When Calcutta was American

 

 

 

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Introduction

 

One of the less remembered and more unusual effects of the war were the large number of American military personnel which it brought to the city. They were mostly (although by no means all) white like the British, but very different in style. They had more money, where used to a different life style and living standard back home and most of all they had a very different attitude to India, the Indians and their culture.  Many Calcuttans were surprised and even shocked and offended by their disregard for age old colonial and Indian traditions. Others found them refreshingly efficient and modern, and lapped up everything they brought with them, from their money and materials which swamped the city, to their Magazines, Movies, Swing & Jazz.  

 

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02 April 1942 - Arrival of US Troops

 

 

 

          _____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________

 

 

 

Plan of Calcutta for American Servicemen

 

 

 

 

 

          _____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___

 

 

American Main Streeters in Calcutta

In Calcutta prior to the outbreak of war there were approximately 250 Americans, including men, women, and children. Shortly after the hostilities began in the Pacific the majority of American women and children left for the United States acting on the advice of the State Department.

The present Main Streeters in Calcutta, excluding members of the Armed Forces and the American Red Cross, number about 350 persons, of whom less than 30 are women. Over 35 Americans are civilian government officials attached to the American Consulate General, the Foreign Economic Administration, War Shipping Administration, Lend-Lease Administration, and Office of War Information. The remainder of these men, the majority, are engaged in some sort of activities connected with the war effort. These men are employed by large concerns such as the China National Aviation Corporation, General Motors, Standard-Vacuum Oil Company, Ludlow Jute Company, National Carbon Company, Caltex, and a few other American firms.

Main Street in Calcutta salutes YOU!

 

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

 

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

YOU and your outfit have been assigned one of the most important military missions ever given to American soldiers

YOU and your outfit have been assigned one of the most important military missions ever given to American soldiers - the task of driving the Japanese back to Tokyo. In this global war it is not enough that you should be able to destroy or immobilize all who are your nation's enemies; you must be able to win the respect and good will of all who are not.

  Right now the world is our workshop and whether we, and the other United Nations, can get it back in running order again depends on how much we know about the materials in it - meaning the people. By winning their confidence and convincing them of our good faith, we shall find many short cuts to success over the enemy and lay the foundation of international understanding that are essential to building a worth-while, enduring peace.

 

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

In India your job is doubly difficult

In India your job is doubly difficult. To drive the Japanese armies out of Burma where they now threaten invasion of Assam, India's easternmost province, is a military operation of sizeable proportions. To keep them on the run, out of Indo-China and China itself, is still more formidable.

Then too, India is a complex country, difficult for people like ourselves to understand. It is a country whose people are going through a far-reaching political upheaval. They, as we did over 160 years ago, seek to gain political independence.

If you are to complete your mission in the measure expected of you as an American, discretion and tact will be required of you at all times in your dealings with the Indian people and the soldiers beside whom you will fight. Most of all you will need to know something about India, her people and the problems they face. That is the reason for this guide, prepared for your continuing study. With its help and by keeping your eyes and ears open, you'll find out enough about the country, complex and contradictory as it is, to get along.

 

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

Our Job

Our Job.   Indians want democracy to win. Some of the bitterest anti-totalitarians in the world are among the leaders of the Indian Nationalist movement. But Indian politics have been bitter and complicated. Sometimes political interests overshadow matters of national defense. That has been true in the other countries.

India is threatened as we are threatened. Your very presence in India may help draw all Indians together in the common cause if you win their confidence and friendship. American democracy has been a source of inspiration to many Indian leaders. Our ideals, our way of living, give them hope for the future. it is up to you to live up to that idea they have of us.

You as a soldier and as an American, have it in your power to make this possible. Remember that ancient India and young America are both fighting to make a free world.

 

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

 

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

 

 

 

          _____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________

 

 

We suddenly appeared to be invaded by 'Yanks'

We suddenly appeared to be invaded by 'Yanks' and all their trucks, jeeps and amazing weaponry. As they passed by they seemed to enjoy flinging wads of rupees at the population from their huge noisy vehicles. It resembled ticker tape and it seemed as if all India were eager to fight over snatching it up. My father was called out at all hours in order to help quell hysterical mobs and prevent dangerous brawls and knife-fights mostly between negroes and white americans who`d had a skinful […]

Ron M. Walker, 7 year old boy, Calcutta, 1942-3

 

(source: A2780534 My Wartime Childhood in Calcutta, India at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 ‘Uncle Sam’ provided far better clubs and canteens

In lighter vain was the arrival of American troops who were now our allies.  [….] These American soldiers with their easy, unconventional ways gradually began to change the face of Calcutta.  They were better equipped and higher paid than our soldiers.  They called one evening at our soldiers club.  They were friendly and warmly welcomed but never came back.  ‘Uncle Sam’ provided far better clubs and canteens.

Eugenie Fraser, wife of a jute mill manager, , Barrackpore, 1942

 (source:page 93 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing  1989)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)

 

 

 

 

 

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The Lives of American troops

 

 

 

          _____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________

 

 

Hindusthan Building

 

 

04

 

Hindusthan building, one of the most modern in Calcutta, was built for an insurance company but occupied upon its completion by the U.S. Army.  Locate in the heart of the city, it is the nerve center of all military business, containing post office, finance office, Base Section offices, air, rail booking offices, a radio station, giant post exchange, officers mess and living quarters, signal offices and others.

Clyde Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis Mountbatten, and news photographer on Phoenix magazine. Calcutta, mid 1940s

(source: webpage http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/?  Monday, 16-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson, South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania)

 

G.I. dock workers

 

 

36

 

GI dock workers of the Port companies created order out of chaos at Calcutta's great docks and thousands of tons of vital war supplies flowed through to china, Burma and India.  The MP is on hand to see that the coolies do not pilfer from the rations they are carrying.

Clyde Waddell, US military man, personal press photographer of Lord Louis Mountbatten, and news photographer on Phoenix magazine. Calcutta, mid 1940s

(source: webpage http://oldsite.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/calcutta1947/?  Monday, 16-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of David N. Nelson, South Asia Bibliographer, Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania)

 

 

          _____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___

 

HELPFUL HINTS FOR U.S. SERVICEMEN

Why.  Some is always telling you helpful stuff like how to get rid of that prickly heat by a four-day guaranteed treatment - Or Your Health Back. This book makes no pretense to be an exception; and so you are told that:

1. When it is noon by the present Indian Standard Time it is 0530 hours by Greenwich Mean Time and 0300 hours by New York Standard Time.

