I’ve just put up Matthew Gibbs’ review of the film Lawrence of Arabia against our call for reviews. You can find it here and it is well worth a read. Matthew is a freelance writer from Sydney with a good knowledge of Lawrence.

While I’m here, did anyone else catch the appearance by Lawrence in the SBS TV show As It Happened about Churchill’s bodyguard on Friday night (23 February 2007)? The bodyguard, Walter H. Thompson, was amazed by Lawrence’s reputation and influence with the Arabs in Palestine in 1921.

Churchill and Lawrence enjoyed a long working relationship after Churchill persuaded Lawrence to work as an adviser in the Colonial Office when he was Colonial Secretary. For our exhibition, we will be bringing out from The (UK) National Archives, some original correspondence between Churchill and Lawrence that illustrates the bond between the two men and Churchill’s respect for Lawrence’s advice regarding Middle East matters over this period in 1921.

Mal

The political background to the entry into Damascus is complex and murky. Yet, only by identifying the underlying web of forces involved, can sense be made of what happened as control of the city passed from the Turks to the Allies.

It is clear that parts of the 10th Australian Light Horse Regiment were the first troops formally to enter Damascus when they passed through on their way to secure the Homs road and that Major Olden was handed the city by the acting governor, Emir Said, a member of the influential al-Jaza’iri or Qadir family. But within hours this unexpected turn of events was overshadowed by the political need for Damascus to be seen to be liberated by the Hashemite army led by Feisal that had fought its way north from the Hejaz.

An article published in 2005 by the British historian Dr Matthew Hughes of Brunel University reviews and updates the evidence supporting this view which was first identified more than 40 years ago by Professor Elie Kedourie of the London School of Economics. Both show that, as part of a wider Imperial policy originating in London, the British were keen to establish the Hashemites in a strong position in central Syria to destabilise French claims to this area enshrined in the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement. Independently the Hashemites wanted to move their power-base from the distant and sparsely populated Hejaz to Syria and establish themselves as the legitimate and natural heirs to Turkish rule there. In this respect the British and Hashemites were equal partners of self-interest. read on

Exactly 90 years ago, with the capture of Rafa on 9 January 1917, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force arrived in Palestine. The Turkish raid on the Suez Canal in February 1915 had shown the limitations of defending both Egypt and the Canal from its western bank. Beginning with the establishment of a new defensive line 10 km east of the Canal, the British military authorities in Egypt had gradually extended this zone of protection eastwards across the Sinai Desert. After General Sir Archibald Murray assumed command in Egypt in January 1916, he moved the line of forward defence to Katia and began to build both a standard-gauge railway and a 12-inch steel water pipeline across Sinai so that he could eventually move it at least as far east as El Arish, approaching the traditional border between Egypt and Palestine at Rafa.

Following the defeat of the Turks at Romani at the beginning of August 1916, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force began a steady advance eastwards. The speed was limited to the rate at which the railway and pipeline could be built. Using the Egyptian Labour Corps this was maintained at 25km a month.

Although the bulk of the Turkish forces had been withdrawn back across the desert to El Arish, outposts were maintained at locations such as Bir el Mazar and Maghara. Murray used his most effective and desert-worthy division, the Anzac Mounted Division under Major General Harry Chauvel, to patrol aggressively across Sinai and launch heavy raids against the Turkish outposts. On 17 September Chauvel’s men, supported by horse artillery and part of the Imperial Camel Corps, attacked Bir el Mazar. After a difficult battle, Chauvel ordered the attack to be broken off and his men withdrew. Two days later the Turks gave up their strong position and fell back towards El Arish. read on

Well, our little exhibition team did all go to watch Lawrence of Arabia in period costume as planned. There will soon be some very embarassing photos and perhaps some film footage displayed on this blog, so keep an eye out for them.

