16th August: Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia, or Thomas Edward Lawrence, was born on this date in 1888. Here are 10 things you might not know about him:

1. His parents never married, although they called themselves Mr and Mrs Lawrence. His father left his wife for their daughter's governess. They had five sons of which Thomas Edward was the second.
2. Lawrence studied History at Jesus College, Oxford. As a student, he went on a three month tour of Syria, visiting Crusader Castles. During this trip, he travelled 1,000 mi (1,600 km) on foot, all by himself. He used this trip as a basis for his thesis entitled The influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture—to the end of the 12th century, which helped net him a first class honours degree.
3. After graduation, he started postgraduate research into medieval pottery at Magdalen College, Oxford but abandoned that when he was offered a position as an archaeologist in the Middle East.
4. Just before the first world war, he took part in a covert mission to produce a military survey of the strategically important Negev desert - under the cover of an archaeological survey.
5. When the war broke out, Lawrence enlisted and was posted to Cairo on the Intelligence Staff of the GOC Middle East. He took part in numerous successful raids against Turkish forces, but it wasn't all plain sailing. Once, to prevent a crippling blood feud, Lawrence had to personally execute a member of his own band. This haunted him for the rest of his life. ‘I’m not going to last out this game much longer: nerves going and temper wearing thin….This killing and killing of Turks is horrible.' He wrote.
6. He turned down a knighthood in 1918.
7. In the 1920s, he enlisted in the military twice under assumed names. He tried to join the Air Force under the name John Hume Ross, but the recruiting officer who interviewed him (who was, incidentally, W. E. Johns, who would later be known as the author of the Biggles series of novels) figured out that he was using a false name and false papers and turned him down. This decision was later overturned. Lawrence also joined the Royal Tank Corps under the name of T.E. Shaw, but was unhappy there and went back to the Air Force.
8. Lawrence wrote three major works - his best known was Seven Pillars of Wisdom, about his war experiences. He also translated Homer's Odyssey, and The Forest Giant, a work of French fiction. He was a prolific letter writer as well, writing several letters a day. He corresponded with many notable figures, including George Bernard Shaw, Edward Elgar, Winston Churchill, Robert Graves, Noël Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, John Buchan, Augustus John and Henry Williamson. When he died, he was working on another memoir, entitled The Mint, about his time in the RAF. It was published posthumously, edited by his brother, Professor A. W. Lawrence.
9. George Bernard Shaw helped him with the editing of Seven Pillars, giving lots of advice, in particular about the use of semicolons.
10. Lawrence died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 46, in Dorset. He swerved to avoid two cyclists, lost control and was thrown over the handlebars. One of the doctors who tried to save him was the neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns, who later did extensive research on fatal head injuries in motorcyclists and this led to the legal requirement for all motorcyclists to wear helmets.