The Forgotten Luftwaffe Mission to Iraq: Flyer Command Iraq

Special Staff F (German: Sonderstab F) was a covert German military mission to Iraq during World War II, aimed at supporting a pro-Axis uprising against British rule. Established in 1941, it was led by General Hellmuth Felmy and included officers from the Abwehr (German military intelligence) and the Luftwaffe. The mission sought to aid Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and his nationalist government in their fight against British forces.
Germany provided weapons, advisors, and limited air support, but logistical challenges and British countermeasures severely hindered its effectiveness. The RAF’s decisive victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War (May 1941) forced the mission’s withdrawal. Though short-lived, Sonderstab F was part of wider Axis efforts to disrupt British control in the Middle East. Its failure underscored Germany’s inability to project power beyond Europe effectively. The mission remains a lesser-known episode of Axis involvement in the region.

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SOURCES
– The British Mandate in Iraq, 1914-1932 (Toby Dodge)
https://www.gale.com/binaries/content...
– The Iraqi Mandate: An Examination of the Relationship between Britain and Iraq in the Aftermath of the First World War (Victoria Whitecotton)
https://saberandscroll.scholasticahq....
– Understanding Iraq. A Whistlestop Tour from Ancient Babylon to Occupied Baghdad (William R. Polk).
– Nafi, Basheer M. (Spring 1997). "The Arabs and the Axis: 1933–1940". Arab Studies Quarterly. 19.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41858205...
– Iraq Between the Two World Wars. The Militarist Origins of Tyranny (Reeva Spector Simon).


IMAGES
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MUSIC
"Constancy Part One" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"The Descent" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Clenched Teeth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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