The Iraq Levies (also known as the Assyrian Levies as they would eventually become dominated by ethnic Assyrians) was the first Iraqi military force established by the British in British controlled Iraq.[1] The Iraq Levies originated in a local Arab armed scout force raised during the First World War. After Iraq became a British Mandate, the force became a minority manned force of mostly Assyrians, Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen who lived in the north of the country, while the nascent Iraqi Army was recruited from the Arab population. Eventually it became a mostly Assyrian manned and British officered unit, which initially defended the northern frontiers of the Province of Mosul when Turkey claimed the province and massed its army across the frontiers.