Habbaniya Airport
Our camping arrangements were interesting. We went into "leagar - as the Roman Legions did - as North American settlers did. We drove round into a huge square, two deep. In the centre we settled the ambulances and Field Hospital, also the HQ and Signals. The Signals busied themselves putting up the aerials and transmitters, and setting up the connections. The Field Artillery on the perimeter turned their 25lb guns round facing outwards at the ready. Then the little scout cars went out, about a mile - we could see them with their flares at the ready in case of surprise attacks. At this stage, no attack was expected, but practice was essential. During the day, one "spotter" plane surveyed the area.
Every pumping station on the line was a small fort. As said previously, they were every 100 miles or so. Inside the fort perimeter were the water wells, pumps for the oil, civvi houses and a small landing strip. Only a small plane could use the landing strip - mostly Lysanders.
Our first fighting was at Ramadi in Iraq, held by Raschid Ali. Our front line boys fought him, and cleared him out. Then we captured El Faliya, captured the bridge over the Euphrates, and liberated Habbaniya Airport.
Habbaniya Airport
The RAF boys were virtually prisoners. There was fighting going on all round about. In the true British manner, half the planes on the damaged runways were wooden dummies. This was the main peacetime airport of Iraq, serving Baghdad, and was garrisoned by Assyrians.
At Habbaniya - Jimmy on right
The Assyrians were a tribe of Christians, the only ones who still spoke the language of Christ - Aramaic. In the 1914-18 War they had suffered at the hands of the Turks, and they had marched in their thousands to throw themselves on the mercy of the Allies. Being Christians they could not get employment and so they were taken on at British Embassies, airports, pipe line forts etc, in all the protectorates.