FlyPast 12.2018

HABBANIYA 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

December 2018 FLYPAST 35

Below

A view of the airfi eld

taken from a hangar

in either 1948 or 1949.

NORMAN ROBERTS VIA RAF

HABBANIYA ASSOCIATION

were poorly disguised with INAF

markings that barely concealed the

Luftwaffe insignia beneath. The unit

assembled at Mosul, occupying the

reasonably comfortable airfield and

accommodation built for the RAF in

the 1920s.

At Habbaniya life had calmed

down after the siege, but the peace

was shattered on May 15 by an

attacking force of six Bf 110s and

three He 111s. This resulted in

several casualties and the destruction

of some buildings.

Two long-range, cannon-armed

Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIcs arrived at

Habbaniya from Egypt on May 16.

They were followed the next day by

three 94 Squadron Gladiators, and

six 84 Squadron Blenheims. The

Hurricanes and Blenheims mounted

a successful raid on the Germans

at Mosul and destroyed several

aircraft on the ground, for the loss of

one fighter.

On May 18, Habforce’s first

2,000-strong detachment arrived,

setting up camp alongside Lake

Habbaniya. The following day it

mounted an attack, supported by the

base’s aircraft and ground forces, to

clear the Iraqis from a vital road

bridge over the Euphrates at Fallujah.

Junck was desperately trying to keep

his aircraft flying. They had not been

adapted for desert warfare and

consequently were hard to maintain

in the hot, sandy conditions. In

addition, supplies had stopped

arriving at Mosul; with Hitler’s

attention turning to Barbarossa.

The main body of Habforce

finally reached its destination on

May 25. Two days later, it advanced

towards Baghdad.

The Italian Regia Aeronautica joined

forces with its German allies on May

28. Eleven Fiat CR.42 fighters arrived
    in Iraq, and two of these were engaged
    by Gladiators over Baghdad. One Fiat
    was destroyed and the second was
    captured when the pilot force-landed

• the remaining CR.42s were never
  seen again.
  On May 30, Junck and Grobba
  gave up the fight and flew the

plateau. While every available aircraft

was being armed for a maximum

effort to halt this, the INAF mounted

its heaviest raid yet. It seemed they

were making a combined and

possibly decisive effort to defeat the

forces within Habbaniya.

As the RAF aircraft took off,

reports came in that the troops on

the plateau were in full retreat.

Why they chose that moment to do

so is unclear, but they headed for

the Baghdad road in apparent

disorder and ran straight into their

oncoming reinforcements.

A total of 139 sorties were flown

against the retreating and incoming

Iraqi forces that day, resulting in

carnage. One pilot reported: “The

road was a strip of flames several

hundred yards long, there were

ammunition limbers [two-wheeled

carts] exploding, and cars and

lorries burning by the dozen.”

Five days after the RAF ended

the siege, Habforce finally set out

from Palestine.

ENTER THE LUFTWAFFE

Encouraged by Dr Grobba, Hitler

approved a Luftwaffe Commando

unit for Iraq; Sonderkommando

Junck, commanded by Col Werner

Junck. On May 14, it staged

through occupied Greece and into

Syria and arrived in three Junkers

Ju 90 transports, along with 12

Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters,

five Heinkel He 111 bombers and

three Junkers Ju 52 transports. All

blind take-off and landing
procedures, attempted to silence the
Iraqi artillery.
Hospital patients, British civilians
and AOC Smart (who had been
injured in a car accident during the
black-out) were evacuated on May 3
in Valentias and DC-2s, with
covering fire provided by Habbaniya’s
Audax fleet and armoured cars.

REINFORCEMENTS
Churchill issued an instruction
to Middle East Command: “Find
an army and rescue Habbaniya”.
Habforce, as it was named, took a
week to assemble on the shores of
the Mediterranean, and was then
faced with a 600-mile journey across
the desert.
Far from just defending Habbaniya,
the resident assortment of aircraft –
in conjunction with the Wellingtons

• continued to harass Iraqi positions
  and destroyed 29 Iraqi National Air
  Force (INAF) aircraft on the ground
  at Baghdad. Supplies of food and
  ammunition were running low for
  those holding out at the base and the
  toll on aircraft and personnel was
  beginning to mount. On May 4,
  greeted by Iraqi artillery fire, four
  Blenheims of 203 Squadron arrived
  unexpectedly, bolstering both morale
  and aircraft numbers.
  At daybreak on May 6, an
  Audax on reconnaissance hurriedly
  returned with news that Iraqi
  reinforcements – guns, men and
  armoured cars – were heading for the