between the message to Harris on 26 October 1943 and the issuance of the orders on 8 November was but two weeks. It is clear that AZ got the nod—he was the man who could be trusted not to get hold of the wrong end of the stick.
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES NAVAL LIAISON OFFICE
KARACHI, INDIA
CABLE ADDRESS—205065—8 NOVEMBER 1943
“ALUSLO”
EN3–11(KA)P16–4/00/A-1/JAH
SERIAL 558
| From: | The United States Naval Liaison Officer, Karachi |
| To: | Lieutenant Albert W. Zimmermann, I-V(S), USNR. |
| Subject: | ORDERS, Temporary Additional Duty |
| Reference: | (a) SecNav letter to all Ships and Stations dated April 30, 1943. |
1. Upon receipt of these orders and when directed by proper authority, on or about 11 November 1943, you will proceed via transportation furnished by the United States Army, to Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, India, and such other places as may be deemed necessary for the proper performance of the duties assigned you. Upon completion of this temporary duty you will return to this office and resume your regular duties.
2. Transportation to Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, India, is to be furnished by the United States Army and you are authorized to defray any additional travel, including transportation by military or commercial aircraft, subject to reimbursement by the government.
3. Per diem allowances while traveling in obedience to these orders is authorized in accordance with reference (a).
Francis H. Smith
FRANCIS H. SMITH
cc BuPers
FIRST ENDORSEMENT—U.S. NAVAL LIAISON OFFICER—
NOVEMBER 12 1943
EN3–11(KA)P16–4/00/A-1/JAH—KARACHI, INDIA
| From: | The United States Naval Liaison Officer, Karachi. |
| To: | Lieutenant Albert W. ZIMMERMANN, I-V(S), USNR |
1. You departed at 1540 this date.
Francis H. Smith
FRANCIS H. SMITH1
The three officers who made the trip:
Major (later Colonel) Gordon Bandy Enders, USAR
Major (later Lieutenant Colonel) Sir Benjamin Gonville Bromhead, OBE, IA
Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Commander) Albert W. Zimmermann, USNR
Five others mentioned in the letter:
Sir George Cunningham, GCIE, KCSI, OBE, LLD, governor, North-West Frontier Province
Lieutenant Commander Francis H. Smith, USN
The Honorable Cornelius Van H. Engert, CBE, U.S. minister to Afghanistan
John R. Harris, central liaison officer, Karachi
“Intelligence Bureau, Quetta”—unidentified, but perhaps a “Father Wood”2
Personnel at the naval liaison office, Karachi:
Lieutenant (jg) Howard Voorhees, USNR
Two others, not mentioned in the letter, but who were involved in the planning:
Lieutenant Colonel (later Sir) Reginald “Rex” Benson, Kt., OBE, MVO, MC
The Honorable Clarence E. Macy, American consul at Karachi
Two more, who met the travelers during the trip:
Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, GCB, CMG, MC, first earl of Wavell, viceroy of India
Lieutenant Colonel (later Sir) William Rupert Hay, CBE, CSI, KCIE, commissioner, Baluchistan
Three who learned about the trip while it was under way, if not before:
The Honorable (later Lieutenant Colonel, Office of Strategic Services) Charles Wheeler Thayer, chargé d’affaires, Kabul
Lieutenant Curtin Winsor, USNR, Far East desk, Office of Naval Intelligence
Captain (later Rear Admiral) Gene Markey, USNR, senior naval liaison officer, China-Burma-India Theater
Two who probably learned about the trip immediately after it was completed:
Major General (later Ambassador) Patrick Hurley, special representative of the president
Major Ernest F. Fox, USAR, military attaché to Kabul
And seven others, who could have learned about the trip:
Sir Francis Verner Wylie, GCIE, KCSI, British minister to Afghanistan
Sir Denys Pilditch, CIE, director, Delhi Intelligence Bureau
Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, commander in chief, India
Colonel C. Suydam Cutting, Office of Strategic Services, head of U.S. observer group, Delhi
Major General Sir Stewart Graham Menzies, director, Secret Intelligence Service
Major General William Donovan, director, Office of Strategic Services
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Mountbatten, first earl of Mountbatten, KG, commander, South East Asia Command
You’ve a great game, a noble one, before you.
—Captain Arthur Conolly, in Bokhara (1842)
Go up the hill and ask. Here begins the Great Game.
—Rudyard Kipling, Kim
Long before the beginning of the Great Game—the contest for empire between Britain and Russia—other invaders had crossed Central Asia. As it was in the Great Game of the nineteenth century, the prize was India and access to the Indian Ocean. Darius I in 515 BCE and Alexander III of Macedon (Alexander the Great), in 326 BCE were the first whose troops crossed the Hindu Kush Range into India, but then turned back. They learned
