British Modern Military History Society

JOHN Peaty will give a talk called “Lawrence of Arabia: man, movie and myth” at a meeting of the British Modern Military History Society at Woodcote village hall on Wednesday, May 10 at 7.30pm.

Lawrence was probably the most remarkable officer to have served in the Army during the Great War. Today, he is probably the most famous.

Yet it is now difficult to separate the man from the myth. What most people know about Lawrence and the Arab Revolt is derived from an epic movie, which
is great cinema but poor history.

A British officer, Thomas Edward Lawrence was one of the leaders of the Arab Revolt against the Turks.

The subject of many biographies, he is one of the very few military figures from that war familiar to the general public.

As a result of recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, T E Lawrence has enjoyed a resurgence of interest among British and American army officers. In his presentation, Dr Peaty will try to disentangle the man from the myth, examine the various portrayals of Lawrence and try to explain how a junior army officer became, next to Mao, the most famous guerrilla leader the world has ever known.

After the war, he worked as an advisor to Winston Churchill, then colonial secretary, in 1921 and joined the Royal Air Force under a pseudonym in August 1922. He was soon identified and asked to leave.

He went on to join the Tank Corps, again under an assumed name, before
re-joining the RAF in 1925.

He wrote a book about his experiences in the Middle East, called Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Lawrence retired from the RAF in 1935. Soon afterwards he was involved in a motorcycle accident near his home, Clouds Hill in Dorset. He suffered severe head injuries and died in hospital on May 19, 1935, aged 46.

Dr Peaty is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Historical Society and holds a PhD and MA in War Studies from King’s College London.