PPRuNe Forums - Imperial Airways fort at Rutbah Wells

PPRuNe Forums (https://www.pprune.org/)

- Aviation History and Nostalgia (https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia-86/)

- - Imperial Airways fort at Rutbah Wells (https://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/431547-imperial-airways-fort-rutbah-wells.html)

I can really recommend my favourite book of all time regarding this subject.

Its called "Beyond the Blue Horizon" by Alexander Frater.

Has loads of fascinating info about the fort and Imperial.
Great summer holiday read.
Enjoy !
Cheers

Deployment via Rutbah Wells

Thank you A30yoyo! Not one day passes without learning something new :ok:.

More pre-war Middle East RAF activity (incl. Rutbah wells) can be found via

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/...3da_z.jpg?zz=1
14358u Transportation of King Feisal's remains from Haifa to Baghdad by an RAF Vickers Victoria, 1933 by A30yoyo, on Flickr

and pre-war civilian activity in Palestine (also Rutbah Wells/Iraq) via

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/...c2d484a1_z.jpg
18303u-LYDDA-RAMP-1300 by A30yoyo, on Flickr

Rutbah Wells Imperial Airways Fort.

My Great Uncle used to fly this route for IA. The fort still exists and using Google Earth you can find it at:-
33 Degrees 3.7 Mins North
40 Degrees 23.746 Mins East

There is also a Highway Strip close by length about 12000 Ft

Great Uncles log book shows that the flights Bagdhad Alexandria in 1939 departed eary at 05:30 Loacal time (!) stopping at Rutbah Wells (also known as R3) for fuel and RAF Lydda (now Ben Gurion)

Hope this helps

Kit Yardley

exact position of Rutbah Wells fortress

dear Fellows,

I coïncidentely found your discussion about the position of the fortress.
Since then everybody may have found it but in case of interest I hereby offer to share my information, collected during my quest for precise data regarding the famous accident of the Uiver, 16 miles South West of Rutbah.
The exact position of the fortress (till recently being used as a policestation) is:

33 02' 18" North
40 17'13" East. Yes, not only 'downtown' but really the navel of it.

Still searching for the exact location of the remains of the plane. I know the heighth but still not succeeded in constructing a heighthgrid in google earth. Small area of attitude plus photoś of surrounding hills (they woudn't have moved I suppose) should bring me the place.:)

greetings

Amazing picture!
It looks as if a Fokker F-XVIII stands in the background with a VQ registration. Is that Australia? Didn't know they operated them. Fascinating.

I believe VQ (followed by a P) was for Palestine. Feel free to correct if wrong.

I think VQ-P** was Palestine.

Thanks for the info. Didn't know Palestina operated Fokker aircraft in those days. In modern times I believe the national airline had a Fokker 50

I've enjoyed reading this thread over the years, so I was tickled to come across a reference to Rutbah Wells this weekend in a book I'm reading, which would allow me to pay back in kind. It's from The Pilots' Book of Everest, by Squadron Leader The Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale, AFC, MP and Flight Lieutenant D.F. M'Intyre (Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1936), a travelogue of the 1933 Houston-Mount Everest expedition as told by the expedition's two chief pilots. Pages 49-51 discuss the expedition's journey through Rutbah Wells on their way from Amman to Baghdad. It doesn't go into detail about the station itself, but it provides a colorful description of the surroundings and life at the station that I thought might add some texture to the evolving history of the fort:

"About five hundred miles of desert had to be covered before Baghdad could be reached, and in that desert the features repeat themselves with such monotony that they are useless as landmarks. The R.A.F., just after the war, made a plough furrow to guide them on this run. Nowadays there is an oil pipe line to follow and a motorcar track alongside it. The air commodore [P.F.M. Fellowes, head of the expedition and I believe an ancestor of Julian Fellowes] had taken a hand in making the furrow and knew enough about the desert to avoid foolish risks. As the visibility grew poorer we clung to the pipe line. At times we were only 100 feet above it. The sand became thicker, and eventually we lost sight of each other. We did not meet again until we reached the isolated fort of Rutbah Wells, the half-way house on several desert routes. Clydesdale got there first. The other two missed the point at which they should have turned away from the pipe line and had to go back in their tracks to look for it.

