Who Was Lawrence Of Arabia?
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/who-was-lawrence-of-arabia
Lawrence of Arabia was the name given to a British
Intelligence Officer, Thomas
Edward Lawrence, who fought alongside Arab guerrilla forces in the Middle
East during the First
World War.
Thomas Edward Lawrence was born in Tremadoc, Caernarvon in
north Wales in 1888. Before the outbreak
of the First World War he worked as an archaeologist and
photographer in the Middle East. He became very familiar with the region and
strongly identified with the Arab people.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Colonel T E Lawrence
T E Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, dressed in
traditional Arab costume on the balcony of the Victoria Hotel in Damascus on 3
October 1918, half an hour after he had resigned his position in the Arab Army.
Lawrence adopted Arab dress partly for practical reasons but also because of a
dislike of formal uniform and a strong identification with the Arab people.
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Lawrence joined the Army in 1914 and was commissioned as a
second lieutenant in October, working in the geographical section of the War
Office until he was posted to Cairo, Egypt in December 1914 as a liaison and map
officer. He stayed in Cairo for almost two years. Two of his younger brothers
were killed while serving in France in 1915. Their deaths affected him deeply
and he felt guilty for staying in such a relatively safe, office-based
position. However, the start of the Arab Revolt in
June 1916 led Lawrence to undertake dangerous missions inside enemy territory
in Arabia.
Before the war, Britain had maintained a long-standing policy
of support for the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East. However, this ended with
Turkey's support
of Germany in November 1914. Looking to take advantage of the
growing Arab nationalism in the area, certain British elements encouraged and
supported leading Arabs to revolt against the Ottoman colonial rule. These
complex negotiations were still underway when Grand
Sherif Hussein, ruler of the Hejaz province (now part of Saudi Arabia),
started an uprising with an expectation of British support. This uprising would
become the Arab Revolt and it was led by and fought by Sherif Hussein's four
sons, Ali, Abdullah, Feisal and Zeid.
Lawrence had been dispatched to Arabia to identify which of
the sons would be the most successful leader, and so the most use to the
British. He was very impressed by Sherif Feisal and
was formally assigned to him as an advisor. Lawrence stayed with Feisal
for two years and helped him to lead the Arabs north from the Hejaz to Syria.
Feisal was advised and influenced by Lawrence and successfully seized the city
of Akaba on 6 July 1917. From Akaba, Lawrence
went to Cairo and met with the newly arrived General
Sir Edmund Allenby, the leader of Britain's Egyptian
Expeditionary Force. They agreed that Feisal's Arab forces would
be very valuable in supporting Allenby's campaign in Palestine.
Feisal's Arab forces separate actions against the Turks did
prove very useful to Allenby's forces. They attacked the Turkish lines of
communication and sabotaged the railway that led to Palestine, a crucial
Turkish supply route. They also cut telephone wires, forcing the Turks to send
wireless messages which the British could intercept. By harassing and pinning
down thousands of Turkish troops, they prevented them from concentrating
against Allenby's advance. Lawrence was involved in many of these activities
and at the forefront of many vital victories. He was with the Arab troops that
entered Damascus along with Allenby's forces on 1
October 1918.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Colonel T.E. Lawrence with King Feisal
Colonel T.E. Lawrence (left) with King Feisal (centre),
talking to the American journalist Lowell Thomas (with back to camera).
Lawrence and Thomas met in Jerusalem in 1918, where Thomas had travelled
looking for a story to build up enthusiasm for the war in America. His lantern
slide show focused more and more on Lawrence who rapidly became a household name.
Thomas took his show from New York to London and eventually around the
world.
Lawrence claimed the fall of Damascus as a victory for Feisal
and left the Middle East shortly afterwards. As soon as he returned
to London he began to work for Arab independence. After the Armistice in
November 1918, it was agreed that Feisal and Lawrence should represent the
Arabs at the upcoming peace
conferences in Paris. However, British and French leaders had
already agreed privately on the future of Turkey's Arab territories in the 1916
Sykes-Picot agreement. The Middle East was to be divided into British and
French spheres, leaving no place for independent Arab states.
Although he had been unsuccessful in his mission to promote
the Arab cause, Lawrence became the most sought-after man in London. The
American journalist Lowell Thomas's touring
production With Allenby in Palestine celebrated Lawrence's
success in the Middle East and portrayed him as the attractive and charismatic
leader of the romantic Arab guerrillas. It seems Lawrence originally welcomed
the publicity, but over time he came to despise it and attempted to distance
himself from his public persona. He worked as an advisor to Winston Churchill,
then Colonial Secretary, in 1921 and joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) under a
pseudonym in August 1922. He was soon identified and asked to leave. He then
went on to join the Tank Corps, again under an assumed name, before re-joining
the RAF in 1925. He also wrote a book about his
experiences in the Middle East, Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
SOUVENIRS AND EPHEMERA
Presentation wreath from Saladin's tomb
A gilt bronze wreath, removed from the tomb
of Saladin in Damascus at the end of the First World War. It had
originally been placed there by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1898, during his state
tour of the Middle East. It was apparently presented to Colonel T E Lawrence by
Sherif Feisal, when they entered Damascus on 1 October 1918. Lawrence, in turn,
presented the wreath to the Imperial War Museum on 11 November 1918.
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Lawrence retired from the RAF in 1935. Soon
afterwards he was involved in a motorcycle accident near his
home, Clouds
Hill in Dorset. He suffered severe head injuries and died in hospital on 19 May 1935, aged 46.
After his death his reputation continued to grow and, in
1962, a Hollywood blockbuster Lawrence of
Arabia was made about his life, starring Peter O’Toole. But
his reputation also came under attack, with questions being raised about the
nature of his involvement in the Arab activity and how important he really was.
However, the release of secret British archives in the 1960s and 1970s provided
additional evidence of his wartime activity and seem to support many of his
claims about his role in the war in the Middle East.
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