A century ago today, Captain T.E. Lawrence helped capture the city of Aqaba and became the legendary Lawrence of Arabia. Sent by the British army as a military advisor, Lawrence convinced Emir Faisal I, leader of the Arab Revolt, to attack the Turkish stronghold by way of the Nefud desert, which was thought to be impassable. As Sherif Ali tells Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, “It takes more than a compass, Englishman. The Nefud is the worst place God created!”
But Lawrence pushes on, joins forces with the Bedouin tribal leader Auda ibu Tayi, and leads a force of 5,000 cavalry across the 200-mile wasteland. Historians and movie buffs do their best to ruin what happened next (“um, actually, the battle happened forty miles away”) but can hardly make a dent. The fact is, Lawrence’s cavalry took the enemy entirely by surprise. The Arabs slaughtered 300 Turks and took another 300 prisoner, before their leaders could intervene. Lawrence easily captured Aqaba, and lost just two of his own men in the fighting.
The Turks formally surrendered July 6, 1917. Knowing that thousands of civilians, soldiers, and prisoners soon would be without food, Lawrence immediately set off on a 150-mile trek across the Sinai desert in order to secure British supplies. Though they had helped Lawrence by bombarding the city in preparation for his attack, his superiors had expected him to fail. Instead, in a single stroke he relieved pressure off British forces in Palestine, cut off the Turkish army in Medina, opened a new front against Syria and Jordan, and created a path toward capturing Jerusalem and Damascus.
Lawrence was little more than a college graduate playing an archeologist in the desert when he was recruited to spy on the Germans, something he did successfully. He loved Arab culture enough to learn the language and understand the people, so that years later the rebels would accept him as their own—and honor him with traditional white robes. He alone recognized a useful ally in the Arab Revolt, and forced their alliance to the British with a bold military plan. He did all of this of his own volition, and with very little support from his superiors.
Lest you resent him for being a little too much of a movie star, it’s nice to think that Lawrence didn’t do everything perfectly. He was an amateur at everything he accomplished. Most embarrassing of all, he was thrown off his camel and failed to complete the heroic charge into Aqaba. Turns out, he’d accidentally shot the poor thing in the back of the head. Like Churchill’s lackluster performance in school, or Lincoln’s notorious ugliness, Lawrence’s foibles make it easy to admire him as a human being.
The centenary of his triumph over Aqaba is a good excuse to remember Lawrence. His book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, is one of the greatest books ever written. And David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia is one of the greatest films ever directed. Yes, the movie fails to remember the role of the Royal Navy and falsely exaggerates the defenses at Aqaba, which was not guarded by 12-inch guns. But these changes could only distress the nerdiest of nerds. More importantly, the film captures the complexity of Lawrence’s humanity and heroism. As he yells at General Allenby, “All right! I’m extraordinary! What of it?”
