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Jeremy Wilson
Page updated May 2012
Outline chronology: 1917
Youth| 1914| 1915| 1916| 1917| 1918| 1919| 1920| 1921| 1922| 1923| 1924| 1925| 1926| 1927| 1928| 1929| 1930| 1931| 1932| 1933| 1934| 1935
Lawrence's field diary for 1917:
March 10 - April 13 1917
Lawrence travels to meet Sherif Abdullah's forces in the Wadi Ais, spends some time recovering from illness, and then conducts two raids against the Hejaz railway.
April 14 - 20, 1917
Lawrence returns to Wejh to discuss tactics with the Arab leaders and their British military advisers; during this time he formulates his plan to take Akaba.
May 9 - June 2, 1917
The first leg of the circuitous journey to Akaba.
June 3 - 20, 1917
Lawrence makes a secret reconnaissance in northern Syria
June 21 - 28, 1917
Lawrence makes a brief reconnaissance of the Hauran.
June 28 - September 6, 1917
Lawrence takes part in battles at Fuweila and Aba el Lissan. The Arabs enter Akaba on approx. 6 July, and Lawrence immediately crosses Sinai to Suez to carry the news to the British. Thereafter, with British assistance, Akaba is built up as a new base for Feisal's rebel forces. It will serve as a centre for political propaganda, and the starting-point for raids into northern Syria.
September 7 - October 9, 1917
Lawrence makes two raids against the Hejaz railway; the first at Km. 587, the second at Km. 489.
October 9 - 24, 1917
Lawrence spends time at GHQ and Akaba, planning a raid against railway bridges in the Yarmuk Valley. On 15 October he leads an abortive attack there. He returns to the advanced rebel base at Azrak, mining a train on the way.
November to December 1917
The Arab raiding party decides to spend the winter at Azrak, spreading propaganda for the rebellion among the northern tribes. Late in the month, Lawrence makes a reconnaissance of the country around the Turkish railway junction at Deraa. To complete this, he risks entering the town in disguise. He is stopped, very probably recognised, then tortured and abused by the Turks. He is left unguarded by a medical attendant who is an Arab sympathiser, and escapes. He returns to Azrak, and then to Akaba.
Returning to Allenby's headquarters in Palestine, he is invited to take part in the official Allied entry into Jerusalem on 11 December.
Youth| 1914| 1915| 1916| 1917| 1918| 1919| 1920| 1921| 1922| 1923| 1924| 1925| 1926| 1927| 1928| 1929| 1930| 1931| 1932| 1933| 1934| 1935
Chronology
T.E. Lawrence 1888-1935
1888 16 August: born at Tremadoc, Wales
1896-1907: City of Oxford High School for Boys
1907-9: Jesus College, Oxford, B.A., 1st Class Hons, 1909
1910-14: Magdalen College, Oxford (Senior Demy), while working at the British Museum's excavations at Carchemish
1915-16: Military Intelligence Dept, Cairo
1916-18: Liaison Officer with the Arab Revolt
1919: Attended the Paris Peace Conference
1919-22: wrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1921-2: Adviser on Arab Affairs to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office
1922 August: Enlisted in the Ranks of the RAF
1923 January: discharged from the RAF
1923 March: enlisted in the Tank Corps
1923: translated a French novel, The Forest Giant
1924-6: prepared the subscribers' abridgement of Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1927-8: stationed at Karachi, then Miranshah
1927 March: Revolt in the Desert, an abridgement of Seven Pillars, published
1928: completed The Mint, began translating Homer's Odyssey
1929-33: stationed at Plymouth
1931: started working on RAF boats
1932: his translation of the Odyssey published
1933-5: attached to MAEE, Felixstowe
1935 February: retired from the RAF
1935 19 May: died from injuries received in a motor-cycle crash on 13 May
1935 21 May: buried at Moreton, Dorset