H-2 Air Base

H-2 Air Base
H-2 Air Base
Al-Anbar Province, Iraq
	H-2 Air Base, 1995
	H-2 Air Base Location of H-2 Air Base
Coordinates	33°21′22″N040°35′47″E / 33.35611°N 40.59639°E Coordinates: 33°21′22″N040°35′47″E / 33.35611°N 40.59639°E
Site information
Condition	Abandoned
Site history
Built	1935
In use	1935–2003
Battles/wars	World War II ; Operation Desert Storm ; Operation Iraqi Freedom
Garrison information
Garrison	Royal Air Force (1935–1958); Iraqi Air Force (1958–2003); Coalition Forces (2003)
Airfield information
Runways
11/29	12,600 ft (closed) Concrete
16/34	8,800 ft (closed) Concrete

Last updated February 09, 2022

H-2 Air Base (code-named 202B) is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Al-Anbar Governorate of Iraq. It was captured by U.S.-led Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Overview

H-2 is located in southern Iraq approximately 350 kilometers (217 mi) west of Baghdad. The airfield is served by two runways 12,600 and 8,800 feet long. H-2 occupies a 41 sq km (15.8 sq mi) site and is protected by 26 km (16.1 mi) of security perimeter.

History

RAF H2

H-2 was established by the Royal Air Force as a landing ground as "RAF H2" in the 1930s. It was named for the nearby H2 pumping station on the Mosul–Haifa oil pipeline. H2 one of several airfields established as part of the British Mandate of Iraq. Iraq was artificially created at the close of World War I from the former Ottoman Empire as part of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. It was used until the 1940s by No. 84 Squadron RAF.

During the early days World War II, the airfield was abandoned as the RAF moved its units to RAF Habbaniya during the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état and subsequent Anglo-Iraqi War. It may have been used by some German Luftwaffe units that had moved in from Vichy French controlled Syria, during an attempted coups by German-leaning Iraqi Generals who had engineered a coup in Iraq on 31 March 1941. However, the British moved in both land reinforcements from British Palestine and flew in some Wellington and Blenheim bombers to RAF Habbaniya. The coup crumbled in disorder, with the pro-Nazi forces in Iraq surrendering on 30 May. The Luftwaffe units stranded in Iraq retreated back to Syria. Outnumbered at least three to one, using outmoded equipment and facing the best of Nazi Germany's air power, the British still managed to conquer Iraq in less than four weeks. It was the first time the Luftwaffe had been beaten in World War II.^[1]

Iraqi Air Force

The airfield remained under British control until 1958, as a result of the 14 July 1958 Iraqi Revolution when Hashemite monarchy established by King Faisal I of Iraq in 1921 under the auspices of the British was overthrown. Subsequently, it was turned over to the Iraqi Air Force. During the 1970s, it was one of several Iraqi airfields upgraded under project "Super-Base" in response to the experiences from Arab-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973.

Companies from Yugoslavia – previously engaged in building bridges in Iraq – became involved in airfield construction. Due to their specific construction of these airfields – which included taxi-ways leading right out of Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) and laid diagonally to the runways – they became known as "Trapezoids" or "Yugos".

The facilities were divided into two categories: "surface" and "underground". The "surface" facilities were actually the "softest", and included maintenance hangars of metal construction, and HAS of concrete construction. In total, the Yugoslavs have built no less but 200 HAS on different airfields in Iraq during the 1980s.

The protection of each HAS consisted of one meter thick concrete shells, reinforced by 30 cm thick steel plates. There was only one entrance and this was covered by sliding doors, made of 50 cm thick steel armoured plate and concrete. The HAS' were usually built in small groups – seldom more than five, with each group sharing the same water and power supply, besides having own backup gasoline-powered electrical generator, and each HAS being equipped with a semi-automatic aircraft-refuelling system.

In addition, underground facilities that could shelter between four and ten aircraft on average were constructed. In order to build these the Yugoslavs used equipment and construction techniques identical to that use in underground oil-storage depots, additionally concealing the extension and the true purpose of the whole project. The underground facilities were all hardened to withstand a direct hit by a tactical nuclear bomb, buried up to 50 meters below the ground and consisted of the main aircraft "hangar" (consisting of two floors in several cases, connected by 40ts hydraulic lifts), connected with operations, maintenance, and logistical facilities via a net of underground corridors.^[2]

1991 Gulf War

H-2 became an important target for American F-117 "Stealth" fighter attacks in the opening days of the Gulf war, according to military analysts. The U.S. conducted some 47 raids on the base, effectively closing it for the duration of the war.^[3]

2003 Iraq War

On 18 March 2003, a combined force of B and D squadron of British 22nd SAS Regiment and 1 squadron of the Australian SASR crossed the Iraqi-Jordanian border and headed towards H-2. The combined force took H-2 virtually unopposed, a company of U.S. Army Rangers and Marines from 45 Commando flew from Jordan to the base, where the SAS/SASR handed the base over to their control.^[4]

Current status

According to satellite imagery, the base appears abandoned, with most of the buildings either collapsed or in an advanced state of disrepair. The taxiways runways appear to be methodically blocked with obstacles, the majority of which seem to be evenly-spaced piles of sandbags, rendering them unusable to aircraft.^[5]

Related Research Articles

The 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, also called the Rashid Ali Al-Gaylani coup or the Golden Square coup, was a nationalist coup d'état in Iraq on 1 April 1941 that overthrew the pro-British regime of Regent 'Abd al-Ilah and his Prime Minister Nuri al-Said and installed Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister.

RAF Fairford Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Gloucestershire, England which is currently a standby airfield and therefore not in everyday use. Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for United States Air Force B-52s during the 2003 Iraq War, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the first Gulf War in 1991. It is the US Air Force's only European airfield for heavy bombers.

