Walter Bryan Emery

[2] During the Second World War, he served with distinction as an officer in the British Army and, in the immediate aftermath, in the Diplomatic Service, both still in Egypt.

His training there resulted in his becoming an excellent draftsman, a skill which produced the brilliantly executed line drawings that permeated his later published works on Egyptology, and which was similarly influential in his wartime military career.

An early preoccupation was to ensure the quantity and quality of mapping to be issued to the mobilised units that were pouring into the kingdom from all quarters of the Empire: the going for vehicles needed to be noted, water-sources, newly installed enemy defences, etc.

Emery's training as a draughtsman was a great asset; his work-colleagues at this time included the future general Victor Paley.

[9] At the end of the North African campaign, with the successful landing of Allied troops on mainland Italy, Emery was further recognised with the award of a military MBE, in 1943.

[11] Though not unique, his record was nevertheless impressive for an officer with no previous military experience (PME) who was commissioned after the start of the war: to be promoted from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant-Colonel, and to be awarded an honour in addition, indicated an exceptional contribution that was notable in itself.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, with many archaeological sites still off-limits, Emery accepted a diplomatic post with the British embassy in Cairo.

[3] In 1951, Emery was appointed Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College London, a seat he held for nearly two decades, to 1970.