Friday - December 14, 2007

SO, DOES THIS MEAN WAR THEN?

SO, DOES THIS MEAN WAR THEN?

http://tinyurl.com/33weyo

Australia claims it captured Damascus firstBy Nick Squires In Sydney
Last Updated: 9:18am GMT 14/12/2007

It is nearly 90 years old, but T E Lawrence’s claim that he and his Arab guerrillas were the first to enter Damascus has rankled Australian national pride ever since.

A new exhibition, about to open at the national war museum in Canberra, endeavours to put the record straight and make clear that Lawrence, a tireless self-promoter, stole Australia’s glory in order to give the Arabs a propaganda boost.

The Australian War Memorial exhibition aims to show that it was the legendary Australian Light Horse, and not Lawrence and his Arabs, who captured Damascus in October 1918.

Tim Fischer, a former deputy prime minister and a keen historian, said Lawrence’s failure to acknowledge the key role played by the slouch-hat wearing troopers of the Light Horse was an omission repeated by subsequent British historians.

“It has been a frequent phenomenon for various Brits to write Australia out,” Mr Fischer, a Vietnam War veteran, said.

He claimed the Imperial War Museum also ignored the 47,000 Australians killed fighting on the Western Front in World War 1.

“So nothing is new. It is my hope that the Australian War Memorial will provide some balance in its new exhibition.”

T E Lawrence: boosted Arabs

The exhibition highlights the overlooked role of Australian troops and their commander Henry Chauvel, who played a crucial role in the defeat of Turkish Ottoman forces in Palestine and Syria.

Called ‘Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse’, it includes a Lee Enfield rifle presented by Lawrence to King George V, now on loan from the Queen.

In his war memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence ignored the role of the Australian Light Horse in securing Damascus, instead claiming the victory for his Arab forces.

In fact it was the Australians, under the command of Chauvel, the capable commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, who first swept into Damascus, entering the city at 5 a.m. on October 1, 1918.

But within a couple of hours they pushed through the town to chase fleeing Turkish forces along the Aleppo road, clearing the way for the Arab army to enter Damascus later the same day.

Lawrence made a grand entry in a Rolls Royce.

“What Lawrence was trying to do was make the best case he could for Arab self-determination,” said exhibition curator Mal Booth.

“I think he inflates the Arab claims in Damascus. Essentially it was Chauvel who took the town as the overall commander.”

The misconception was reinforced in David Lean’s epic 1962 film, starring Peter O’Toole as Lawrence, which depicted a triumphant Arab entry into Damascus.

Lawrence, who later joined the RAF, changed his name to Shaw and died in a motorcycle accident in 1935, wrote Seven Pillars with the aim of bolstering the role played by his irregulars in order to strengthen the cause of Arab self-determination.

But in 1927 he admitted to a biographer that the Damascus chapter of Seven Pillars was full of half truths, said Mr Booth.

“Lawrence didn’t actually tell lies. If anything, he underestimated his own role in order to praise others. He wanted to beat up the Arab cause.”

Posted by Drew458     on 12/14/2007 at 12:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Middle-East •  
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