19 “Aqaba had been taken”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 323.
20 As Lawrence explained: Wilson to Clayton, July 29, 1917; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 48.
21 A surprised Wilson: Newcombe quickly tired of his rearguard duties and transferred back to Cairo. He was captured by the Turks in early November 1917 during the EEF offensive in southern Palestine.
22 “The main points”: Lawrence, “Report on meeting King Hussein,” July 30, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3054, f. 372–73.
23 While he was still in Jeddah: Macindoe for Clayton to Military Intelligence Director, July 28, 1917; PRO-WO 141/668, p. 5.
24 “They were anxious”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 326.
25 “absolutely satisfactory”: Wilson to Arab Bureau (Cairo), August 6, 1917; PRO-WO 158/634, f. 25A.
26 “Since [British] Egypt kept”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 327.
27 This Yale did: Yale, “Palestine-Syrian Situation,” with addendum, July 10, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3050.
28 “with view to subsequent”: Foreign Office to Spring-Rice, July 25, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3057.
29 “he was positively”: Yardley, American Black Chamber, p. 172.
30 “the collection and examination”: Department of State, “History of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security of the United States Department of State,” 2011. www.state.gov/documents/organization/176705.pdf.
31 “[Yale] is to keep us informed”: Harrison to Gunther (American embassy, London), August 30, 1917; NARA RG59, Box 1047.
32 “I lacked a historical”: Yale, It Takes So Long, chapter 8, pp. 10–11.
33 “We are glad”: Aaronsohn, “The Jewish Colonies,” Arab Bulletin no. 64 (September 27, 1917): 389–91.
34 “It was an interview”: Aaronsohn, Diary, August 12, 1917; ZY.
35 “It might help matters”: Wingate to Balfour, August 20, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3053, f. 384.
36 stop her “activities”: Engle, The Nili Spies, pp. 152–54.
37 Their cavalier manner: The cavalier attitude of the British toward the well-being of their intelligence assets was amply reflected in Hard Lying, the memoir of the Managem captain, Lewen Weldon. As Weldon noted on p. 195, “We were on the whole extraordinarily lucky with our ‘agents.’ I don’t think more than seven were actually captured. Six of these were hanged and one had his head cut off.”
38 “I don’t think that any”: Lawrence to Clayton, August 27, 1917; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 88–92.
39 “colonialism is madness”: Sykes to Clayton, July 22, 1917; MSP-69.
40 “the Anglo-French-Arab”: Sykes memorandum, “On Mr. Nicholson’s [sic] Note Regarding Our Commitments,” July 18, 1917; MSP-66.
41 Over time, a growing consensus: Curzon to Hardinge, August 23, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3044, f. 299.
42 “the opinion of Sir Mark”: Nicolson précis for Balfour, July 11, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3044, f. 286–93.
43 “Hitherto the work”: Sykes to Drummond, July 20, 1917; MSP-68.
44 “Lawrence’s move”: Sykes to Clayton, July 22, 1917; MSP-69.
45 “What have you promised”: Lawrence to Sykes, September 7, 1917; SADD Clayton Papers, 693/11/3–8.
46 “It is in fact dead”: Clayton to Lawrence, September 20, 1917; SADD Clayton Papers, 693/11/9–12.
47 “to all intents and”: Yale, Diary, September 8, 1917; YU Box 2, Folder 2.
48 “This Jewish chemist”: Ibid., September 12, 1917; YU Box 2, Folder 2.
49 “swept off the top”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 367.
50 “towards some rough country”: Lawrence to Clayton, September 23, 1917; PRO-FO 882/4, f. 71.
51 “seized my feet”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 369.
52 “The conditions were”: Lawrence to Clayton, September 23, 1917; PRO-FO 882/4, f. 71.
53 “I hope this sounds”: Lawrence to Stirling, September 25, 1917; UT, Folder 6, File 7.
54 “I hope when the nightmare”: Lawrence to Leeds, September 24, 1917, in Garnett, The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, p. 238.
Chapter 15: To the Flame
1 “I only hope and trust”: As quoted by Wilson, Lawrence of Arabia, p. 455.
2 “He listened very”: Aaronsohn to Alex Aaronsohn, October 1917; YU, Box 2, Folder 11.
3 “does not wish to see”: Yale, Diary, September 25, 1917; YU Box 2, Folder 2.
