Shaibah Air Base
Shaibah Air Base (formerly Wahda Air Base before 2003) is an Iraqi Air Force airfield in the Basrah Governorate of Iraq. History. Royal Air Force use. It was established by the Royal Air Force in 1920 as RAF Station Shaibah, a small and primitive airfield in the desert with a harsh hot and humid climate. A 1930 treaty guaranteed British use till the mid-50s. The resident squadron was No. 84 Squadron RAF until 1940 when No. 244 Squadron RAF took over. It expanded during the Second World War. No 244 Sqn was involved in the Rashid Ali  rebellion in 1941. Nos 37 and 70 Squadrons (Wellingtons) operated from Shaibah in support of RAF Habbaniya. On 24 April that year, 400 men of the King's Own Royal Regiment were "flown by No.31 Squadron [from India via] Shaibah to RAF Habbaniya to reinforce the armoured cars of No.1 RAF Armoured Car Company." RAF Shaibah was under the control of the RAF's Air Headquarters Iraq (see AHQ Iraq and Persia). At this time several units were located at Shaibah. They included: No. 5153 Squadron of the Airfield Construction Branch RAF was engaged in building works at Shaibah during  the war. Squadron Leader Kenneth Hubbard was Station Commander of RAF Shaibah in 1951-53 when the station was involved in the evacuation of the British personnel from Abadan in Persia/Iran. He received the Order of the British Empire in 1953. Early Iraqi Air Force use (1956 - 1990). On 1 March 1956 it was handed over to the Iraqi Air Force, and it then became an Iraqi Air Force airfield. After that it was renamed to 'Al-Wahda' or Wahda Air Base. The airfield was bombed by a flight of four Mk.82-equipped McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs as  part of the Operation Revenge launched by Iranian Air Force two hours after the Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980. According to Iranian sources, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25s and some Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 were stationed in this airbase. The airbase was again bombed in the large-scale Operation Kaman 99 on the second day of the war. Early on May 17, 1987, a modified Iraqi Air Force Dassault Falcon 50 of No. 81 Squadron was redeployed from Saddam Air Base to Wahda. This aircraft, nicknamed "Susanna" by the Iraqis was then loaded with two AM.39 Exocet cruise missiles for its  first test/combat flight. Just after dark, the order "Let the bird fly" was given, signalling Susanna to take off and conduct a sortie over the Persian Gulf as part of the Tanker War. The Falcon 50 fired both of its missiles at unknown ship that it detected on radar and returned to Wahda. This ship turned out to be the leading to the USS "Stark" Incident. 1991 Gulf War and abandonment. At 4:05AM on 17 January 1991, a mixed formation of four A-6E TRAM Intruders from VA-115 Eagles and VA-185 Nighthawks from the attacked the airfield at above the  ground. The aircraft encountered heavier anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) defences than the other Intruder formation from "Midway" attacking Ahmad al-Jaber Airfield. As a result of the AAA at Wahda, the "Midway" pilots decided not to attack from low level in the future. On the evening of 17 January, four RAF Tornados attacked Wahda with JP233 anti-runway dispensers. Just after the attack, ZA392, a GR.1 Tornado from No. 617 Sq, crewed by Commander Nigel Eldson and Flight Lieutenant Max Collier, impacted the ground with no survivors. On 23 January at 10:00AM, "Midway" launched aircraft again to attack Wahda. This  strike however included both Intruders and F/A-18A Hornets. The strike force encountered light AAA with the aircraft bombing the hangars and ammunition storage facilities on the base. On 31 January, another RAF attack took place, this time with the US Navy. Between 08:35 and 08:40M local time (17:35Z–17:40Z), RAF Tornados attacked the hangars, despite the bombs on the lead aircraft failing to be dropped. The USN strike package included six A-6E Intruders, an EA-6B Prowler, an A-6E SWIP Intruder from VA-145 equipped with AGM-88 HARMs and four F-14 Tomcats. It was abandoned after Operation Desert Storm. 2003 US -led invasion of Iraq. It was captured by Coalition forces during the Iraq War of 2003 and it became the site of a British Military Hospital and the Shaibah Logistics Base (SLB), but the original RAF buildings remain. While the SLB was in operation it was home to British, Dutch, Czech, Danish and Norwegian forces. The following British units were posted here at some point under Operation Telic: 34 field hospital, op telic 1 It was also the location of the BFBS Radio studios for the duration of the Operation. Current use. The base is currently by the Iraqi Military  as a small base.