‘A FRIENDLY INVASION ?’ Soldiering in Egypt

Sarah ShepherdMA, Military History

AANS sisters possibly of No 3 Australian General Hospital on top of the Great Pyramid. The nurse seated at right has a camera case beside her, c.1915

The presentation will focus, in particular, on the visual and material record of this encounter through the analysis of the rich collection of soldiers’ sketches, engravings , art work and photographs, as well as the visual vocabulary through which the Commonwealth-Egyptian encounter was represented.

Presentation Scope

Conflict Archaeology is a developing area within the sphere of ‘Egyptology’ and my research is the first step of an endeavour to embark on a comprehensive study surrounding the shared experiences of soldiers serving in Egypt during the period 1914 – 1918 and their apparent interest in the heritage of Egypt. This presentation will look at the following areas: The concept of ‘a friendly invasion’ – the clash of culturesOfficial Military policies on social and cultural interactions Soldiers and their interactions with the surrounding heritage -archaeology -photography-narrative -graffiti -Iconography-Material culture - Antiquities, souvenirs and curiosities (inc. trench art Egyptology’s view on ‘colonialist ‘ related heritage material, graffiti and damage to sitesConclusions and opportunities for further study Bombardier Maxfield (left), Driver Rich (Sitting on

the Sarcophagus), and Gunner Shields (right) A section, 7th F.A.B, Australian Field Artillery, c.1915

British forces involved in Egypt and Palestine (E.E.F)

42nd (East Lancashire) Division 2nd Mounted Division 53rd (Welsh) Division 31st Division 46th (North Midland) Division54th (East Anglian) Division 52nd (Lowland) Division74th Yeomanry Division75th Division60th (2/2nd London) DivisionYeomanry Mounted Division10TH (Irish) Division

ANZAC Mounted Division*Australian Mounted Division*29th Division*

* Moved to Egypt as a base for operations at Gallipoli

Why is Egypt so important?

‘Alexandria is a very large but dirty and uninteresting town. The people are mixed French, Arabs, Copts, Jews and all manner of divers races. The poor are a pest and the buildings unpretentious’

‘The people are disgusting in their mixture of East and West. Saw some fine Egyptians but the majority do not appear at all well to the Western eye. I have heard that Alex was this kind of town’

‘Alex improves greatly upon acquaintance though there is still a lot to be desired’

Second Lieutenant Leonard Leader Brereton3 / 5th Bedfordshire RegimentSaturday 27th January 1917

‘ The Last Tram to Mena’

Australian War Memorial,

MM107474 refers

A Bridge near Mena – with the Mena to Cairo Tram in

the Background

The Australian War Memorial PS0810 refers

An early panorama of Mena Camp and the Pyramids taken byCaptain Alfred McKenna, 16TH Dec 1914 Museum of Victoria, MM050634 refers

‘A big water scheme was under construction for reticulation to the camp and during excavations a old jar of gold coins was found – they were soon disposed off’

Captain Walter C Belford MA11TH Battalion AIF

‘Life will drive us mad with monotony before we have been here many weeks’

Alfred Plumley Derham, Mena Camp c.1914

Makings of a camp (Mena, Egypt) c. 1914,University of Melbourne Archives, Alfred Plumley Derham collection, 1963.0024 refers

Captain Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean A.I.F War Correspondent and Historian

Climbing the Great Pyramid on New Years Day, 1915The Australian War Memorial, G01658 refers

‘Will try and send a few things from Egypt, curio’s and the like that might be of interest to you. Haven't any as yet except a stone from the top of the biggest pyramid but ought to be able to get some’

1175 Corporal Herbert Andrew SmytheAustralian Infantry, AIFMena Camp, Giza, Jan 1915

'I am doing fine and having the time of my life. I go out for motor drives and sight-seeing every day and I can tell you. It is a real treat.‘

1285 Sergeant David Roberts

‘You have to be very careful , lest you get giddy and fall’

Lt A.J Williamson

AIF Soldiers on the summit of the Great Pyramid, c.1915

313 Private Joseph McMaster, 2nd Battalion, shown centre, holding a folding camera

The Australian War Memorial P04752.002 refers

Sister Mary Theresa Martin 2nd Australian General Hospital Mena House Hotel / Ghezireh Palace, Cairo

Enlisted 18th August 1914

Embarked from Sydney on HMAT A19 Afric on 18 October 1914 with No 2 Company, 1 Divisional Train, Australian Army Service Corps

Served at Gallipoli

Promoted to Lieutenant and later Captain

Awarded the Military Cross "for gallantry and distinguished service in the field" on 9 November 1917 and the Bar to the Military Cross "for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty" on 22 March 1918.622 Cpl Norman Rutledge Plomley

(622 Captain Norman Rutledge Plomley MC & Bar)

