Fuses lit, the leaders of united tribes sat high upon their petulant camels who groaned in staccato calls across the dunes which shifted every minute as wind whipped it up into billows of dry dust plumes. The train carrying more soldiers and arms was fast approaching. Blue eyes dart back and forth across the desert scene, latch onto metallic gleams from scimitars, swords and rifles all
caught in unforgiving rays of sunlit beams. His wounds were healed but he would always bear the mental scar of humiliating torture under capture. And he couldn’t know it at this moment but, soon his life would be in ruins for leading this and other rebellion. Promoted and sent back into a dubious exile no more would he draw a saber, but he would be forever known now as, Lawrence of Arabia.
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T. E. Lawrence became famous during World War 1 for uniting the many different Arab tribes to rise up and revolt against (the then) Ottoman Empire (Turkish) which had been allied with Germany.
At the time and, mostly for strategic purposes, (and continues today) it suited the British and her allies to bring about the fall of the Ottoman Empire. What we see today in the some of the middle east is probably due (in part) to what happened back then.
T. E. Lawrence’s death is somewhat as controversial as his life was. He died while riding his motorcycle. He supposedly hit a stone while swerving to avoid hitting two boys and was thrown over the handlebars hitting his head and after a few days, died. Some say he worked as a spy and because of what he knew and may expose in his future writings, he was killed but it was made to look like an accident.
Who knows.
But, for a while, he united hundreds of small Arab tribes into one united group who overthrew the rule of an Empire.
An epic movie of his life was made by director David Lean in 1962 starring Peter O’Toole as Lawrence Of Arabia with a whole lot of other famous actors including a very young Omar Sharif
Shared with The Sunday Whirl #42
I am never disappointed when I make my wordle-way over here for a visit. Well done, as always!!
I was never much enamoured by him, but you’ve sown a seed of interest, so I’d say that makes it a darned good post.
It always amazes me how you fit these words into a history.
Movies or history, you never fail to amaze. You definitely have found your wordle niche.
nice story, enthralling, you made it come alive 🙂 as if I had never heard about it before
Bren, I always enjoy your prose for the whirl. Thank you for this.
Pamela
Neatly worked. One of those people who made his own myth. I imagine him as uncomfortable to be around. (But I get that feeling from most of O’Toole’s characters, so maybe it is him, and not Lawrence)
Thank you for the background on the story. My favorite image is the same image Laurie mentions. The billowing dust… I also like the unforgiving sun reflecting off the scimitars.
One I knew, good timing from you. I just got down watching a whole bunch on him with the young indiana jones series too.
I’m always amazed at how you can incorporate the wordle words into history with such seeming ease. I love this:
groaned in staccato calls across the dunes which shifted every minute as wind whipped it up into billows of dry dust plumes
http://lkharris-kolp.blogspot.com/2012/02/prowler.html