THE LAST DAY OF THE ASSYRIAN LEVIES
May 2nd , 1955
From the Biograph of The Assyrian
Levies in Habnia
THE LAST DAY OF THE ASSYRIAN
LEVIES
May 2nd , 1955
By: Solomon (Sawa) Solomon
On April 4, 1955, an agreement was signed between Iraq and Britain which called for the withdrawal of British forces from Iraq. In general this treaty gave Iraq full responsibility for her own defense, but at the same time charged Britain with responsibility for providing training and technical assistance for the Iraqi Air Force.
Little time was lost in starting to implement the withdrawal plans after
they had been drawn up. The initial step was to hand over command of Habbanyia, Basra, and
Shaiabah to the Royal Iraqi Air Force. It was felt at the time that the most
dramatic and sad part of this whole affair was the disbandment of the Assyrian
Levies. This force was created by the British Army in 1919 and given the name the
" Iraq Levies." In October l922, the R.A.F.
took over the Levies from the army.
On March l5,1943,their title was changed to "R.A.F.
Levies, Iraq." The ceremonies marking the transfer of control of Habbanyia to the
Iraqis took place on May 2,1955. The date was both the birthday of King Faisal II
and the second anniversary of his coronation. Present at the ceremony were members
of the Royal family, the Iraqi Government, the British Ambassador Sir Michael Wright, the
A.O.C. Air Vice Marshal Brookes, special delegations from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan,
Libya, and Turkey. Also present were ambassadors from other countries including U.S.
Ambassador Waldemar J. Gallman; His Grace Metropolitan Mar Yousip Khnanisho and Rev.
Goriel Suleiman were also in attendance. The parade that was to follow was commanded by
group captain A.B. Riall. During the ceremonies, speeches were exchanged by
the British Ambassador Sir Michael Wright and the Iraqi foreign Minister Musa Shabandar.
The Assyrian Levies attended two
parades that day. The first parade comprised two Royal Guards of Honor, One Assyrian and
one Iraqi. The Iraqi one was drawn from an already existing battalion which had been
brought to Habbanyia to form part of the Iraqi Garrison. The Assyrian contingent comprised
some 370 officers and men grouped in a wing of four squadrons. After the marching, the
union jack was lowered, and the Iraqi flag was raised. At the same time, a ceremony
following the pattern at Habbanyia took place at Shaibah. It was attended by the
acting British Consul General of Basra, J. Wright, and the Iraqi Governor of Basra Muzahim
Mahir.
The Levies in Habbanyia then returned to their own parade ground, where they formed up in
a hollow square and awaited the arrival of the British Ambassador. 
He was received with a royal salute and then he addressed the parade. After that he went around the ranks and bade farewell to each of the Levy officers. On completion, the parade gave three cheers to the Queen. The troops marched past, returned to their own line and then immediately after that, the parade was dismissed.
That afternoon all uniforms and weapons were handed over. The Levies had marched
into history and all that was left were memories of names like Rawanduz, Barzan, Hanaidi,
Sir Amadia, and Habbaniya.
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