61:
47:
170:
having spent 23 months at
Habbaniya; 2 Field Squadron RAF Regiment moved to Cyprus under the command of AHQ Cyprus; and 21 Independent LAA Squadron RAF Regiment was disbanded (Lee FFME 103-104). The stations at Bahrain and Sharjah, along with the staging post at Mauripur were transferred to the control of HQ British Forces Aden.
197:, was handed over to Iraqi control on 1 March 1956. Past this point, under the auspices of the Baghdad Pact, the RAF retained staging posts at Habbaniya and Basra; two signals units; and a skeleton maintenance unit at Habbaniya, to victual the flow of aircraft on their way to the Far East (Lee FFME 106).
135:
over oil nationalisation. On 18 December 1951 a detachment of No. 683 Squadron, long-range photo-reconnaissance, flying
Lancasters and a Valetta, appears to have arrived from Kabrit/Khormaksar (Jefford 1988, 105; Lee, FFME, 94) From July 1952, the squadron moved between Habbaniya, Abu Sueir, May 1952
173:
On 14 January 1955 No 32 Squadron arrived from Kabrit to
Shaibah (Jefford 1988, 36) replacing 73 Squadron and with 6 Squadron maintaining two Venom squadrons in Iraq. 32 Squadron returned west to Takali in Malta in October, after only ten months in Iraq. No. 128 Wing was disbanded on at Habbaniya on
145:
in
Pakistan (Lee FFME 94-95). No. 185 Squadron arrived at Habbaniya on 13 October 1952 to form a two-squadron FGA Vampire wing with 6 Squadron (Lee FFME 96; Jefford 1988, 66). 185 Squadron was then disbanded after only seven months, but 73 Squadron replaced it, transferring in from Takali, circa 1
169:
on 1 May 1955. The handover ceremony took place at
Habbaniya on 2 May 1955 (Lee FFME 103) and the RAF personnel remaining at Habbaniya, Basrah, and Shaibah were to known henceforth not as stations but 'RAF Unit, Habbaniya' etc. 73 Squadron, at Armaments Practice Camp at Nicosia, remained there,
729:
174:
31 October 1955 (Lee FFME 105), and during the same month the civil cantonments at
Habbaniya, Shaibah, and Basrah were handed over to the Iraqi authorities. On 1 December 1955 AHQ Levant started to transfer from
140:
located there. By that date the AOC was responsible for Amman, Aquabah, and Mafraq in Jordan; Habbaniya, Baghdad, Basrah, Mosul, Shaibah, and Ser Amadia in Iraq; Sharjah and
Bahrain lower down the Gulf; and
744:
136:
back to
Nicosia, 11 July 1952 back to Habbaniya, finally leaving Habbaniya on 12 December 1955 (Jefford 1988, 26). In September 1952 the station at Amman in Jordan was placed under AHQ Iraq, with
739:
146:
May 1953. For the second time, both squadrons at
Habbaniya were commanded by officers named Roberts!! (Lee FFME 96-98). On 30 November 1953 No. 683 Squadron was disbanded at Habbaniya.
749:
200:
The RAF maintained a presence in Iraq until mid-1959; all personnel were withdrawn from
Habbaniya on 31 May, and those from Basra on 8 June (Lee FFME 106). The long-present
734:
712:
692:, Flight from the Middle East: A history of the Royal Air Force in the Arabian Peninsula and adjacent territories 1945–1972, HMSO 1980
384:
363:
545:
349:
559:
476:
20 Aug 1952 - Oct 1954 Air Vice Marshal John Gosset Hawtrey (died in San Remo on 26 Oct 1954 returning overland from Iraq)
464:
623:
439:
117:. AHQ Iraq was reformed by renaming AHQ Iraq and Persia on 1 March 1946. The Headquarters (A.H.Q.) were situated in
426:
412:
391:
370:
316:
114:
356:
137:
509:
689:
110:
60:
377:
308:
190:. No. 6 Squadron remained past the departure of the merging AHQ, only leaving Habbaniya on 6 April 1956.
