On July 1st 1961 Kuwait became sovereign state. General Kassim immediately claimed that Kuwait historically belonged to Iraq. Britain reacted by sending Hunters and other military hardware to discourage an invasion. Understandably, relations between the UK and Iraq Became very tense. This could have had something to do with your unscheduled landing in Baghdad. Despite having overflight clearance we were ordered to land there in 1975 during a (Britannia 312F) flight from Gatwick to Sharjah, ostensibly to check we were not gun running. We were regular visitors to Baghdad, so I can only assume some awkward bugger got of the wrong side of bed on that day.