“UNCROWNED KING”

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 February 1927, Page 8

“UNCROWNED KING”

HIS SECRET LIFE

Colonel Lawrence, the “Uncrowned King of Arabia,” who has once again attracted the publicity which he hates so much by the publication of his “Seven Pillars of Wisdom,” privately printed at thirty guineas per copy, is personally unknown to the public.

Some of the stories ol his prowess including the blowing up of the Ber lin to Baghdad railway and his enlistment in the ranks of the R.A.F., art known. Below a correspondent lift: the veil 1 from this striking charac ter.

There has, indeed, been little chance for the public to see Colonel Lawrence. He is in appearance small and slight, with a. very large face, blue eyes, and the general characteristics of a schoolmaster.

The first time 1 met him was in 1922. At this stage of his career he had returned to Oxford as a Fellow of All Souls. It was then his habit to go for walks from midnight until 4 a.m., and then’ do his day's work, thus completely inverting the average person’s working hours. Shortly afterwards he joined the Air Force, where he had a number of adventures, beginning with his very first week.

It is the rule in the Air Force that recruits must write an essay on their reason for joining the colours. For this they are given an hour. Lawrence had been at his desk barely two minutes before he handed up his essay: This contained four words: “For a mental holiday.” He was immediately questioned by the officer commanding, on his flippant answer.

“You lazy young man,” said the .officer. “Why didn’t you work harder at school? If you had you might have won a scholarship at the university.” “As a matter of fact I did.” Huh! And then you slacked, I suppose?” . ' “Maybe,” was the reply, “but they gave me. a fellowship at All Souls!” A few days later he went on the lifle range. He was given the usual minute instructions and finally fired his first shot. It was a. bull’s-eye. "Good enough,” said the sergeant, “but a fluke.”

Lawrence then opened rapid fire with the remainder of his magazine and scored four more “bulls.” “Gosh!” said the sergeant, “I thought you were a rookie!” “So I am,” said Lawrence, “but I used to do a certain amount of big-game shooting, you see.” There is only one man alive to-day who knows the real story of how Lawrence left tire Army the first time he joined it in the early part of the war. What happened is this: Lawrence and his man, both attached to Intelligence H.Q. in Cairo, were sitting in a room in Cairo, when an irate general-staff officer rang up on a long-distance call asking for the plan of the allocation of the enemy battalions on the Palestine front. Lawrence said he had none. ‘Where are they?” “Oh, I carry them in my head.” “That is a fat lot of good to me, isn’t it?” came the sarcastic reply. “Are you going to send your head up to the front line?” “It’s a great pity I cannot,” said Second-Lieutenant Lawrence, and that was the beginning of the end. It was also the beginning of his amazing career among the Arabs.

Later on a sum of £5OOO was offered by the Germans for his body, dead or alive, and £5OO for his photograph. "Yet in June, 1918, the writer found a photograph of him in fancy dress in the front window of a shop in Oxford! It was rapidly removed and torn up. It had been there since 1914 in the likeliest possible place for any agent to search.

Actually Lawrence was once captured by the Turks dressed as an Arab. He had fever and was starving. Realisation that the discovery of his identity would lead to the most appalling punishment, compelled him even in his delirium to try to speak Arabic.

This terrible mental strain has had a permanent effect on him, being the cause of his sensitiveness and unbelievable desire for privacy that caused him to sign as a mechanic in the Royal Air Force for a term of years, which recently involved in his being drafted to an outpost in Northern India. Here at last he has secured the goal of his desires.