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Royal Iraqi Army

In 1946 there are around 34,000 officers and men in the Iraqi Army. A British Inspector-General oversees general military co-operation with the British Army and the British Military Mission trains and equips the Iraqis along British lines. The British Military Mission effectively has command control over the Iraqi armed forces.

Currently the Iraqi Army has twelve Infantry Battalions organized into four brigades; I (Baghdad), II (Kirkuk), III (Mosul) and IV (Basra), two Cavalry Regiments (Al Kut and Arbil), four Artillery Regiments equipped with 25pdr field guns (one attached to each Brigade), one independent anti-tank Brigade with 6pdr AT guns, one Armoured Car Regiment with 70 Daimler Armoured Cars, 12 Carrier Machine Gun No.1 Mk I and 12 Light Tank Mk VI (A14) Tetrarch (each of the four squadrons are based at Baghdad, Mosul, Tikrit and Basra), one Armoured Regiment with 80 Cruiser Tank Mk V Crusader (A15) tanks (Baghdad) and three engineer companies (Baghdad, Kirkuk and Tikrit). Standard issue equipment is all British and includes the .303in Rifle No.2 Mk III, Short Magazine Lee-Enfield, .303in Vickers machine-guns and .303in Vickers ‘K’ machine-guns. Anti-aircraft defences comprises 36 3in guns and 90 20mm cannon.

All formations are organisied on British Army lines.