2. if you have misplaced yourself temporarily, you can pick up a telephone, ask for Inquiries (that's Information to you Yanks), tell where you are and where you'd like to be (no good to mention Seventh Heaven), and Inquiries will tell you where to go - pardon, how to get there.

3. Enlisted men can leave messages for one another at the ARC Clubs. You can also look up old buddies or possible home-town boys in the State Register Books. Sign it yourself.

4. In stepping off a curb over here it is wise to look immediately to you right for oncoming traffic - instead of to your left as you used to do back home.

5. Keep away from fortune tellers, and keep yourself and your country out of trouble.

6. You can't tip less than two annas without losing face as a 'European'; but that two annas is enough for the average small service. usual scale of tipping: One anna per Rupee for drink checks, two annas per rupee for meal checks.

7. You enter a mosque or a temple minus shoes. Cover you head inside a mosque. Bare your head in a temple.

8. You may not understand the Indian's many languages, nor he yours; but your smile and gentle behavior will be understood always. (All right, so soldiers aren't trained to be gentle, but you can smile, brother, smile.)

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

US ARMY CHURCH CALENDAR*

Catholic Sunday Services. 142nd General Hospital, Southern Ave. Mass 0730, 0900.

  Chaplain Thomas A. Whelan.

Camp Hooghly - Garden Reach Rd. Mass 1100.

  Chaplain Thomas A. Whelan.

Orphanage, Dum-Dum Rd. Mass 1215.

  Chaplain Joseph J. Carroll.

Replacement Depot, Camp Kancharapara, Mass 1000.

  Chaplain Father Pew.

Camp Tollygunge. Mass 0900, 1830.

  Chaplain Joseph J. Carroll.

Catholic Weekday Services. 142nd General Hospital, Southern Ave. Mass 0645.

  Chaplain Thomas A. Whelan.

Camp Tollygunge. Mass 0630.

  Chaplain Joseph J. Carroll.

 

Protestant Sunday Services. 142nd General Hospital, Southern Ave. Worship 1030.

  Chaplain Albert R. Colburn.

Orphanage, Dum-Dum Rd. Worship 0900.

  Chaplain Thomas I. Liggett.

Replacement Depot, Camp Kancharapara, Camp No.1, Worship 1100.

  Chaplain James D. Salmon. Hospital Worship 1430, Chaplain James D. Salmon; Camp No. 2, Worship 0930, Chaplain John L. Dier, Worship 1930, Chaplain John L. Dier.

Camp Tollygunge. Worship 1000, Song Service 1930.

  Chaplain David W. Lowenaar.

 

Protestant Weekday Services.

  Karnani Mansions, etc.

 

Jewish Services. 28th Air Depot, Barrackpore, 1830 Mondays.

  Chaplain David Seligson.

Maghen David Synagogue, 109 Canning St. 1930 Fridays, 2000 Saturdays.

  Chaplain David Seligson.

142nd General Hospital. 1100 Saturdays.

 

Service Activities at Civilian Churches. St. Paul's Cathedral, Chowringhee Rd. Social 1930 Sunday.

Carey Baptist, 31 Bow Bazar St. Young People's Meeting at 1930, Sunday.

St. Andrew's, Dalhousie Sq. Canteen open daily.

Methodist Church, Sudder St. Canteen open daily; open house after Sun. Eve. Service; "Forces Fellowship" 1900, Tuesday.

 Judean Club, 3 Madge Lane. 2030, Fridays; Sabbath gathering for servicemen.

Baptist Mission Home, 44 Lower Circular Rd. Social, 1930, Thursday.

Christian Science, 30b Chowringhee Rd. Soldiers' Meeting, 1st and 3rd Wednesdays, 2000.

Salvation Army, 31 Park Circus Row. Social, Tuesday, 2000.

 

  * Notes on the foregoing: All of the above listings were correct at the time of going to press; naturally, however, such times are subject to constant change, and therefore it is advised that you consult the weekly Church Calendar and the Church Notices in Saturday's "The Statesman" for the latest available data. In "The Statesman" you will also find a complete listing of civilian church services. Regarding the merit of any individual church or church function consult the Base Chaplain or his assistant; feel free to consult them either in person or by telephone at the Hindusthan Building.

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

 

 

          _____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________

 

"How many Americans were stationed in and around Calcutta? "

You asked, "How many Americans were stationed in and around Calcutta? Did one see a lot of them?

Including the big military operations at Dum Dum, Barrackpore, and Alipore plus the bases to the east and north, there were literally thousands of US personnel in that part of the world. Yes, there were always American uniforms to be seen in Calcutta. The area across the tank at BBB Dag (hope that's right) from the Post Office where the American Red Cross had its facility, there were American personnel coming and going all the time. Most of them were Air Force troops, for most facilities in the Calcutta region were part of the huge airlift hauling supplies to China over the mountains (over the hump).

Some of us were involved with the conflict progressing down through central Burma.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

a fine young man - one that the USA could be proud of

At the time, Calcutta was full of the military - Americans in the majority. In the house where I had my apartment, an American Staff Captain from Pennsylvania had also his abode. He was a fine young man - one that the USA could be proud of.

We became good friends. Through him I received some of the good things the USA supplied to their soldiers overseas. It kept me up, and the young fellow's happy nature kept me from thinking too much about the loss of my son Jim.

He loved to sit and listen to my experiences and adventures during my long stay in India, and requested me to put it all down in writing while there was still time, saying: 'Few young men going out into life have to face what you have been through.' Indirectly he gave me the idea of writing my life's history, and requested me to send him a copy of the book if it came out.

August Peter Hansen, Customs Inspector, Calcutta mid 1940s
(source: page 210 of August Peter Hansen: “Memoirs of an Adventurous Dane in India : 1904-1947” London: BACSA, 1999)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with 1999 Margaret [Olsen] Brossman)

 

Rowdy troops

Rowdy troops! That all reminds me of how embarrassed I used to be when riding the tram back toward our base at Alipore as loud and obnoxious American soldiers would create a disturbance in the carriage. Indian people would be riding quietly along and those few Americans' antics were not funny to any of the rest of us. At those times I just wished I could shed my American uniform and crawl under a tram seat.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

Where I first tasted a Hershey Bar

I think it was in 1943 that American soldiers were sent to Asansol for medical treatment and they also had a base there which was where I first tasted a Hershey Bar.

M Brown ,schoolboy, Asansol, 1943

(source: A7468716 Wartime in India at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

apparently they had no drivers!

