The Nairn brothers from New Zealand left the Army at the end of World War One and started a transport company in the Lebanon. In the 1930s they bought trucks from the Marmon-Herrington Company of Indianapolis.
They started running across the desert from Beirut to Damascus and thru to Baghdad with specially built passenger carrying trailers.
Gerald and Norman Nairn bought their first Marmon-Herrington trucks, second-hand, from the Iraq Petroleum Company where they had been used to build oil pipelines in the early 30s.
The whole rig was 68 foot long and weighed 20 tons. The largest passenger carrying truck in the world at that time.
The best time for the 700+ kilometres from Damascus to Baghdad was 14 hours but the average was 20 hours. There were delays due to the rainy season and also because of hostile Bedouin tribesmen. Tyres were the biggest problem with only 5000 kilometres before they were worn-out. This picture is from the 1957 book; “First Overland” by Tim Slessor.
The Marmon-Herrington trucks were 6x6 with 150 horse-power Hercules Diesel engines. Probably the first trucks to run with bloody great running lights on the roof.
The air-conditioned trailers carried about 30 passengers in air-craft style high-backed seats. They could also carry 2 tons of freight with plenty of room over the fifth-wheel, in the back and on the roof. One of their most important cargoes was the mail from Persia to Europe.
During the Second World War the Nairn Brothers fleet was commandeered by the RAF and used all across the Middle-East; Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
Most of the drivers of the Marmon-Herrington trucks were British ex-service men who had at some time been stationed in the Middle-East. But all vehicles carried a local Bedouin navigator.
That’s a great find Chris, thanks for posting it. 
With the company based in Indianapolis; vehicles were tested on the same track as the Indy 500 race.
Nairn Brothers publicity postcard.
Thank you,
This kind of magic makes me glad I discovered this site!
John
Wow, that looks great! What a great thread, and what a great job that must have been back then!! Was life really a lot easier and simpler back then compared to the nuthouse we`re in living today? Love the colour advert!! A steward on board as well!! Great pics of a time gone by! 
ChrisArbon:
0Nairn Brothers publicity postcard.
Great drawing - pure ‘Boys’ Own’! I notice it ran from Haifa in Palestine - try telling the Israelis that now 
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Peter Davies’s encylopedia tells us that Marmon-Herrington’s origins date back to 1851 but that trucks were not produced until 1931, when the company started to build all-wheel drive vehicles. It built some for the Iraq Pipeline Co and converted Ford trucks to all-wheel drive. Robert
I can remember their later impressive cab overs and conventionals of the 1970’s etc .
