RAF Habbaniya Cantonment - First Ever Satellite / Diagram Overlay Image

RAF Habbaniya (originally named RAF Dhibban) was the centre of operations for British Forces in Iraq from October 1936 until the end of May 1959 when the last of the British Forces left Iraq. Note however that the previous base, RAF Hinaidi, was still operational up to January 1938 when the last of the forces were transferred to RAF Habbaniya. Similar to the RAF Hinaidi cantonment which contained the Hinaidi RAF Peace Cemetery (since renamed the Ma'Asker Al Raschid RAF Cemetery), the land occupying the Habbaniya War Cemetery remained the property of the UK Ministry of Defence and since 1959 there have been several attempts to restore the cemetery to its former glory (see the Habbaniya section on my website as well as associated Blog posts). Also similar to what has happened over the years at RAF Hinaidi, most of the original infrastructure on the site of RAF Habbaniya has changed, as both locations have since been used by the Iraqi Air Force.

Several years ago I examined several satellite photographs of the area once occupied by RAF Hinaidi and created a composite image of the 3D satellite photograph overlaid with a black transparency of the original Commonwealth War Graves Commission plan of the RAF Hinaidi cantonment. This image has generated so much interest over the years that I decided to create a similar image for the 'then and now' at Habbaniya (image only initially available on this post but it will shortly be added to the main Habbaniya section of my website). Surprisingly, quite a few roads and a few of the buildings (including the cemetery entrance and Wall of Remembrance) have not changed since 1959.

Habbaniya Iraq 2025 - satellite image of RAF Habbaniya overlaid with official CWGC plan of the RAF Habbaniya cantonment