Our bungalow was a few hundred yards from the ‘Grand Truck Road’ which went all the way from Calcutta to Rangoon. I remember sitting with my sister on the steps of the bungalow, watching convoy after convoy of trucks going along the road. They were taking troops, artillery, food etc. back to Burma. We used to watch these trucks in amazement as apparently they had no drivers!

Eventually it was explained to us that they were not as clever as we thought; they were American troops and of course, were driven from the ‘wrong’ side. We were quite shattered by this truth!

M Brown ,schoolboy, Asansol, 1944

(source: A7468716 Wartime in India at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

The Americans did much more than some give them credit for

After weeks at sea we arrived at Bombay end of March 1942. Boat nearly turned over with so many troops wanting to look at the dock so many had to run to the other side to right the ship.

Being the R.A.S.C. we collected trucks, all American with winches, tools etc. worked extensively all over India for a few years.

Then we became a Tank Transporter Company with very large American Trucks and 24 wheel trails to carry the tanks, the tanks were also American, General Stewarts, Lea, Grant and a few Sherman. Later we had the job of clearing the Calcutta docks of crated American material to assemble areas, this important job kept us out of Burma.

The Americans closed the Docks and modernised them to lift much more, the Americans did much more than some give them credit for. I was in India for four years, because of a serious illness I went to Darjeeling in the Himalayas twice for convalescence so paid a visit to Sikkim, Bhutham and Nepal.

Doug J. Wickwar, Army, Calcutta, 1942

 

(source: A2776746 From 25,000 Ton Ship to 10,000: Sailing to Bombay at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

Farewell Address to Stanley E. Sparks

Farewell Address to Stanley E. Sparks

Major, O.D. U.S. Army

Dear Sir:

We have assembled here this morning to give you a hearty farewell. More expression in terms of language will be simply insignificant In comparison with the thoughts which we have In our mind to tell you. But the time and space don't allow us to say more than what we are going to tell you. With your departure we will certainly feel that we have parted with one of our men under whom we worked diligently for the common cause.

We all rejoice that the Second World War has ended with the victory of the allies. We are glad that we have contributed our utmost in bringing the victory so soon. But when we think of those who have sacrificed their lives in fighting the enemies of democracy and who are crushed under the wheels of imperialism wherever exists, we cannot check our emotion. We pay our heartiest tribute to these Immortal souls.

We know that you people who have come from America will go back at the secession of hostilities. We are all happy at your happiness that you are going to re-unite with beloveds after a long separation.

You have come to our country at a time when it is passing through the greatest crisis of Indian history such as famine, mal-administration, political up-heavels, etc., which are the inevitable outcomes, where there exists a government in name but purely irresponsible in character, sponsored by aliens, who try to force the unwilling people to subjection. In such a state of time we could not give our hands to care for you as a guest in spite of our ardent desire to do so. We are ashamed that we have failed to perform the traditions of our ancient civilization, for which our country Is so great.

With your coming to India, we have got the chance to associate with a people who are modern in, all aspects. We invite you to come once again to this same land of ours after it is liberated from the yoke of Imperialism. We will then request you to contribute your best wishes which will help us to build up a new India.

We bid good-bye to you and hope you will have a very good time In the company of your beloveds back In America.

Yours faithfully,

CIVILIAN PERSONNEL

U.S. Army Ordnance Depot

Brooklyn Siding

Calcutta, India

Civilian Personnel, U.S. Army Ordnance Depot Brooklyn Siding. Calcutta, late 1945
 (source: CBI Sound-off.Vol.49, No 2 Spring 2003)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Arthur W. Sprankel & CBI Sound Off)

 

 

 

 

 

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Americans and Indians

 

 

 

          _____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________

 

American soldier photographs a man near Nimtala Ghat, 1944

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944
 

 (source: Glenn S. Hensley: American soldier photographing, T013, "American soldier photographs a man near Nimtala Ghat, 1944."  seen at University of Chicago Hensley Photo Library at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley as well as a  series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

 

 (COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley and under a Creative Commons license)

 

 

 

Cook, Bursch and little girl posing

Seymour Balkin, USAAF 40th Bombergroup. Calcutta, 1944

(source: webpage http://40thbombgroup.org/indiapics2.html  Monday, 03-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of Seymour Balkin)

 

 

 

Howell and Burger. Calcutta rickshaw

Robert Sanders , USAAF 40th Bombergroup. Calcutta, 1945

(source: webpage http://40thbombgroup.org/indiapics2.html  Monday, 03-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of Bob Sanders)

 

 

More of the same

Robert Sanders , USAAF 40th Bombergroup. Calcutta, 1945

(source: webpage http://40thbombgroup.org/indiapics2.html  Monday, 03-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of Bob Sanders)

 

 

 

 

 

          _____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___

 

Relations With Our Allies

To heck with any more big fancy talk on this subject. Instead, how about getting right down to rock bottom? Do you want to fight another war? Or do you want your children to fight another war? Those "No's!" came fast. And it's all just as simple as that. The only way to avoid future wars, and also to end this one more quickly, is to establish good relations between nations. Good relations? Yeah, we could stray to that fancy lingo at this point, but we won't. All there is to good relations is that you think well of that fellow in the other country and that he thinks well of you. That's all. It sounds almost too easy, doesn't it? Well, it isn't - it's hard! To think well of that guy in the other country you've got to understand him; and learning to understand him requires day-after-day, year-after-year plugging. That goes for him, too. Now that we've reached the bottom, what have we got? Understanding the other fellow, which includes a willingness to understand, is the foundation on which to build good relations between nations.

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

You Look At The Indian

You look at the Indian daily, you pass him on the streets, his life touches yours constantly. But do you actually see him, do you get a picture of what makes him tick, or do you brush him off in your mind as "That darn native who... ?" (He is an Indian, not a native, by the way - and you, being a non-Asiatic in a country where all such visitors are for convenience classed as Europeans, you are a 'European.') You do see that the Indian is different from yourself. Granted. But - do you see that that difference between the two of you does not give you a reason to criticize the Indian? Do you try to realize that the Indian's dress is not strange for India? Rather, it fits the climate here. The Indian thinks his turban to be sacred and does not want it touched. Is that silly to you? Okay, soldier, how'd you like to be back in the States sporting a new light-gray, snap-brim felt and have some stranger come along and casually reach up to finger it? When the stranger had picked himself up ... ! Many Indian women object to their hands being touched even in a friendly handshake. Perhaps you may feel the same way about the French custom of kissing you on both cheeks. Kissing you, the nerve of the guy! Everywhere, in streams, ponds, or under public fountains, you will see Indians taking baths by pouring water on themselves; although they have their own standards and their own instincts for cleanliness, a great number of Indians consider a bathtub to be dirty. Queer of them, isn't it? Ha ha! Some of our own States once outlawed the use of bathtubs as being immoral. To repeat, yes, the Indian is different. But instead of merely noticing that difference and judging it hastily, suppose we take a good long second look and attempt to understand the fellow's customs and ways of living. Remember, it is an age-old failure to laugh at things that you do not understand.

