[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
History buff Bob Begin shared his extensive knowledge on T.E. Lawrence on Monday, July 24, at the Walpole Public Library.
Begin started his presentation with a brief summary of Lawrence’s early life. Lawrence was born out of wedlock in 1888 and was a loner for most of his childhood and young adulthood. In 1908, Lawrence professed his desire to go east to Syria to his mentor, David Hogarth, a British archeologist. The two Englishmen went to Carchemish to an archeological dig in North Syria from 1910 to 1914, and then served the British Empire in the Middle East shortly after the outbreak of World War I.
“Britain would bring peace and tranquility to areas of instability,” said Begin, adding that capturing Damascus, Baghdad, and Jerusalem were Britain’s ultimate goals. Begin also told his audience that by this time, Lawrence had grown very fond of Arab culture and was generally respected by the Arabs.
Using his slideshow presentation consisting of photographs and maps, Begin showed his audience the trail of revolts led by Emir Faisal, beginning in Medina and moving up the Hejaz railway. Lawrence worked closely with Faisal as Lawrence developed the principles of guerrilla warfare with Hogarth and Mark Sykes. In 1916, Sykes signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which would essentially divide Western Asia into English and French spheres of influence, while consequently straining Britain’s relationship with the Arabs of Western Asia.
Although Lawrence is often viewed as a hero, Begin reminded his audience of some of the brutality that wartime forced Lawrence to unleash. Not only did Lawrence mutilate two men with daggers, leaving their foreheads scarred, but he also killed his own friend, Farraj. Farraj had been injured and unable to continue their journey. To spare his friend from being tortured by the Turks, Lawrence shot Farraj and Farraj’s camel.
Although the time constraints of the talk withheld Begin from going into more detail about Lawrence’s efforts in World War I, his postwar life, and his legacy, he was beyond prepared to share his knowledge of Lawrence and the issues regarding the Middle East during the first World War.
Most of the audience members were already quite familiar with Lawrence of Arabia thanks to the 1962 film of the same name, but Begin elaborated on the history behind many scenes from the film and successfully presented new information in just one hour to give a more complete overview of Lawrence’s life and influence on Western Asia.
