US Navy Sailors In British Era Bombay, 1942 Postcard
An old 1942 postcard shows three US Navy Sailors during British era Bombay (Mumbai). The sailors are wearing the US Navy’s iconic symbols the Dixie Cup hats. The US naval forces like the US army in the northeast was here to reinforce the British Indian forces against any Japanese and German WWII invasion. The British did not want a repeat of the German battleship SMS Emden in WWI of 1914. Where it bombarded and spread terror in Madras city, now Chennai city.
See my post- Vintage Photo Canoe Aids Army In India 1944. At the time of British colonial rule, the country’s shoreline was guarded by the Royal Indian Navy (RIN). Originally formed by East India Company in 1612 to protect their interest on the west coast. That was mainly Mumbai and Surat against the Portuguese, Sidis, or Maratha invaders.
The RIN had also played a key role in the Anglo-Burmese wars in 1824 which had many Indians on board. Pictured in Bombay are three US sailors in Dixie cup hats probably intending on a bicycle tour of Mumbai in 1942. Read- This is the history behind the Navy’s ‘dixie cup’.
Did you know- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is considered as “Father of the Indian Navy” today.
From the collection- Vintage Cars Mumbai Mahabaleshwar Car Rally – Old Print 1906., 1964 M. Suriyamoorthy Charcoal Art Abstract (#15)., Antique Photo Taj Mahal From River Yamuna Side 1865., Rare Vintage Book – Madras The Birth Place Of British India., Vintage Postcard Coronation Durbar Delhi 1911