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

The Indian Looks At You

For a long time India looked across the seas toward that shining example, America. And now, right here in their own country, Indians are looking at Americans, they are looking at you. And what do they see? Fine strong men wearing clothes of a general excellence, possessing am abundance of material things, equipped with countless mechanical devices - men who have everything and yet are without the normal affections of the non-Indian dealing with the Indian. Your naturalness is noticed and admired. You offer a cigarette to a rickshaw wallah, and the Indian is astonished. You bewilder him in many ways. But out of the first mist of bewilderment there comes to the Hindu the realization that the American is endowed with feelings that are very much human. You are a possible friend to him - a hope for the future. You startle him from his torpor of pessimism. You provide him with a contrast. Your kind, frank, honest behavior open up for the Hindu a new vista of optimism; and on the whole he is more than prepared to accept you as a shining example, as a true friend. That poses a problem for YOU. Are you going to tear yourself and your country down in the Indian's eyes, or are you going to conduct yourself so that the Indian can keep his shining example, his hope for the future?

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

You Versus The Indian

The two of you are bound to meet head-on at times. You're a guest in this country. Sometimes you get out of line by not acting like a guest, and at other times the Indian doesn't treat you like one. It's happening every day, everywhere, and it will continue to occur until someone outlaws human nature. You don't understand the Indian's objections to your own free-and-easy attitude towards the opposite sex. He thinks that your conduct is adolescent - you think that it's fun. A Hindu fails to understand your attempts to speak his language, and immediately you size up all Indians as being dopes. How many of you stopped to reflect that that Indian might be a brilliant scholar in his own language? A taxi driver cheats you, or tries to, and the salesman at the local bazaar gives you the sticky end of the stick in a bargaining deal; at once you are tempted to say that the country is filled with bandits. Sure, there are some cheats and rogues here. But do you recall visiting some city back home and having an American taxi driver ride you around twelve blocks when the direct route to your destination was only four? Or attending that convention to discover that coincidental with the arrival of you and your brother what-nots all the prices in town had taken a sudden jump? All of which leads to the conclusion that you'll run into a certain amount of friction in all your travels, whether they be into the next state back home or across the seas into a foreign country. That limitless stuff, human nature, just seems to spread itself like the oceans - all over the world. And so while you are a guest here in India it would be generous to refrain from judging the many by the few, it would be wise to remember that these are human beings in many ways less fortunate than yourself, and it would be well to consider that even when the Indian can't understand your attempts to speak to him he can understand your kindly attitude and your smile.

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

India After The War

You already know that India is one of the main arsenals as well as principal bases for the war against Japan. What you may not have stopped to realize is that after the war, in any permanent plan for peace that includes (and must include) Southeast Asia, India must and will assume a prominent role. You are a practical person from a practical nation. You can see that it makes common sense for anyone to cultivate a lasting friendship with India. Go to it, then. YOU - you're the one who is going to do it. It is part of YOUR JOB.

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

Bickering Without Bleeding

What applies to you and India, likewise holds true for you and all other nations. In regard to all of our other Allies it is safe to say that there are many little differences between them and us. But in getting down to cases we are all interested in one thing: we want the end of the war, this war and all wars. Surely then, you agree that it is foolish to spoil some of the good you are doing over here by allowing yourself to become irritated by minor differences in manners and ways of living. Find interest in those different customs. Put them away in your memory as something to tell the folks back home. Or, if you're stubborn and must be irritated, then give yourself and us a break by keeping your irritation to yourself. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BICKER WHILE ONE SOLDIER STILL HAS TO BLEED!

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

TRY THESE "DO'S" FOR SIZE:

1. Avoid political discussions.

2. Act here with the same common courtesy you use at home.

3. Guide the other fellow's conduct; 'breaks' reflect on all.

4. replace "Hey you!" with "Bhai!" of "Brother!"

5. Discuss Indian customs out of their sight and hearing.

6. You're in Rome. Keep your ways; let the Romans have theirs.

7. Keep your temper; the Indian will keep his.

8. An attitude of respect leads to 'breaks' being forgiven.

9. Take pictures only of the laboring classes (and then only if they consent); upper-class Indians don't like to be photographed.

10. Look at passing British and Indian women without tossing remarks at them. Four out of five women over here are offended by "yoo-hoos."

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

 

GETTING ALONG WITH THE PEOPLE

If you are good-natured and patient in your dealings with Indians you won't have any trouble with them even if you find some of their ways hard to understand and even annoying at times. For instance, they feel it is only polite to tell you what you want to hear. Very often that politeness of theirs will get you much misinformation. If you ask: "Is this the right road to ----?", the Indian probably will say "Yes", even if it isn't. To be on the safe side ask: "Which road goes to our camp, etc?"

Almost anywhere you go in India, you will find people who speak at least some English. Although many languages are spoken, the most widespread is Hindustani. It will pay you to learn some common words and phrases of Hindustani, which you will find at the end of this book.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

The convoy driving past

India - en route

Thursday, September 7, 1944

[…]

The convoy pulled out of the camp and through the suburb and then the city – with the crowds along the sidewalks shouting, laughing (humor, good, for the most part), and making the V-sign.

