INTRODUCTION


Colonel Stewart Francis Newcombe was already a legend in the deserts of Arabia before he was joined in Cairo during the early months of the First World War by a group of extraordinary specialists in Middle Eastern affairs. One member of this group was T.E. Lawrence who went on to achieve worldwide fame. Colonel Newcombe's story, like those of other unsung figures in the Anglo-Arabian panoply, has been eclipsed by the legend of ´Lawrence of Arabia´, and has languished in the dusty recesses of regimental records, government files or in the elliptical words of Lawrence’s book Seven Pillars of Wisdom. However, S.F. Newcombe´s untold story is there to be told. IN THE SHADOW OF THE CRESCENT is a story of extraordinary exploits and courage, coupled with Newcombe's own legendary and inexhaustible supply of energy and of remarkable adventures under the very noses of the Ottoman authorities – full of danger, intrigue and perhaps more surprisingly, of romance during Newcombe's captivity in Turkey.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Photos of Newcombe's Group Settlers to Western Australia

Clearing trees by horse and snig chain, 1920s.
Group 116, Tingledale.
The author at Group 114 Memorial Park, Western Australia.
Plaque commemorating Group 113, the first of Newcombe's groups to settle in the area.
Tree felling.
1920s group settlers, Western Australia.

1920s Migration recruitment poster.

These photos form part of the blog (Newcombe's Devon and Cornwall Group Settlement Scheme to Western Australia) - the remarkable story of Newcombe's involvement in helping to create a new colony in Western Australia and what happened to those families that took up the offer. Continue reading here

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