A FRIENDLY INVASION ?

Soldiering in Egypt c.1914 - 1918

Sarah Shepherd
MA, Military History
Presentation Scope
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.

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
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
project will look at the following areas:
The concept of a friendly invasion the clash of cultures
Official 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
Egyptologys view on colonialist related heritage material,
graffiti and damage to sites
Conclusions 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
 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 Brereton

3 / 5th Bedfordshire Regiment
Saturday 27th January 1917
 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 MA

11TH Battalion AIF

An early panorama of Mena Camp and the Pyramids taken by

Captain Alfred McKenna, 16TH Dec 1914
Museum of Victoria, MM050634 refers
Captain Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean
A.I.F War Correspondent and Historian

Climbing the Great Pyramid on New Years Day, 1915

The Australian War Memorial, G01658 refers
Will try and send a few things
from Egypt, curios 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

Smythe
Australian Infantry, AIF
Mena 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

Sister Mary Theresa Martin
2nd Australian General Hospital
Mena House Hotel / Ghezireh Palace, Cairo

622 Cpl Norman Rutledge Plomley
(622 Captain Norman Rutledge Plomley MC & Bar)
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.
During a fortnights 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
theyre fantastic constructions

Edgar Wooley, Wireless Operator

The Royal Flying Corps, Egypt, c.1917
Church Parade at Giza in the shadow of
the Sphinx

Giza, Egypt, 1916

 Lt T.H Boyd M.C
Passchendale New
51 Pte Herbert British Cemetery
Robertshaw
Panel 51, Lone Pine
Memorial, Gallipoli

2019 Pte Neil Wells

Chatby War Memorial
Cemetery, Egypt

66 Pte John Brown

Panel 26, Lone Pine
Memorial, Gallipoli
 Members of the A.I.F Nursing Service visiting the Step
Pyramid, c. 1915
Museum of Victoria, MM107474 refers

Members of the A.I.F visiting the Tomb of Ty at

Saqqara c. 1915
The Australian War Memorial, J02174 refers
Sightseeing in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, c. 1915
Luxor and the Valley of the Kings remained a popular leave destination
for many troops, c.1915
British and Australian Nurses visiting the
Ramasseum in 1915
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
Thank you for your kind attention