480:
342:
269:
279:
254:
239:
284:
264:
259:
244:
507:
Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Overseas Commands - Iraq, India and the Far East
398:
124:
179:
708:
541:
458:
445:
405:
212:
Some of the units and commanders assigned to these commands for four different dates during
102:
101:
The command was formed on 1 November 1941 by renaming HQ British Forces in Iraq, the former
627:
513:
312:
128:
90:
64:
470:
433:
320:
46:
527:
Richards, D. and H. Saunders, The Royal Air Force 1939–1945 (Volumes 2-3, HMSO, 1953).
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175:
132:
118:
74:
213:
162:
563:
672:
649:
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131:
to Shaibah on 17 June 1951, during a period of high tensions with Iran - the
620:
142:
730:
Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War II
506:
161:, after the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty had been somewhat superseded by the
154:
150:
178:
to Cyprus and, on 15 January 1956 when the move was complete,
158:
89:(Air Headquarters Iraq or Air H.Q. Iraq) was a command of the
109:
on 1 January 1943. AHQ Iraq and Persia was a sub-command of
662:
Death Certificate, British Consulate General, Genoa, Italy
165:. The result was AHQ Iraq was disbanded by being renamed
639:
An Introduction to Iraq, British Forces in Iraq, 1935
745:
Military units and formations disestablished in 1955
70:
55:
40:
32:
23:
523:
521:
113:which at the time was a sub-command of the Allied
16:Command of the British Royal Air Force (1941–1955)
740:Military units and formations established in 1941
149:In April 1955 a new agreement was made with the
8:
502:
500:
498:
496:
26:Air Headquarters Iraq and Persia (1943–1946)
315:), it's not clear whether Air Vice Marshal
469:2 Sep 1950 - 1 Oct 1952 Air Vice Marshal
557:Lee, "Flight from the Middle East," 93;
218:
204:had already been disbanded in May 1955.
492:
750:Iraq–United Kingdom military relations
621:The Assyrian Levies, The Final Chapter
323:was in command of AHQ Iraq and Persia.
193:One of the two main stations in Iraq,
20:
707:(Patrick Stephens Limited, UK, 1991,
479:Oct 1954 - Apr 1956 Air Vice Marshal
7:
630:, Nineveh Magazine 4Q, 93, V16, No4.
540:, pg. 8 (H.M.S.O. London, UK, 1980,
304:Det.=Detachment, Met.=Meteorological
221:AHQ Iraq and Persia Order of Battle
14:
735:Royal Air Force overseas commands
536:Air Chief Marshal Sir David Lee,
28:Air Headquarters Iraq (1946–1955)
24:Air Headquarters Iraq (1941–1943)
385:William Gore Sutherland Mitchell
364:Henry Robert Moore Brooke-Popham
59:
45:
597:Lee FFME 106; Jefford 1988, 26
350:John Frederick Andrews Higgins
153:Government for the defence of
1:
157:and the use of bases by the
586:FLIGHT FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
538:Flight From The Middle East
285:No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron
766:
413:Hugh Champion de Crespigny
392:Christopher Lloyd Courtney
371:Edgar Rainey Ludlow-Hewitt
317:Hugh Champion de Crespigny
307:On 10 July 1943, when the
427:H V Champion de Crespigny
115:Mediterranean Air Command
705:ACTION STATIONS OVERSEAS
619:Solomon (Sawa) Solomon,
608:ACTION STATIONS OVERSEAS
357:Edward Leonard Ellington
138:No. 19 Wing RAF Regiment
249:Vincent, & Catalina
216:are illustrated below.
