African American Soldier Dick Williams’ WWII Photograph Album and Military Papers Documenting Segregated Quartermaster Service in India, 1941

U S. Army Segregated Troops Colonial India

Archive

African American Private First Class Dick Williams of San Augustine, Texas WWII Photograph album and military papers documenting his transport service in the India–Burma Theater and return to the United States in 1946. Williams served with the 3998th Quartermaster Truck Company at Chabua, India, explicitly designated “(Cld)” in the accompanying orders. Photographs of Black servicemen beside truck convoys and overturned vehicles document the men whose supply work sustained military operations across difficult terrain. Informal portraits and photographs of encounters with local civilians extend the archive beyond official service records, preserving aspects of Black soldiers’ working lives, colonial India, and overseas experiences within a segregated Army.

Photograph Album comprising approximately 62 silver gelatin photographs and 15 leaves of military records and ephemera. India–Burma Theater and Texas, circa 1940-1946. Silver gelatin photographs mounted on black album leaves, with military orders, Enlisted Reserve Corps identification card, and presidential service appreciation certificate. The album includes two striking views of soldiers posing beside an overturned cargo truck, with its exposed undercarriage and multiple axles recording the hazards of military road transport. Additional photographs depict a soldier beside a long column of covered trucks and a convoy approaching a suspension bridge in a steep river gorge, probably on the Burma Road. Aviation subjects include a Douglas C-54 transport with men sheltering beneath its wing and a severely damaged or dismantled aircraft beside a truck. Heavy cranes and an airfield tractor marked “STAR DUST” further document transport equipment. Informal scenes show servicemen relaxing in camp, civilian workers carrying crates beside a military truck, and a uniformed passenger riding an elephant with its handler. The accompanying papers establish Williams’s identity and unit affiliation through his matching Army serial number, 38684700. Headquarters Assam Area Command orders dated February 15, 1946, list “Pfc Dick Williams” beneath “3998th QM Trk Co, Chabua, India. (Cld),” directly documenting his assignment to a racially segregated company and directing his processing for return to the United States. January 26, 1946, transfer lists record personnel movements among Quartermaster companies at Chabua. Williams’s Enlisted Reserve Corps identification card, issued at Fort Sam Houston on April 25, 1946, identifies him as a 32-year-old farmer from San Augustine, Texas, enrolling for three years. A presidential appreciation certificate bearing his name and serial number carries Truman’s reproduced signature and thanks servicemen who helped “bring about the total defeat of the enemy.” Additional reserve and separation papers accompany the principal documents.

The explicit “Colored” designation connects the album’s photographic record with the administrative structure of military segregation, providing evidence of both Black soldiers’ service and the racial distinctions governing their assignments. Williams’ service placed him within British colonial India during the final years before independence, bringing the experiences of a segregated American military unit into the broader history of race and empire in South Asia. Album binding worn, with exposed cloth and edge abrasion. Photographs show varying degrees of fading, staining, and surface loss, including pronounced blue discoloration along several margins and on some images. Papers exhibit toning and fold wear, with major tears and small losses particularly evident in the January transfer orders; the principal identification and unit-assignment information remains legible. Overall fair to good condition.

Item #24074

Price: $850.00