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The location and current images of the abandoned Khanaqin Polish Military Cemetery in the Diyala region of central Iraq, close to the border with Iran. Khanaqin (Polish) War Cemetery The subject of this section of my website is the abandoned Polish war cemetery at Khanaqin. It is my understanding that the ongoing maintenance of the cemetery is a shared financial responsibility between the British Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the equivalent Polish body but that any maintenance is carried out by the CWGC. Due to the fact that the cemetery is close to the Iranian border, it has long been too dangerous for any reparation work to be carried out. The following News posts on my website may also be of interest: Location and size of Khanaqin War Cemetery, Diyala, Iraq Surviving headstones at the Khanaqin War Cemetery, Diyala, Iraq Introduction to the Khanaqin War Cemetery The Khanaqin War Cemetery is the final resting place of 542 (five hundred and forty two) soldiers, comprising four hundred and thirty seven (437) who were serving with the Polish forces, one hundred and two (102) with the Indian forces and three (3) Arab Legion fighters. I have attached below an Excel spreadsheet containing the names of each of the men who were buried there. For greater detail on each man buried at Khanaqin, visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission page for the Khanaqin War Cemetery Memoria l which was erected at the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, Iraq, in lieu of a monument on the original site at Khanaqin. It should be noted (as far as can be determined without carrying out excavation of the remains or a more simpler method of confirmation using Ground Penetrating Radar) that the row of graves with the headstones broken off at the base indicate that the bodies of the fallen remain in situ and undisturbed. Khanaqin War Cemetery Names History of the Khanaqin War Cemetery At the start of World War II in 1939, tens of thousands of Polish Nationals, both soldiers and civilians, fled from the parts of Europe that were under German and Soviet occupation, with many ending up in Iraq at Khanaqin, located in the north-eastern part of the Diyala Governorate and close to the Iranian border. Khanaqin was already an important city by that time, being the site of the first major oil refinery in Iraq that had been completed in 1927. During World War II, though Khanaqin saw no fighting, it served as a base and field hospital for the Commonwealth Forces. A plague during 1940-1941 took the lives of more than 100 Polish civilians and soldiers who had settled in Khanaqin and they were eventually buried at a new cemetery located to the south-east of the city and two kilometers west of the Alwand Dam. By 1942, the number of Polish settlers in Khanaqin had swelled to three thousand, including Polish soldiers who had been evacuated from Russia through Iran as part of the Anders Army (PAIFORCE) and had eventually relocated in Iraq. Many had had a long and arduous march from Russia where they had been prisoners of war and were not in good health by the time they reached Khanaqin. While stationed there many Polish soldiers died of sickness or from accidents. As mentioned above, the Khanaqin (Polish) War Cemetery was established in May 1942. Between then and November 1943 when the cemetery closed, a total of four hundred and thirty-seven (437) Polish men who died in the Diyala Governorate were buried at the predominantly Polish cemetery. In addition to the Polish graves, a further one hundred and two (102) Commonwealth soldiers (Indian forces) and three (3) Arab Legion fighters were also buried there, bringing the total to five hundred and forty-two graves. After WW2 the maintenance of the Khanaqin (Polish) War Cemetery was jointly funded by the United Kingdom and Poland with the actual work carried out by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. However, due to the ongoing strained relationship with Iran in the early nineteen- sixties, access to the cemetery was not possible and it was decided in September 1965 to build a memorial to the fallen at Khanaqin in the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery. Since that time, the cemetery at Khanaqin has fallen into complete disrepair. Location of the Khanaqin War Cemetery The Khanaqin (Polish) War Cemetery is located in the north-eastern Diyala region of Iraq close to the Iranian border and 1.5 miles west of the Alwand Dam. The exact coordinates for the centre of the cemetery (viz. the memorial) are: 34°18'47.4"N 45°25'14.3"E The area of the cemetery is appoximately 5,600 square metres and accomodfates the graves of 542 Polish and Indian soldiers as well as three Arab fighters. The average space per grave represents 10.40 square metres, similar to the figure of 10.66 square metres per grave at the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery in Baghdad (formerly known as the RAF Hinaidi (Peace) Cemetery. Map of Iraq showing location of Khanaqin Satellite photo showing location