With Lawrence of Arabia

Press, 4 March 1978, Page 7

With Lawrence of Arabia

By D. W. HODGE

Mr D. B. Murchison, who was 93 recently, was honoured by the South Canterbury Returned Services’ Association, of which he is the oldest member. He is shown with a son, Mr I. L. Murchison. Mr D. B. Murchison, who was aide-de-camp to General Sir Edmund Allenby in the First World War Palestine campaign, was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry in the Second Battle of Gaza in July, 1917. Mr I. L. Murchison, who .served with the New Zealand Divisional Cavalry in the Middle East during World War 11, received the Military Cross for his gallantry in the second Libyan campaign, in 1941.

Thev were the first father and son with the award, Mr D. B. Murchison, possibly the last survivor in the Commonwealth of the Palestine campaign, recalled his association with Lawrence of Arabia. The oldest member of the South Canterbury Returned Services’ Association, Mr Murchison was a member of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, He became aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief, General Allenby, after the capture of Damascus on October 1, 1918. Mr Murchison, a temporary staff captain, was with Lawrence in Damascus for about three weeks. “Lawrence,” said Mr Murchison, “was quiet and

as one with the Arabs — completely devoted to their cause. “I first met him in Damascus when he was with the Arabs. We saw a lot of the Palestinians, and Lawrence was perpetually in conference with General Allenby. We rather despised Lawrence because he made such a fuss of the Arabs. He was insignificant in appearance, indifferent, and he took very little notice of authority,” Mr Murchison said.

“His promises to the Arabs were not acceptable to the British, against whom he was most outspoken. He was a thorn in Allenby’s side and Allenby’s political officers had little forbearance for him,” said Mr Murchison. At that time, Lawrence was rallying the Arabs to

fight, against the Turks. Mr Murchison, as liaison officer for the New Zealand forces, was present on most occasions when Lawrence and the com-mander-in-chief were in conference. Lawrence’s last action in the war was to take part in the capture of Damascus. Vivid in Mr Murchison’s mind is the sight of Lawrence, a slightly-built man in Arab regalia, perched on a camel, which he always rode, at the head of his armed band in a wadi near Damascus. Mr Murchison recalled that Lawrence, who had been aptly referred to as “the Arab army’s moving spirit,” was present at the victory parade in Jerusalem, which Allenby entered on foot on December 11. 1917.