Contents lists
Updated June 2012
T. E. Lawrence, report of Trans-Jordan
[Extract: opening paragraphs only]
24/10/21
I went over to Amman on October 12th to enquire into the present position there.
(i) BRITISH UNITS
The Armoured Cars were not fit for use. We obtained them with some
difficulty from the War Office, in the expectation that they would
assist in maintaining order in Trans-Jordania. They had not been out of
Camp for weeks before my arrival. The cars were in fair mechanical
condition. They had no covers or tubes, no mechanical spares, no lamps
or batteries, no jacks or pumps, no petrol. For the two cars there were
two drivers and two gunners - not enough to man the cars or fight the
guns, though in this case it was no matter since there were no gun
belts, no ammunition, no gun spares. Of the two drivers, one was a
'second driver', intended to take over in an emergency. How good he is I
do not know. The first driver, who is supposed to be qualified, can
drive the car forward but is not good at reversing. He is practising
this on the path between the tents. I think the Air Ministry should be
informed of the condition of the section before they are called upon to
pay the War Office for its maintenance charges.
Group Captain Gordon arrived to take over the command of the Royal Air Force and attached cars a few days after my arrival. I believe he will make the units under his charge efficient in a few days time. We will then carry out a programme of operations.
(2) ARAB UNITS
The Reserve Force under Zaim Peake Bey now numbers 500 odd. The men are good, some of the Officers very good. The tone and condition of the Unit is very promising. I think internally it is as well as possible and it reflects great credit on Zaim Peake Bey that it is so.
Externally things are less satisfactory. At first people in Trans-Jordania said we were making an Army to smash them for our own purposes. Then as time went on they said we were purposely creating an inefficient force to give us an excuse for sending British troops across. The reason for this has been the delay in supplying equipment and materials. Uniforms, saddles, machine guns, rifles, have all been held up. Peake cannot show his men in public till they are reasonably smart and till they have rifles, for in Trans-Jordania every man of military age carries a rifle as a mark of self-respect, and Peake's, the so-called Military Force, is the only unarmed body of men in the country. When this is set right public suspicion will go to rest. [remainder of the report omitted]
| Source: | DG 224-5 |
| Checked: | jw/ |
| Last revised: | 26 January 2006 |
T. E. Lawrence chronology
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