Harry George Smart, (28 June 1891 – 28 June 1963) is best known for having been the commander of

RAF Habbaniya ) , location = Habbaniya , country = Iraq , image = Habbaniya airfield, circa 1941.jpg , alt = A black and white image of some hangars, tentage and hard standings in a desert , ...

during the first part of the

Anglo-Iraqi War 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 ca ...

. Smart was an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, the Royal Flying Corps and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. He served during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during the interwar period, and during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Biography

In 1891, Harry George " Reggie" SmartLyman, p. 19 was born in Newmarket, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom. Smart attended

Framlingham College Framlingham College is a public school (independent day and boarding school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 ye ...

between 1905 and 1907 and joined the

sometime thereafter. He served as a

Sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing ...

with the Royal Engineers.Air of Authority, Biographies, Air Vice-Marshal H G Smart On 30 November 1915, Smart received a commission with the Royal Flying Corps.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice-Marshal H G Smart
/ref> From 29 April 1916, he was a Morane Bullet pilot with No. 60 Squadron on the Western Front. On 23 Jul 1917, Smart was made a squadron Flight Commander and, by 30 Apr 1918, he was Officer Commanding of a squadron. On 14 Jan 1919, Smart was Officer Commanding of No. 208 Squadron. On 1 Aug 1919, Smart was awarded a permanent commission as a captain. By 9 Feb 1920, Smart was a Flight Commander of No. 6 Squadron and, by May 1920, he was made the squadron's acting Officer Commanding. The squadron was located in

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

in the

British Mandate of Iraq The Mandate for Mesopotamia ( ar, الانتداب البريطاني على العراق) was a proposed League of Nations mandate to cover Ottoman Iraq (Mesopotamia). It would have been entrusted to the United Kingdom but was superseded by th ...

and flew

Bristol F2B The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

fighters.

Interwar period

On 4 Feb 1923,

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

Smart became a

Certified Flight Instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

(CFI) at the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

(CFS). The

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the CFS at that time was Group Captain Felton Holt. On 12 Nov 1927, Smart was seconded to the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF). On 5 February 1930, his service with the RAAF ended. By 19 February, he was the Officer Commanding No. 99 Squadron. Morane-Saulnier Type N

In 1935,

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Smart was named Commandant of the Central Flying School. He was soon tasked with supervising the relocation of the school from

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire i ...

back to the original

RAF Upavon Royal Air Force Upavon or RAF Upavon is a former RAF station in Wiltshire, England. It was a grass airfield, military flight training school, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Air Force. The station opened in 1912 and closed in 1993 ...

location. Two weeks after completing the move, Smart was sent to the United States to study American instructional methods. On 18 Jan 1937, Group Captain Smart took command of the

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its wo ...

at RAF Martlesham Heath where he soon made his opinion of contractors known: "Our job is to test aircraft, not to tell the constructors how to design them." This sentence was from a speech made by Smart during the "Sixteenth Annual Contractors' Dinner." His speech was greeted with applause. The significance of the remark, and the sly dig contained therein, was not lost on any one of those present. In 1939, Smart became the Commander of the British Forces in Iraq.

Second World War

Air Vice Marshal Smart was the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) at RAF Habbaniya in the Kingdom of Iraq when Iraqi rebels took up strong positions on the plateau overlooking the base with the objective of overrunning the base. He was also AOC of all RAF forces in Iraq and reported to

Arthur Longmore Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Murray Longmore, (8 October 1885 – 10 December 1970) was an early naval aviator, before reaching high rank in the Royal Air Force. He was Commander-in-Chief of the RAF's Middle East Command from 1940 to 1941. E ...

and to Air Vice Marshal (Acting Air Marshal) Arthur Tedder of the RAF Middle East Command. During the tense period of time after the Iraqis positioned themselves on the plateau, Smart communicated directly with the

British Ambassador to Iraq The Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Iraq is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Iraq, and head of the UK's diplomatic mission in Iraq. The official title is ''His Britannic Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Ira ...

