From Ruins to Revolt
Before the world knew him as Lawrence of Arabia, T.E. Lawrence was a 22-year-old archaeologist excavating ancient Hittite ruins in Carchemish, near the Euphrates. By 1911, he was living among Arab workers, learning their language and customs.
His deep familiarity with the region would later shape British military strategy in World War I. When war broke out, Lawrence was assigned to military intelligence in Cairo. By late 1916, he had joined Emir Faisal’s Arab forces rebelling against the Ottoman Empire and was appointed British liaison.
Sabotage and the Southern Front
Lawrence’s primary objective became the Hejaz Railway, a 1,800-mile line connecting Damascus to Medina. Working with Arab forces, he coordinated attacks on trains, bridges, and depots. By his count, he destroyed 79 railway bridges.
In July 1917, after a grueling 600-mile desert march, Lawrence and his men took Aqaba from the rear, bypassing heavily fortified coastal defenses. It was a turning point. He traveled to Cairo barefoot and in robes to report the victory, winning support from General Edmund Allenby to expand the Arab campaign into Syria.
The Push to Damascus
After the fall of Aqaba, Lawrence’s raids intensified. In 1918, he helped cut Ottoman escape routes during Allenby’s offensive. At Tafas, after witnessing atrocities, Lawrence ordered captured Turkish soldiers killed. Days later, he entered Damascus ahead of British troops and installed Faisal’s provisional Arab government.
But under the Sykes-Picot Agreement, Syria was promised to France. When Allenby enforced the deal, Faisal was removed and Lawrence resigned his post. He returned to London to advocate for Arab independence at the Paris Peace Conference.
Aftermath and Disappearance
Lawrence’s efforts were sidelined. Britain and France divided the region as planned. Faisal was later made king of Iraq; his brother Abdullah was placed in Jordan. Lawrence, disillusioned, rejoined the military under the name T.E. Shaw.
He lived in seclusion at Clouds Hill in Dorset. In 1935, a week after retiring, he died in a motorcycle accident at age 46. Today, the Hejaz Railway lies in ruins, and his former home in Carchemish sits behind a military wall on the Turkish-Syrian border. Lawrence’s war reshaped the Middle East, but the outcomes remained beyond his control.
Before the world knew him as Lawrence of Arabia, T.E. Lawrence was a young archaeologist digging in Carchemish.
Within a few years, he would lead Arab forces in a revolt, sabotage a railway, capture a city, defy his own command—and walk away from it all in silence…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/DbAXkde6Vm
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) August 6, 2025