RAF Habbaniya

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33°22′37.0″N 43°34′4.0″E / 33.376944, 43.567778

Royal Air Force Station Habbaniya
Active 1936 - 1959
Country Iraq
Allegiance Flag of the United KingdomUK: British Armed Forces
Branch Royal Air Force
Type Flying station
Part of  ??
Based near Habbaniyah, Iraq
Royal Air Force Ensign
March Royal Air Force March Past
Map of Iraq during World War II
Map of Iraq during World War II

Royal Air Force Station Habbaniya, more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya, (originally RAF Dhibban) was a Royal Air Force station at Habbaniyah, about 55 miles (89 km) west of Baghdad in modern day Iraq, on the banks of the Euphrates near Lake Habbaniyah. It was operational from October 1936 until the 31 May 1959 when the British were finally forced to withdraw following the July 1958 Revolution.

It remained a major Iraqi military airbase.

Contents

[edit] History

RAF Habbaniya was constructed on the west bank of the Euphrates and opened on 19 October 1936. Squadrons, units and headquarters and the hospital gradually moved in from Hinaidi Cantonment, Baghdad, which was vacated by the British. Originally called RAF Dhibban, on 1 May 1938 it was renamed RAF Habbaniya. It was a large flying training school during World War II, as well as a transport staging airfield. During the Rashid Ali rebellion in 1941 the base was besieged by the Iraqi Army encamped on the overlooking plateau. The siege was lifted by the units based at Habbaniya, including pilots from the training school, a battalion of the King's Own Royal Regiment flown in at the last moment, No. 1 RAF Armoured Car Company and the RAF Iraq Levies. The subsequent arrival of a relief column (Kingcol), part of Habforce sent from Palestine, then a British mandate, combined with the Habbaniya units to force the rebel forces to retreat to Baghdad. Later in World War II Habbaniya became an important stage on the southern air route between the UK and the USSR. British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) ran a regular passenger service via North Africa and the Middle East using Consolidated Liberator transports.

Lake Habbaniya Sailing Club
Lake Habbaniya Sailing Club

In the late 1930s Imperial Airways established a staging post on Lake Habbaniya for the flying boat service from the UK to British India. The lake provided the necessary landing area for these aircraft in the middle of the Mesopotamian desert.

Rest and Leave Centre
Rest and Leave Centre

Roald Dahl was stationed there in 1940, as described in his book, Going Solo. After WWII, BOAC discontinued the flying boat service and the hotel buildings at the lake were acquired by the RAF and used as a Rest and Recreation Centre.

Among the Units located at Habbaniya at various times were:

  • No4 Service Flying Training School;
  • 115 Maintenance Unit;
  • 134 Maintenance Unit;
  • 123 Signals Unit;
  • 276 Signals Unit;
  • Squadrons Nos 8, 30, 70, 84, 244, 249, 683;
  • No 1 Company RAF Armoured Cars;
  • No 2 Armoured Car Squadron RAF Regiment;
  • 1st Battalion King's Own Royal Regiment.

[edit] Units and aircraft

[edit] Current use

Following the departure of the RAF, the Iraqi Military took control and renamed it Tammuz Airbase.

In present times, the former British base is used by both the United States Armed Forces and the New Iraqi Army as a forward operating base, and is now known as Al Taqaddum Airbase (previously FOB Ridgway, or Camp Ridgway). From this outpost, combat operations are run from the outskirts of Fallujah to the outskirts of Ramadi.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] References

  • G G Jefford, RAF Squadrons, second edition 2001, Airlife Publishing, UK, ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
  • Ray Sturtivant, Flying Training And Support Units since 1912, 2007, Air-Britain, UK, ISBN 0 85130 365 x

[edit] External links

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