Clyde Waddell

An aerial photo by Clyde Waddell of downtown Calcutta in 1945

Clyde Waddell was an American military photographer known for his photographs of Calcutta in 1945.[1][2]

A Yank's Memories of Calcutta

Waddell was chief photographer for the Houston Press before entering the US Army and coming to the India-Burma Theatre in November 1943, where he was attached to the Public Relations Staff of Southeast Asia Command 'with the express purpose of acting as personal press photographer for Supreme Commander Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten.' He accompanied Mountbatten throughout Southeast Asia until February 1945, when he was assigned as news photographer to Phoenix Magazine, 'a 24-page picture weekly sponsored by the combined U.S.-British command'.

On leave in Calcutta after the liberation of Singapore, Waddell, at the behest of his friends, took a number of photographs of Calcutta. The interestingly annotated images documented life in the city as well as the points of view of the American GIs stationed there. They proved to be so popular that Waddell eventually compiled and released them as a photographic album of 60 prints titled A Yank's Memories of Calcutta.[1]

Photographs by Clyde Waddell
Burra Bazaar
A bewildering mass of billboards at the corner of Harrison Street (Burra Bazaar) and Strand Road, Calcutta, 1945. 
Hooghly river and part of Calcutta's east bank
Hooghly river and part of Calcutta's east bank, 1945. 
Sun-baked cow-dung patties
"Patty-cake Annie" is the nickname tagged to the makers of India's most plentiful fuel by American Soldiers, Calcutta, 1945 
Chinatown, Calcutta
Opium den in Chinatown, Calcutta, 1945. 

References

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  1. 1 2 Library, British. "Clyde Waddell: 'A Yank's Memories of Calcutta.'". British Library. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Calcutta 1945: An American Military Photograph Album". University of Pennsulvania. Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
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