62 FLYPAST February 2018
TRUCULENT TRIBES,
TURBULENT SKIESTURBULENT SKIESTURBULENT SKIESTURBULENT SKIES
T
he hardships of the Great War
took a huge toll on Britain,
with repercussions felt for
many years after. There was a
desperate need to reduce public
expenditure and the newly formed
RAF was vulnerable, with the War
Office and Admiralty snapping
at its heels. Relief was at hand, as
serious unrest in the Middle East,especially in Mesopotamia (roughly
corresponding to most of modern
Iraq), contributed to spare the RAF
from extinction.
As the Ottoman Empire – centred
on present-day Turkey – was
dismantled the British
were accordedmandates to govern and support
Mesopotamia, Palestine and
Transjordan into self-governance.
Under Ottoman rule, coastal
Arabia, Mesopotamia and the
Levant had been governed as loosely
defined and autonomous
vilayets (districts).
Each was left
to its own
devices, soAIR POWER OVER TURBULENT IRAQ IS NOT A NEW THING, VIC FLINTHAM SHOWS HOW IT WAS CONDUCTED IN THE 1920S
1918 2018Below
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