Kinahan Cornwallis Sir Kinahan Cornwallis (19 February 1883 – 3 June 1959) was a British administrator and diplomat best known for being an advisor to King Faisal I of Iraq and for being the British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Iraq during the Anglo-Iraqi ...

who was also in contact with

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Smart's tactics to defend the Habbaniya cantonment was to mount continuous bombing and

strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

attacks with as many aircraft as possible.Jackson, p. 151 At 05:00 on 2 May, 33 aircraft from Habbaniya,Playfair, p. 183 out of the 56 operational aircraft based there,Mackenzie, p. 95 and eight Wellington bombers, from

RAF Shaibah The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, began the attack. What became known as the

was now under way. British Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

hoped that Smart would be able to hold out at Habbaniya until ''

Habforce Habforce was a British Army military unit created in 1941 during the Anglo-Iraqi War and still active during the Syria-Lebanon campaign during the fighting in the Middle East in the Second World War. Creation and composition Habforce, short for ...

'' could advance from Palestine and relieve him on 12 May. However, in a matter of days, the Iraqi forces were suffering heavy losses. Late on 6 May, the Iraqis abandoned the plateau and left much equipment. In the end, the

flying column A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ''ad hoc'' unit, formed during the course of operations. The term is usually, though not necessarily, appli ...

of ''Habforce'', ''

Kingcol Kingcol was a British Army flying column created during the Anglo-Iraqi War. Creation and composition ''Kingcol'' was created to allow a portion of '' Habforce'' to relieve RAF Habbaniya as soon as possible. The column was named after its comma ...

'', did not reach Habbaniya until 18 May. On 25 May, the main body of ''Habforce'' arrived. On 5 May, AVM Smart was injured in a car accident during the night-time blackoutSmart, p. 146 (author is his daughter.) and was evacuated from Habbaniya on medical grounds with multiple injuriesSmart, p. 153 (author is his daughter.) Smart was evacuated to

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

and then onto

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, together with his wife and daughter (who had been tending the wounded in the hospital but were evacuated from Habbaniya to Basrah on the 3rd day of the Siege).Smart, p. 132 (author is his daughter.)

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Ouvry Roberts assumed ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' command of the land operations at RAF Habbaniya. AVM

John D'Albiac Air Marshal Sir John Henry D'Albiac, (28 January 1894 – 20 August 1963) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Notably he was the British air commander for the Battle of Greece. Biography D'Albiac was e ...

, who had just returned from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, took command of the aerial forces. Also on 7 May, apparently unaware of Smart's injury, Churchill sent the following message to Smart: "Your vigorous and splendid action has largely restored the situation. We are all watching the grand fight you are making. All possible aid will be sent. Keep it up!". On 17 November 1941, Smart was named AOC of No. 17 (Operational Training) Group. On 1 September 1945, Smart retired from the RAF.

Honours and awards

*28 October 1921 – Flight Lieutenant Harry George Smart, RAF is awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross ''For energy, gallantry and leadership. This officer has shown a very fine example to his fellow officers, especially during low bombing raids, when he has frequently descended among heavy rifle fire to very low altitude to ensure accurate bombing of small targets. He has taken part in 25-day bombing raids and two night raids.'' *23 December 1922 –

Harry George Smart, DFC, Royal Air Force is appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire *3 June 1927 – Squadron Leader Harry George Smart, OBE, DFC is awarded the Air Force Cross *23 September 1941 – Acting

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

Harry George Smart, OBE, DFC, AFC is appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

*29 December 1942 – Air Commodore Harry George Smart, CBE, DFC, AFC is appointed a Grand Officer of the Royal Order of the Phoenix (Greece) by the

King of the Hellenes The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach between 1832 and 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1863 to 1924, temporarily abolished during the Second Hellenic Republic, and from 1935 to 1973, when it was once more abolish ...

in recognition of valuable service rendered in connection with the war. *1943 – Acting

Harry George Smart, CBE, DFC, AFC is appointed to the

Order of the Two Rivers The Order of the Two Rivers ( ar, وسام الرافدين ''Wisam Al Rafidain'') was an Order awarded by the Kings of Iraq and then the Presidents of Iraq. History It was named after the two rivers the Euphrates and the Tigris that flow thro ...

at the Dorchester Hotel by Abdul Illah Regent of Iraq in recognition of assisting his escape from rebel forces during the

of May 1941.Smart, p. 185 (author is his daughter.)

Notes

References

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External links