_
There are very few books that specifically cover the
activities of the Armoured Car Companies post-WW1. But they are included in
some general military histories.
However, the following reading list covers more than the narrow scope of this blog. The activities of the RAF ACCs cannot be seen in isolation. They undertook activities within a wider political and military context. Some of the books are pure political, some a mixture and a few military. What they all have in common is a wider understanding of Britain’s involvement in Mesopotamia and Iraq.
WW1
The First Iraq War 1914-1918: Britain’s Mesopotamian Campaign
A J Barker
A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the struggle that shaped the Middle East
James Barr
When God Made Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq 1914-1921
Charles Townshend
British Policy in Mesopotamia, 1903-1914
Stuart A. Cohen
Letters From Mesopotamia: In 1915 And January, 1916, From Robert Palmer, Who Was Killed In The Battle Of Um El Hannah, June 21, 1916 Aged 27 Years
Robert Palmer
Inter-War (political, military & other)
The Baghdad Air Mail
W/C Roderic Hill
Kurds, Arabs & Britons: The Memoir of Wallace Lyon in Iraq 1918-44
Edited by D K Fieldhouse
Empires of Intelligence: Security Services and Colonial Disorder after 1914
Martine Thomas
(has several pages on Iraq during the Inter-war period, including the Kurdish Uprisings in 1919/1920)
Iraq Between The Two World Wars - The Militarist Origins of Tyranny: How the German-based military education of an Iraqi elite led to the regime of Saddam Hussein
Reeva Spector Simon
(don’t be put off by the subtitle. The book is mainly concerned with the inter-war period, leading to the Rashid Ali Coup in 1941)
Inventing Iraq: The Failure if Nation Building and a History Denied
Toby Dodge
Heavenly Days: Recollections of a Contented Airman
G/C James Pelly-Fry DSO
(fascinating memoir of a pilot who spent most of his prewar service in the Middle East and East Africa. These parts are just as illuminating as the ones on his wartime service)
Britain in Iraq: Contriving King and Country
Peter Sluglett
A Peace To End All Peace: The Fall Of The Ottoman Empire And The Creation Of The Modern Middle East
David Fromkin
Britain's Informal Empire In The Middle East A Case Study Of Iraq, 1929-1941
Daniel Silverfarb
Air Power and Colonial Control: The Royal Air Force, 1919-1939
David E. Omissi
The Role Of The Royal Air Force In Iraq Under The British Mandate, 1920-1932.
Eamonn P.B. Gearon
(student thesis for a Masters degree)
The RAF, Small Wars and Insurgencies in the Middle East, 1919-1939
(online pdf)
The RAF, Small Wars and Insurgencies: Later Colonial Operations, 1945-1975
(online pdf. Not really relevant to the scope of this site but compliments the above publication)
‘Combined action’: RAF operations in Palestine during the Arab Revolt, 1936-1939
(article)
WW2
Hidden Victory: The Battle of Habbaniya, May 1941
AVM A G Dedgeon CBE DFC
THE REVOLT IN IRAQ
(Chapter 9 from the The Official History of the Second World War - The Mediterranean and Middle East Volume II)
The Flying Fourth: 1st Battalion, Kings Own Royal Regiment at Habbaniya and Fallujah Iraq 1941
King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum, Lancaster
Paiforce: The Official Story of the Persia and Iraq Command 1941-46
HMSO
Hitler’s Gulf War: The Fight for Iraq 1941
Barrie G James
(if you already have Dudgeon’s book then it is not worth spending any extra on this book as it contains nothing new)
Dust Clouds in the Middle East: The Air War for East Africa, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940-42
Christopher Shores
Five Ventures: Iraq, Syria, Persia, Madagascar and Dodecanese
Christopher Buckley
Iraq and Syria 1941
Geoffrey Warner
First Victory: Britain’s Forgotten Struggle in the Middle East 1941
Robert Lyman
Iraq 1941: The battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad
Robert Lyman
Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World
Jeffrey Herf
Sunrise at Abadan: The British and Soviet Invasion of Iran, 1941
Richard A. Stewart
Other
Zionism In An Arab Country: Jews In Iraq In The 1940s
Esther Meir-Glitzenstein
(will be updated as necessary. Keep an eye on blog posts for latest updates)
However, the following reading list covers more than the narrow scope of this blog. The activities of the RAF ACCs cannot be seen in isolation. They undertook activities within a wider political and military context. Some of the books are pure political, some a mixture and a few military. What they all have in common is a wider understanding of Britain’s involvement in Mesopotamia and Iraq.
