RAF Habbaniya Royal Air Force Station Habbaniya , more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya , ( originally RAF Dhibban ) was a Royal Air Force station at Habbaniyah , about west of Baghdad in modern day Iraq , on the banks of the Euphrates near Lake Habbaniyah . It was operational from October 1936 until the 31 May 1959 when the British were finally withdrawn following the July 1958 Revolution . It remained a major Iraqi military airbase . History . RAF Habbaniya was constructed on the west bank of the Euphrates and opened on 19 October 1936 . The squadrons , units and headquarters and the hospital gradually moved in from RAF Hinaidi , Baghdad , which was vacated by the British and renamed " Rashid Airfield " by the Iraqis . Originally called RAF Dhibban , the station was renamed RAF Habbaniya on 1 May 1938 . The base was extensive and included the Air Headquarters of RAF Iraq Command , maintenance units , an aircraft depot , an RAF hospital , RAF Iraq Levies barracks , the RAF Armoured Car Company depot as well as fuel and bomb stores . There were numerous billets , messes and a wide range of leisure facilities including swimming pools , cinemas and theatres , sports pitches , tennis courts and riding stables . It was self - contained with its own power station , water purification plant and sewage farm . Within the base was the Civil Cantonment for the civilian workers and their families and the families of the RAF Iraq Levies . Water taken from the Euphrates for the irrigation systems enabled green lawns , flower beds and even ornamental Botanical Gardens . After World War II the families of British personnel started living at Habbaniya and a school was started . There was a 7 mile perimeter fence round the base but this did not enclose the airfield which was outside . In 1952 a second airfield was built on the plateau to cope with the long range and jet aircraft using the base ( this subsequently became the Iraqi Air Force Al Taqaddum airbase ) . In the late 1930s Imperial Airways established a staging post on Lake Habbaniya for the flying boat service from the UK to British India using Short Empire s . The lake provided the necessary landing area for these aircraft in the middle of the Mesopotamian desert . The station was a large flying training school during World War II , as well as a transport staging airfield . During the Rashid Ali rebellion in 1941 the airfield was besieged by the Iraqi Army encamped on the overlooking plateau . On 2 May 1941 , British forces from the airfield launched pre - emptive airstrikes on Iraqi forces throughout Iraq and the Anglo - Iraqi War began . The siege was lifted by the units based at Habbaniya , including pilots from the training school , a battalion of the King ' s Own Royal Regiment flown in at the last moment , Number 1 Armoured Car Company RAF and the RAF ' s Iraq Levies . The subsequent arrival of a relief column ( " Kingcol " ) , part of " Habforce " sent from Palestine , then a British mandate , combined with the Habbaniya units to force the rebel forces to retreat to Baghdad . Later in World War II Habbaniya became an important stage on the southern air route between the UK and the USSR . British Overseas Airways Corporation ( BOAC ) ran a regular passenger service via North Africa and the Middle East using Consolidated Liberator transports . The United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command used Habbaniya as a stopover point between the large Lend - Lease aircraft assembly facility at Abadan Airport , Iran and Payne Field , Cairo . Also ATC operated a transport route from Habbaniya to Mehrabad Airport . Tehran . After World War II , BOAC discontinued the flying boat service and the hotel buildings at the lake were acquired by the RAF and used as a Rest and Recreation Centre . Operational RAF squadrons were based at Habbaniya and very many aircraft passed through in transit . Roald Dahl was stationed there in 1940 , as described in his book , " Going Solo " but his description is somewhat inaccurate and his opinion rather unfavourable compared with that of most personnel who served there . Among the Units located at Habbaniya at various times were : Current use . According to the Federation of American Scientists the site was used to produce Mustard gas ( a chemical weapon ) . The site was built in 1983 - 1984 . The factory produced the gas for use against the Iranians during the Iran – Iraq War . The factory produced 60 - 80 tonnes per year . In present times , the former British airfield was used by both the United States Armed Forces and the New Iraqi Army as a forward operating base , and is now known as Camp Habbaniyah . From this outpost , combat operations are run from the outskirts of Fallujah to the outskirts of Ramadi . Since 2006 Camp Habbaniyah has grown into a Regional Training and Regional Support Center as well as the headquarters for the Iraqi Army 1st Division . On going Coalition and Iraqi construction projects have revitalized much of the base . In December 2008 , the U . S . Army and all civilian contractors departed Camp Habbaniyah . U . S . Marines had stayed behind to provide the Iraqi Army with additional perimeter security until a time TBD . On 16 April 2009 , a suicide - bomber dressed as an Iraqi 1st Lieutenant detonated a bomb among a group of Iraqi soldiers at a canteen . 289 British and Commonwealth personnel , women , children and babies still lie buried in the RAF / Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Habbaniya . The register of those buried is held by the RAF Habbaniya Association . RAF Habbaniya Association