TE Lawrence

T.E. Lawrence.

Lawrence was born in Tremadoc, Caernarfonshire, North Wales, of mixed English and Irish ancestry, and was educated at Jesus College, Oxford. Before World War I he traveled extensively throughout Arabia, often on foot, living with the Arabs, wearing their clothes, leaning their culture, language and local dialects; later, he also did archaeological fieldwork under William Flinders Petrie. Following the outbreak of hostilities, he joined British army intelligence.

Lawrence's intimate knowledge of the Arab people made him the ideal liaison between British and Arab forces. During the war, he fought with Arab irregular troops under the command of Emir Feisal, a son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca, in extended guerrilla operations against the Ottoman Empire. The guerrilla operations were adapted from Boer tactics used during the Boer War. Lawrence's major contribution to World War I was convincing Arab leaders to coordinate their revolt to aid British interests. He persuaded the Arabs not to drive the Ottomans out of Medina, thus forcing the Turks to tie up troops in the city garrison. The Arabs were then able to direct most of their attention to the railway supplying the garrison. This tied up more Ottoman troops, who were forced to protect the railroad and repair the constant damage. In 1917 Lawrence arranged a joint action with the Arab irregulars and forces under Auda Abu Tayi (until then in the employ of the Ottomans) against the strategically-located city of Aqaba. On July 6, after a daring overland attack, Aqaba fell to Arab forces. Some 16 months later, Laurence was involved in the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war.

As he did before the war, during the time he spent with the Arab irregulars, Lawrence adopted many local customs and traditions as his own, and soon became a close friend of Prince Feisal. He especially became known for wearing white Arabian garb (given to him by Prince Feisal, originally wedding robes given to Feisal as a hint) and riding on a horse in the desert. During the closing years of the war he sought to convince his superiors in the British government that Arab independence was in their interests, to mixed success.

After the war, he attempted to achieve anonymity, joining the Royal Air Force in 1922 under the name "Ross". After a year, his cover blown, he joined the Royal Tank Corps, this time using the surname "Shaw".

Eventually he left the forces for the quiet life of an academic. He wrote extensively about his experiences and about the history and archaeology of the Middle East, and he translated Homer's Odyssey. He was killed in a motorcycle accident in the county of Dorset, England, in 1935.

Quotes

I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands

and wrote my will across the sky in stars

To earn you Freedom

-- from the dedication of Seven Pillars of Wisdom

I deem him one of the greatest beings alive in our time...

We shall never see his like again.

His name will live in history. It will live in the annals of war...

It will live in the legends of Arabia.

-- Winston Churchill of Lawrence

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.

-- from Seven Pillars of Wisdom

See also: Lawrence of Arabia, a film based on his life.

External links

• Fact file from Lawrence biographer: http://www.lawrenceofarabia.info/
• Site dedicated to Lawrence and his Brough Superior motorcycles: http://www.dropbears.com/m/models/brough/index.htm

Referenced By