of Khanaqin Cemetery Enlarged satellite photo showing location of Khanaqin Cemetery Enlarged satellite photo showing location and size of Khanaqin Cemetery Enlarged satellite photo showing GPS location and dimensions of Khanaqin Cemetery Khanaqin War Cemetery Condition Today The current condition of the Khanaqin War Cemetery is worse than the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, with no perimeter walls, no standing headstones or even fragments of headstones anywhere on the site. The only visible markings that differentiate the cemetery grounds from the surrounding barren landscape are a row of headstone bases (see video further down this page that shows the bases) and a small fenced monument standing in the middle of the cemetery grounds. I do not have any details as to what, if anything, is written on the monument / memorial but it is hoped that in the near future it will be possible for the British Defence Attaché to Iraq to visit this cemetery as well as the other allied military cemeteries in Iraq and make a record of anything that remains today of the original Khanaqin cemetery. The two photographs immediately below this text are of the Khanaqin War Cemetery, the first a photograph taken from a position just outside what used to be the northern perimeter wall with the camera facing the south-east. Three quarters of the cemetery is in view, with the only visible identifying feature in the photograph being a small monument protected by an iron fence. I do not know what is written on the monument but I have made a request to the Head Office of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission asking if they have a transcription held in their archives. The second photograph is an aerial shot of the Khanaqin War Cemetery, cemetery, with the field of view for the first photograph overlaid on the photograph. Photo of Khanaqin Polish War Cemetery taken from north-west corner Satellite image showing position of camera in above photo of Khanaqin Cemetery Whilst the condition of all 542 graves has yet to be determined, there is no evidence that any of the human remains have been disturbed, especially as the following video taken at the site in recent months shows a line of approximately twenty graves whose headstones have been broken off from their concrete base but the bases themselves remain intact. Only by excavation or carrying out GPR (Ground -Penetrating Radar) will this be confirmed. Video showing row of broken headstone bases at the Khanaqin War Cemetery Khanaqin War Cemetery Artefacts Though nothing remains above ground on site at the Khanaqin War Cemetery, a few artefacts taken from the cemetery are on display at the Diyala Museum of Archaeology, Baqubah. These are under the protection of Mr Majid, who also has been acting as custodian of the cemetery and was the man who took the video shown above. Below are four photographs, one of the bottom of an ornate column and the others fragments of three headstones. I have conducted my own research and identified the burials that match the headstones, being Corporal Z Piechocki and Rifleman L Lastowski of the Polish Army and Signalman Muhammad Juma of the Indian Army (details shown below).

This page provides a brief biography of Lt Colin Girvan, 6 Squadron Royal Air Force, using WW1 service record information and many other sources Lt Colin Cuthbert Gemmil Girvan - 6 Squadron Royal Air Force Lieutenant Colin Girvan was one of the many British army officers who transferred into the Royal Flying Corps as observers, often with a reduction in both rank and seniority. After completing his observer training, twenty two year old Lt Girvan was posted to 6 Squadron on the western front in January 1917, after the squadron had lost four airmen and two wounded over a short period of time. For the first few months he flew on operations as an observer in various variants of BE2 until the squadron was re-equipped with RE8s in April 1917. There is no mention of Lt Girvan in the official squadron operational records until 7th June 1917. He took part in the well-documented Battle of Messines, when the allies detonated one million pounds of high explosive beneath the German positions as a prelude to driving the enemy off the Messines Ridge. Flying contact patrols at altitudes as low as 500 feet due to darkness and poor visibility resulted in the greatest number of casualties suffered by 6 squadron in any single day, a record that still stands to this day. Between the first sortie at 3:00 am and the last at 10:30 pm, three 6 Squadron airmen were killed in action, one died of his wounds, another was taken prisoner and three were injured, including Lt Girvan who became yet another of the Royal Air Force casualties when he received a bullet wound to the thigh from enemy ground fire. Though close to losing consciousness from the loss of blood, Lt Girvan still managed to submit a report on the latest infantry positions before collapsing. