55 Squadron Burials at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery
Aug 21
1 min read
Updated: Aug 24
Between April 1923 and May 1935, a period when No. 55 Squadron was either based at Mosul or RAF Hinaidi, twenty-six men of the squadron lost their lives and were buried at the Hinaidi RAF Peace Cemetery (name changed to Ma’Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery in 1961). Some of the men died at Mosul and were initially buried there but they were all later reinterred at Ma’Asker, since RAF Hinaidi was at that time the centre of operations for all British Forces in Mesopotamia.
Considering the distance between Mosul and Baghdad (220 miles by air and 250 miles by road), moving the bodies to RAF Hinaidi came at the risk of being attacked by hostile tribesmen. The causes of death for the twenty-six men were varied, resulting from action against insurgents, flying accidents, illness and even suicide. Of all the RAF squadrons with men buried at the Ma’Asker cemetery, 55 squadron is the most represented, accounting for almost 9 percent of the three hundred burials. Seventy-seven identifiable headstones have survived at the long abandoned Ma’Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery, with nine for 55 Squadron men (see the attached images).
One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry One of 9 surviving headstones for 55 Squadron men who were buried at Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemtry
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