WW1
The First Iraq War 1914-1918: Britain’s Mesopotamian Campaign
A J Barker
A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the struggle that shaped the Middle East
James Barr
When God Made Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq 1914-1921
Charles Townshend
British Policy in Mesopotamia, 1903-1914
Stuart A. Cohen
Letters From Mesopotamia: In 1915 And January, 1916, From Robert Palmer, Who Was Killed In The Battle Of Um El Hannah, June 21, 1916 Aged 27 Years
Robert Palmer
Inter-War (political, military & other)
The Baghdad Air Mail
W/C Roderic Hill
Kurds, Arabs & Britons: The Memoir of Wallace Lyon in Iraq 1918-44
Edited by D K Fieldhouse
Empires of Intelligence: Security Services and Colonial Disorder after 1914
Martine Thomas
(has several pages on Iraq during the Inter-war period, including the Kurdish Uprisings in 1919/1920)
Iraq Between The Two World Wars - The Militarist Origins of Tyranny: How the German-based military education of an Iraqi elite led to the regime of Saddam Hussein
Reeva Spector Simon
(don’t be put off by the subtitle. The book is mainly concerned with the inter-war period, leading to the Rashid Ali Coup in 1941)
Inventing Iraq: The Failure if Nation Building and a History Denied
Toby Dodge
Heavenly Days: Recollections of a Contented Airman
G/C James Pelly-Fry DSO
(fascinating memoir of a pilot who spent most of his prewar service in the Middle East and East Africa. These parts are just as illuminating as the ones on his wartime service)
Britain in Iraq: Contriving King and Country
Peter Sluglett
A Peace To End All Peace: The Fall Of The Ottoman Empire And The Creation Of The Modern Middle East
David Fromkin
Britain's Informal Empire In The Middle East A Case Study Of Iraq, 1929-1941
Daniel Silverfarb
Air Power and Colonial Control: The Royal Air Force, 1919-1939
David E. Omissi
The Role Of The Royal Air Force In Iraq Under The British Mandate, 1920-1932.
Eamonn P.B. Gearon
(student thesis for a Masters degree)
The RAF, Small Wars and Insurgencies in the Middle East, 1919-1939
(online pdf)
The RAF, Small Wars and Insurgencies: Later Colonial Operations, 1945-1975
(online pdf. Not really relevant to the scope of this site but compliments the above publication)
‘Combined action’: RAF operations in Palestine during the Arab Revolt, 1936-1939
(article)
WW2
Hidden Victory: The Battle of Habbaniya, May 1941
AVM A G Dedgeon CBE DFC
THE REVOLT IN IRAQ
(Chapter 9 from the The Official History of the Second World War - The Mediterranean and Middle East Volume II)
The Flying Fourth: 1st Battalion, Kings Own Royal Regiment at Habbaniya and Fallujah Iraq 1941
King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum, Lancaster
Paiforce: The Official Story of the Persia and Iraq Command 1941-46
HMSO
Hitler’s Gulf War: The Fight for Iraq 1941
Barrie G James
(if you already have Dudgeon’s book then it is not worth spending any extra on this book as it contains nothing new)
Dust Clouds in the Middle East: The Air War for East Africa, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940-42
Christopher Shores
Five Ventures: Iraq, Syria, Persia, Madagascar and Dodecanese
Christopher Buckley
Iraq and Syria 1941
Geoffrey Warner
First Victory: Britain’s Forgotten Struggle in the Middle East 1941
Robert Lyman
Iraq 1941: The battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad
Robert Lyman
Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World
Jeffrey Herf
Sunrise at Abadan: The British and Soviet Invasion of Iran, 1941
Richard A. Stewart
Other
Zionism In An Arab Country: Jews In Iraq In The 1940s
Esther Meir-Glitzenstein
(will be updated as necessary. Keep an eye on blog posts for latest updates)
