30 Squadron Burials at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, Iraq

Between the 3rd December 1922 and the 23rd October 1929, No. 30 Squadron was either based at or had a detachment located at RAF Hinaidi, the squadron operating the DH 9A and later the Westland Wapiti. On the 23rd October 1929 the squadron moved to RAF Mosul and remained there for seven years before being transferred to the newly-completed base of British operations at RAF Dhibban (name later changed to RAF Habbaniya). Between October 1924 and May 1935 the bodies of the twenty men of No. 30 Squadron who lost their lives in Iraq were buried at the now abandoned Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at RAF Hinaidi, located at the southern end of the RAF Hinaidi cantonment on land that is still owned by the Ministry of Defence. Originally the Hinaidi RAF Peace Cemetery, it was renamed the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery in 1961. According to the CWGC Annual Reports the cemetery was last maintained in 1974 and is now in a derelict condition, though a new wall was constructed around the used part of the cemetery in October 2021. With only 77 identifiable headstones remaining at the cemetery it is not surprising that only six of the surviving headstones are for 30 Squadron burials. Attached to this post are photographs of the six No. 30 Squadron headstones, though some are only fragments, albeit still able to be identified. Note also that Flight Lieutenant John Burd was the holder of the Military Cross (MC) nat the time of his death.

30 Squadron Burials at the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, Baghdad

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  Fragments of headstone for Sgt Pilot David Hume of 30 Squadron at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery

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  Fragments of headstone for AC1 William Waugh of 30 Squadron at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery

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  Fragments of headstone for S/Pilot Herbert Hudson of 30 Squadron at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery

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  Fragments of headstone for AC2 Robert Munro of 30 Squadron at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery

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  Fragments of headstone for F/Lt John M Burd of 30 Squadron at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery

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  Fragments of headstone for LAC James Cooper of 30 Squadron at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery