Air Service Command Staff Sergeant Frank Zalenski Assam Photo Album
Dublin Core
Title
Air Service Command Staff Sergeant Frank Zalenski Assam Photo Album
Subject
Frank Zalenski was a Staff Sergeant with the Air Service Command Stationed in and around Assam, India during WWII. His home address was 267 Green Street, Clinton, MA 01510. Prior to enlistment he worked as a lathe operator at Blake Manufacturing Company also in Clinton, MA. During the war he worked servicing the massive number of aircraft flying supplies from Assam over the Eastern Himalayas to Kunming, China for Chinese and American forces.
During the early years of Frank’s time in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur were under direct threat after the occupation of Burma (Myanmar) in 1942 by the Japanese army. “The news of ill treatment meted out to the Indian evacuees from Malaya and Burma by the British further aggravated anti-British feelings throughout the country. In such a situation, Gandhi ultimately came to the conclusion that the only solution was for the British to quit India. The Congress approved Gandhi‟s proposal to launch the ‘Quit India’ movement at its Bombay session held on 7 and 8 August 1942 (Govt. of Assam, 2008). Assam joined the Quit India Movement in the same year and people in some parts of Assam like Nowgong actively disrupted the free movement of the army. The Government retaliated by resorting to firing, imprisonment of the people and by imposing fines on the people of Assam. The province of Assam became more critical because of the impending danger of the war.”
(https://www.ijiras.com/2018/Vol_5-Issue_3/paper_23.pdf)
Image 4
This seems to show Frank along with other men in Cherrapunji which is today also known as Sohra. The people in Meghalaya can speak excellent English, due to mass conversion to Christianity. The waterfall photo is likely Nohlakilai Falls, the tallest plunge waterfall in India.
(https://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/meghalaya/cherrapunjee/nohkalikai-falls)
During the early years of Frank’s time in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur were under direct threat after the occupation of Burma (Myanmar) in 1942 by the Japanese army. “The news of ill treatment meted out to the Indian evacuees from Malaya and Burma by the British further aggravated anti-British feelings throughout the country. In such a situation, Gandhi ultimately came to the conclusion that the only solution was for the British to quit India. The Congress approved Gandhi‟s proposal to launch the ‘Quit India’ movement at its Bombay session held on 7 and 8 August 1942 (Govt. of Assam, 2008). Assam joined the Quit India Movement in the same year and people in some parts of Assam like Nowgong actively disrupted the free movement of the army. The Government retaliated by resorting to firing, imprisonment of the people and by imposing fines on the people of Assam. The province of Assam became more critical because of the impending danger of the war.”
(https://www.ijiras.com/2018/Vol_5-Issue_3/paper_23.pdf)
Image 4
This seems to show Frank along with other men in Cherrapunji which is today also known as Sohra. The people in Meghalaya can speak excellent English, due to mass conversion to Christianity. The waterfall photo is likely Nohlakilai Falls, the tallest plunge waterfall in India.
(https://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/meghalaya/cherrapunjee/nohkalikai-falls)
Source
Purchased from Ebay. Research and citations provided by Aastha Hazarika MSc.
Date
1942-1945
Collection
Citation
“Air Service Command Staff Sergeant Frank Zalenski Assam Photo Album,” CIC Museum, accessed October 14, 2026, https://cicmuseum.org/items/show/102.