[…]

Richard Beard, US Army Lieutenant Psychologist with 142 US military hospital. Calcutta, September 7, 1944

(Source: page 59 of Elaine Pinkerton (ed.): “From Calcutta With Love: The World War II Letters of Richard and Reva Beard” Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002 / Reproduced by courtesy of Texas Tech University Press)

 

Holidays

The most important of the Hindu holidays are: Holi, which is a spring festival, something like our Hallowe'en in spirit, at which red or yellow powder is thrown around like confetti and colored water is used for water fights; Diwali which is the "feast of lamps," when every city and village is ablaze with lights; and Dashara, in October, at which time all Hindus pay their respects to the tools of their trade.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

Beggars

In India you will see more beggars with more pitiful faces and misshapen bodies than you have ever seen before. If you give something to one a dozen others will crowd around you, especially at railroad stations. Many of them are professional panhandlers. But there are also many holy men - or fakirs - among them; religious men who have given up their homes and possessions to wander from place to place, living on the charity of the people. Some wear orange-yellow robes. Others wear little clothing and smear their bodies with ashes. Most have matted hair, often worn in a coil on top of the head. They may ask you for something. Whether or not you give them anything, treat them with respect. They are holy to the people because they have devoted their lives to religion.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

Don't try to fight your way out

Wherever you go, people may crowd around you, especially where American soldiers have not been seen before. The only way to shake the crowd is to go away fast. If you are in a jam, find a policeman. Don't try to fight your way out. One of the worst things you can do in India is to lose your temper. If you keep your temper, and remain good-natured, Indians who are courteous by nature will respond. But avoid even good-natured rough-housing. You may accidentally injure an Indian and trouble would result. Furthermore don't ever touch an Indian's turban. It is sacred. Even the most playful touch from you would be an insult. Address Indians with courtesy, never in such abrupt manner as calling out, "Hey you." The word "bhai," or brother is always safe and will not give offense.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

One should tip for everything

One should tip for everything, but only at the end of the service or stay. Do not over tip. Keep small change on hand. In hotels you tip everyone - a rupee for the head-waiter and the head room bearer, half a rupee (8 annas) for the sweepers, porters, water boys and luggage porters at the station.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

time and punctuality

Most Indians have a different idea about time and punctuality from ours. If a man says he will come at 5 o'clock he doesn't necessarily mean 5 o'clock sharp but within and hour or two of five. If you instruct a workman to finish a job by Tuesday, he may take it to mean merely sometime soon. If you want work done on time, you must keep a close check on the progress of it. All work stops on holidays, which sometimes last for several days.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

Indian Women

Indian Women. Indians are great family men. But their wives are kept much more secluded than western women. In certain circles it is a breach of good manners to inquire of a man about his wife or to mention women in any respect in conversation. A married woman wears a red spot in the center of the forehead. Many wear a small jewel in the side of the nose purely as an ornament as American women wear earrings. The jewel has no religious or caste significance.

Indian women keep to their homes as much as possible. Most Moslem and many Hindu women take particular care not to show their faces before strangers and wear heavy veils when out of doors. In the villages and rural sections where women are working out of doors, you should exercise special care not to stare at them or address them. Many will run at the approach of a white man.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

Hospitality

Hospitality.   Indians are hospitable people. If they invite you to their homes, accept the invitation. They will be glad to have you and the experience will be interesting. But don't be surprised if the women members of the household are absent.

You should follow the example of your host. Often that may mean sitting on the floor and eating with your fingers instead of with knife and fork. Whatever the family custom is, you should follow it. The Indians will overlook your social errors and give you full credit for trying to adapt yourself.

Indians chew betel nut, much as we smoke cigarettes. The nut is wrapped in a leaf buttered with lime and then chewed like tobacco, only you will spit red instead of brown. When you are offered betel or any gift, you may just touch it if you do not wish to take it. Touching the gift means that you have accepted it in the spirit in which it was offered.

Don't accept any presents from an Indian other than some small token, never anything of value. You would be expected to return in kind, often with some favor.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

American belief in fair play

5. Remember your American belief in fair play. And ask yourself if it's fair to barge into some private compound or other place of private residence uninvited.

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

MILITARY SECURITY

The following paragraph is well worth quoting here, and well worth your reading and consideration.

"Have you ever stopped to consider just what is our best source of protection in this country: If you've been in India as much as a week, you probably know that it would be practically impossible for American or British Intelligence to cope with alone any sabotage plot of other underhand doings in this section. It is the Indian policeman and the Indian civilian who can keep our Intelligence informed as to what is going on, or who can ignore us completely, depending, in the final analysis, upon how much they like us . . . . ."

No one can argue successfully against the truth of the foregoing statements. We do need Indian civilian and police co-operation. Whether we continue to get it or not depends on how they feel about us - on how you cause them to feel about us. It comes right down to you!

And what are you doing to help? Most of you are okay. But - there are an unfortunate number of you who mistreat Indian civilians and who disobey Indian police and flaunt their authority. Does that make sense? Can you reasonably expect to kick an Indian civilian around or to thumb your nose at an Indian cop - to do these things one minute and the next minute expect these people to be 100% on your side? How could you, yourself, react to such treatment? Well, that's exactly the way the Indian responds. And rightly so, too.

Give good treatment, and you'll get it. Show respect, and you'll earn it for yourself. The Indian's friendship is worth having. If you do something against an Indian, the harm is possibly small to yourself; but it is a great harm to your country, and to the Allied cause. As men, as Americans, you were brought up to be respectful of the law and kind to those around you. The fact that your environment has been changed is all the more reason why you shouldn't change. Remember the old proverb:

"Man who stands behind mule is wise to remain on friendly terms with said animal."

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

 

 

          _____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________

 

“You not sweep today – you not work tomorrow.”

In the mills the Indian traditions were likewise facing a shake-up. The sergeant in charge of the workshop, seeing the workers departing at the end of the day, stopped them to inquire “What about sweping the floor?” “Sahib,” came the answer, “we not sweepers –we no sweep.” The reaction was simple. “You not sweep today – you not work tomorrow.” They swept.

Eugenie Fraser, wife of a jute mill manager, Barrackpore, mid 1940s

 (source:page 113 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing  1989)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)

 

It was impossible and unthinkable to move this holy tree

What really shook the district of Titaghur, where e lived, was the episode of the tree. In the vicinity of Kharda jute mill stood a holy Banyan tree beside a tank (pond). This tree , venerated for generations, was unfortunately on ground required by the Americans for the construction of warehouses. A sadhu, always sat in the shade of the tree, giving advice to and receiving homage and contributions from the local population.

The American proposal to remove the tree and fill in the adjacent tank, met with strong opposition. It was impossible and unthinkable to move this holy tree. No one had dared to do such a thing before and would not do it now – an opinion shared by the Sahibs.  The American, however, solved the problem.

With their customary down-to-earth approach, they gave the sadhu a sum of money and told him to go and buy himself another tree.

On the appointed day, crowds collected to witness this desecration. It was widely expected that some dire calamity would follow. All stood silently watching a young GI arrive with a bulldozer and calmly approach the tree. There came the sound of roots torn asunder, branches breaking – up went the tree and crashed into the tank. Nothing happened – no lightning struck the ungodly offender. The crowd dispersed.

