Photographs of U.S. Army recreation in Andimeshk

[Photo Album - U.S. Army Persian Gulf Command]. Persian Gulf Command Iran.

€ 2,500.00

Views of the U.S. Army base at Andimeshk, Iran, during the vital deployment of the Persian Gulf Command, the service command established in WWII to facilitate the supply of U.S. lend-lease war material to the Soviet Union through what was called the Persian Corridor, for the benefit of Soviet allies.

The first troops arrived in Iran in December of 1942, but the base moved from Ahwaz to Andimeshk in November 1943, and it is the Andimeshk base which appears in these photos. Troops were tasked with moving supplies from port cities on the Gulf through the mountains to Iran's border with the Soviet Union, until the end of the war in Europe.

Photographs show a few of the all-important transport trucks, likely the Studebaker US6es appreciated by the Soviets for their versatility and as a base for Katyusha rocket launchers, one packed with posing men, and several in the scrapyard. Most photographs show the entertainment made available to U.S. troops, or that which the men found for themselves: an official American-style carnival complete with a peep show booth, men washing their clothes in a soldier's helmet, posing outside the barracks with table tennis paddles, a tame cheetah, or simply with their friends in the Command.

Some portraits of soldiers posing together list their names: Pete Errico, Webb, Poyda, Draskovich, Raphel, Bruscato, Zbel, Venturoni, and Giordano. Likely simple soldiers rather than officers, these would be the men tasked with driving trucks, maintaining oil supply lines, or working alongside Iranians at the two factories producing trucks for the war effort.

Only minor or marginal wear to photographs; quite well preserved.