Death of Peter Burlton - RAF Habbaniya and RAF Hinaidi Researcher

Peter Arthur Burlton - Head Researcher RAF Habbaniya Association

It is with great regret that I have to report the death of Peter Burlton, who for many years was the head historian of the now disbanded RAF Habbaniya Association. In his capacity as a military researcher, Peter spent countless hours at the Public Records Office in Kew and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headquarters researching the history of the various Royal Air Force bases in Iraq, most notably RAF Habbaniya and RAF Hinaidi. Peter's knowledge and research into the British men and women who died in Iraq and were buried at the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery (formerly the Hinaidi RAF Peace Cemetery) were invaluable to me in 2018. At that time I had hit a 'brick wall' with bureaucratic obstacles preventing me from determining the reason why this cemetery for British Service personnel had been abandoned by both the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the British Ministry of Defence, upon whose land the cemetery had been built back in the early nineteen-twenties. I was also finding it difficult to build up a complete list of the 299 (now recognised as being 300) men, women and one baby girl who were buried there. Peter came to the rescue by giving me access to his records as well as persuading the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to provide him with a copy of their records for the Ma'Asker cemetery, which until that time had not been made available to the general public. From this database I was able to research the military service history for most of the men who were buried at Ma'Asker and eventually build up a portfolio of photos and background details from descendants of the dead and others who had served in Iraq and expressed interest in the project.

Over the past six years, with the help of Peter and the invaluable assistance and driving force provided by two Defence Attachés at the British Embassy in Baghdad, some progress has been made in restoring the Ma'Asker Cemetery to its former glory. Though Peter did live to see the cemetery emerge from being part of an Iraqi rubbish dump and made secure with a new brick wall constructed around its perimeter in October 2021, it is sad that he will not witness the next and most important phase of restoration, that of re-making and erecting the 300 headstones at Ma'Asker.

Though our work has been unofficial and 'behind the scenes' on a voluntary basis, I dearly hope that one day Peter's contribution to the restoration of the British cemeteries at both RAF Habbaniya and RAF Hinaidi will be officially recognised. Rest in Peace Peter. (Refer also to the main story page for Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery)