The sun., 1919-07-27

DENIAL Pasha as the diversion and It
succeeded. When dealing with Orient
ais. Oriental methods are best"
That story is but one among a thou
sand of Col. Lawrence's flashes Of
genius.
1t was a queer fantasy Of war and
of human nature that sent Fellow of
Magdalen College, Oxford. to guide
the Bedouins of Arabia through one
of the most extraordinary campaigns
in history. By some miscalculation Of
news values the story of the Arab re-
volt against the Turks has never been
told in the American press. Yet It's
wild raids and desert dashes, on a mo-
sale background of such names as
Mecca, Medina, Damascus and the
Pilgrim Railway, were the wars most
romantic feature, with the possible
exception of Gen. Allenby's capture of
Jerusalem.
AS for the English Arab" who was
the soul of the campaign-Lieut,-Col
T. E. Lawrence, C. b., d. S. o., in pri-
vate life the aforementioned Oxford
scholar-I regard his work as the
most brilliant individual achievement
of the war.
When I was an aviator in Palestine
the name of Lawrence had become,
among Gen. Allenby's armies, almost
legend. Dozens of wonderful stories.
some true and some half true, chung
to it; and the true portion of them
was fully as remarkable as the fiction.
Most of us knew little Of what the
Arab army was doing, for the staff
&c
cloud of hush-hush mystery. Some
! where beyond the Turkish front in the
Jordan Valley we knew a force of
Arabs, trained and led by few Brit
ish officers. was cooperating with us.
From time to time our airplanes
dropped messages to Bedouin bands
that roved miles behind the Turkish
lines. From time to time a slight fig
ure in Bedouin dress with an air Of
quiet authority would pay a flying
visit to General Headquarters at Ram
leh, attend a conference with the
Commander Chief and disappear as
mysteriously as he arrived. And the
news would spread through the on
GERS messes: Lawrence has visited
.Allenby again."
The Holy City of Mecca, birthplace
of Mohammed, saw the beginnings Of
the Arab rising early in 1916. Hus-
sein ibn Ali, Grand Shereef of Mecca,
sending word that he was going to
cast off the Turkish oppression, asked
for help from the British.
Before any outside help could reach
him Hussein ibn Ali-who was the
senior descendant of Mohammed and
| as such heal Of the Prophets family
raised a standard Of revolt among the
Hedjaz tribes, captured Mecca and
Jeddah and opened up communication
with the British warships in the Red
Sea
Women and Children slain.
Meanwhile, the Shereefs Ali and
Feisul FIRST and third sons of Hus-
sein) collected another force OF
Bedouins and surrounded Medina, the
second Holy City of the Mohammedan
| world. They captured the suburbs.
| but fear OF damaging the Prophets
| tomb prevented them from attacking
| the city itself, and FOR the moment
| they concentrated their efforts on cut
| ting the Turkish lines OF communica-
| ton with Syria. To this end they de-
stroyed a portion of the Pilgrim Rail-
way. Having no explosives, they tore
| up the rails with their bare hands.
Early one dawn the Turkish garri-
son made a sortie from Medina and
| surprised the Arabs in the garden sub
urb Of Avail. This they destroyed by
fire, after massacring hundreds of
women and children. With his Arab
camelmen behind him, the Shereef
Feisul rode TO the rescue. but arrived
in time only to witness the with
drawal Of the Turkish raiding party.
Feisups Bedouins. against the ad-