Formed in April 1915 at the request of the Indian Government, the half-flight's personnel were sent to Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) where they were equipped with a small number of outdated and barely serviceable aircraft.

They later operated in the Tigris Valley in support of British and Indian forces under the command of Major General Charles Townshend.

The Longhorn was a second-hand aircraft and had persistent mechanical problems, meaning that it spent much time being repaired.

[6] After arrival, the aircraft were immediately put to use on reconnaissance missions,[7] operating in the Tigris Valley in support of British and Indian forces under the command of Major General Charles Townshend.

It was later reported that the crew – Lieutenants George Pinnock Merz (a medical doctor and formerly of the Melbourne University Rifles) and William Burn (a New Zealander) – were killed by armed Arab civilians after a running gun-battle over several miles.

[13] During September, three Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Short 827 floatplanes and their crews, under Squadron Commander Robert Gordon, arrived and were attached to the half-flight.

[16] The Indian Army soon met with stiff opposition outside Baghdad, and were forced back to Kut on 4 December, where the city was besieged.

Like the rest of the Allied prisoners, AFC personnel taken prisoner in Mesopotamia endured a punishing forced march of 700 miles (1100 km) to the Afion Kara Hissar POW camp in Anatolia in Turkey proper, and only two of them survived captivity (Thomas White and Francis Yeats-Brown).

[22] Historian Alan Stephens has written that "overshadowed by the Australian public’s interest in the contemporary events at Gallipoli, the Half Flight’s heroic and pioneering achievements went largely unrecognised".