A bright morning and pleasant in the sun but cool in the shade. In afternoon visited the Zoo at Ghizeh. Delightful gardens - the best in Egypt - far superior to the Nuzha Gardens at Alexandria. In morning to Aquarium and Grotto at Gezina. To town in the afternoon.Pyramids of Ghizeh. Went inside Cheops and thoroughly explored other pyramids and mastaba of 4-5th dynasty, seeing skeletons of men probably slaves. Lunch at Mena House. Quiet morning. Shopping in afternoon buying things for Fripp and Philips.Citadel in afternoon. Revisited Mosque Mahomed Ali and saw Joseph's Well. Saw also tree against which a spy was shot a month ago. Six bullet holes were discernible and shewed bad shooting, being spread all over the place.

William BaileyLondon Regiment27th Feb 1918

‘During a fortnight’s leave – I went to Cairo. Whilst there I visited the Great Pyramid and went on top and also inside the Great Pyramid. The camel journey was from the town of Cairo itself to the pyramids and it was advisable to go by camel actually because of the road, or part, was mainly loose sand. I also went to the Sphinx and had a walk all over the Sphinx. Seeing them as I did, one could not but be impressed with the fact that they’re fantastic constructions’

Edgar Wooley, Wireless Operator The Royal Flying Corps, Egypt, c.1917

'After Church this morning the whole Battalion was marched up to the Pyramid (Old Cheops) and we had a photo took or at least several of them.'

Captain Charles Barnes11th Battalion A.I.F

10th January 1915

The men of the 1st Field Company Engineers

By Courtesy of the Jack Moore Private collection

Church Parade at Giza in the shadow of the Sphinx

Giza, Egypt, 1916

66 Pte John BrownPanel 26, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli

2019 Pte Neil WellsChatby War Memorial

Cemetery, Egypt

51 Pte Herbert Robertshaw

Panel 51, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli

Lt T.H Boyd M.CPasschendale New British Cemetery

Members of the A.I.F visiting the Tomb of Ty at Saqqara c. 1915

The Australian War Memorial, J02174 refers

Members of the A.I.F Nursing Service visiting the Step Pyramid, c. 1915

Museum of Victoria, MM107474 refers

Saqqara

Officers of the 10th Light Horse en-route to Saqqara

The Australian War Memorial, P08353.012 refers

Saqqara

‘Sightseeing in the Egyptian Museum’ Cairo, c. 1915

British and Australian Nurses visiting the Ramasseum in 1915

Soldiers of the Wellington Mounted Rifles visiting a rather pristine Avenue of the Sphinxes in Luxor, Egypt, c. WW1

‘In Cairo I climbed the Great Pyramid, built for the pharaoh Cheops.

It is nearly fifteen hundred feet tall, and it took me twelve and a half minutes running up, flat out, to get to the top. We would go up in twos or threes. I was so fascinated, I did the climb about a dozen times.

You had to leap from the edge of each big stone block up on to the next block, all the way up. I carved my name into a stone at the very top’

‘Nugget’ Currie D Troop, 2/1 Field Regiment

c.1940

Salvaged Hurricanes on their way to the Repair Section at Helwan, Cairo.

No.53 Repair and Salvage Unit.

Sightseeing at Memphis', the Alabaster Sphinx, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) 1942

3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), named as Freddie Crowley, Alf Thompson and Pootle Powell,Saqqara 1942

Bryant’s Diary EntrySat 15th Nov 1941

‘Had a look around Cairo, It wasn’t very interesting at all... ‘

3 Members of 512 Army Field Survey Company climbing the Great Pyramid at Giza c. 1940

In 1940, the 1st DLI (Durham Light Infantry) appropriated a tomb for their regimental HQ in Egypt c.1940

‘We learnt a lot about Cairo and it was very cheap way to pass the afternoons. Neither of us drank much, we were quite happy to spend time in Groppi's taking afternoon tea for I think both of us missed the more gentle things after the harsh conditions of the desert’

Robert E Hill Royal Engineers8th Army

The ‘Bric-a-Brac’ of War Authentic and faux Archaeological Artefacts collected by Servicemen and Women

Scarabs

Statuettes

Statuary

Canopic Jar lids

Jewellery

Coinage

Amulets

Release Date: 2016

FontHill Media - http://fonthillmedia.com/

References and Acknowledgments

The Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/

The Alexander Turnbull Library https://natlib.govt.nz/collections/a-z/alexander-turnbull-library-collections

University of Melbourne Archives http://archives.unimelb.edu.au/

State Library of Queensland http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org/

Conflict Egyptology Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/egyptconflictarchaeology

The ASTENE Society http://www.astene.org.uk/

FontHill Media http://fonthillmedia.com/

Thank you for your kind attention