Blog No. 299 – A WW2 Story: Cliff’s War Service in Iraq – 8 July 2025
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I found this photo in Wiki. It shows British troops in Iraq. Wiki dates the photo 11th of June 1941.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Iraqi_War#/media/File:BritsLookingOnBaghdad1941.jpg
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Although Cliff’s Service Record claims that as from the 1st of November 1940, he was unable to be posted overseas because he was attached to the RAF Home Establishment, the official Service Record is very misleading.
A hint that the official Service Record might tell an incomplete story of Cliff’s actual RAF service is given by these words that are written on the front of the official Service Record.
I have not as yet been able to obtain a copy of the document numbered 3905, Supplementary Record of Service. That document may – or may not – give accurate information about Cliff’s actual RAF war service.
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This is the reverse side of Cliff’s official Service Record. It gives no hint of his overseas service.
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According to Wiki, the military forces involved in the Anglo-Iraq War in 1941 were
Although according to his official Service Record, Cliff never left officially Number 8, RAF School of Technical Training at Weeton until he was transferred to RAF Mildenhall on 30 May 1941, Cliff was posted to Iraq and he served in the Anglo-Iraq War. The Anglo-Iraq War lasted from the 2nd of May 1941 to the 31st of May 1941.
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Cliff told my brother that he served in Iraq early in his RAF career. He was sent to Baghdad and there were multiple bodies hanging from lamp posts. There had been a Nazi inspired rebellion in Iraq and the British government had acted swiftly to put down the rebellion.
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These facts are known to definitely be true.
Iraq had become a British Protectorate under a ruling from the League of Nations. Although Iraq had become independent (at least officially) by 1941, there were still British bases in Iraq. In 1941, the Royal Air Force had two separate bases in Iraq - RAF Shaibah, near Basra and RAF Habbaniya between Ramadi and Fallujah.
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RAF Habbaniyah – WikiMedia Commons
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When France surrendered to Germany in 1940, the “official” government of France was based in Vichy and it fully supported Nazi Germany. The Vichy French government had military control of Syria, which has a border with Iraq. The Nazis also fomented a military revolt in Iran, which also shares a border with Iraq. If Iraq had fallen to the Iraqi forces sympathetic to Hitler, the supply of oil to Britain would have been choked off. Without oil supplies, Britain would not have been able to continue resisting the Nazis.
The official records say that the Anglo-Iraq War was won by the British troops stationed in Iraq at RAF Shaibah and RAF Habbaniya, with the help of Indian troops sent from the then British ruled India.
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Cliff says he was part of a hastily put together British military force sent to Iraq as reinforcements. When Cliff arrived in Iraq, the war had been recently won but the British government was worried about the loyalty of the Indian troops. This is very plausible. In 1941, India had been demanding its independence for many decades. Independence was achieved on the 15th of August 1947.
Cliff said he carried a rifle and a rucksack. If he had been simply a member of RAF ground crew, Cliff would never have been required to carry a rifle and rucksack.
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Cliff was officially posted to RAF Mildenhall as from 30th of May 1941. Wiki claims the Anglo-Iraq War finished on the 31st fo May 1941. Cliff’s account says that the fighting had finished when he arrived and he was repulsed to see so many bodies of people who had been hanged. Logic says this means Cliff arrived in Baghdad in the first two weeks of June 1941. I cannot guess how long Cliff was stationed in Iraq. Presumably, Cliff’s main duty in Iraq was to repair the RAF planes stationed there and make sure they could keep flying.
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Perhaps the Form 3905 Supplementary Record of Service – if it still exists and if the British authorities permit a copy of it to be released – will fill in the multiple blanks created by the definitely misleading official Service Record.
It is of course possible that the Form 3905 Supplementary Record of Service also contains inaccurate information, or that it has been destroyed.
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Find the courage that Cliff found in Iraq 1941. His courage helped defeat monstrous evil. We have the power to make this Earth into a much better place.
Banish the hatred from your heart.
Bravery multiplies with use.
No matter how poor we are, we can always find courage. Courage is free but its value can never be calculated.
It has been 41 years since you died dad and I still miss you.
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