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14 unseen photos from Egypt in WW1

A photographic treasure-trove of previously unseen photos was taken by John Evans, a Clerk in the Royal Army Medical Corps, who was shipped out for a tour of duty in Egypt in 1915.

Soldiers on camels in front of the pyramids

This is the story of John Evans (top), and his grandson, Rupert Holliday Evans (bottom).


In 1915, John (26) – originally from South Wales – was shipped to Egypt to serve in the army as a Clerk in the Royal Army Medical Corps.


John was a keen photographer, and took lots of pictures of his time in Egypt. Selling the photos he took of men and officers meant he could supplement his army private’s pay, and send the proceeds back to his sweetheart (later to become his wife), Emily. As well as pictures of the army, he captured some stunning and revealing shots of life on the Cairo streets.


One hundred years later his grandson Rupert (an actor on the BBC Radio Drama Company) took on a role in the WW1 drama, Tommies. Rediscovering his grandfather’s old albums, Rupert shared the pictures with the cast and crew.

What they saw offers an extraordinary glimpse into the war, and life on the streets of Cairo almost one hundred years to the day after the events.

Here is a selection of John’s photographs, many of which remain shrouded in mystery: one particular photo purported to be of the famous T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia).

John came back from the war with just one scar – a tiny nick on his forehead, from the ricochet of a sniper’s bullet. He moved to South East London, became a teacher and taught for the rest of his life. He loved reading, and wrote a great deal of poetry. But for all his reading, family lore records that John’s favourite saying was: "A little picture tells a thousand words…"

John Evans
Rupert Holliday Evans
In the trenches: probably a photograph staged for his own amusement, as John didn’t see any action first hand.
John (centre) pictured with two colleagues.
John (second from right) with fellow soldiers on camels.
Sorting the mail: John told his family he would save water from his soldier’s ration, so that he could develop his photos in his tent.
John smoked all his life, mixing his own tobacco.
The mysterious picture, bearing an uncanny resemblance to T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Experts from the Imperial War Museum and the T.E Lawrence Society have looked at the picture and concluded it’s not him. But if not him, then who?
Presumably shot on the streets of Cairo, a street seller.
Not much is known about John’s street pictures.
He captured a range of civilian people, who seem happy to pose for him.
Donkeys and camels as modes of transport.
Back in the Mess Hall for dinner.

John’s grandson Rupert can be heard in BBC Radio 4’s Tommies. Tommies dedicates itself to telling unheard and surprising stories about the war around the world, one hundred years to the day after the events. Listen to the current series set in Cairo and Palestine during November 1917.