Baghdad to Beirut 1944. [Cover title].

[PAIFORCE]. & LLOYD (Seton).

Baghdad to Beirut 1944. [Cover title].

NOTES ON THE SYRIAN DESERT

First edition. With a folding map (Compiled and drawn by 1 Ind. Fd. Svy. H.Q. Sept., 1941. Reproduced… 1944). 8vo. Original printed wrappers, stapled; wrappers slightly browned, light foxing to lower wrapper, staples rusted. Interior pages clean and fresh. A very good copy of an innately fragile publication. [ii], 17, [1]blank pp. N.p., Printing and Stationary Services, Paiforce, 1944.

£350.00

[PAIFORCE]. & LLOYD (Seton).

Baghdad to Beirut 1944. [Cover title].

A rare pamphlet, produced for members of Paiforce (Persia and Iraq Force) as a guide to the leave convoy’s path through the Syrian Desert.

Soon after Anglo-Soviet forces invaded Persia (modern-day Iran) in August 1941 the Iraq Command was renamed ‘Persia and Iraq Force’, or ‘Paiforce’. This pamphlet was distributed to Paiforce servicemen who were due to travel from their bases in Iraq to Beirut - providing practical information and historical context on the 695 mile route.

It is structured into three parts. Part one describes the principal features of the route. Part two, expertly conceived by the British archaeologist Seton Lloyd (1902-1996), provides a potted history of the desert and some lively notes on Damascus (where the soldiers were “given time shop and sight see”). Part three lists some facts about the Haifa-Baghdad road, an arduous undertaking commenced in 1938.

No copies in Copac or WorldCat. We locate a single holding, at the Imperial War Museum.

Stock No.

260911

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Baghdad to Beirut 1944. [Cover title].

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