Strong British forces, believed to include air personnel, have landed at
Basra, Iraq’s principal port on the Persian Gulf, an official
announcement said here [on April 19, 1941]. 
The move was seen as a
counter-stroke to German maneuvers to gain control of the country’s
valuable Mosul oil fields. The imperial forces landed at Basra, it was
said, in accordance with the terms of the Anglo-Iraqi treaty, and the
new government of Premier Sayid Rashid Ali al-Gailani was said to be
co-operating with the British. A warm welcome was said to have been
given to the troops by the local population.
— In Our Pages, 75 Years Ago
—
New York Herald Tribune, April 20, 1941
