Earliest Image of the RAF Hinaidi Cantonment, Baghdad

This photograph was taken by the then Pilot Officer (later Air Commodore) David W F Bonham-Carter from the cockpit of a 6 Squadron Bristol F2B Fighter, showing a second 6 Squadron F2B flying over the yet to be completed RAF Hinaidi cantonment (taken in late 1922 to early 1923). In the bottom right hand corner can be seen some of the aircraft hangars and the north-western corner of the RAF airfield. The centre of Baghdad is in the middle of the photograph where the River Tigris meets the horizon. The image is reproduced here with the kind permission of Jim Cownie, grandson of the photographer.

Bristol F2B Fighter of 6 Squadron flying over the RAF Hinaidi Cantonment, Baghdad, c1922/23