The watermelon boys
Ruqaya Izzidien2018

It is the winter of 1915 and Iraq has been engulfed by the First World War. Hungry for independence from Ottoman rule, Ahmad leaves his peaceful family life on the banks of the Tigris to join the British-led revolt. Thousands of miles away, Welsh teenager Carwyn reluctantly enlists and is sent, via Gallipoli and Egypt, to the Mesopotamia campaign.

The British have promised to liberate his countrymen from Ottoman rule. But soon their allies become conquerors.

Carwyn’s and Ahmad’s fates intertwine. Neither good man can escape larger forces that bring misunderstanding, loss and bloodshed born of discrimination and betrayal.

This is the history and point of view of British intervention in Iraq that is seldom seen.