Royal Air Force Burtonwood is a former Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces base that was located in Burtonwood, 2 miles (3.2 km) Northwest of Warrington in Cheshire, England. The base was opened in 1940 in response to World War II by the RAF and in 1942 it was transferred to the United States of America for war operations. The base was home to 18,000 American servicemen at the end of the war. In 1946 the base was transferred back to the United Kingdom however United States operations continued. The base officially closed in 1991 and since then the runway and most of the associated buildings have been demolished. RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre was opened on part of the former base and focuses on the lives of the servicemen, the war and the airplanes at the base.

RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 nautical miles from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately 6 mi (10 km) north of London Heathrow Airport. The station handles many private civil flights in addition to Air Force flights. Northolt has one runway in operation, spanning 1,687 m × 46 m, with a grooved asphalt surface.

Anglo-Iraqi War 1941 campaign during World War II

The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Ali, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, with assistance from Germany and Italy. The campaign resulted in the downfall of Ali's government, the re-occupation of Iraq by the British, and the return to power of the Regent of Iraq, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, a British ally.

Royal Air Force Station Habbaniya, more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya, , was a Royal Air Force station at Habbaniyah, about 55 miles (89 km) west of Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, on the banks of the Euphrates near Lake Habbaniyah. It was operational from October 1936 until 31 May 1959 when the RAF finally withdrew after the July 1958 Revolution made the British military presence no longer welcome. It was the scene of fierce fighting in May 1941 when it was besieged by the Iraqi Military following the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état.

The Changi Air Base is an airfield military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located at Changi, in the eastern tip of Singapore. Sited at two locations to the east and west of Singapore Changi Airport, it co-shares runway facilities with the civilian airport and currently occupies a third runway slated for future expansion for civilian use by Singapore Changi Airport. Together, the two airfields house 121 Squadron, 112 Squadron, 145 Squadron, the Field Defence Squadron, the Air Logistics Squadron and the Airfield Maintenance Squadron. The air base badge carries the motto Together in Excellence.

Flyer Command Iraq was a unit of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) sent to Iraq in May 1941 as part of a German mission to support the regime of Rashid Ali during the Anglo-Iraqi War. The mission was part of a larger effort to gain support in the Middle East for the Axis Powers against the United Kingdom and its allies during World War II.

Royal Air Force Hinaidi or more RAF Hinaidi is a former Royal Air Force station near Baghdad in the Kingdom of Iraq. It was operational from 1922 until 1938, when operations were transferred to RAF Habbaniya.

Nancy-Ochey Air Base is a front-line French Air and Space Force base located approximately 11 km west-southwest of Neuves-Maisons in the Département de Meurthe-et-Moselle, France.

Vitry-en-Artois Airfield is a regional airfield in France, located 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Vitry-en-Artois; 105 miles (169 km) north-northeast of Paris. It supports general aviation with no commercial airline service scheduled.

Juvincourt Airfield is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the commune of Juvincourt-et-Damary in the Aisne department of northern France.

Laon-Athies Air Base is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the city of Laon in the Aisne department of France.

Sint-Truiden / Brustem Airfield is an airfield located in Brustem, 1.5 nautical miles southeast of Sint-Truiden (Limburg) and approximately 37 mi (60 km) east of Brussels. Formerly known as Sint-Truiden Air Base or Brustem Air Base, the aerodrome was deactivated as a Belgian Air Component base in 1996.

Münster-Handorf Airfield is a former military airfield located in Germany about 5 miles east-northeast of Münster (Nordrhein-Westfalen); approximately 250 miles west of Berlin.

Al Taqaddum Airbase, or Al Taqaddum AB, , is an air base that is located in central Iraq, approximately 74 kilometers west of Baghdad, at Habbaniyah. The airfield is served by two runways 13,000 and 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long. Since 2004, it has been known as Camp Taqaddum. It was formerly known as Tammuz Airbase.

H-1 Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Al-Anbar Governorate of Iraq. It was captured by U.S.-led Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Since then it has remained abandoned.

H-3 Air Base is part of a cluster of former Iraqi Air Force bases in the Al-Anbar Governorate of Iraq. H3 is located in a remote stretch of Iraq's western desert, about 435 kilometers from Baghdad in western Iraq. It is close to the Syrian–Iraqi border, and near the highway that connects Jordan with Baghdad.

Shaibah Air Base is an Iraqi Air Force airfield in the Basrah Governorate of Iraq.

Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base is an Iraqi Army Aviation Corps base near Kut, Wasit Governorate, Iraq. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .

↑ British fought the good fight once before in Iraq
↑ Cooper, Tom; Bishop, Farzad (2000). Iran-Iraq War in the Air, 1980-1988. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military History. pp. 248–249. ISBN 0764316699. LCCN 2002110491.
↑ Urban, Mark, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq , St. Martin's Griffin, 2012, ISBN 978-1-250-00696-7, p.10
↑ Neville, Leigh, Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military), Osprey Publishing, 2015 ISBN 978-1-4728-0790-8, p.118-119
↑ "Google Maps".

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] British fought the good fight once before in Iraq

[2] Cooper, Tom; Bishop, Farzad (2000). Iran-Iraq War in the Air, 1980-1988. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military History. pp. 248–249. ISBN 0764316699. LCCN 2002110491.

[3] Urban, Mark, Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq , St. Martin's Griffin, 2012, ISBN 978-1-250-00696-7, p.10

[4] Neville, Leigh, Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military), Osprey Publishing, 2015 ISBN 978-1-4728-0790-8, p.118-119

[5] "Google Maps".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]