861.24/1743

The Assistant Secretary of War ( McCloy ) to the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs ( Murray )38

My Dear Mr. Murray: With reference to changing instructions to General Connolly to permit deviation from his primary mission in order to assist Iran, you will recall that you were told about February 2, 1944, that General Connolly had already been queried on the subject.

General Connolly has now recommended that his directive be changed to grant him discretionary authority to assist Iran in order to increase the good will and prestige of the American forces, such authority not to interfere with the movement of supplies to Russia. General Connolly envisions this authority to include the occasional [Page 318] furnishing of technical advice, or equipment or personnel for short periods. General Connolly’s directive has been amended accordingly. He has been informed that, where practicable, such assistance should be rendered through the Ridley and Schwarzkopf Missions.39

It is considered that an excellent example of American assistance to Iran occurred in the collection of the harvest. General Ridley conducted a school for the training of drivers and mechanics of the Iranian Army transport units. U.S. trucks furnished to Iran were assembled mostly by the Persian Gulf Command, although the Iranians in connection with their schools were able to assemble some of these trucks themselves. The trucks were then operated by the Iranian Army in collecting the harvest, with the assistance of certain supervisory American Army personnel. This largely avoided interruption to the work of American troop units, and the Iranians have an organization capable of continuing the work in other years. It also avoided the criticism which intelligence reports indicate have been made of the British Army. The local public has believed that the British were collecting the harvest for their own purposes and this has resulted in opprobrium to the British.

Sincerely yours,

John J. McCloy
  1. Copy transmitted to Tehran by the Department in instruction 338, February 26, which stated in part: “The Department is deeply appreciative of this action by the War Department, which it is felt will be of great value in the implementation of our policy in Iran. For its part, the Department hopes the Legation will be able to prevent any unwarranted requests for assistance being made of the Persian Gulf Service Command.” (861.24/1743)
  2. Maj. Gen. Clarence S. Ridley was American military adviser to the Iranian Government on matters pertaining to the services of supply to the Iranian Army, and Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf was similarly engaged for the organization of the Iranian Gendarmerie (rural police); for correspondence relating to the Ridley and Schwarzkopf Missions, see Foreign Relation, 1943, vol. iv, pp. 510 ff., and post, pp. 390 ff.