Iraq Levies

The Iraq Levies (also known as the Assyrian Levies) was a predominantly Assyrian force and the first Iraqi military force. They were established by the British, who controlled Mandatory Iraq. 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 but also some Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen who lived in the north of the country, and 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, which was claimed by Turkey, and massed its army across the frontiers. After 1928, the prime role of the Levies was to guard the British Royal Air Force bases located in Iraq.

The Levies fought alongside the British during the Anglo-Iraqi War, helping defeat Axis-aligned Iraqis, along with distinguishing themselves by their "loyalty to the British and their fighting prowess". The force thereafter grew and survived until it was disbanded in Habbaniya, west of Baghdad, following the end of the British presence in Iraq in 1955. The Assyrians also served in campaigns in Syria and Lebanon and were deployed in other theatres of the Second World War, including in the Balkans and Italy.