4 minute read
History
Following his First World War Middle East exploits and his disappointment that his ideas for the post war Middle East nations were not listened to, T E Lawrence wanted to lead a quiet life.
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In 1922 he joined the RAF as A/C Ross and later transferred to the Royal Tank Corps, but was unhappy there. He eventually persuaded Lord Trenchard to let him re-join the RAF in 1925 as A/C T E Shaw (TES). To evade continuing press interest he was posted to India – however this became untenable when the press discovered his whereabouts. He returned to England, landing at Plymouth in February 1929. Despite the eff orts of W/Cmdr Sydney Smith, station commandant at RAF Cattewater, the press found out and took photos of Lawrence disembarking, pursuing him to London. After discussions at the Air Ministry, Lawrence was posted to RAF Cattewater – acceptable to him as he was friendly with Sydney Smith (SS) and his wife Clare. Lawrence’s mother told Clare that he felt this was the happiest period of his life, calling it ‘The Golden Reign’. On arriving at the RAF station, TES became SS’s clerk. One of his tasks involved preparing for the Schneider Trophy. He also carried out orderly duties and assisted in manning and repairing the RAF rescue boats. He lived in an airmen’s hut below Mount Batten Tower, with his own offi ce above a workshop. Here, he did his RAF work, and in his spare time continued translating Homer’s Odyssey. Although only an airman, TES was responsible for implementing several changes locally and in the RAF as a whole. He suggested the station would be better named ‘RAF Mount Batten’, as ‘Cattewater’ was the old
naval air station name. He also advocated altering the RAF uniform to make it more practical. His greatest achievement was to persuade the RAF it needed faster rescue boats – this was after several sea plane accidents, including one in February 1931 when eight RAF personnel were killed by a Blackburn Iris fl ying boat crashing into the Sound. TES witnessed the crash and with SS, immediately went out in a rescue boat but it took a long time to reach the crash site. In 1933 in a similar incident, the crash site was reached much faster, using one of the new RAF 200 series boats which TES helped design.
TES was generous to his fellow airman, lending them books and records. He would treat them to buns in the NAAFI, or go on his bike to Hardy’s in Oreston to buy them fi sh and chips. He insisted there were proper table cloths and fl owers in the Airmens’ Mess - subsequently nicknamed ‘The Ritz’. TES did not use his infl uence in a loud way, but with a quiet word here and there. As one NCO was quoted: ‘If that is what Mr Shaw said, then that is what it is.’
Much of his spare time was spent with the Sydney Smiths. He was given a speed boat by Sir Henry Seagrave. Named ‘Biscuit’, he spent many hours tuning it to peak performance, adding modifi cations such as a headlamp for night time expeditions. He and Clare
explored the Tamar estuary and tributaries for picnics in Biscuit, on several occasions becoming marooned by the tide! Many pleasant evenings were spent in the commandant’s house (formerly the Castle Inn) listening to music. He often accompanied them on visits to grand estates such as Fleete House. He was friends with the Astors and treated 3 Elliott Terrace as a second home. He sometimes took Lady Astor out as a pillion passenger on his motorbike for picnics. His friendship with her is surprising, as he avoided those he deemed ‘loud and overbearing’ women – perhaps he saw her as a kindred pioneering spirit. In autumn 1931 the SS’s were posted to RAF Manston. TES remained at Mount Batten working on the RAF rescue boats until early 1934, when he was posted to Felixstowe, and then onto Bridlington. He found life less convivial once his friends had gone and he moved off station to digs in Turnchapel and Plymstock.
Lawrence retired from the RAF in March 1935 to live in his cottage at Clouds Hill near Bovington, Dorset. Five weeks later while returning home on his motorbike from Bovington Post Offi ce, he swerved to avoid two delivery boys and crashed, sustaining critical injuries. Clare had always said he drove too fast, and that he would kill himself on the bike. He died fi ve days later on May 19th and was buried at Moreton Church. The funeral was attended by a huge crowd, including Winston Churchill, despite Lawrence wanting it to be a small quiet aff air.
There is a memorial plaque to him on the wall at the top of Boringdon Road in Turnchapel. Lawrence was an extremely bright and clever man with interests in many fi elds from antiquities and music to engineering. He remained a leader of men, as shown by his infl uence in the RAF, despite his low rank and quiet demeanour. T E Lawrence is perhaps best summed up by this quote, ‘Brilliant, controversial and fi nally inscrutable’. n Ursula Myers
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