Scouting and Guiding in Iraq

In the early 1930s, the Iraqi Scout movement was fairly strong, but by 1939 it dwindled in numbers.

But by 1943, the Germans had been expelled and there were three British Service Rover Crews, based in Baghdad, Basra, and Habbaniya.

RAF Habbaniya opened in 1937, on the Euphrates 40 miles (64 km) west of Baghdad as the permanent Royal Air Force headquarters for Iraq.

In 1940 the schoolmaster wished to start a Scout organization and was assisted by the Royal Air Force servicemen stationed there.

The Iraqi Scout Organization was run on British lines, consisting of seven troops each with a British and an Assyrian instructor, a Senior Scout troop, and an Assyrian Rover crew.