page_title: 1st Lincolnshire Artillery Volunteers
section_title: Iraq and Syria
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Lincolnshire Artillery Volunteers / World War II / Iraq and Syria
caption_attribution_description: English: The Campaign in Syria 1941 25-pdr field gun in action during the advance into Syria, 13 June 1941.
context_page_description: The 1st Lincolnshire Artillery Volunteers were formed in 1860 as a response to a French invasion threat. They fought on the Western Front during World War I. In World War II, the unit took part in the Battle of France and Dunkirk evacuation, the Anglo-Iraqi War with 'Kingcol', the Western Desert Campaign in which it distinguished itself at the Battle of Sidi Rezegh, and finally fought as infantry in the Chindits. The unit was disbanded in 1947.
context_section_description: After a German-backed coup d'état in Iraq in April 1941, the Royal Air Force (RAF) training base at Habbaniya came under siege by Iraqi Nationalist forces. As soon as it arrived in the Middle East, 60th Fd Rgt was sent up to Palestine to join the relief column, known as 'Habforce'. Brigadier 'Joe' Kingstone was sent on ahead with a Flying column named 'Kingcol' to effect a relief of the airbase as soon as possible. The field artillery component of Kingcol was provided by the 25-pounders of 237 Fd Bty.
  Kingcol operated as a self-contained unit with 12 days' rations and five days' water. It moved out from Transjordan following the Amman–Baghdad road and Mosul–Haifa oil pipeline to the fort of Rutba, which had been recaptured by the Arab Legion and 2nd Armoured Car Squadron, RAF, on 10 May. Kingcol moved on from Rutba on 15 May, crossing the desert in exceptionally hot weather, digging the heavy vehicles out when they broke through the surface of the poor tracks, and under attack by German aircraft. The direct road to Habbaniya was blocked by Iraqi troops at Ramadi, but engineers from Habbaniya had bridged the canal to the south and Kingcol arrived from that direction on 18 May. 237 Battery went straight into action, firing across floodwaters at the Iraqi positions. Kingcol and the Habbaniya garrison now planned an attack on Fallujah, moving up both sides of the Euphrates (the Battle of Fallujah). A troop of six 25-pounders of 237 Bty accompanied the RAF's Assyrian Levies to advance from the south-west and seize the vital Euphrates bridge. On 19 May, the levies advanced over open boggy ground, covered by the fire of the 25-pounders, and crossed and captured the bridge in only half an hour. The Iraqis counter-attacked on 22 May, but the British and Assyrian troops fought back ferociously and the Iraqis withdrew. The British now prepared to advance on Baghdad in two small columns, each accompanied by a troop of 25-pounders. Kingcol advancing on the south side was held up by Iraqi 18-pounders, but these were engaged by 237 Bty, allowing the British troops to work their way forward. Rumour magnified the size of these small forces, and the Iraqis asked for an armistice on 30 May.
  In mid-June, Habforce (including 237 Bty) joined the campaign against Vichy French forces in Syria. Its role was to advance across the desert from Iraq towards Palmyra. F Troop saw action at Oumm Ovalid with the Transjordan Frontier Force. Habforce's advance was continually harried by Vichy Air Force attacks. Meanwhile, 6th Division, which had recently been reformed in Egypt, had been sent up to handle the advance from Palestine toward Damascus, supported by the rest of 60th Fd Rgt. 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers captured Quneitra with 25-pounder support, but the guns had then been withdrawn and the Vichy forces later re-took the town, capturing most of the Fusiliers. A troop of 60th Fd Rgt regiment supported 2nd Battalion, Queen's Regiment of 6th Division in a cross-country movement to retake it once more on 17 June. On 30 June, D Troop broke up an enemy counter-attack and destroyed four armoured vehicles. After the fall of Damascus and Palmyra, the Syria–Lebanon campaign ended on 14 July with the Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre.
caption: 25-pounder in action during the advance into Syria, 13 June 1941.
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