アングロ＝イラク戦争
The British garrison had suffered 13 men killed, 21 badly wounded, and four men were suffering battle fatigue. The garrison had inflicted between 500 and 1000 casualties on the besieging force, and numerous more men had been taken prisoner. On 6 May alone, 408 Iraqi troops were captured. The Chiefs-of-Staff now ordered that it was essential to continue to hit the Iraqi armed forces hard by every means available but avoiding direct attacks on the civilian population. The British objective was to safeguard British interests from Axis intervention in Iraq, to defeat the rebels and discredit Rashid's government.
A company of RAF Assyrian Levies, supported by artillery from Kingcol, was ordered to secure the bridge across the river. Throughout the day the RAF bombed positions in the town and along the Baghdad road, avoiding a general bombardment of the town because of the civilian population. On 19 May 57 aircraft began bombarding Iraqi positions within and around Fallujah before dropping leaflets requesting the garrison to surrender; no response was given and further bombing operations took place. The RAF dropped ten tons of bombs on Fallujah in 134 sorties.
During the afternoon a ten-minute bombardment of Iraqi trenches near the bridge was made before the Assyrian Levies advanced, covered by artillery fire.
Starting on 7 May and ending 8 May, elements of the 20th Indian Infantry Brigade and the 21st Indian Infantry Brigade captured Ashar, near Basra. Ashar was well defended and the Iraqi defenders inflicted a number of casualties on the British attackers. The British units involved were A, B, C, and D companies of 2nd battalion 8th Gurkha Rifles and a half section of Rolls Royce armoured cars from 4th battalion 13th Frontier Force Rifles. 2nd battalion 4th Gurkha Rifles were held in reserve. As a result of the successful action against Ashar, Basra City was secured without a fight. However, armed resistance from Iraqi police and Army units continued until 17 May.
At 06:00 hours, an Iraqi envoy presented a message to the air officer commanding, Air Vice-Marshal Harry George Smart, stating that the plateau had been occupied for a training exercise. The envoy also informed Smart that all flying should cease immediately and demanded that no movements, either ground or air, take place from the base. Smart replied that any interference with the normal training carried out at the base would be treated as an act of war. Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, the British Ambassador located at the British Embassy in Baghdad and in contact with RAF Habbaniya via wireless, fully supported this action.
Facing little opposition they captured the bridge within 30 minutes; they were then met by an Iraqi envoy who offered the surrender of the garrison and the town. 300 prisoners were taken and no casualties had been sustained by the British force. The Luftwaffe responded to the British capture of the city by attacking the Habbaniya airfield, destroying and damaging several aircraft and inflicting a number of casualties. On 18 May, Major-General Clark and AVM D'Albiac arrived in Habbaniya by air. They determined not to interfere with the ongoing operations of Colonel Roberts. On 21 May, having secured Fallujah, Roberts returned to Shaibah and to his duties with the 10th Indian Infantry Division.
With Habbaniya secure, the next objective for British forces was to secure the town of Fallujah as a preliminary objective before being able to march on Baghdad. An Iraqi Brigade group was holding the town and bridge of Fallujah denying the road to Baghdad; a further Brigade group was holding the town of Ramadi, west of Habbaniya, barring all movement westwards. Colonel Roberts dismissed the idea of attacking Ramadi because it was still garrisoned heavily by the Iraqi Army and was largely cut off by self-imposed flooding. Roberts would leave Ramadi isolated and, instead, secure the strategically important bridge over the Euphrates at Fallujah.
In the week following the withdrawal of the Iraqi forces near Habbaniya, Colonel Roberts formed what became known as the Habbaniya Brigade.
RAF attacks were also made against Iraqi air fields near Baghdad, which resulted in 22 aircraft being destroyed on the ground; further attacks were made against the railway and Iraqi positions near Shaibah, with the loss of two planes. Throughout the day, the pilots from Habbaniya flew 193 sorties and claimed direct hits on Iraqi transports, armoured cars and artillery pieces; however five aircraft had been destroyed and several others had been put out of service. On the base 13 people had lost their lives and a further 29 wounded, including nine civilians.
By the end of the day, the Iraqi force outside of Habbaniya had grown to roughly a brigade.
RIrAFには、7つの飛行隊と116機の訓練学校の航空機があったが、実戦に使用可能なのは50から60機だった。ほとんどのイラクの戦闘機と爆撃機は、バグダード(旧RAFヒナイディ)またはモスルの「ラシッド飛行場」にあった。4つの戦闘部隊と飛行士訓練学校はバグダッドに拠点を置いていた。緊密な協力と汎用航空機を備えた2つの飛行隊がモスルに拠点を置いていました。イラクは、グロスターグラディエーターバイプレーンファイター、ブレダ65ファイターボンバー、サボイアSM 79ミディアムボンバー、ノースロップ/ダグラス8Aファイターボンバー、ホーカーハート(ホーカーニスル)バイプレーン近接協力航空機、ビッカースビンセントバイプレーン軽爆撃機の他に、de Havilland Dragonバイプレーン汎用航空機、de Havilland Dragonflyバイプレーン汎用航空機、TigerMothバイプレーントレーナーを保有していた。RIrAFには、飛行隊に割り当てられていない別の9機の航空機と、予備の19機の航空機もあった。[19]
イラク海軍(RIrN)には、100トンのソーニークロフト砲艦、飛行士用船舶、4隻の掃海艇があった。全てが武装しており、シャット・アル・アラブ水路を拠点としていた。
Rashid Ali decided against opposing the landings at Basra.
Also, on 29 April, the British Ambassador, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis, advised that all British women and children should leave Baghdad; 230 civilians were escorted by road to Habbaniya and during the following days, were gradually airlifted to Shaibah. A further 350 civilians took refuge in the British Embassy and 150 British civilians in the American Legation.