The Tenth Army was a field army of the

British Army during the Second World War At the start of 1939, the British Army was, as it traditionally always had been, a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with those of its enem ...

created in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and formed from the major part of "

Paiforce Iraqforce was a British and Commonwealth formation that came together in the Kingdom of Iraq. The formation fought in the Middle East during World War II. Background During World War I, the British Army defeated the Ottoman Army in the Middl ...

" (

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and Iraq Force). It was active in 1942 and 1943, and then disbanded. In April 1941,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Indian troops had been deployed to Iraq from India under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Edward P. Quinan to protect British interests, in particular oil concessions, after a coup d'etat had brought to power a government sympathetic to the Axis powers. The force was known as Iraqforce and was engaged in the

Anglo-Iraqi War The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Gaylani, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, with assistance from Germany and Italy. The ca ...

which took place in April and May Iraqi rebellion and took part in the defeat of the

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

forces in the subsequent Syria-Lebanon campaign. Later in 1941, the force took part in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran to prevent the Axis elements from entering Persia, and preventing the possibility of the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

gaining control of the

i and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

oil fields. Following this Iraqforce was renamed Paiforce (Persia and Iraq force). After the campaigns of 1941, Quinan's headquarters was redesignated Tenth Army and its main task was the maintenance of the lines of communication to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

to the Caspian and the protection of the South Persian and Iraqi oilfields. Its badge was a golden Assyrian Ox with human head and eagle's wings (a Cherub Guardian). A variation of colouring of this badge was a white Ox on a pale blue background. Quinan was knighted in June 1942 and in August 1942, he was promoted to be a full

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

. Tenth Army was initially part of Middle East Command but became part of

Persia and Iraq Command The Persia and Iraq Command was a command of the British Army established during the Second World War in September 1942 in Baghdad. Its primary role was to secure from land and air attack the oilfields and oil installations in Persia (officially ...

when it was activated in September 1942.

Order of Battle 1942

* Tenth Army commanded by Lieutenant-General

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Edward Quinan General Sir Edward Pellew Quinan (9 January 1885 – 13 November 1960) was a British Army commander during the Second World War. In the early part of his career, he was involved in Indian Army campaigns in Afghanistan and Waziristan on the N ...

*** 31st Indian Armoured Division - Major-General

Robert Wordsworth Major-General Robert Harley Wordsworth CB, CBE (21 July 1894 – 22 November 1984) was a British Indian Army officer and an Australian politician. Military career Born in Collarenebri, New South Wales, Wordsworth was educated at North Sydne ...

****

3rd Indian Motor Brigade The 3rd Indian Motor Brigade was formed in 1940 by the Indian Army during World War II. In 1941, the brigade was surrounded at Mechili by Axis forces during Operation Sonnenblume and suffered many casualties breaking out of the encirclement. On ...

- Brigadier A.A.E. Filoze **** 252nd Indian Armoured Brigade - Brigadier G. Carr-White ** British III Corps, Lieutenant-General Sir Desmond Anderson *** 5th Infantry Division,

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Horatio Berney-Ficklin Major General Horatio Pettus Mackintosh Berney-Ficklin, (13 June 1892 – 17 February 1961) was a British Army officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars. During the latter, he commanded for just over three years – from July 1 ...

**** 13th Infantry Brigade -

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

V.C. Russell **** 15th Infantry Brigade - Brigadier H.R.N. Greenfield **** 17th Infantry Brigade - Brigadier G.W.B. Tarleton **** 5th Reconnaissance Regiment,

Reconnaissance Corps The Reconnaissance Corps, or simply Recce Corps, was a corps of the British Army, formed during the Second World War whose units provided reconnaissance for infantry divisions. It was formed from infantry brigade reconnaissance groups on 14 Janu ...

Indian XXI Corps The Indian XXI Corps was an Army Corps of the Indian Army during the Second World War. It served in the Tenth Army in 1942. Formation Lieutenant-General Mosley Mayne General Sir Ashton Gerard Oswald Mosley Mayne GCB CBE DSO (24 April 1889 � ...

, Lieutenant-General Sir

Mosley Mayne General Sir Ashton Gerard Oswald Mosley Mayne GCB CBE DSO (24 April 1889 – 17 December 1955) was a senior British Indian Army officer active in both the First World War and Second World War, where he commanded Eastern Command, India. Earl ...

*** 8th Indian Infantry Division, Major-General Charles Harvey ****

17th Indian Infantry Brigade The 17th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. History It was formed in November 1940, at the Delhi Cantonment in India and assigned to the 8th Indian Infantry Division. They were se ...

- Brigadier F.A.M.B. Jenkins **** 19th Indian Infantry Brigade - Brigadier C.W.W. Ford *** 10th Indian Infantry Division - Major-General Alan Blaxland ****

20th Indian Infantry Brigade The 20th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. History The brigade was formed in September 1940, by the conversion of the Khojak Brigade and assigned to the 9th Indian Infantry Divisi ...

- Brigadier L.E. MacGregor ****

25th Indian Infantry Brigade The 25th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in February, 1941 at Ahmednagar in India and assigned to the 10th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade was attached to the 8 ...

- Brigadier A.E. Arderne *** 6th Indian Infantry Division - Major-General J.N. Thomson ****

27th Indian Infantry Brigade The 27th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in March 1941, at Secundarabad in India and assigned to the 6th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade was used as Line of Co ...

- Brigadier A.R. Barker **** 6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers *** 10th Indian Motor Brigade - Brigadier

Harold Redman Lieutenant General Sir Harold Redman, (25 August 1899 – 1986) was a senior British Army officer and Governor of Gibraltar. Military career Redman was commissioned into the Royal Artillery 28 February 1917. He served in the First World War in ...

***

56th (London) Infantry Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World Wa ...

, Major-General

Eric Miles Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Eric Grant Miles Order of the Bath, CB Distinguished Service Order, DSO Military Cross, MC (11 August 1891 – 3 November 1977) was a senior British Army Officer (armed forces), officer who saw activ ...

**** 167th (London) Infantry Brigade - Brigadier J.C.A. Birch **** 168th (London) Infantry Brigade - Brigadier K.C. Davidson **** 169th (London) Infantry Brigade - Brigadier L.O. Lyne

References

{{British armies, commands, and corps during the Second World War Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 10 10 Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II