Dobbin, C.B.E., D.S.O., September, 1924’
• ‘Appendix D- Composition of Chapforce under Colonel Commandant J.G. Chaplain, C.B.E., D.S.O.’
• ‘Appendix E- Anti-Akhwan Organisation’
• ‘Appendix F- Reduction of Garrison Following Treaty with Turkey’.

Four maps are included in the report. These are catalogued as ‘‘Iraq-Persia Map No. 1’ (IOR/L/PS/20/C204, f 32); ‘Map No. 2’ (IOR/L/PS/20/C204, f 33); ‘Map No. 3’ (IOR/L/PS/20/C204, f 34); and ‘Basra. Map No. 4’ (IOR/L/PS/20/C204, f 35).