4 “Pascal,” he wrote: Aaronsohn to Alex Aaronsohn, October 1917; YU, Box 2, Folder 11.
5 In his more bitter: Clayton to Joyce, October 24, 1917; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 175; Joyce memo, undated; PRO-WO 158/634. See also Wilson, Lawrence of Arabia, pp. 447–48.
6 After the operation: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, pp. 387–89.
7 “almost indispensable”: Clayton to Wingate, November 13, 1916; SADD Wingate Papers, 143/2/190.
8 By then, the Managem: Florence, Lawrence and Aaronsohn, pp. 298–99.
9 Sure enough, rumors soon began circulating: Sheffy, British Military Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign, p. 162; Engle, The Nili Spies, pp. 167–68.
10 “Today we don’t want”: Florence, Lawrence and Aaronsohn, p. 303.
11 “I want to be”: Engle, The Nili Spies, pp. 186–87.
12 As a result: German warnings to the Turks over the treatment of Jews continued even after the NILI spy ring was broken, with German ambassador Bernstorff counseling Talaat Pasha to “not let a single case of Jewish espionage blow up into a full-fledged persecution of Jews.” Bernstorff to Foreign Ministry for Warburg, October 26, 1917; NARA T120, Roll 4334, Frame K179639.
13 Those spies had been: See Sheffy, British Military Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign, p. 162 nn. 77 and 78.
14 “For those who had long”: Florence, Lawrence and Aaronsohn, p. 326.
15 By that afternoon: Engle, The Nili Spies, p. 202. Hunted by both Turkish authorities and Jewish vigilante squads, Joseph Lishansky finally ran out of luck on October 20, when he was captured outside Jerusalem. Along with Naaman Belkind he was convicted of treason, and in December 1917 both men were publicly hanged in Damascus.
16 For four days, she lingered: There is a wide divergence among published accounts on both the duration of the NILI raid on Zichron Yaakov, and on how long Sarah Aaronsohn survived after shooting herself. The latter question would seem to be resolved by the testimony of the doctor summoned after the shooting, who stated it was October 5, and by the two German nuns who attended Sarah, who stated she died on October 9.
17 “We are doing our best”: Engle, The Nili Spies, p. 191.
18 “He is not well”: Hogarth to Ormsby-Gore, October 26, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3054, f. 388.
19 “I’m not going”: Lawrence to Leeds, September 24, 1917, in Garnett, The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, p. 238.
20 His comprehensive report: See various George Lloyd reports on Hejaz economy and political situation, Autumn 1916, in GLLD 9/8.
21 “I think I could be”: Lloyd to Clayton, September 30, 1917; GLLD 9/13.
22 “Lawrence is quite fit”: Lloyd to Clayton, October 20, 1917; GLLD 9/13.
23 “He has a lion’s heart”: Clayton to Lloyd, October 25, 1917; GLLD 9/10.
24 “The view up the pass”: Lloyd, “Diary of Journey with T.E.L. to El Jaffer,” October 24, 1917; GLLD 9/11.
25 Should Lawrence become: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, pp. 421–23.
26 “To them he is Lawrence”: Lloyd to Clayton, November 5, 1917; GLLD 9/10.
27 Lawrence was surely: Liddell Hart, Colonel Lawrence, pp. 193–94.
28 If Brémond was wrong: Prüfer to Oppenheim, November 3, 1914; NARA T137, Roll 23, Frame 213.
29 “L not working”: Lloyd, notes from travels, undated but late October 1917; GLLD 9/10. In his authorized biography of Lawrence, Jeremy Wilson incorrectly transcribed a crucial point in George Lloyd’s handwritten note, rendering Lloyd’s original “HMG” (an abbreviation for His Majesty’s Government) as “Allied.” As a result, his quote from Lloyd inaccurately reads, “Lawrence not working for Allies but for Sherif.” Obviously, this error lends a
very different meaning to that Lloyd intended—and to what Lawrence presumably said—but it is an error that has been repeated by many of those Lawrence biographers who have sought wherever possible to attribute Lawrence’s acts of official disobedience as directed against Allied (i.e., French) actions rather than against the British government.
30 “He would like me”: Lloyd, “Diary of Journey with T.E.L. to El Jaffer,” October 28, 1917; GLLD 9/11.
