The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-05-20
FIGHT FOR LIFE
BY SCIENCE
IS Vain
Mystery Man Succumbs to
Hurts Received Avoiding
+ Crash With Bicycle

Shaw, liking maker" Of Arabia,
among Britain's kings in West
minister abbey swept a mourning
country today, but for the time
being the legendary hero's wish
for the obscurity in death that
he could never attain in life will
prevail.
Attended only by immediate
members of his family and a few
friends who fought with him in
his incredible revolt in the
desert" funeral services will be
held tomorrow for Shaw-"Law-
renee Of Arabia"-in the village
church of Moreton, near where he
lived in a quiet cottage, and
probably will be inferred.
Honor Sure Later
But later the demand that he
rest in Westminster Abbey with
the unknown soldier and Britain's
other great warriors, writer's, and
statesmen-for Lawrence ranked
high in all their fields-may know
no denial.
Colonel Lawrence died yester-
day morning at o'clock in the
Bovington Camp Military Hos.
pital. He had never regained con-
seriousness after his skull was frac-
tured when he was hurled off his
dashing motorcycle in trying to
avoid boy cyclist five days be-
fore.
Today his body, wrapped in the
Union Jack for which he fought.
lies in a mortuary awaiting a
coroner's inquest, set for tomor.
row, after which the funeral will
be held.
Mother in China
Modest as the funeral here will
be, nobler tribute will be paid in
London at a later memorial Serv'
ice, when the great men OF the
empire may honor him.
A staff of specialists, headed by
the Kings physician, Sir Farquhar
Buzzard, fought vainly day and
night to save Colonel Lawrence,
but after his death his admirers
took some consolation in the an
nouncement he would never fully
have recovered his sight or speech
as the result of his skull fracture.
His mother and a brother, who
are at an unknown spot in China.
still do not know Of his death.
Another brother was at his side.
King George was Immediately
Informed of Colonel Lawrence'S
death, and a cablegram was sent
to King Ghazi Of 1raq, who owes
his throne to Lawrence.
Tributes Pour In
Famous men in every field
Joined in paying honor to his
genius. Winston Churchill even
limited that, had he lived, Colonel
Lawrence might have risen like
q Joan of Arc to help his coun-
try through another crisis. Mr..
Churchill said:
II had hoped to see him
leave his retirement and take a
commanding part in facing the
dangers which now threaten
this country. No such blow
has befalIen the British empire
for many years as his untimely
DEATH"
Sir Philip Sassoon, undersecre-
tary for air. said:
"HiS death means a great
loss, not only to literature, but
to the air force for which he
did so much"
Said David Lloyd George:
Lawrence rendered excep-
tional service to the wartime
Palestine expedition
Sir Ian Hamilton, head of that
expedition, added:
"He was one out Of 50 mil
lions"
Colonel Lawrence, "uncrowned
King of Arabia" spent the last
10 years of his life as private
in the royal air force, living on
$1,000 a year. although he might
have held a high post in the gov
eminent service or been rich on
the proceeds from his book, Re
volt in the Desert"
Carried Secrets to Grave
Rumors said he went to his
death with important secrets deal
ing with British arms, and it was
we'll known that he had been
working on a supposedly unsink-
able torpedo boat, risking his life
in experiments"
That thrill and a zest for
racing over quiet country roads
were nearly the only reliefs that
he had from practically a mo-
nastic life in the air service.
Only As years old at his death,
an enigmatic man of semi-Oriental
philosophy, he had crammed into
his earlier life action and danger
enough for scores of men.
What strange power he pos
sessed as a man of 26 that
enabled him, as a routine clerk in
the Arab bureau in Cairo. to go to
Arabia and persuade the Emir
Faisal to reorganize his forces and
stir up the northern tribes himself,
has never been explained.
Won Crown for Friend
But he did whip larger Turk
ish forces time after time; cut.
ting them off from Medina, fl
nally beating the Turkish trans
Jordan army and marching with
Faisal into Damascus. His IA
vorite strategy was wrecking
trains. he blew I'D IT. killing