Royal Air Force Station Habbaniya, more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya, (originally RAF Dhibban) was a Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 station

RAF station

A Royal Air Force station is a permanent Royal Air Force operations location. Many RAF stations are aerodromes, or airbases, being the home to one or more flying squadrons. Other RAF stations are training units, administrative units, headquarters , or carry out ground-based operational tasks...

 at Habbaniyah

Habbaniyah

Al Habbaniyah or Habbaniya is a city in Al-Anbar Province, in central Iraq.-References:...

, about 55 miles (88.5 km) west of Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 in modern day Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, on the banks of the Euphrates

Euphrates

The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...

 near Lake Habbaniyah. It was operational from October 1936 until the 31 May 1959 when the British were finally forced to withdraw following the July 1958 Revolution.

It remained a major Iraqi military airbase

Airbase

An airbase is a military airfield that provides basing and support of military aircraft....

.
RAF Habbaniya was constructed on the west bank of the Euphrates and opened on 19 October 1936.