Eugenie Fraser, wife of a jute mill manager, Titaghur, mid 1940s

 (source:page 113 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing  1989)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)

 

Americans popular with the Indians

The Americans, I spite of their unconventional ways, were quite popular, especially so with the Indians many of whom were employed in Kinnison and other American depots and were well paid for their work in comparison to those working in jute mills. Yes, the Americans were there -  and a good thing too for were would we have been if it wasn’t for Uncle Sam?

Eugenie Fraser, wife of a jute mill manager, Calcutta, mid 1940s

 (source:page 113 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing  1989)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)

 

Americans and the real India

On my way to Arakan in February 1943 I stopped briefly in Calcutta, through which I was to pass many times in the next two years. Calcutta, like Delhi, was crowded with American GIs and officers, and this was my first exposure to Americans en masse. Although far more informal and friendly than the British, they were more difficult to adjust to and it took time to accustom oneself to their speech and their manner of life. Later, staying in American military centres and camps, often sharing tents and bashas and roughing it together in the war areas, we came to know one another better : I count many Americans among my friends today. At the me, a good many of them struck me as more lonely and homesick than their British counterparts; more lost and bewildered. The British being the rulers were in a way at home in India. But the Americans, accustomed to see India through Hollywood's cameras as a fabulous land peopled by maharajas and elephants, were appalled and sickened by the stink and poverty of the place.

Their disillusion was heightened by the backlash of the terrible Bengal famine, then raging in the rural and outlying districts around Calcutta, and reaching its peak in the last quarter of 1943, to claim a total of nearly three and a half million lives. Outside the luxury hotels, the bars and crowded restaurants strung along Chowinghee, Calcutta's main thoroughfare, one often saw human skeletons in filthy rags gazing hungrily with avid eyes at the eatables, cakes and cookies piled behind the glass windows. They were refugees from the affected areas. 'If I were they,' an American GI growled, 'I'd smash those glass windows and help myself to all that's there.' I thought of what I had once heard Sarojini Naidu exclaim: 'Oh, the patience of India! How I hate her patience!'

Frank Moraes, Journalist for Times of India. Calcutta, February 1943
(source: pages 110-111 of Moraes, Frank. Witness to an era : India 1920 to the present day. London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Frank Moraes 1973)

 

General feeling toward Indians

Let's first take a look at the general feeling toward Indians expressed by so many of the American troops. A person must realize that those troops were in India because they had been sent there by the military. They had only one goal in mind and that was, "let's get this war over with so I can go home."

They were in India, not to learn about the country, but because they were forced to be there. As a result, most of them could see nothing good about the land, or its people. Their general imression of Indians was that they were "lazy and not too smart". They had the "wrong" religion, they dressed "funny" and all their systems, whether transport or city services were horribly designed and inefficient when compared with what they had at home in te US.

In other words, many of the US troops had little to say that was good about India.

Now, realize that those same troops made no effort to learn about India, to become acquainted with any Indian nationals or to find anything at all, good about IndIa. They served their time there and were glad to get out, never to indicate any interest in returning -- ever. They just wanted to go home, to familiar customs, familiar language, and faces they recognize on the street.

I'm speaking previously about the general, enlisted American troops.

OK, now, let's get to my personal feelings and the feelings of many of the fellows in my squadron. We were all trained, specialist, technicians, not the general combat-type soldier. That fact could account for a better feeling toward Indians among our squadron's personnel.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

Houseboys

We Americans had little opportunity to get to know Indians personally. About the only Indians we had close and regular contact with were the men we hired to help us keep our barracks clean and orderly. At Alipore, our "houseboy" was an elderly man by the name of (and I don't know whether I spell it right) Kheromet Khan. He was a really fine gentleman, honest, humorous (spoke English well) and did his job well. He told us of his sons but we never got to meet or see them. He lived somewhere near the air field there at Alipore.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

No interaction with Indians

Otherwise, we had little or no interaction with Indians. There was no prohibition for interacting with Indians, but we just had no way to meet any of them. We passed in the streets, rode trams with them and basically kept to ourselves as they did themselves. We had no invitations from Indians to visit their homes or otherwise be a part of their lives.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

Photographing the Indians

Our squadron personnel worked six days and had one day off. My day off happened to be Wednesday as best as I can remember. That was the day I headed out on my photo projects. As I have said, I spent many hours on Strand Road in the vicinity of Nimtolla Ghat. Another favorite place was the Calcutta Botanical Garden. And then, there almost always was something interesting going on out on the Maidan. I liked to go and watch the activity around Kali Temple, or the Jain Temple, or the New Market. Everywhere I looked, there always seemed to be something new (to me) and fascinating in progress. But none of this kind of activty gave me any real contact with Indians except as an observer. I often wished someone would notice me and at least say, "Hello, can I explain to you what's going on here?" But language could have been a real problem.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

"Rich rajahs"

In addition, I have the feeling that most Indians looked upon Americans as "Rich rajahs," and were hesitant to say anything to us except, "Bakshees, sahib, bakshees." That, they always had on their lips -- well, many of them did. If we showed a camera, a long retinue of youngsters instantly formed. Almost as one, they would sound off with all the English they knew, "No mama, no pappa, no brother, no sister, bakshees, bakshees, sahib."

And if an American happened to be walking, for instance, across the Maidan, it was not unusual for a young boy to come up beside you and whisper, "Hey, sahib, you want good jig-jig? Come my house see my sister. Cheap!"

And that was one impression with which many Americans left India. It's too bad, but true.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

An American playing tennis with one of the bearers

To us, accustomed to a more restricted way of life, the free-and-easy style of the Americans was at times quite astonishing.  I remember how once when strolling with Ron past our former house we saw through the wide open bedroom window a young women sitting, half dressed, on my bed combing her air. On another occasion, […] Standing on the open doorway of the bottle khana was the startling sight of one of the officers completely naked explaining something to the bearer.  More amazing than anything else was the scene of an American playing tennis with one of the bearers – a scene to send shudders through the British Raj.

Eugenie Fraser, wife of a jute mill manager, Barrackpore, mid 1940s

 (source:pages 112-113 of Eugenie Fraser: “A home by the Hooghly. A jute Wallahs Wife” .Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing  1989)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Eugenie Fraser)

 

… our convoy was pelted with rocks …

In the fall of 1945, India was in turmoil due to student riots in Calcutta and elsewhere, and many of our American comrades were killed, beaten and injured by students protesting Indian Army Deserter's being tried by British Military authorities, and also at this time Mohandas K. Gandhi was deeply involved throughout India in gaining Indian Independence from the British.

The night I left Camp Hialeah, which was a staging area before departure of our troops to the ships awaiting at the Calcutta Docks, our convoy was pelted with rocks, bottles and other items as we departed for King George Docks and the trip home.

