Imperial Valley press., 1931-04-22
BY HENRY r. RUSSELL
United Press staff Correspondent

United Press staff Correspondent
Copyright, 1881, in ali countries by
United Press. All rights reseryed)
PLYMOUTH Eng, April %. U.P)
Haunted by the ghost of his fame
as Colonel Lawrence of Arabia. .
AircraftSman 4. E. Shaw today re-
vealed for the first time how he sac
rificed rank and honors, picked a
new name at random from the army
list and became o private in the air
force to get away from his war
time reputation.
This little Irishman who, as
colonel in the British army. reigned
supreme in the Arabian desert dur
ing the Great War, told me of his
efforts to forget and be forgot
ten. He explained how even since
he entered the air force as a SUBJ
ordinate, governments all over the
world have accused him of being
the force behind native uprisings in
their territories.
The man who induced thousands
OF Arabs TO rise against the Turks
IN the desert while Allenbys guns
pounded at Turkish divisions in
Palestine, deprecated fame, riches
and worldly pleasures. He told me
how he sighed TO be left alone.
After my job in the Arab war
was done" he said, Il went to see
a friend of mine in the war office.
] told him l was sick and tired of
rank and wanted to enlist in the
air force. At first he was aston
ished Then he saw that l was in
earnest. All right, he said, but
you'll have 10 change your name.
The inference was that Colonel
Lawrence could not possibly be al
lowed to enlist as a private. So l
agreed.
Then came the search for a
new name. What about taking
yours?' asked my friend. He pro-
tested. All right them / retorted,
I'll take the first one syllable name
/ find in the army list
MY friend sent for the book. 1t
was opened. / ran my finger down
a page and stopped at the name
Shaw
1T has been suggested that took
the name because of my friendship
end admiration for Bernard Shaw.
Quite incorrect. ] did. however,
apologize TO him for having chosen
it and explained how it happened.
GBS replied to this: That's all
right, he wrote, the more Shaws
there are the greater is SHAW y
Blamed For Troubles
But the fact that Lawrence
changed his name did not prevent
reports from being circulated from
time to time, blaming him for out
breaks, instructions and rebellions
in many countries, sometimes sim
ultaneously.
At one time, after the war, he
had to go abroad with Winston
Churchill on matters concerning
British affairs in the east. The
French government, he said, at first
refused to let him cross France.
In the end, he explained, laugh
ing. Winston had TO pledge his
ministerial word that I would not
be dropped in French territory
Another time, Lawrence was
blamed for stirring up trouble III
Afghanistan. Ee was with the air
force in India at the time. The
government stood II for as long as
possible, all the time ridiculing the
rumors that Lawrence was behind
the trouble. In the end, Lawrence
was recalled to England.
1.-THE trouble was" nc said. II ac-
tually was not very far from
Afghanistan when the incidents
complained Of occurred But l was
only performing my usual duties.
could not have left camp had
wanted to. We were in barbed
wire enclosure under fire most oi
the time.
"One day coded message
reached camp 1t was l who de-
ciphered IT,. 1t said ] was TO fly tc
headquarters that same night. II
specified I was to bring my kit
which meant that 1 was not to re-
turn. Naturally 1 had to obey
When / reached my destination tht
matter was explained by the COM
manding officer. The orders came
from London. The government hac
tired of accusations that l was stir
ring up trouble in Afghanistan.
was to be transferred Immediately
TO another post.
Because II was through no faull