A Review of Robert Graves' Book: " Lawrence and the Arabs"
As we recall, the idea of the Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein in Mecca about one hundred years ago. Sherif Hussein was not only a deeply religious person but also a popular and nationalistic leader who believed that it was time to get rid of the Turkish rule which had lasted more than 400 years. His four sons, Ali, Abdullah, Faisal and Zeid were all enthusiastic and ready to lead the fight. Hundreds of tribes, previously fighting and raiding one another, now started to gather with thousands of camels in support of their leader. The remaining question was how and with what arms to commence.
That was when Lawrence, a British officer, came into the picture. He was fully aware of the revolt and much in favour of it even before he got involved . The British Government with their regional office in Cairo, were also in favour: after all, they were fighting a WWI and Turkey was siding with Germany. But when ordered by the Cairo office to go and help the Arabs in their war, Lawrence, surprisingly, objected claiming he was not trained as a soldier. He was overruled, and then assigned as advisor to Prince Faisal. It was already evident that Faisal had the charisma and leadership qualities for this major task. Furthermore, he wanted dearly to fulfil his father's dream: one Arab nation, from Mecca to Baghdad, with Sherif Hussein as its king.
Lawrence, from his first meeting with Faisal was amazed at how charismatic and affable Faisal was, and how well he was liked and respected by all the tribes. Because of this, Lawrence would in future depend on Faisal to mobilise, organise and lead the camel regiments. What Faisal needed most from Lawrence was to get him the guns, the explosives and what other armament needed for the attacks on the Turks. Both knew from the start that one could not win this war with camels alone. The Lawrence-Faisal team worked beautifully and efficiently and in fact the two became and remained friends even after the war was over. Lawrence promised Faisal, and the Arabs, that he will fight with them to the end until all Arab lands were liberated and full independence was achieved.
All went well in the Mecca-Medina area with the Turks kept under control and the Hejaz train lines damaged with dynamite wherever possible. Their strategy was simple: Hit - Run - Hide. When the attacks moved up north toward Aqaba, however, some problems emerged. For one, the trust between Lawrence and his superiors in Cairo was in question. Fellow officers objected to Lawrence's arrogance and his Arab dress - the silk robes, the belt, the dagger, the gold trim on the head gear. Why was an English officer going around in an Arab attire? To whom did he owe loyalty, to England or to Faisal? Could he be a spy for the Arabs? Lawrence would not pay attention or change anything.
But, a more serious issue emerged which threatened the trust between the Arabs and Lawrence. As the war was gaining thrust against the Turks and the end looked near, Lawrence started to hear whispers about something called Sykes-Picot. Lawrence and Faisal were terribly alarmed! It soon became clear that the English and the French were secretly agreeing on how to divide the Syria/Iraq region between them! The Arabs questioned: How could this be true? How come Lawrence did not know? Or was he hiding it from us?. To add insult to injury, rumours where tossed around that even a third partner called Zionism will be sharing in the liberated lands. Was this also true?! What about Lawrence's promises for total independence ?!
If one believes the author of this book (who presumably was a well respected writer and a good friend of Lawrence ), the latter was hugely embarrassed and denied any knowledge of all this. In fact he told his colleagues that he felt like being a fraud. He even considered committing suicide. He sincerely felt that he was purposely misguided by his government for ulterior motives.
Is it conceivable that the Commander in Chief, Allenby, purposely withheld secret information from Lawrence? If so, was it because he perhaps felt Lawrence was merely a charlatan going around in an Arab dress, and should not to be trusted? Or was it because he felt the Faisal-Lawrence scheme with their camel regiments was naive and doomed to failure? After all, the Turks had in the Aqaba Maan region alone seven airplanes! There is little doubt that the British felt all along that victory in the north was mainly due to their modern army with their airplanes, armoured cars, modern machine guns and secret intelligence - all of which were lacking in the Lawrence-Faisal set up.
What are we to believe? Was Lawrence a charlatan? A fraud? Well, a few post-war incidents might shed some light on this confusion. First, when Lawrence returned to England after the war, he was awarded by the King a few medals for bravery and excellence. He not only refused to accept them but returned them with an explanation: He was, he said, wilfully misguided by his superiors which led him to give false hopes to the Arabs. And he added: "...the part he played in the Arab Revolt was dishonourable to himself and to his country". It was then that Winston Churchill sent for Lawrence and asked him if he would be willing to help him rectify the damage done in the Arab World. Lawrence accepted on one condition: that the pledges given to the Arabs should first be honoured. Churchill promised to do his best. On his part, Lawrence, to avoid fame which he felt he did not deserve, changed his name to Shaw. The rest is history.
Fuad R. Qubein
March, 2016
Lawrence and the Arabs
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Cal Walker
Robert Graves fine historian and novelist reclaims T E Lawrence
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2019
