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measures had been taken against leftists because they advocated for reform
and the exposure of government corruption.^47
Nevertheless, the landing of German parachutists in northern Iraq in
mid-June 1943 (Operation MAMMUT) was a shock to many. It enabled
Wood and Dawson-Shepherd to persuade the Iraqi government of the
grave deficiencies in the organization of security which could only be over-
come by joint action culminating in the creation of a joint Anglo-Iraqi
security bureau, which they had long been advocating, and which could
only bring about closer cooperation between CICI and the government.^48
However, until such measures could be put in place, the feeling at CICI
was that the situation in Iraq in the midsummer of 1943 was more favour-
able to the Germans for espionage and sabotage than at any time since the
spring of 1941.^49 It is not surprising therefore that, beginning in mid-July
1943, the question of the coordination of ‘nonoperational’ (i.e.
Fig. 6.2 Cigarette break in the British embassy garden, 1943. From (l) to (r):
Hanbury Dawson-Shepherd and Campbell Hackforth-Jones of CICI, unidentified
officer in mufti, and Stewart Perowne. Source: GB165-0228 Perowne Alb no. 38,
Middle East Centre Archive, St Antony’s College, Oxford