IN EVERY PLACE

This book is a fascinating and compelling account
of over 30 years of distinguished service of the
Royal Air Force Armoured Cars from Iraq, Jordan,
Palestine and Aden, to North Africa. Formed in
the early 1920s as a key component of the RAF
Scheme of Air Control, they supported the League
of Nations Mandates in Palestine and Iraq following
the Great War. Air control, based on the use of
aircraft, armoured cars and locally-recruited levies,
was an effective and efficient means of policing
and controlling the tribes and townspeople of these
territories.
The work of the RAF Armoured Car Companies,
which became Squadrons of the RAF Regiment in
1946, was many and varied; patrolling the mountains
and deserts, protecting RAF airfields and convoys,
‘showing the flag’, escorting VIPs and coordinating
air and ground operations. They were called in on
numerous occasions to suppress troubles from ethnic

and tribal groups, and to contain rebellions and
invasions while working in

close cooperation with
the flying squadrons of the RAF. One of their greatest
contributions was made early in the Second World
War when Nos 1 and 2 Companies both played a
major role in preventing Iraq and Syria falling into
the hands of the Axis forces.
This book draws on RAF official records at
the National Archives of the United Kingdom, the
personal diaries, letters, and reminiscences held at the
Imperial War Museum, RAF Museum Hendon, and
RAF Regiment Museum and by the RAF Armoured
Cars Association, as well as the author’s interviews
with the officers and airmen who served in the RAF
Armoured Cars.
The author presents the story not only in the
political, strategic and tactical context of operations,
but also gives the view from the turret and driver’s
seat of the car commanders, gunners, wirelessoperators
and fitters.