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty, he was awarded the Military Cross in August 1917. All of the above I managed to glean from the official 6 Squadron records and various public archives, but I was unable to determine what happened to him after he was wounded. That is, until I was contacted by Clive Girvan, nephew of the late Colin Girvan, who helped me fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle. After spending several weeks in a Belgian hospital, during which time it is thought that his mother went out from England to be with him, Lt Girvan was shipped back to England where he slowly recovered in hospital, having lost five inches of his right femur and suffering a severe infection. Apparently, beginning in October 1917, he wrote at least ten letters asking for a “wound gratuity”, for which he was entitled, but nothing was forthcoming from the British government. With the war at an end and still unable to get government assistance, Lt Girvan resigned his commission in July 1919, citing his injuries as the reason. Disillusioned with the treatment he had received from the country he had fought for and almost given his life to, as soon as he had got his affairs in order he boarded the 11,000 ton Cunard liner the SS Royal George (nicknamed ‘Rolling George’ for apparently obvious reasons!) at Southampton and set sail for the Americas, stopping first at Halifax before disembarking five days later at New York’s Ellis Island wharf on 1st October 1919. Colin Girvan settled into life in his new country and in the nineteen twenties married an American lady. Though they were childless, Helen Girvan wrote numerous children’s adventure novels over the next four decades, the last book being published in 1970. In 1926, Colin’s brother Alan, ten years his junior, emigrated from England to Canada, stopping off first in New York where he stayed with Colin for a week. Colin later visited Montreal in the mid nineteen thirties to attend Alan’s wedding (see photograph). Colin Girvan lived and worked in the United States of America until his death in 1972, having surprisingly outlived his younger brother by nine years. His nephew, Clive Girvan, tells me he met his uncle once in 1969 when he was driving back to Canada after his honeymoon. He found him to be a ‘wonderful man but not very interested in recounting any war stories’ – so typical of the men who fought in the Great War. I am happy to report that despite having no children of his own, Colin’s name and legacy has been passed down through his brother’s side of the family. Colin’s nephew, Colin Clive Girvan, has two sons, the elder son naming his first child Colin. Military tradition and service to their country is as evident today in the Girvan family as it was when their great uncle answered the call back in 1914, as one of Clive's sons is a firefighter in Ottawa and the other a captain in the Canadian Special Forces.

The official 1964 Commonwealth War Graves Commission grave plan for the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery (formerly Hinaidi RAF Peace Cemetery) Ma'Asker Al Raschid Cemetery Plan / Satellite Views This is the official Burial Record Plan of the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery (formerly the Hinaidi RAF Peace Cemetery) as produced by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1964 and amended in February 1965. The enhanced satellite image below the images of the plan shows the underground concrete footings as well as the small area on the mid-southern edge that is impacted by the rough gravel track. It is only after further excavations that it will be determined if any damage has been made by the lorries driving across the cemetery. The bottom photograph is a composite of the satellite image overlaid with the CWGC cemetery plan. For a complete list of names and grave locations, click HERE To see photos of the headstones still in existence at Hinaidi, click HERE To see the exact location of the cemetery, click HERE If you look carefully at the 1964 Cemetery Plan, you will notice that the grave numbering system (1 to 14) for Plot 1, Plot 2 and Plot 3 starts at '1' in the southernmost grave with '14' at the northernmost grave. This contradicts the original numbering system at the Ma'Asker Al Raschid Cemetery, which ran from north to south. I have added an amended diagram below which shows you what I mean as well as a c1935 cemetery photograph to give an example of the original numbering system. Whatever the reason for the change, intentional or unintentional, all grave information held at the CWGC for Ma'Asker is consistent with the post 1964 numbering system. Ma'Asker Al Raschid Cemetery Satellite Image 2020 - Concrete Footings Ma'Asker Al Raschid Cemetery Satellite Image 2020 / Plan Overlay Ma'Asker Al Raschid Cemetery Satellite Image 2023 / Plan Overlay This is a recent satellite photograph of the Ma'Asker Cemetery showing the new cemetery wall that was constructed around that part of the cemetery grounds used for burials. I have overlaid it with the 1964 CWGC cemetery plan to show the original size of the cemetery as well as the main entrance in the middle of the western wall compared to the new entrance in the midddl of the eastern wall.

