Other Forces

Iraqi Air Force’s Breda 65

One of assault planes Breda 65s acquired by Iraqi Air Force after an accident at Bresso Airfield, Milan, perhaps during a training flight. According Iraqi sources (Iraqi Armed Forces Forum), after the Coup d'état of General Bakr Sidqi in 1936, sought the new Iraqi government to obtain weapons from other sources than the British source, who was mostly arming the Iraqi army. And already in the summer 1937 the Baghdad’s government send in Italy Iraqi delegation headed by Minister of Defense Brigadier-General Abdul Latif Nuri, and composed by Air Lt. Colonel Mohammed Ali Jawad, commander of Royal Iraqi Air Force, Major pilot Hifzi Aziz, squadron commander and air weapons specialist, First Lt. pilot Jawad Hussain engineer officer. The delegation traveled to Rome via Cairo, where it was received with great interest from the Italian side. The delegation was selected to buy fifteen Breda Ba-65 fighter aircraft (twenty five according other sources, but the Iraqi source is perhaps reliable considering also the Iraqi Air Force’s size), all two seat with Fiat A.80 radial engines: thirteen with the Breda L turret (the airplane of the photo) and two dual-control trainers. On 25 September 1939 the Breda 65 arrived by ship to Basrah port and with them was formed the Fifth Squadron at Al-Rashid Camp Air Base under the Squadron Commander Maj. Aziz. The 15 aircrafts two of them dual-control trainers and the remainder with Breda L turrets; and with Fiat-powered engines. According other sources the first mission of Iraqi’s Breda 65 date to 2 May 1941 when hostilities broke out between British forces in Iraq. The Iraqi aircrafts attacked the RAF base at Habbaniya and three British aircraft were destroyed on the ground in the initial strike, but subsequent Iraqi sorties were disrupted by Habbaniya's defenders. In the same day, a British fighter pilot, flying a Gladiator of Habbaniya, fired at one Iraqi Breda forced it to break off its attack, although he failed to bring it down. Victor Sierra