Unique composite RAF pilot's route map from Habbaniya (Iraq) to Sharjah made up of sections from I-38 Baghdad, H-38 Basra, H-39 Bushire, G-39 Hofuf, and G-40 Bandar Abbas (Asia 1:1,000,000 Army / Air Style series)

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.…