Port Said Gallery

Anti-British First Day Cover - Port Said Raid - Suez Crisis

Anti-British Egyptian First Day Cover (printed in Alexandria) - critical of British military operations in the 1956 Suez Crisis - November, 1956. The aim of the conflict was to regain Western control of the Suez Canal, removing Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had just nationalized the canal. After the fighting had started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated the United Kingdom and France and strengthened Nasser. Date: 1956

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

De Lesseps statue at the entrance of the Suez Canal, Egypt

De Lesseps statue by Emmanuel Fr魩et at the entrance of the Suez Canal in Port Said, Egypt, gesturing invitingly towards the canal which meant an easier way of transport and travel to the east. Ferdinand de Lesseps was the initiator and founder of the Suez Canal Company which constructed and operated the canal until the 1950s. The statue stood in Port Said between 1899 and 1956 until it was moved to a small shipyard in Port Said's twin city on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal Port Fouad. Date: circa 1930

© Mary Evans / Pharcide

Port Said, Egypt - Ferdinand de Lesseps statue

Port Said, Egypt - Ferdinand de Lesseps statue. Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps (1805-1894) was the French developer of the Suez Canal, joining the Mediterranean and Red Seas for the first time in 1869, substantially reducing sailing distances and times between the West and the East. Date: circa 1910s

© The Roseries Collection / Mary Evans Picture Library