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For many years before the Second World War, intelligence in Iraq had
been the responsibility of RAF ‘I’ Branch, which consisted of an HQ at
Habbaniya and five area liaison officers (ALOs) at Basra, Bahrein,
Sulaymaniyah, Mosul, and Baghdad. The ALOs were responsible for col-
lecting tribal and political intelligence in their areas, while all collation was
carried out at RAF Habbaniya. When the army arrived in May 1941, it was
decided that ‘I’ Branch, reinforced by army personnel, should become an
interservice centre for general and security intelligence supporting the
naval, army, and air force commanders, each of whom would have his own
operational intelligence staff.^8 The new centre was originally to have been
commanded by the head of ‘I’ Branch, Robert Jope-Slade, but he was
unfortunately killed in an aircraft crash in May 1941. Though not an ori-
ental scholar, ‘Jope’ was said to have had an extensive knowledge of
Middle Eastern affairs and to have been a shrewd judge of the region’s
political problems.^9 William Graham Elphinston (1886–1952), an Indian
Army career soldier (Poona Horse), was then appointed in Jope-Slade’s
place. Elphinston was a seasoned Middle East intelligence officer with
Fig. 6.1 Hanbury Knollys Dawson-Shepherd, DSO Iraq, as a Palestine Police
constable. Source: Dr. Alexander Dawson-Shepherd
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