3rd August 1941
The bombing raids on the 2nd had come as surprises to both the British and Iraqis, with neither expecting the other to strike at their bases so readily. The RAF had not expected any sizeable aerial resistance, and now treated the Iraqi bomber threat more seriously, and so prepared to mount a sustained assault on the Iraqi airbases, now to protect themselves as well as relieve the pressure on RAF Habbaniya.
Pre-dawn, the Wellingtons again departed from RAF Shaibah to strike the main Iraqi Al-Rasheed air base. But the departure was not in secret, as Iraqis observers in Basra had front row seats to the departure of the bombers. Before the last aircraft was airborne, and before they had entered formation, the number of bombers heading towards Baghdad was already being passed to the Iraqi squadrons. Scrambling in preparation, the LVT-1 fighters and Breda BA.65bis fighter-bombers positioned themselves over Baghdad.
The British bombers had arranged their arrival for dawn, allowing visual acquisition of Al-Rasheed for medium level bombing. Spotted early the Iraqi pilots followed their training and dived in from above and to the right of the Wellington formation, the reverse of a naval “crossing the T”, striking broadside with as much up-sun cover as possible with the rising sun on the horizon.
With no fighter cover and without beam guns, the Wellingtons were exposed to the attack, and 2 aircraft fell to the Iraqi guns as the LVT-1’s raced through the British formation. The element of surprise caught the bombers on the backfoot, but even the familiar shape of the Hurricane proved of no defence to the attackers though, as the combat reflexes of the RAF aircrews took over, recognising all fighters as enemies. The bombers pressed home their attack under fire and struck Al-Rasheed as planned, losing a third Wellington as the LVT-1’s continued to press home their attacks. The air battle was not one-sided though as the Breda’s also attempted to add their firepower into the fight. Outclassed even by the Wellingtons the British gunners were able to shoot down one of the Breda’s to reclaim some aerial success.
The defenders had only managed to blunt the attack, which was not a noticeable effect to the damage crews attempting to fight the fires caused by the British bombs, but it was the only raid mounted that day as the losses incurred lead to a reconsideration of future unescorted attacks.
That afternoon Rashid Ali took to the radio to broadcast to the nation. He expressed his thanks for ‘the complete order and discipline the Iraqi people had preserved’, describing massive British losses and painting a picture of the pending surrender of Habbaniya. This was followed by later broadcasts calling for an uprising of all Moslems to join the battle against the “British tyrants”.