| Assyrian Levies | |
|---|---|
 Three members of the RAF Levies arrive at Liverpool aboard SS Orbita in 1946. | |
| Active | 1921–1955 |
| Country | Iraq |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army Royal Air Force |
| Type | Air force |
| Size | 40,000 Assyrians[1] |
| Nickname(s) | Assyrian Levies |
| Engagements | Mahmud Barzanji revolts Kirkuk Massacre of 1924 World War II • Anglo-Iraqi War Ahmed Barzani revolt[2] Simko Shikak revolt (1918–1922)[2] Simko Shikak revolt (1926)[2] |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Dawid Mar Shimun Agha Petros Malik Khoshaba Malik Yaqo Zaia Giwargis |
The Iraq Levies (also known as the Assyrian Levies) were the first Iraqi military force established by the British in British controlled Iraq.[3] The Iraq Levies originated in a local armed scout force raised during the First World War. After Iraq became a British Mandate, the force was composed mostly of Assyrians, Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen who lived in the north of the country, while the nascent Iraqi Army was recruited first from the Arabs who had joined the Iraqi Levies and later from the general Arab population (Beth-Kamala). Eventually the Levies enlisted mainly Assyrian soldiers with British officers. The unit initially defended the northern frontiers of the Province of Mosul when Turkey claimed the province and massed its army across the frontiers. After 1928 the prime role of the Levies was to guard the Royal Air Force bases located in Iraq.[4]
The Levies distinguished themselves in May 1941 during the Anglo-Iraqi War where Assyrians defeated a large force of 15.000 Iraqi Nazis with British air support in multiple battles. The Assyrians also defeated other Nazi Arabs in campaigns in Syria and Lebanon and were also used in other theatres of the Second World War, including in the Balkans and Italy. The force thereafter grew and survived until it was disbanded when control of RAF Habbaniya and RAF Shaibah was handed to Iraq in 1957.[5]
- ^ 40,000 Assyrians fought in the Levies
- ^ a b c "آغا بطرس: سنحاريب القرن العشرين" (PDF). نينوس نيراري. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2018.
- ^ Stafford, R. S. (2006) [1935]. The Tragedy of the Assyrians. Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-59333-413-0.
- ^ Browne, J. Gilbert (1932). The Iraqi Levies 1915–1932. London: Royal United Service Institution. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ Nisan, Mordechai (1991). Minorities in the Middle East: a history of struggle and self-expression. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-89950-564-0.