WAR IN THE HILLS

Taranaki Daily News, 24 May 1932, Page 9

WAR IN THE HILLS

NORTH INDIAN CAMPAIGN

'AEROPLANES QUELLED MAHMOUD.

THE ANTIQUE AND THE NEW.

(’From a Correspondent.)

London, April 5. ' Imagination stirring facts about the ■part played by the Royal Air Force in an eight months’ campaign among the ’plains and mountains' of Southern (Kurdistan against an insurgent chieftain are contained in a detailed report of the operations which has been placed st my disposal by the Air Ministry, i The story is fantastic in its mingling of :-the antique and the new. On one aide the tribesmen, clad in garments mot differing by. a single thread from those worn by their forefathers, since the days of Abraham, but armed indeed (with rifles rather than swords or Bpears; against them the 20th century counterpart of the mediaeval kniht —the air pilot in his flying marine. The setting is the grim territory along the borders of Persia, Kurdistan and Iraq, a land where rugged (mountain ranges dominate the scene, ’where great heat in summer alternates (with deadly cold during the winter (months. Among the mountains moved 'Sheikh Mahmoud and his warriors eternally doubling to escape the pursuers, turning every now and then to the swift capture of an outlying post, only in the. end to be defeated and obliged to sue for peace by the ever-growing pressure exerted from the skies against them. i The Sheikh emerged from three years iof Unusual peacefulness in September, '1930, when he took advantage of nationalist unrest in Kurdistan to advance With a strong force across the frontier into Iraq. Operations against the Sheikh were based largely on the existence of the newly formed Iraqi army; the original: spheme provided that the Royal 'Air Force should only take positive action against the enemy if the Iraqi troops were attacked and in need of assistance. The course, of events obliged modifications of this plan and the operations eventually were resolved into three distinct phases, in the last only of which did the air force co-oner-ate fully. Sheikh Mahmoud’s first success was the'capture of the important police post of Penjvin, on the Persia-Iraq border. Air action was taken against the investing rebel picquets and local tribesmen, encouraged by the arrival of the aeroplanes, attacked the Sheikh’s men and .’drove them from Penjvin before the Iraqi column reached the scene of action. Nearly in the middle of. winter, the Sheikh captured another police post, this .'time at Surdash, nearly. 30 miles Inside Iraq territory; an air demonstration enabled a ground column to turn, the flank of the rebels and relieve ISurdash a few days after it had fallen. •At‘that moment the first phase of. the ’operations ended, the onrush of winter (enforcing a temporary lull.

"[PLANES BREAK REBEL ATTACK. Barely one month later the tireless Sheikh reappeared, with his forces in the Halibja Plain, an area particularly difficult for troop movements, at thattime of year. The scope of air action Was’ accordingly extended to include toperations against any bodies of definitely hostile tribesmen seen in the topen. A-tjiird., police post fell to the Sheikh,-who resisted all efforts to dislodge him. for some time. Relief columns were moved out from JSuleimaniWah and. aeroplanes went with it. On tone occasion a flank attack on the Iraqi icolumn was spotted from the air and dispersed by bombing and machine-gun ■ Hire. Just about then a favourable opportunity of rounding up the rebels was lost because the ground forces failed to reach the objective in time, and the second phase ended early in February with the balance decidedly in Mahtaouds favour. The next month was spent in grappling with the problem of bringing this Wary and elusive enemy to action. A ’special mobile force of 350 . mounted Police was raised, one Iraqi cavalry [regiment was trained in mountain .warifare, supply dumps were established through the/ anticipated operational area. °and full aerial co-operation was decided. These measures were scarcely completed when the Sheikh re-opened the ball with a successful attack on a ’convoy taking stores to a police post. Immediately afterwards he led his wild tribesmen into the hills and valleys of the Qara Dagh region, where he owns touch property and which is the home tof the turbulent Jaf tribes from whom he might expect (support. Instigated by the Sheikh these tribes be"an to refuse payment of taxes. Troops were sent and aeroplanes made [frequent reconnaissance and demonstration flights over the area. By the middle of March the revolt had spread to the large ’Sheikhan district, on the left bank of the Diyalah river. . Parties of [rebels filtered into the region and the only police post was closely invested. •At this time the situation was grave, and the effect of the Sheikh’s propaganda among the villagers was, sufficiently marked to oblige the dropping of proclamations which declared that any tillages known to be sheltering rebels [would be liable to aerial bombardment [after half an ■ hour s warning. Energetic action was taken to entrap ISheikh Mahmoud in the Qara Dagh Valley, but the wily chieftain contrived to slip out of danger 2A hours ahead 'of the sweeping movement. Withou ’a moment’s delay a similar sweep was made of the south-western side of the Qara Dagh. There the aeroplanes located large numbers of rebels and attacked them, forcing them to seek refuge in caves. For some hours the aeroplanes held them imprisoned, creating an opportunity for action by the cavalry column, which was lost because the commanding officer did not think the occasion suitable.

SWIFT CONCLUSION. Thence onward the tempo of the campaign quickened. Early in April the ground forces made a forced march of 30 miles to meet the Sheikh’s men. Air reconnaissance located the rebels at •Awa Barika. While the troops moved up-rapidly to the attack relays of aeroplanes maintained ceaseless harassing of the rebels with bombing and machine gun fire. Unfortunately the ground column failed to dislodge the. rebels from a strong point before nightfall and during the hours of darkness the 'Sheikh and his men again escaped. . Once more luck favoured the Sheikh, •when for some reason a pass on the south-western side of the Qara Dagh ■was left unguarded. Now the Sheikh, who got through the pass and across the Halibja plain just before he could be intercepted by armoured cars, moved north to territory where the ground column could not hope to come up with the unhampered rebels, who fight' and move “light.” That spelled the end of the Sheikh's adventure. The operations developed into a series of air attacks. His men were kept under close aerial observation and bombed at.every opportunity while the ground columns

moved up behind the aeroplanes to restore government authority. On April 23 Sheikh Mahmoud; sorely embarrassed and tired of the conflict, crossed into Persian territory and intimated his desire to surrender. Twenty days later he accepted at Penjvin the terms placed before him, which granted him his life, an allowance from the income of his estates, and permission to reside with his family at some place to be selected by the Iraq government. • Ironically enough he was flown two days afterwards from Suleimaniyah to Ur, where he was given temporary accommodation.

Though the limitation of air support in the early stages prolonged the war, it resulted in the Iraq army gaining much valuable experience and training. Erom first to last the policy against indiscriminate bombing of villages enabled the operations to be conducted with the least possible disturbance of Kurdish life and prosperity and avoided the bitterness and distress which a more drastic use of air power might have caused.

Thus the aeroplane proved its worth in active service over some of the most •hazardous flying country in the world. Once full aerial action began the 'Sheikh’s maraudings were ended within a few days. Without the flying machine the suppression of the revolt would have cost infinitely more in time and treasure. ' And the story of this “‘little war” is surely fit to rank in its qualities of glamour and high adventure with any of the frontier struggles that recur so frequently in the Empire’s history,