Raf Shaibah (2 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Original black printed cream card wraps with RAF emblem 12x14cm. 11pp printed to the rectos, with the Group Captain Commanding's opening statement inside the front wrap. Very good, marked with rust residue from the staples, and some contemporary ms edits to procedures and prices within. The Group Captain's statement has apparently been ms signed and dated in blue ink: "V. Fairfield / 17 May 48" (an entry in the London Gazette suggests this was Victor Fairfield). This copy dates shortly after signing the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (15 Jan 1948), which committed to joint British-Iraqi military planning, and continued British control of foreign affairs. RAF Station Shaibah was formed a few miles SW of Basrah in 1920. It came under Air HQ Iraq and Persia. It was significantly expanded during WW2 to support RAF Habbaniya, and after WW2 helped in the evacuation of Anglo-Iranian Oil Company personnel from Abadan during the nationalisation (1951-53). A memoir dating to 1954 states that "Shaibah had a bad reputation in the RAF as one of the worst overseas postings. Many are the songs 'Shaibah Blues' sung in the home messes, especially by old sweats who had served there in the inter-war years. I contracted some uncomfortable infections whilst there. I think it was from the swimming pool. This required me to do my work in the more comfortable air-conditioned Officers Mess. It was a relief to return to Mauripur". This location specific booklet was intended to be read alongside the KR (Kings Regulations), ACI (Air Council Instructions), and the "Standard Rules for Royal Air Force Officers' Messes". Its sections cover membership, guests, the ladies' room, warning in and out, calls, dress, meal service, dinner, duties of the President and Vice-President, smoking, liquor, orders on the Mess, subscriptions contributions and charges, prices of wines tobacco etc, billiards, cards, newspapers periodicals books, members accounts, hours of closing, Mess staff, notices, furniture property etc, animals, discipline, Mess invitations, Mess meetings and propositions, Mess management, and duties of the PMC (President of Mess Committee) who is answerable to the Station Commander. (References: Squadron Leader T.J. Page, "My Service Career in the Royal Air Force 1940/1968", 49 Squadron Association, pp24-25; Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 Jan 1946, p34).…

No Binding. Condition: Good. A unique composite colour printed paper pilot's map approx 176x26cm. Good, neatly folded with a couple of fold tears, clearly used with flight lines neatly drawn on, related ms annotations, location references, spot heights, and calculations. No dates are retained, but 1945 based on the edition numbers of the Hofuf and Basra sheets (OCLC 1535521707,1532281630, 234163828). An improvisation like this was a practical way around carrying several standard format charts that could not conveniently show the long linear routes flown. This one is made up of 5 adjacent sheets from the Army / Air Style Asia 1/1M Series, each neatly cropped into small squares and stuck together to form a continuous slightly bow-shaped image without borders. The sheet titles with a couple of editions (identifiable when the joins are held to the light) include in sequence from NW to SE: I-38 Baghdad, H-38 Basra (7th Edition, Army / Air Style), H-39 Bushire, G-39 Hofuf (4th Edition), and G-40 Bandar Abbas. Between them they cover from the environs of Tikrit in Iraq to Buraimi Oasis and beyond. Stretches of the Gulf coasts are retained, including Bushire on the Persian side, and Kuwait, the Neutral Zone, some of Saudi, all 7 Trucial States, and Oman on the Arabian. Two routes are drawn from Habbaniya to Kuwait City, one direct, the other via Shu'aiba (Shaibah), then a single direct route over Gulf waters exactly along the mid-point of the sheets to Sharjah, which has an onward line labelled off sheet "To Jiwani". RAF Habbaniya, a major imperial base 55 miles to the west of Baghdad, housed Air HQ Iraq and Persia. Late in WW2 it was an important stage on the southern UK-USSR route, a USAAF stopover for its large Lend-Lease aircraft between the assembly facility at Abadan and Cairo, and a USAAF transport route to Mehrabad (Tehran). RAF Station Shaibah a few miles SW of Basrah came under Air HQ Iraq and Persia, was significantly expanded during WW2 to support RAF Habbaniya, and after WW2 helped in the evacuation of AIOC personnel from Abadan during nationalisation (1951-53). The RAF did not have a formal base close to Kuwait City, but were able to land there. RAF Sharjah, first established as an important base for Imperial Airways in 1932, played a vital role in supporting British military operations in the Peninsula during WW2 and in the years to independence. RAF Jiwani located in Omani-ruled Gwadar (Balochistan) was a major RAF and USAAF stopover between Sharjah and Karachi during WW2.…