Harry George Smart, is best known for having been the commander of RAF Habbaniya during the first part of the Anglo-Iraqi War. Smart was an officer in the British Army, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force. He served during the First World War, during the interwar period, and during the Second World War.
Air Vice Marshal H G Smart
Morane Bullet.
An RAF officer investigates wrecked Iraqi artillery on the plateau above Habbaniya.
The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq under Rashid Gaylani, who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état with assistance from Germany and Italy. The campaign resulted in the downfall of Gaylani'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.
British soldiers at Baghdad, 11 June 1941
HMS Cockchafer
Gloster Gladiators of No. 94 Squadron RAF Detachment, guarded by Arab Legionnaires, refuel during their journey from Ismailia, Egypt, to reinforce Habbaniya
HMS Hermes aircraft carrier