A rarely covered but interesting part of World War II was the American effort in Iran assigned to supply Russia with weapons and equipment to fight the Germans on the Eastern front. The 18th Depot Repair Squadron was based in Abadan, Iran staffed with technical ground crew tasked with receiving American made aircraft oftentimes packed in crates, assemble and test them, and hand them off to Russian pilots to fly off to war.
Proudly, two Clarksburg Ohio men, Paul Willis and Scott Dinkler served in this unit. Dinkler served as a mechanic and Willis along the flight line interfacing with pilots during the test flight procedure. Later, Willis was assigned flying duty and served as a flight engineer aboard a number of the group's specially modified transport aircraft designed to carry VIP's from one point to the next throughout the Middle East. During this period, he spent a considerable amount of time based in Teheran, Iran.
The video above is a collection of photos Mr. Willis gave to Vic Cleary in 2005 to include in his collection of Clarksburg Ohio World War II memorabilia. If you like rare photos of World War II aircraft you will enjoy this video!
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I have been compiling My Dad's WWII documentation & ran across The 18th Depot Repair Squadron Roster. My father's name was James L. Wilson and was a Master Sergeant in Abadan until 1945. He had a buddy named Paul E. Fitzgerald.Does anyone remember them? Thanks & God Bless all of you for your sacrifice! Elsie J. Wilson Miller
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