105:. AHQ Iraq was renamed
463:1947 Air Vice Marshal
457:1946 Air Vice Marshal
444:1945 Air Vice Marshal
438:1944 Air Vice Marshal
432:1943 Air Vice Marshal
425:1943 Air Vice Marshal
411:1942 Air Vice Marshal
378:Charles Stuart Burnett
481:Hugh Hamilton Brookes
420:AHQ Iraq & Persia
343:John Maitland Salmond
332:Commanders included:
626:22 July 2011 at the
319:or Air Vice Marshal
186:were amalgamated as
232:AHQ Iraq and Persia
223:
111:Middle East Command
107:AHQ Iraq and Persia
512:2008-08-06 at the
415:(19 February 1942)
399:Harry George Smart
219:
127:flew out from the
125:No. 6 Squadron RAF
77:(1941–43, 1946–55)
713:978-1-85260-319-9
404:Air Vice Marshal
397:Air Vice Marshal
390:Air Vice Marshal
383:Air Vice Marshal
376:Air Vice Marshal
369:Air Vice Marshal
362:Air Vice Marshal
355:Air Vice Marshal
348:Air Vice Marshal
341:Air Vice Marshal
296:
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272:(Met.), Gladiator
81:
80:
757:
703:Tony Fairbairn:
677:
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606:Tony Fairbairn,
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589:
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566:on 19 April 2013
562:. Archived from
555:
549:
534:
528:
525:
516:
504:
429:(1 January 1943)
401:1939 to May 1941
394:12 February 1937
387:31 December 1934
366:20 November 1928
359:19 November 1926
311:invaded Sicily (
265:No. 244 Squadron
260:No. 208 Squadron
245:No. 244 Squadron
229:27 October 1942
224:
103:RAF Iraq Command
63:
50:
49:
21:
765:
764:
760:
759:
758:
756:
755:
754:
720:
719:
718:
699:
686:
684:Further reading
681:
680:
673:"H H Brookes_P"
671:
670:
666:
661:
657:
650:"J G Hawtrey_P"
648:
647:
643:
638:
634:
628:Wayback Machine
618:
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601:
596:
592:
583:
579:
569:
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558:
556:
552:
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531:
526:
519:
514:Wayback Machine
505:
494:
489:
473:(AOC, AHQ Iraq)
454:
422:
380:3 December 1932
373:18 October 1930
338:
330:
313:Operation Husky
287:
270:No. 1415 Flight
268:
263:
262:Det., Hurricane
248:
233:
228:
210:
208:Order of battle
129:Suez Canal Zone
99:
91:Royal Air Force
84:
65:Royal Air Force
44:
27:
25:
17:
12:
11:
5:
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471:George Beamish
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352:7 January 1924
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345:1 October 2022
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321:Robert Willock
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51:United Kingdom
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6:
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459:S C Strafford
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446:S C Strafford
443:
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407:
406:John D'Albiac
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280:No. 214 Group
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255:No. 215 Group
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240:No. 215 Group
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234:10 July 1943
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176:RAF Habbaniya
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147:
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133:Abadan crisis
130:
126:
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119:RAF Habbaniya
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88:
83:Military unit
76:
75:RAF Habbaniya
73:
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31:
22:
19:
704:
697:Bibliography
667:
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568:. Retrieved
564:the original
553:
537:
532:
331:
220:
214:World War II
211:
199:
192:
172:
163:Baghdad Pact
148:
123:
106:
100:
86:
85:
71:Headquarters
18:
584:David Lee,
434:R P Willock
247:, Blenheim,
202:Iraq Levies
195:RAF Shaibah
724:Categories
546:0117723568
487:References
440:R A George
328:Commanders
267:, Blenheim
188:AHQ Levant
184:AHQ Levant
180:AHQ Cyprus
167:AHQ Levant
690:David Lee
610:, pg. 165
588:, pg. 105
288:Hurricane
227:AHQ Iraq
36:1941–1955
624:Archived
560:"Page 7"
510:Archived
452:AHQ Iraq
408:May 1941
336:AHQ Iraq
143:Mauripur
87:AHQ Iraq
570:9 April
97:History
93:(RAF).
41:Country
711:
544:
465:A Gray
309:Allies
56:Branch
33:Active
299:Notes
709:ISBN
572:2013
542:ISBN
182:and
155:Iraq
151:Iraq
159:RAF
726::
715:).
520:^
495:^
121:.
675:.
652:.
574:.
548:)
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