ISSUE 14 : Jan/Feb - 1979 - Australian Defence Force Journal

64 DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL No. 14. JAN/FEB 79SOLITARY IN THE RANKS—LAWRENCEOF ARABIA AS AIRMAN AND PRIVATESOLDIER, by H. Montgomery Hyde, Hutchinson(Australia), 288 pp.Reviewed by Captain B. Cameron, MC, RAAC4 Cav Regt, Enoggera, QUISOME ten years ago I was given the task,as an assignment in Military History, tocompare the tactical concepts of Mao Tse-tungwith Lawrence of Arabia. This involved thestudy of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, andkindled my interest in T. E. Lawrence. I wasthus enticed to subsequently read amongstothers The Mint and With Tawrence in Arabia(by Lowell Thomas). During a stay in theUnited Kingdom, I also visited Lawrence'scottage at Clouds Hill.As one who therefore had certain ideas about'The Man' and 'The Legend', I wondered whatSolitary in the Ranks had to offer. Was it to bea rehash of past writings and 'in depth' appraisalsfrom people who, like Lowell Thomas,had only met Lawrence twice? The short answeris "no". In fact, H. Montgomery Hyde's treatmentof the life of T. E. Lawrence during hisservice in the RAF and Royal Tank Corps(1922-35), turned out to be completely thereverse. The portrayal of Aircraftman Ross,Private Shaw and Aircraftman Shaw (thenames Lawrence used to conceal his identity),is drawn, in the main, from previously unpublishedpersonal correspondence. The materialmade available to the author provides a penetratingand comprehensive account of thisremarkable man. Quotations are taken, forexample, from letters between Lawrence andAir Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, Chief of theAir Staff, whom Lawrence met at the CairoConference in 1921, and with whom he was todevelop a firm friendship. This relationship isin itself fascinating and probably unique, withregard to its being between the lowest andhighest ranks of an Armed Service. In hisForeword, Viscount Trenchard states that theauthor "has, as I know my father would havewished, brought out the strength of the pluspoints of this eccentric and courageous genius".Although H. Montgomery Hyde does deviatefrom the strict scope of the book to describeLawrence's family and upbringing, he does notelaborate on his desert exploits. He thus rightlyleaves The Seven Pillars of Wisdom to be thetestament to this aspect of Lawrence's life.Another temptation which the author hasfortunately avoided, is that of colouring thenarrative with his personal interpretation ofLawrence's actions, and resulting character dissection.In consequence one is enabled to lookat Lawrence's thirteen years 'in the ranks',as if seeing it through his own eyes, and inso doing, thus seeing Lawrence himself. Theobservation gained is a more encompassing onethan that provided by The Mint (written byLawrence himself whilst in the RAF), thoughof course neither book could be considered areplacement for the other.The story (for it reads as such) is taken upon Lawrence's return from the Desert. Onewonders what history would have made ofColonel Sir Thomas Lawrence, KCB, DSO, hadhe not declined all the honours (he was alsorecommended for the VC, and offered theOrder of Merit). Following enlistment, withTrenchard's help, in the RAF, the sequence ofLawrence's service experiences and personal relationshipsis masterfully tracked. The changeshe was instrumental in making within the RAF,the donation of all the profits (£20,000) of theabridged version of The Seven Pillars ofWisdom to an RAF Benevolent Fund, whichstill exists in his name, and his involvementwith people such as George Bernard Shaw,Thomas Hardy, and Winston Churchill, aswell as his personal friends in the ranks, arejust some aspects that make tremendouslyinteresting reading.Solitary in the Ranks is a book that oneregrets, during the course of reading, is comingto a close, especially if one is aware of thetragic end, to which it is leading, of a manwho surely had the measure of greatness. PSANDGATE RSL, QUEENSLANDSandgate RSL are looking for militaria to fill their showcases, constructed to preserve theservice atmosphere of the club. Weapons, badges, colour patches, insignias. books, photographs,paintings and other souvenirs no longer wanted should be sent to Brigadier ThomasParslow. ED. LLB, QC. MIBA, (RL) : C/- the RSL. Keogh Street. Sandgate. Qld 4017.