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ThePersian Gulf Command was aUnited States Army service command established in December 1943 to facilitate the supply of USlend-lease war material to theSoviet Union, through the "Persian Corridor".
The command originated in September 1941, when the US Military Iranian Mission, led by ColonelRaymond A. Wheeler (US Army Corps of Engineers) was established.[1] At this same time, the Iranian District of the North Atlantic Division was set up to provide construction support. In August 1942 the mission was re-designated as the Persian Gulf Service Command, and in December 1943 became the Persian Gulf Command. It subsequently came under the command of a succession of engineer generals. Following the War Department's full militarization of construction, the Iranian District ceased to exist in May 1943. Three districts directly subordinate to the area command eventually replaced it. Eventually thousands of personnel worked inIraq as well.
Iran was already occupied by British and Russian troops who were guarding theoil fields and monitoring the pro-German Iranians (Persians).Adolf Hitler believed that German military forces could eventually take possession of the oil fields and the railroad that went through the mountains from thePersian Gulf to the Russian border.
Conditions in Persia were foreign and inhospitable to the U.S. forces, with hotter temperatures than they had trained for. Those who arrived in the summer of 1942 met with pouring rain and mud more than a foot deep, but had to pitch tents to sleep on the ground for the next six months until huts were built. The rainy season was followed by temperatures that rose as high as 100 degrees,[citation needed] accompanied by sand storms that lasted for up to a week, constantly changing the landscape.
Between 1942 and 1945, the United States equipped Russia with 192,000 trucks and thousands of aircraft, combat vehicles, tanks, weapons, ammunition and petroleum products. Before the construction of the aircraft assembly plant atAbadan, Iran, theUnited States Army Air Forces flewA-20 medium bombers across theAtlantic to Abadan, where they were turned over to Russian flyers. Army engineers transformed the camel paths into a highway for trucks and improved the railroad with its more than 200 tunnels so trains could carry tanks and tons of other heavy equipment over the mountains. In total, more than 4 million tons of Lend-Lease material entered the Soviet Union via the Persian corridor, making it a vital contribution to the Soviet war effort.[2]
The Command, in conjunction with the BritishTenth Army[citation needed] and Soviet troops, also provided security for theTeheran Conference in the fall of 1943, the meeting of United States PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill, and Soviet PremierJoseph Stalin.Allied troops across the country were on alert to protect the leaders, and British, Soviet and American troops together prevented an alleged German assassination attempt at the conference.[citation needed]
The PGC shoulder sleeve insignia featured a green shield, 31⁄4 inches high, with a 7 pointed white star above a red scimitar fimbriated in white bendwise, point up.
The red scimitar, from the flag of Iran (or Persia) represented the warlike spirit of the ancient Persians. The white seven pointed star is taken from the flag of the Kingdom of Iraq, and represents purity and the religion of the Middle East. The green color of the shield denotes the agriculture of Persia in antiquity, and also stands forIslam, the religion of both Iran and Iraq. The colors red, green and white are found in the flags of both countries.
The date of the insignia's original approval is not recorded in theInstitute of Heraldry files. Correspondence dated 13 May 1944 indicates the insignia drawing may be declassified. The unclassified drawing was approved on 29 August 1944.