"The Fox Moth, helped by the following wind, made Rutbah at nine-forty that morning. M'Intyre arrived ten minutes later and took off again almost at once to look for the air commodore. He did not find him, but the air commodore soon realized that he had overshot the mark and came in half an hour late. The rest of that day was a trial to us. Weather reports were most unfavourable. Visibility was reported as 5 yards at some points between us and Baghdad, and the wind was whipping up white dust from the stony aerodrome to add to the fine sand already held in suspension. At last we settled in at the rest house, picketed our aeroplanes and waited for an improvement. Life seemed likely to be pretty dull and tedious, particularly as the price of beer--the only available solvent of dust in parched throats--was about three shillings a bottle.

"In fact the day at Rutbah turned out to be full of interest. Motorcar loads of pilgrims on their way to Mecca drove in to the fort during the afternoon, and the occupants tumbled out with prayer rugs for their evening devotions and with pots and pans for the preparation of the evening meal. A party of police also arrived in three cars with machine guns, bringing in prisoners charged with the theft of four hundred sheep from some tribe 100 miles away in the desert. In the evening a huge Nairn motor coach, which operates on a regular schedule across the desert between Baghdad and the coast, put in for an hour or two with its begrimed and weary passengers looking anything but fit for the night's journey over bumpy desert tracks. For our part, we lived comfortably and well in the rest-house, our appetites sharpened by the knowledge that everything eaten and drunk had been brought at least 250 miles for the benefit of such as we.

"The morning was cold when we rose soon after five next day, but there was much less wind and dust. The pipe line was rediscovered and followed hopefully towards the sunrise and Baghdad..."

The 55 Squadron ORB (TNA AIR 27/521) gives some details about the circumstances surrounding the crash of the KLM liner. The squadron was based at RAF Hinaidi.

Period 1/12/34 to 31/12/34:
SEARCH FOR MISSING K.L.M. LINER: On 21st a Flight of 5 aircraft led by F/L. Hawkings took part in a search for the K.L.M. Douglas of which no news had been received for 36 hours. The last Position Signal sent outby the Douglas was H.3 and at the same time the D.F. Station at Rutbah was requested for Bearing. The latter was not forthcoming immediately and when Rutbah attempted to get into communications with the Linber there was no reply. It was assumed therefore that the Liner had ben forced down in the vicinity of Rutbah. No. 14 Squadron was detailed to search the area between Amman and Rutbah and the 5 aircraft from No. 55 Squadron to search the area north of the track between Baghdad and Rutbah. The flight was airborne at Hinaidi at 0700 hours (LT) and arrived at Rutbah at 1000 hours (LT).

The flight landed at Rutbah and refuelled. A signal was then received from an aircraft of No. 14 Squadron stating that the air liner had been located 10 miles south west of Rutbah on the north bank of the Wadi Haran. The flight proceeded to the scene of the crash and landed alongside. A detachment of Iraqi police had arrived, so the Flight took off and returned to Hinaidi and landed at 1500 hours. The aircraft taking part in the search were fitted with low pressure tyres. Heavy rain had fallen all the previous day and the aerodromes were unserviceable to all aircraft except those fitted with low pressure tyres. The aircraft took off - and landed on the ‘all weather track.

Nick Livingstone

You may find this film interesting....

https://vimeo.com/44038985

Thanks kiwithrottlejockey, brilliant piece of film. Possibly the best airline job ever.

Things hadn't changed much by '68, although today of course it's totally different.

I suspect our quarters were just updates of the accommodation pre-war

http://www.pprune.org/attachment.php...1&d=1512121850

http://www.pprune.org/attachment.php...1&d=1512122641

http://www.pprune.org/attachment.php...1&d=1512122615

That film reminded me of my years on Masirah with SOAF!!!!!:)

Cool post. I was in the fort in 2004 and 2005. As already mentioned it is the fort in the middle of the town. I have a video of some of us in a firefight in one of the turrets of the fort in jan of 2005 (first election timeframe)

I will see if I can post it.

A CH-53 crashed near rutba in jan 2005 killing 30 Marines and a Navy corpsman. it was the deadliest day of the Iraq war.

Herod, can you provide some details of those 68 pictures? what was going on in 68?

will see what pics I have of the fort

i have a video from jan 2004 when we were in the fort and got into a firefight defending the place.