Al Habbaniyah or Habbaniya (Arabic: ٱلْحَبَّانِيَّة, al-Ḥabbānīyah) is a city 85 km (53 mi) west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar Province, in central Iraq. A military airfield, RAF Habbaniya, was the site of a battle in 1941, during World War II. Lake Habbaniyah is also nearby.
History
On 25 May 1941, Second Battalion of the Fourth Gurkha Rifles (2/4 GR), forming part of 10 Indian Infantry Division, was airlifted to reinforce and secure Habbaniyah, which was a Royal Air Force airfield under threat from Iraqi ground troops and the German Luftwaffe, located in Mosul, and Baghdad.[1] It has 74,217 citizens.
^Col Mackay, JN, compilers, JN (1952). "II". In Lieutenant Colonel CG Borrowman, CG (ed.). History of the 4th Prince of Wales's Own Gurkha Rifles, 1938–1948, vol III (29-43 ed.). London: William Blackwood. pp. 22–31.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)