WE have all heard and learnt about the Western Front, but how many people have ever wondered about the Middle Eastern Front during the First World War?

Hilary Rees contacted Looking Back to tell us more about a Heritage Lottery funded project which is asking the public to share their images of Egypt and Palestine from 1914 – 1918 for a new online resource and archive.

Hilary said: “The project aims to reveal the often overlooked Middle Eastern front and seeks to make available images of military camps, soldiers, and archaeological sites which they may have visited, and the towns through which they passed, to provide a snapshot of Egypt and Palestine at that time.

“The war in Egypt and Palestine was mobile and often fast moving, it was also fought in hot and dry conditions and posed a whole range of challenges to those who fought there.

“It is a surprise to many that a great number of personnel served in Egypt and Palestine at some point.”

“Units were regularly being withdrawn from the Western Front to serve in the area before returning to Europe,” Hilary said.

The project has been running roadshows - including one at the Tank Museum in Bovington where the general public were invited to donate photos and postcards from that period.

Hilary said: “Whilst at Bovington we were in contact with your newspaper and we came across a story that you ran about a local historian called Greg Schofield who had been researching local soldiers who had fought in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War.”

n Hilary would like to hear from you.

If you have any photos or postcards, then email ww1imagesegypt@cardiff.ac.uk or call the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University on 029 208 70546.