http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abadan_Crisis

The Abadan crisis of 1951 saw HP Hastings being deployed to forward units in the Middle East to protect British oil interests, for it was at this time that Persian interests were to nationalise the oilfields of Abadan in May. I overflew these oil fields when en route from Basra to Karachi in 1958, as far as the eye could see there were literally thousands of these cylindrical oil/petroleum tanks, such was the independence to Britain and the West and of course to the financial institutions. My father (then), Flight Sergeant Joe Cooper, went with this forward support unit and operated out of RAF Fayid Canal Zone, Egypt for several months. There is a photograph of 21 of these aircraft somewhere about at RAF Fayid.