As a 21-year-old staff sergeant who had served the last months of the war In the midst of this situation, I wondered just how and why we ever ended up here and "especially so" when our Armed Forces saved China, Burma and India from being dominated by the Japanese and Axis powers and seemingly no one cared at the time, […]

Arthur W. Sprankel, US Army soldier, 73rd Ord. Depot Co, Calcutta 7th December 1945
(source: CBI Sound-off.Vol.49, No 2 Spring 2003)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with Arthur W. Sprankel & CBI Sound Off)

 

 

 

 

 

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Americans and British

 

 

 

          _____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________

 

Capt. James Slattery and Maj. Daniel Rogers at "black hole" of Calcutta

Seymour Balkin, USAAF 40th Bombergroup. Calcutta, 1944

(source: webpage http://40thbombgroup.org/indiapics2.html  Monday, 03-Jun-2003 / Reproduced by courtesy of Seymour Balkin)

 

 

 

 

          _____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___

 

Relations With Our Allies

To heck with any more big fancy talk on this subject. Instead, how about getting right down to rock bottom? Do you want to fight another war? Or do you want your children to fight another war? Those "No's!" came fast. And it's all just as simple as that. The only way to avoid future wars, and also to end this one more quickly, is to establish good relations between nations. Good relations? Yeah, we could stray to that fancy lingo at this point, but we won't. All there is to good relations is that you think well of that fellow in the other country and that he thinks well of you. That's all. It sounds almost too easy, doesn't it? Well, it isn't - it's hard! To think well of that guy in the other country you've got to understand him; and learning to understand him requires day-after-day, year-after-year plugging. That goes for him, too. Now that we've reached the bottom, what have we got? Understanding the other fellow, which includes a willingness to understand, is the foundation on which to build good relations between nations.

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

Europeans in India

Europeans in India.   The term "European" in India generally means British. But it also includes other European peoples and some Americans. The British once held all the important governmental posts in the country and still hold many of them. British business men have developed India's trade and control much of the banking system. They manage many of India's factories.

For many years outstanding graduates of Oxford and Cambridge went to India as young men and served there all their lives in the Indian Civil Service, which is the administrative branch of the government. But in recent years Indians have come increasingly into positions of responsibility both in business and government.

You go to India at a time when the relations between the Indians and the British are under strong tension. It is better for you not to discuss this situation. You can rub a Britisher or an Indian the wrong way by trying to give him advice about Indian affairs. The statement made by your own State Department, printed in the front of this book, should govern your actions and your talk.

When you come into contact with Britishers in India, remember they are naturally reserved. They respect each other's privacy. If Britons are slow to strike up conversation with you, remember they are that way with each other. It does not mean they are being haughty or unfriendly. They don't speak to you because they don't want to appear intrusive or rude.

The British dislike bragging or showing off. American wages and American soldier's pay are the highest in the world and money goes a long way in India. When pay day comes, it would be sound practice to learn to spend your money according to the standards of the community where you are. The British consider you highly paid. They won't think any better of you for throwing money around. They are more likely to think you have not learned the common-sense virtues of thrift. The British soldier is apt to be especially touchy about the difference between his pay and yours. Keep this in mind. Use common sense and don't rub him the wrong way.

Don't be misled by the British tendency to be soft-spoken and polite. If they need to be they can be plenty tough. The British can take it. They have proved it in the course of this war. In India they have every reason for building solid friendship with us - as we have with them. Remember that the British soldier who has been out in India has learned many things about how to live and get along in the country. He can give you many practical tips that will help you in India. At the same time it is a good idea to form your own impressions and learn for yourself.

(source: “A Pocket Guide to India” Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, United States Army. War and Navy Departments Washington D.C [early 1940s]:  at: http://cbi-theater-2.home.comcast.net/booklet/guide-to-india.html)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

 

 

          _____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________

 

They kept to themselves, and so did we

You asked, What were your and/or (American soldiers' in general) relations with the British?

That's a good one.

First, our squadron's job in that part of the world was to supply photo intelligence to the commanders of the British 14th Army. That fighting force was working its way from Mandalay down through central Burma, headed to shove the Japanese out of Rangoon. So, we were part of a combined force, British, American, Indian, South African, Canadian and who knows who else. Anyhow, we were all in it up to our necks.

At first, we (The 40th Photo Recon Squadron) were stationed at the airport at Alipore, later, moved over to Akyab Island in the Bay of Bengal. Working from the Alipore air strip, along with us, was a British outfit, but I have no idea what its duty happened to be. That may sound weird, but it's the truth. British personnel used the next barracks from where I lived, but none of us had any association with them. Our paths just didn't cross in day-to-day activity and neither did our military duties. Our lab was not located adjacent to the air field. We were about a mile away.

I know the British flew some Spitfires and Lancasters from the field, but have no idea what they were really doing to earn their keep.

As for the British in the next barracks, they kept to themselves, and so did we. There were no friendships among the two groups as far as I ever knew. Neither was there any friction. It was just as if they were non-existent residents of another town instead of next-door-neighbors.

British were never seen at any of the American Red Cross facilities, neither were we Americans ever welcomed to a British military or civilian unit.

When in Calcutta proper during off-duty hours, I would see British personnel wandering around much as was I, but never did we get together for anything.

I, personally, would liked to have become acquainted with any of the British military crew on our base, but, as I said, we really had no good opportunity and neither we, nor they, showed any inclination to fraternize.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 
The American Camp

We were going to the border of Burma — there were still active troops there.

We were there for 6 weeks and traveled there on a paddle steamer.

It took 30 hours to get back with the monsoon.

We went back to Calcutta and then followed by what can only be described as a holiday in Paradise, south of Calcutta.

There were 4 enormous hangers at the aerodrome. The Yanks had gone and it was being used as a transit centre for army and air force being collected.

A lot of them were waiting to be brought back to England.

During this period there was not a lot of flying but you still needed to operate the met. Office.

Twice as many people as needed where there. I got 5 days off due to this.

The Americans had left excellent sports facilities. Badminton courts were marked out in hangers. There were very good sports people there. We were coached to a high standard.

One morning I was in a hut where we slept. There was a lot of cubicles there with wash areas. One local guy was there cleaning it out. I asked him what it was built for. He smiled then said "Jig a Jig — you know ladies and gentlemen!"

Victor Blease, Royal Air Force, Calcutta, 1945

 

(source: A5007296 The War from Beginning to End at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

“Hey Limey, what are you doing up there?”

