siege of RAF Habbaniya

E404982

The siege of RAF Habbaniya was a key World War II engagement in Iraq where British-led forces defended a vital Royal Air Force base against Iraqi troops aligned with a pro-Axis government in 1941.

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All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
siege of RAF Habbaniya canonical 1

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf battle of World War II
military conflict
alsoKnownAs Battle of Habbaniya
attackedBy Iraqi Air Force
Iraqi Army
surface form: Iraqi Army units

Iraqi artillery
belligerent British Empire
Iraqi Army
surface form: Iraqi government forces

Royal Air Force
United Kingdom
pro-Axis Iraqi regime
cause pro-Axis coup in Iraq in April 1941
commanderForBritishSide Air Vice-Marshal Harry George Smart
Brigadier James Joseph Kingstone
commanderForIraqiSide Iraqi Golden Square officers
Rashid Ali al-Gaylani
conflict Iraq campaign (1941)
surface form: Anglo-Iraqi War
conflictType air-ground engagement
siege
country Iraq
date 1941
defendedBy Assyrian Levies
Iraqi Levies
RAF personnel
armoured cars of the British forces
endDate 6 May 1941
location Kingdom of Iraq
RAF Habbaniya
notableFeature outnumbered British garrison
rapid offensive sorties from the besieged airfield
use of training aircraft in combat roles by RAF
opponent British-led forces
Iraqi Army
outcome collapse of Iraqi offensive around Habbaniya
facilitated British advance on Baghdad
partOf Iraq campaign (1941)
surface form: British military intervention in Iraq in 1941

World War II
precededBy Iraqi coup d'état of 1941
surface form: coup of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani
relatedEvent Battle of Fallujah (1941)
occupation of Baghdad by British forces in 1941
result British victory
lifting of Iraqi siege of the air base
startDate 30 April 1941
strategicImportance control of air routes and oil resources in the Middle East
defense of vital RAF base in Iraq
protection of British lines of communication to India
theatre Middle East theatre of World War II

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Iraq campaign (1941) involves siege of RAF Habbaniya