After WW1, 6 Squadon was re-deployed to Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) in 1919. This is an account of the move and its Middle East operations 6 Squadron - Redeployment to Iraq 1919 The discovery of a photo album once belonging to an observer who joined 6 Squadron in 1919 has proved to be far more significant than at first glance. By delving deeper, I was able to determine the full extent of the difficulties faced by 6 Squadron at that time, when men who had just come out of a world war were called upon to redeploy to the harsh environment of Mesopotamia. After the Armistice, 6 Squadron remained in France, continuing to support the cavalry and engaged in aerial policing and photographic duties. At the beginning of 1919, the squadron was based at Gerpinnes in Belgium, having moved thirteen times in the previous twelve months. With the majority of other ranks signing up for the ‘duration of the war’ and many officers having either returned to their army units or left the employ of the RAF, many feared that the squadron would be reduced to a cadre and eventually disbanded, the fate of most RAF squadrons after WW1. Many of the squadron’s older aircraft were in a poor state of repair, with seven RE8s having to be struck off charge due to water damage from prolonged periods in the open air. In an attempt to keep the squadron up to strength, air crew were brought in from other squadrons, 15 Squadron in particular, and the decision was made to include the Bristol FB2 Fighter in the RE8 line-up as and when replacement aircraft were needed. It was during this period of uncertainty that Lt Ernest Kent transferred to 6 Squadron as an observer, little knowing that in two months he would be stationed in the Middle East. A keen photographer, Ernest brought with him photographs taken during his wartime days at 15 Squadron, a practice he would continue at 6 Squadron. In April 1919, Major George Pirie (later Air Chief Marshall Sir George Pirie, KCB, KBE, DFC, MC), 6 Squadron’s commanding officer since July 1918, received orders to pack up the squadron immediately and move 600 miles south to Marseilles. From there the squadron would be transported by ship to Mesopotamia where it would join forces with 30 Squadron in a peace-keeping role. With no Bristol Fighters (at that time) in the region, 6 Squadron was brought up to strength with RE8s and its Bristol Fighters sent to other squadrons. Five days after receiving the order, the squadron travelled by train to Marseilles and over the next two weeks men and equipment were loaded on to three ships, the SS Malwa which left on the 14th May with the majority of officers and other ranks, the SS Syria the following day with most of the remaining officers and men and three weeks later the SS Clan Stuart, loaded with eighteen RE8s as well as the squadron’s lorries and equipment, under the supervision of just one officer and two other ranks. In total, 45 officers and 138 other ranks left for Mesopotamia, the majority of men new to the squadron. Lt Ernest Kent was one of the officers who embarked on the SS Malwa and he took many photos of the journey, a few of which are included with this article. The seven day voyage to Port Said was fast and uneventful, but instead of remaining on board to pass through the Suez Canal and Red Sea on the final leg of the journey, they were ordered to disembark and wait three weeks in the Suez rest camp. Eventually they were allowed to re-embark, this time on the SS Hong Moh, a ship that had one third the displacement of the SS Malwa and was thirty years older. The journey was cramped and difficult, especially as they encountered bad weather on the Red Sea, and it wasn’t until the 18th July that the ship finally docked at Basra. Note: Two years later, the SS Hong Moh was wrecked during bad weather, with the loss of 1000 lives. The tribulations were not over for 6 Squadron, for within four days of landing more than one hundred men fell sick with sand fly fever. Though most fully recovered within a couple of weeks, one of the flight commanders, Captain H J Hunter, an ex 15 Squadron associate of Ernest Kent, was struck down twice with sand fly fever and then malaria, all in a space of three months. Never fully recovering, he was eventually struck off the strength of 6 Squadron in January 1920 and returned to the UK for ‘Home Establishment’ duties. Despite all of these setbacks, including the fact that many of the RE8s had been damaged in transit and that every rigger was suffering the effects of sand fly fever, the first RE8 took to the air on the 23rd July, just five days after being unpacked at Basrah. Two days later, a total of six RE8s had been made airworthy and flown successfully without incident. Six squadron was again operational. “And the rest,” they say, “is history.” P.S. My thanks to Mark Kent, grandson of Lt Ernest Kent, for allowing me access to his grandfather’s personal photograph album, a few of which are reproduced below that were taken of 6 Squadron's move to Mesopotamia in May 1919.

