1418
Illustration: The Persian Corridor: the “Bridge of Victory”
Allies & the worldTurning point

· Day 65 of 1418

The Persian Corridor: the “Bridge of Victory”

Iran

the Trans-Iranian Railway, from the Gulf to the Caspian
≈ 1,400 km
the Trans-Iranian Railway, from the Gulf to the Caspian

On 25 August 1941, Soviet and British troops entered Iran. For Iranians it was a hard time. Yet one of the main Allied aid routes ran across Iran: by rail and road from the Persian Gulf to the USSR came trucks, aircraft and food. It became known as the “Bridge of Victory”.

Cargo arrived at the ports of the Persian Gulf and was carried north along the Trans-Iranian Railway and mountain roads, across deserts and passes. Near the ports the Americans assembled Studebaker lorries: many of the trucks that later hauled shells along front-line roads had first crossed the mountains of Iran.

Iranian workers, drivers and railwaymen did a great deal of this work. Their labour is also part of the shared Victory.

See it on the map

Chapter 3 · August 1941

Help from far away

Battles raged at Smolensk, Kiev, Odessa and on the approaches to Leningrad. Two routes opened for Allied aid: through Iran and across the northern seas. And Baltic Fleet pilots bombed Berlin for the first time.