I thought that I’d give you my perspective of the film as the curator of our exhibition. (My apologies, for this is a long post and there are no images!) For me, looking again at this film after spending so much time immersed in everything Lawrence, was an eye-opener in many ways and I recognised and understood more clearly some aspects of the film that probably led to the many accolades it received in 1963. I read recently in Malcolm Brown’s Lawrence of Arabia, the life the legend that he believed the film was ‘in numerous respects more Hollywood than history’. On the whole I don’t really think that is the case, but I suppose it depends on your perspective. Sure enough, there are many factual, chronological and even geographical errors in the film and those can easily be found in a number of critiques elsewhere on the web. Most criticisms are summarised in Wikipedia and Lawrence’s authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson also details them here. I am not debating those observations.

I believe, however, that the film is a masterpiece of film making and, for those who are not interested in reading any of the many books written about Lawrence during the First World War, it does leave you with all the essential parts of the story. A rather enigmatic young English officer with some knowledge of the Middle East is sent by his superiors to assist the Arab Army and becomes a close adviser to Emir Feisal during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. I am sure that the story told by the film has inspired many people to read more about Lawrence and it probably also inspired further biographies about him. Why?

read on

Ninety years ago, on 23 October 1916, the momentous first encounter took place between Captain TE Lawrence, a relatively junior British intelligence officer from Cairo, and Emir Feisal, the 33 year old third son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca.

Earlier that year, in June, Hussein had initiated a revolt of the Arabs living in the Hejaz against Turkish rule. Early operations had gone well, with both Mecca and Jidda quickly secured. But momentum waned when the Arabs failed to capture Medina and concerns rose among the British authorities in Egypt and the Sudan about the state of the revolt.

On 13 October Lawrence and Ronald Storrs, the Oriental Secretary to the British civilian administration in Cairo, left to visit the Hejaz and report back on how things were progressing. Lawrence’s position was curious. He still worked for the Military Intelligence Department in Cairo and technically took leave to go to Arabia. Foremost in his mind was the desire to establish which of Hussein’s four sons was likely to prove the most capable and dynamic leader of the Arab forces during the revolt.

Lawrence and Storrs arrived in Jidda on 16 October and had a meeting with Emir Adbullah, Hussein’s second son. Three days later Lawrence travelled north to Rabegh and spoke to Emir Ali, the Sherif’s oldest son, and to Emir Zeid, the youngest brother. None of them appeared to Lawrence to possess the right combination of personality and insight to lead the Arabs to victory. Already he had a vision of an independent, post-war Arabian state and to achieve this he knew it was essential to find precisely the right man. read on

Rania MacPhillamy, born in 1889, was the daughter of a wealthy squatter from Forbes NSW. In 1915 she trained as a VAD and went to Egypt to help nurse the wounded from Gallipoli. After the death of her sweetheart, Ronnie MacDonald of the 1st Light Horse Regiment,  Rania stayed on in Egypt and formed a remarkable partnership with an older Australian, Mrs Alice Chisholm. Together they set up a canteen for the Light Horsemen at Port Said, and in early 1917 took over the running of another canteen at Kantara, a busy railway junction on the Suez Canal. Known as the ‘Empire Soldiers Club’, this became one of the best-known and best-loved institutions in Egypt. Thousands of soldiers were able to enjoy low-cost meals and friendly hospitality on their journeys to and from the front line: the club was open 24 hours a day and operated without a break from early 1917 until after demobilisation.

TE Lawrence visited the club at least once on his travels, and a number of Arab delegations also passed through. At one stage in 1917 the two women were hosts to 17 Arab dignitaries, including Nasib al Bakri, a wealthy merchant from Damascus and one of the key players in the fight for Arab independence. In June 1918, Rania set up another club in Jerusalem, which became a haven for the ANZACs on leave from the terrible conditions that summer in the Jordan Valley. Rania’s work for the Light Horse was recognised with the award of an OBE; her older friend, Alice Chisholm, received a DBE.

The images used in this post are courtesy of Christopher and Elizabeth Murray.

Jenny Horsfield