"British Forces in the Middle East, 1945-1947" Working a circular saw in the carpenters and joiners shop of the Middle East Command Educational College are Sergeant F Saunders (left), a pre-war cabinet maker from Eltham in London, and Sergeant E Case, a pre-war carpenter from Rainham in Essex. Carpentry and joinery was just one of many pre-vocational courses on offer at the college in Cairo to prepare soldiers awaiting demobilisation for a return to 'civvy street'.