Assyrian volunteers
The Assyrian volunteers were an ethnic Assyrian military force during World War I, led mainly by General Agha Petros Elia of Baz and several tribal leaders known as Maliks (Syriac: ܡܠܟ) under the spiritual leadership of the Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Shimun Benyamin allied with the Entente Powers described by the English pastor and author William A. Wigram as Our Smallest Ally. The Assyrian volunteers were described as "The Christian army of Revenge" by the British Major E.W.C. Noel.