A few years ago, Nick Hinton, a fellow researcher, discovered a couple of fascinating photographs of Robin W.G. Stephens in an antique photo album of the Wana Column from 1920–1921. The photographs were taken by renowned photographer R.B. Holmes. The photo album was listed on the Peter Harrington Gallery’s website as being for sale (£2250). Nick visited the shop to have a look at the album in person and took pictures of some of the photographs. The link to the album’s listing no longer works, which probably means the album was purchased — hopefully by a museum, though it may have gone to a private collector.
(From Waziristan Campaign photo album, Florida International University blog site).
A few months ago, I came across a reference to another photo album from operations in Waziristan. This one resides with the Wolfsonian Library at Florida International University of all places. It comes from a donation made by Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf and includes photographs of the 1st Battalion, Northamptonshire, 48th Regiment, taken by B.R. Tundan and others. Earlier researchers had thought some of the photographs might have been from the 1920–1921 Wana Column, but the current archivist believes they are from the later Waziristan Campaign of 1936–1939.
Duke University (Durham, NC) also holds 92 photographs by R.B. Holmes, some taken with the Wana Column in Waziristan. None of the ones available online include close-up shots of British service personnel. Bridgeman Images hosts another 72 photographs by Holmes. So far, I haven’t come across an archive or museum that holds the full collection of Holmes’s work. Given that he lived in the region for over 50 years, he likely produced an extensive body of material. None of the collections I’ve reviewed include photographs that clearly touch on Stephens, but they provide useful context for the world he moved through.
Header Image from National Army Museum – photograph is “out of copyright”.