Proceed to Peshawar. George J. Hill
Charles D. Grear
Naval Institute Press
291 Wood Road
Annapolis, MD 21402
© 2013 by George J. Hill
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hill, George J.
Proceed to Peshawar : the story of a U.S. Navy intelligence mission on the Afghan border, 1943 / George J. Hill, Captain, Medical Corps, USNR (Ret.).
1 online resource.
Summary: “Proceed to Peshawar is a story of adventure in the Hindu Kush Mountains and of a previously untold military and naval intelligence mission during World War II by two American officers along 800 miles of the Durand Line, the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They passed through the tribal areas and the princely states of the North-West Frontier Province, and into Baluchistan. This appears to be the first time that any American officials were permitted to travel for any distance along either side of the Durand Line. Many British political and military officers believed that India would soon be free, and that the Great Game between Russia and Britain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries would then come to an end. Some of them thought that the United States should, and would, assume Britain’s role in Central Asia, and they wanted to introduce America to this ancient contest. “— Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
ISBN 978-1-61251-328-7 (epub) 1. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)—History, Military. 2. World War, 1939-1945—Military intelligence—United States. 3. Enders, Gordon B. (Gordon Bandy) 4. Zimmermann, Albert Walter. 5. Military intelligence— United States—History—20th century. 6. Intelligence officers—United States— Biography. 7. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)—Description and travel. 8. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Title: Story of a U.S. Navy intelligence mission on the Afghan border, 1943.
DS392.N67
940.54'8673—dc23
2013037129
(Permanence of Paper).
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First printing
Front cover: Photograph of two American military officers in a U.S. Army jeep, crossing the Lowari Pass into Chitral, North-West Frontier Province of India (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan), on 18 November 1943. Lieutenant Albert W. Zimmermann, USNR, at right, looking at the camera; Major Gordon B. Enders, USAR, driving, mostly hidden by an officer of the Chitrali Scouts. The Hindu Kush Range is in the background. The photograph was taken by Major Sir Benjamin Bromhead, OBE. This was the first motor vehicle crossing of the Lowari Pass.
To our fathers and mothers
“They also serve who only stand and wait.”
(John Milton)
And to
Warren, Babs, and Tom
. . . who kept the promise of silence.
When everyone is dead the Great Game is finished. Not before.
—Rudyard Kipling, Kim
Comments on the trip taken by Enders, Zimmermann, and Bromhead, November–December 1943:
This trip—It was all about the Great Game.
—Colonel Harry Reginald Antony Streather, MBE, OBE Aide-de-camp to governor, North-West Frontier Province Member of first ascent party of Tirish Mir, Hindu Kush Range, 1950 Survived fall on K-2 in 1953
Yes, the trip was a part of the Great Game.
—Roderick K. Engert, Office of Strategic Services in India Son of Cornelius Engert, minister to Afghanistan Yale University, class of 1950
Contents
Two The Travelers, and Others Who Were Involved in the Trip
Three The Trip
Four Aftermath: The Outcome, 1944 and Beyond
Five Afterword and Closure, after September 11, 2001
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Proceed to Peshawar is unexpectedly interesting to read. I say “unexpectedly” because this book, describing a visitor’s trip through Afghanistan in 1943, masquerades as the history of an American officer’s trip through the Afghan border territories during that year. Yes, we do read about his military mission and the people whom he met during that trip, but the really interesting parts of this book are the descriptions that Lieutenant Albert Zimmermann (referred to in the book as AZ), a keen observer, writes of the people and their surroundings. Starting with his comments on Day 1, Friday 11 November 1943, where AZ reports comments by Major Sir Benjamin Bromhead delivered at the Peshawar Club to the effect that “The tribes [in the tribal area] have never really been conquered and the present set up seems to be the best solution of a bad situation. . . . The tribes have their own laws, with offences against property taking precedence over [offenses against] lives.” AZ then crosses into the tribal territory at Shabkadar on Monday 15 November with Major Bromhead, where “all villages were fortified and there were no schools, to avoid blood feuds.” AZ observed that, in his opinion, education appeared to be the only way to bring the people under peaceful government. Later, on 9 December, AZ comments in a letter to his wife, “Most of this country is pretty God-forsaken. You marvel that anyone can scratch a living out of it. That’s