Lawrence of the R.A.F.

Press, 24 June 1978, Page 17

Lawrence of the R.A.F.

Solitary in the Ranks: Lawrence of Arabia as Airman and Private Soldier. By H. Montgomery Hyde. Constable. 288 pp. $28.55. (Reviewed by A. J. Curry) Scarcely a year passes without the publication of a new biographv of T. E. Lawrence. Indeed, biographies of this famous man are showing all the signs of becoming a "fast-growth” industry. The existence of so many published biographies means that any newcomer to the field faces a stiff fight for recognition. and is customarily evaluated in terms of how much new material it can produce, or how much new light its author can shed on Lawrence’s life adn enigmatic character. The author of this biography, H. Montgomery Hyde, is well qualified for the task. He has more than 40 books, many of them biographies, to his credit, and in writing this book on Lawrence has had access to the largely unpublished correspondence between Lawrence and Sir Hugh Trenchard (late Lord Trenchard), Chief of the Air Staff and “Father” of the Royal Air Force. Mr Hyde has confined his biography to Lawrence’s career in the ranks of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Tank Cotps. Lawrence had made his mark, and his name, during the First World War, when he was prominent in organising the Arabs to revolt against their Turkish masters. A brilliant account of his campaigns is to be found in his own “Seven Pillars of Wisdom.” But after the war, in 1922, Lawrence persuaded Trenchard to let him enlist in the ranks of the R.A.F. under the assumed name of J. H. Ross. A few months later the press discovered his identity and he was dismissed. Undeterred.’ he joined the ranks of the Royal Tank Corps, but hated it, and was eventually successful in rejoining the R.A.F., again in the ranks.

There he stayed until his discharge in 1935 at the age of 47. He died a few months later after a fall from his beloved Brough motor cycle. The major question which all biographers of Lawrence have to tackle is why this brilliant and original Englishman, who returned from the First World War as Col. T. E. Lawrence, C. 8., D.S.O. and with a recommendtion for a V.C., chose to hide himself in the ranks of the R.A.F. when government posts of the highest rank and importance were open to him. A variety of explanations have

been offered. Some say he felt he had betrayed the Arabs by promising that which he knew the British Government would not deliver, others asset that his experiences when captured by Turks at Deera resulted in a form of psychological collapse from which he could not recover in public. The chief merit of Mr Hyde’s book is that he has shown by a careful and detailed reference to Lawrence’s letters and to contemporary writings that Lawrence's career in the ranks of the R A F. was no less ". . . rich in record and achievement and no less exciting. ...in its own way than his exploits in Arabia. He was able to write the “Seven Pillars of Wisdom." make extensive notes for a book later published under the title of "The Mint." translate Homer’s “Odyssey.’’ and cultivate a wide circle of friends, the most important of whom were ptobt'bly G. B. Shaw and his wife Charlotte. Within the R.A.F. itself, he was an inspiration to many of those of all ranks with whom he worked, and made important contributions to the development of tne Air Sea Rescue Service. There is no doubt that during his career in the ranks of the R.A.F. Lawrence thrived on those moments when he occasionally stepped backwards into the limelight, and led from the ranks. G. B. Shaw was not alone in wondering precisely what Lawrence was up to. But Lawrence had an impish sense of humour, and which of us would not delight in a situation which enabled an aircraftsman (second class) to write to an Air-Vice Marshal and begin the letter "Dear Swann . . But it is also apparent that Lawrence loved the R.A.F., and thought highly of its founder, Lord Trenchard. Their letters show a respect and affection for each other which transcended the bounds of mere

rank. When Trenchard resigned his post as Chief of Air Staff and took up the post of Commissioner of Police in London, he and Lawrence continued their friendship and their correspondence. Although the previous unpublished letters between Lawrence and Trenchard do not shed a great deal of extra light on Lawrence’s later life. Mr Hyde's biography is sensibly written, well documented, and well balanced. It will surely be regarded as one of the best accounts of Lawrence's later years.