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H builds “The RAF and me” The RAF Regiment FINISHED


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The RAF Armoured Car Companies were part of Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) based in IraqPalestine and Transjordan. They were formed to operate with aircraft squadrons to suppress insurrection and maintain peace in the area in the aftermath of World War I.

 

A large and expensive army was required to maintain peace in Mesopotamia after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by the British in the Mesopotamian campaign of World War I. At the Cairo Conference (1921) it was agreed by Chief of the Air Staff Lord Trenchard and Secretary of State for the Colonies Winston Churchill that the Royal Air Force would take over control from the British Army. It was considered the security of the newly created country of Iraq could be achieved by aircraft squadrons supported by RAF armoured cars and a small number of ground forces.

In the winter of 1921/1922 airmen and officers of the RAF were assembled at RAF Heliopolis on the outskirts of Cairo in Egypt to train and form the nucleus of the RAF Armoured Car Companies.

On 19 December 1921, No.1 Armoured Car Company RAF (1 ACC) was formally established at Heliopolis and then, having become operational, moved to Palestine in May 1922. They were disbanded there on 1 December 1923 with elements being absorbed into No.2 Armoured Car Company RAF (2 ACC).[1] On 7 April 1922 the remaining airmen under training at RAF Heliopolis were formed into 2 ACC and a month later proceeded to Palestine & Transjordan.[2] In May 1922 airmen and officers assembled at RAF Manston in KentEngland, to train as armoured car crew for service in Mesopotamia (Iraq).[3] On 14 September 1922 they set sail on the first Royal Air Force troopship from Southampton with other RAF personnel bound for Iraq.[4]

In Iraq, No.3 Armoured Car Company RAF (3 ACC) was based at Basrah operating in Southern Iraq, No.5 Armoured Car Company RAF (5 ACC) at Mosul with No.4 Armoured Car Company RAF (4 ACC), No.6 Armoured Car Company RAF (6 ACC) and a headquarters in Baghdad. Armoured car lines were created at RAF Hinaidi Cantonment.

In 1924 Numbers 3 and 4 Companies were combined. In April 1927 Numbers 4, 5 & 6 Companies were disbanded with the formation of the armoured car wing at RAF Hinaidi Cantonment composed of 8 sections of armoured cars. Four sections were based at Hinaidi, one at Basrah, two at Kirkuk and one at Mosul. In April 1930 the Armoured Car Wing was disbanded and reconstituted as Number 1 Armoured Car Company RAF with headquarters, workshops and two sections based at RAF Hinaidi Cantonment, one section based at RAF Basrahand one at RAF Mosul.[1][5] In 1937 1 ACC moved from the RAF Hinaidi Cantonment to a new base at RAF Dhibban (renamed RAF Habbaniya on 1 May 1938), where it remained based until disbandment and incorporation into the RAF Regiment, on 3 October 1946.

In Palestine and Transjordan, 2 ACC remained active until disbandment and incorporation into the RAF Regiment, on 3 October 1946.

Above taken from Wikipedia. 

 

My my own personal link to this build is slightly tenuous, but stick with me. Every year I had my annual visit to the Rockapes for CCS training, basically first aid, shooting, NBC and the gas chamber sorry respirator test facility.  And I spent a delightful time in Iraq at Basra airfield. 

Oh and on each Rock Squadron there will be at least one MTD to provide driver fams/ training on the vehicles. 

That should cover it :hmmm::whistle:

 

This is the kit I will build

resized_c4bb5072-35a5-48a9-8350-ee003c18

 

Edited by Hockeyboy76
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37 minutes ago, Robert Stuart said:

Good, a welcome addition to the Group Build H - we now have some aspect of the RAF that isn't aeroplanes (wonderful though those are).

 

p.s. which scheme are you going for, have you decided yet?

I want to use the roundel decal, so it will be an all green affair. But then again I do have a lot of Light stone paint left from my Buccaneer build. 

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For a car, it’s flying along :whistle:. Cracking on with the sub assembly’s but leaving the wheels and axels off to till the end, dont want it cocking a leg.  There is a lot of flash to deal with and each moulding gate leaves a lump on the piece you clip off. 

Edited by Hockeyboy76
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34 minutes ago, Robert Stuart said:

That looks like good progress H.  I have the 1/35th version of this in my stash, and am interested to see how this comes out.

 

PM sent

Hope it’s not as fiddly as this is. 

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Have been looking at Armoured cars in service during WW2 and found this

b4612888-6eda-4501-8c45-8d8ead3bd9d1.jpe

Under effective fire from an Iraqi brigade of some 9,000 men on the plateau overlooking the besieged RAF station at Habbaniya, three Rolls-Royce armoured cars of No 1 Armoured Car Company RAF, HMACs ‘LION’, ‘ADDER’ and ‘ASTRA’, recover the ground crew and pilot of a stricken Wellington Mk. IC of No 70 Squadron RAF. 

The Wellington had forced-landed after being hit by anti-aircraft fire while on a bombing run over the Iraqi positions. The recovery of the Wellington, which was carrying a full bomb load, had to be abandoned when the aircraft and tractor were hit by artillery and machine-gun fire. Reinforced by a further six Rolls-Royce armoured cars, the Company then repelled an incursion by a dozen armoured cars of the Iraqi Army which were attempting to infiltrate across the half mile interval between the plateau and the airfield.

In concert with their comrades in the air, the steadiness under fire, dash and disregard for danger in the attack shown by the ground force, of which No 1 Armoured Car Company was a key element, ultimately led to the defeat of a vastly superior enemy force.

Above and image from https://skipperpress.com/portfolio/gallery-prints/habbaniya-2nd-may-1941/

 

Edited by Hockeyboy76
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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice. I'm building the 1/35 kit. I'm surprised to see decals provided in yours as there were none in the box for me.

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2 hours ago, Ted said:

Nice. I'm building the 1/35 kit. I'm surprised to see decals provided in yours as there were none in the box for me.

Speak to @Robert Stuart, I know he has that kit too & see if his had decals dude. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looking good, I picked this up after reading "In Every Place" by Nigel Warwick, a history of the RAF armoured car units in the Middle East & North Africa, superb if heavy duty reading with some fascinating insights into the history of the region. I'm very pleased to see the level of detail it has for a small model, I'm far more hopeful for mine now.

Steve.

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