I'm confusing myself and wonder if anyone has a clue for me?

I'm trying to set up a bash scripted database creation kit.

The bash script first makes a directory srv/fdb/xyz successfully with
rwx privileges for the owner (xyz) which is a member of the firebird
group. It then calls the following separate ddl script like this ...

#!/bin/bash
/opt/firebird/bin/isql /srv/fdb/scripts/create_fdb.sql


< create_fdb.sql>
/* Called from bash script 'ddl_suite' while
logged on as user xyz */

CREATE DATABASE '/srv/fdb/xyz/prd.fdb'
USER 'xyz' PASSWORD '999ans';

QUIT;
</create_fdb>

This fellow returns -922 which is bad_db_format

Any help greatly appreciated

Thanks

mike