Description
Iraq Active Service Medal, known as King Faisal’s War Medal, 1st Type, dated 1926, no clasp, bronze, as awarded to Royal Air Force circa 1930.
Instituted by the Kingdom of Iraq under King Faisal I on 15th May 1926 as the Nut al-Khidmat al-Amma, The Active Service Medal, known commonly by the English as King Faisal’s War Medal.
The reverse reads the name of King Faisal and is dated in Arabic reading 1344, translated to 1926.
It was awarded for services in Iraq between 1924 and 1931 without any clasps, and is typically spotted as this no clasp variety alongside British RAF recipient’s medals who served in Iraq, such as those who earned the “Southern Desert Iraq” clasp in the late 1920s.
The other recipients varied amongst British who served in Iraq and the Iraq Levies, a Militia who acted as Iraq’s fledgling Army during the period.
It continued to be issued, after 1931 typically with a dated bar for specific operations and by King Faisal’s Successor until 1939.