The RAF Aircraft Depot was formed at Basrah in 1915 moved to RAF Hinaidi in October 1922. In January 1935, the Station HQ was moved to the Aircraft Depot. Aircraft Depot, Hinaidi Pages 12 and 13 of "An Introduction to Iraq" give the history of the Aircraft Depot at Hinaidi, initially named the Aircraft Park when it was formed at Basrah in 1915. In January 1935 the Station Headquarters transferred to the Aircraft Depot. Details are also provided regarding the functions and organisation of the establishment as well as the recreation and sports facilities provided within the RAF Hinaidi Cantonment. At the time of publication, (August 1935) the Commanding Officer of the Aircraft Depot was Group Captain (who retired in 1946 having served in WW2 as an Air Commodore) Henry Job Francis Hunter CBE, MC.

Four 6 Squadron aerial photos of Dammstrasse, each an area 500 x 500 yards, taken prior to and after the attack on Messines 6 Squadron Aerial Photos - Dammstrasse The two photographs on Page 8 were taken by an RE8 of 6 Squadron, part of the squadron's aerial reconnaissance operations over the Western Front during WW1. Both photographs were taken over Dammstrasse, east of St Eloi, as defined by the mapping coordinates 28. O. 3. D and 28. O. 3. C , each area measuring 500 yards square. The first photograph was taken on the 1st May 1917 and the second on the 12th June 1917, 5 days after the 19 mines were detonated beneath the German lines along the Messines ridge. 6 Squadron Aerial Photos - Dammstrasse / Pheasant Wood The two photographs on Page 19 were taken by an RE8 of 6 Squadron, part of the squadron's aerial reconnaissance operations over the Western Front during WW1. The photographs were were taken over Dammstrasse and Pheasant Wood, as defined by mapping coordinates 28. O. 9. D and 28. O. 9. B . The first photograph was taken on the 22nd March 1917 and the second on the 8th June 1917, 1 day after 19 mines were detonated beneath the German lines along the Messines ridge at the start of the Battle of Messines

Seven Days in April is a murder mystery historical novel set in Belgium during WW1 - a Royal Flying Corps book inspired by 6 Squadron and written by Steve Buster Johnson Seven Days in April - a Story of 1917 In response to feedback from readers of my first book, For God, England and Ethel (the true story of three men who served with 6 Squadron during WW1), I decided to take a break from my other projects and write a factual historical novel with a difference. Seven Days in April is a murder/mystery novel set on the Western Front in Belgium during 1917, modelled on 6 Squadron's WW1 operations. Though the story is fictional, I have taken great pains to ensure the authenticity of both the setting and the flying sequences. In the Spring of 1917, a Royal Flying Corps squadron is having more than its fair share of action in the skies over the Western Front. To complicate matters, vital spare parts have mysteriously gone missing and the commanding officer is worried that if it gets out there’s a thief in their midst, it will adversely affect squadron morale. When a senior officer apparently commits suicide, with his death linked to the latest theft, the major knows that the time has come to solve the crimes quickly and discretely. To do this, he enlists the help of one of his senior pilots who was a detective before the war, charging him with the responsibility of investigating the death as well as the thefts. What appears to be an open-and-shut case quickly develops into something more sinister, leading the ex-detective to the realisation that there is more to the crimes than meets the eye. But how can he prove what his instinct tells him to be the truth? Note: Though the story is set on a real air force aerodrome at Abeele in Belgium and is modelled on 6 Squadron, the characters and plot are fictional. The aerial fighting and artillery co-operation missions contain factual details rarely seen in print. Seven Days in April was published by Feed-a-Read and is currently available directly from the publisher in hardback format or through the Amazon books worldwide network in both paperback and eBook format. Postage can vary a lot so it pays to see which is the cheapest option in your country.