Towards the end of my posting the locals were rioting in the city and we had to take turns to walk the perimeter of our large transmitter site at night during this state of emergency. A colleague and myself walked on an elevated bank and were silhouetted in the moonlight. To my consternation we heard a fusillade of shots and then an American soldier shouting “Hey Limey, what are you doing up there?”

Douglas Frost, Army engineer, Calcutta, 1945

(source: A2397350 India experiences: Special Communications Unit at BBC WW2 People's War' on http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/ Oct 2006)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

 

 

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Black US Soldiers

 

 

 

          _____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta_______________________

 

 

 

 

 

          _____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___

 

 

 

 

 

          _____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________

 

Practically no contact with black soldiers

You ask about black soldiers and separation from white soldiers.

Well, first, I can only speak generally, because we had no black personnel in the 40th Photo. Most of them were assigned to what we called "motor pools," the transport units. They operated out of Barrackpore, Hastings Mill and DumDum, so our paths just never crossed. Once in a while we would see one of their number driving a truck to bring in our supplies.

I have no idea how many were in units operating in the Calcutta area, actually rarely saw any of them.

As far as I knew, Indian nationals just paid them no attention in any way. Rarely would they be seen off duty down around the Maidan, or anywhere along Chowringee.

As a result of practically no contact with black soldiers, I have nothing to offer about their thoughts on India, except that they, too, just wanted to get the war over with and go home. The feeling was universal among all of us.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

 

 

 

 

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Out of Bounds

 

 

 

          _____Pictures of 1940s Calcutta________________________

 

 

 

 

 

          _____Contemporary Records of or about 1940s Calcutta___

 

In-bounds

Forget the term, "Out of Bounds." "In Bounds" are the words to remember. Pay attention to the "Do's" and you will never have to worry about the "Don'ts." And so it is urged that you DO:

1. Stay within that area which, in general, lies south of Bow Bazar Street and west of Lower Circular Road up to its intersection with Bow Bazar Street. Consult the map in this booklet for detailed data, including in-bounds thoroughfares through the rest of the city.

2. Do protect your money. Stay in-bounds and you will not be molested. Robbery with violence is practically unknown here. On the other hand, there are many thieves, pickpockets, and swindlers operating in the in-bounds area. So carry your wallet buttoned up in your shirt or blouse pocket. Flashing your roll in public is like waving your red flannels at a bull - some pickpockets will immediately put you on his "must" list. All of you know that a soldier full of this Indian cane juice is easy to roll or to swindle - act accordingly. And remember that Indians are friendly, peaceful people but don't forget that there are unscrupulous petty dealers who will attempt to get a large part of your roll for the least possible return. In a friendly and peaceful manner, just plain refuse to be swindled.

3. Take care of your health if you want it to take care of you. You will not find a brothel in-bounds either according to the M.P.'s, according to your present health and the future health of your children, or according to your pocketbook. There are "easy" girls, the so-called amateurs, in the in-bounds area. Sure, there are. But you didn't persuade her with your charm. Some other fellow made the road easy for you. And he, that last customer in this free bread line, might have left a present with her to be relayed to you. Over 50% of these kind-hearted amateurs have V.D. And if you forget all else, for remember the "Pro" stations listed in the Health section of this booklet.

4. Give a fast, "Scram!" to all tattoo artists and fortune tellers. That goes for street vendors also. They are all definite nuisances and may very well be Jap spies. The high rate of skin infections following tattooing quickly removed them from the in-bounds status for American Military Personnel.

5. Remember your American belief in fair play. And ask yourself if it's fair to barge into some private compound or other place of private residence uninvited.

6. Look for the "In Bounds to Members of the Allied Forces" sign that has to be prominently displayed near the entrance of all cafes, restaurants, milk bars, ice cream parlors, soft drink, and liquor selling establishments.

7. Drink if you like. You should have as good a time here as is commensurate with your duties. Do, however, keep your Indian liquor separated from its two quarrelsome partners, woman and song.

 

(source: “The Calcutta Key” Services of Supply Base Section Two Division, Information and education Branch, United States Army Forces in India - Burma, 1945:  at: http://cbi-theater-12.home.comcast.net/~cbi-theater-12/calcuttakey/calcutta_key.html)

 

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced under 'fair dealing' terms as part of a non commercial educational research project. The copyright remains with the original submitter/author)

 

 

 

 

 

          _____Memories of 1940s Calcutta_______________________

 

Out-of-boundsmap

Yes, believe it or not, I've found the map of Calcutta that was issued to US military personnel showing the parts of town to which we could not go. I guess they didn't want us creating trouble in some areas.

The map also explains why I have photos from a more or less limited section of Calcutta.

We could not go north of Bowbazar Road, nor up there, east of Bentnik Street. We could, though, go west to the river and along Strand Road.

South of Bowbazar, we could not go east of Lower Circular Road. From Park Street, we could go as far south as we wanted and as far east as Darga Road. We could, however, go to Sealdah Station. I don't know whether those streets carry the same names now as they did when this map was made and issued.

Looking at this old map sure renews memories of those days, too.

On the Howrah side of the river, we could go freely as far west as the Grand Trunk Road. I don't know whether there were any limits as to how far south we could go over there -- except we did to to the Botanical Garden. We got there by taking a ferry from somewhere near Eden Garden across the river and return.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

Photos from out-of-bounds area . . .

Obviously, some personnel ignored the out-of-bounds order. Any images made in those regions were made by someone who just hoped he wouldn't get caught, or get in trouble there. I guess anyone planning to rip-off the Air Force by using its equipment and supplies for personal gain could care less whether he obeyed an out-of-bounds order.

At the time, we had no idea there was a "white town" and any other color town. I, personally, just figured that there was enough to see in the "allowed" area that I didn't really care about going into the out-of-bounds region. And, besides, I just didn't have enough off-duty time to allow me to wander elsewhere. As far as I was concerned, I could spend days just messing around in and watching activity on the river and at the Maidan. Thanks for the information about "Black town" and what is available there. Had I known then, what I know now, it would have been worth "getting in trouble" just to visit and see what goes on in those regions.

No, I was never aware of any of our guys getting into the out-of-bounds region, but I expect many did. As long as they kept out of sight of patroling US military police, they could do anything they wished.

Glenn Hensley, Photography Technician with US Army Airforce, Summer 1944

(source: a series of E-Mail interviews with Glenn Hensley between 12th June 2001 and 28th August 2001)

(COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Reproduced by permission of Glenn Hensley)

 

 

 

 

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