Kirburk / Kurdistan

[gilesforrest]

Hi all,

Appreciate this was just after WW1, but my ancestor who was in the RAF was awarded the GSM with Kurdistan clasp.

He relinquished commission 1st August so he must have been awarded it for "At Kirburk or north of a line east and west through Kirburk between 23 May and 31 July 1919."

Problem is I can't find anything about what happened at Kirburk (i.e. what was the RAF doing there at that time) - can anyone point me to some reference material?

One other thing:

Although in his air records it says:

Outgoing Authority: Home Defence 174/ 30/7/19; Relinquished Commission; 8-1-19

I can only assume this means 1st August 1919 rather than 8th January 1919 otherwise he wouldn't have qualified for the Kurdistan Clasp if that was the case??

Many thanks,

Giles

[MaureenE]

The correct place is Kirkuk

Article by Harry Fecitt , GWF member bushfighter

Kurdistan 1919: Military Operations in Mesopotamian Kurdistan

http://www.kaiserscross.com/304501/527922.html

From the above article:

Endnote


Many more units than those mentioned in the above text served in the 1919 Kurdistan campaigns but this article has concentrated on the major actions and the units involved in those actions. Information on other units involved can be obtained by studying page 2882 to the Supplement to the London Gazette dated 8 March 1920, and by reading page 517 of British Battles and Medals.

Cheers

Maureen

[gilesforrest]

Many thanks Maureen - looks like that typo has propagated to most websites!

The one thing that confuses me is that my ancestor was in home defence rather than overseas and in December 1918 is posted to "dispersal centre" which appears to be for demobilisation?

He had been in Hejaz as a flying officer observer in Western Arabia during WW1 in 1917 but didn't think this would qualify for GSM?

All seems a bit odd.

Regards

Giles