Iraq Active Service Medal

 

General Service In Iraq 1924 - 1938.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The Iraq Active Service Medal, was instituted in May 1926 and awarded to British Army (and Air Force) personnel serving in Iraq on the recommendation King Faisal for service in the field on minor campaigns in Iraq between 1924 and 1938 - resulting in it also being known as King Faisal’s War Medal.

 

 

The medal is circular, 38mm in diameter and struck in bronze. It is superimposed on two crossed rifles which protrude both above and below the medal. On the obverse of the medal within two laurel branches above a crescent which runs along the base of the medal   is the inscription (in Arabic); ‘GENERAL SERVICE’,

 

The reverse contains the inscription (in Arabic); ‘KING FAISAL I’ and the date (AH); ‘1344’ which relates to 1926.

 

The two muzzles of the rifle that extend above the medal are joined together by sunrays which attach to a flat ribbon suspender.

 

 

 

The medal ribbon is 31mm wide and is green in colour with a central white stripe.

 

 

It was generally issued without clasps, but those issued after 1931 are sometime found with a clasp (in Arabic) denoting the year of issue - these include 1930-31, 1932, 1935, and 1936.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The British Mandate In Iraq.

- King Faisal I Of Iraq.

 

The British Mandate In Iraq - The Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration or Mandatory Iraq was created in 1921 following the 1920 Iraqi Revolt against the proposed British Mandate for Mesopotamia, and enacted via the 1922 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty.

 

Faisal ibn Husayn, who had been proclaimed King of Syria by a Syrian National Congress in Damascus in March 1920, was ejected by the French in July of the same year. Faisal was then granted by the British the territory of Iraq, to rule it as a kingdom, with the British Royal Air Force (RAF) retaining certain military control, though de facto; the territory remained under British administration until 1932.

 

The civil government of post-war Iraq was headed originally by the High Commissioner, Sir Percy Cox, and his deputy, Colonel Arnold Wilson. British reprisals after the murder of a British officer in Najaf failed to restore order. The most striking problem facing the British was the growing anger of the nationalists, who continued to fight against the imposition of British authority.

 

British administration had yet to be established in Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The Kurds also lost their ancestral lands and were annexed to accommodate the interests of the British. This was also the case in Kurds of Turkey, Iran and Syria.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

King Faisal I Of Iraq - Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, 20 May 1883 - 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933. He was a member of the Hashemite dynasty.

 

Faisal fostered unity between Sunni and Shiite Muslims to encourage common loyalty and promote pan-Arabism in the goal of creating an Arab state that would include Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Fertile Crescent. While in power, Faisal tried to diversify his administration by including different ethnic and religious groups in offices.

 

He faced great challenges in achieving this because the region was under European - specifically French and British - control and other Arab leaders of the time were hostile to his ideas as they pursued their own political aspirations for power. In addition, Faisal’s attempt at pan-Arab nationalism may have contributed to the isolation of certain religious groups.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.