31 “otherwise” … “his independent activities”: Knabenshue to U.S. Secretary of State, October 23, 1917; NARA RG59, Box 1047, 111.70Y1/3.
32 Indeed, just days before: Ibid., November 4, 1917; NARA M353, Box 6, Frame 0827.
33 In defending his: Hoover (U.S. Consul, São Paulo, Brazil) to U.S. Secretary of State, August 21, 1917; NARA M367, Roll 217, document 763.72112.5321.
34 “The information the British”: Yale, It Takes So Long, chapter 8, pp. 18–19.
35 And even if British: Yale, It Takes So Long, margin note, chapter 7, p. 21.
36 “Dr. Weizmann”: Weizmann, Trial and Error, p. 208.
37 “His Majesty’s Government”: As reproduced on frontispiece by Stein, The Balfour Declaration.
38 “I am very anxious”: Clayton to Lloyd, November 12, 1917; GLLD 9/10.
39 To the great good fortune: Lawrence’s account of the Minifir train attack is in Seven Pillars, book 6, chapters 77 and 78, pp. 425–34.
40 “To me” … “an unnecessary action”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 163.
Chapter 16: A Gathering Fury
1 “With reference to”: Syrian Committee of Egypt, November 14, 1917; YU, Box 3, Folder 8.
2 “The British Authorities”: Yale to Harrison, December 17, 1917; YU, Box 2, Folder 11.
3 “He hesitated to”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 435.
4 “It was icy cold”: Ibid., p. 439.
5 “The carrying out”: Weizmann to Aaronsohn, November 16, 1917, reproduced in Friedman, Zionist Commission, pp. 19–20.
6 “The old man”: Aaronsohn, Diary, November 16, 1917; ZY.
7 “provided it can”: House to Drummond, September 11, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3083, f. 107.
8 “asks that no mention”: Wiseman to Drummond, October 16, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3083, f. 106.
9 “help our United States”: Weizmann to Aaronsohn, November 16, 1917, reproduced in Friedman, Zionist Commission, pp. 19–20.
10 His brother’s cable: Verrier, ed., Agents of Empire, p. 295. While accurate about the fate of Sarah Aaronsohn, the cable was in error on other aspects. The elderly Ephraim Aaronsohn survived his imprisonment in Damascus and was subsequently released, while Belkind wasn’t executed until December 14.
11 “The sacrifice is”: Aaronsohn, Diary, December 1, 1917; ZY.
12 It’s unlikely that”: Lawrence’s account of his torture at Deraa is in Seven Pillars, book 6, chapter 80, pp. 441–47.
13 “pale and obviously”: Mack, A Prince of Our Disorder, p. 233.
14 “fitter and better”: As quoted by James, The Golden Warrior, p. 214 n. 17.
15 “by virtue of Abd el Kader’s”: Lawrence to Stirling, June 29, 1919; UT (copy) Folder 6, File 7.
16 “About that night”: As quoted by Brown, The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, pp. 261–62.
17 “Every time I come to Beirut”: Agent 92C, “Syrian Politics,” December 9, 1917; PRO-WO 106/1420.
18 “A sort of commander-in-chief”: Lewis, “An Ottoman Officer,” in Kushner, Palestine in the Late Ottoman Period, p. 413.
19 “It is true that some time”: Agent 92C, “Syrian Politics,” December 9, 1917; PRO-WO 106/1420.
20 On November 7: As Russia still used the Julian instead of the Gregorian calendar at the time, the date is remembered in Russia as October 25—hence the “October Revolution.”
21 “The [Sykes-Picot] Agreement”: As quoted in Antonius, The Arab Awakening, p. 255.
22 “I am going to Constantinople”: Agent 92C, “Syrian Politics,” December 9, 1917; PRO-WO 106/1420.
23 “But what sort of independence”: Ahmed Djemal Pasha to Faisal (undated), translated and sent from Wingate to Balfour, December 25, 1917; PRO-PRO 30/30/10 f. 67.
24 “[it] was the supreme moment”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 453.
25 “The French officers”: Sykes to Graham, May 5, 1917; MSP-41d.
26 Anxious not to appear: Foreign Office to Wingate, May 29, 1917; SADD Wingate Papers, 145/7/114–15.
27 “warm compliments”: Wilson to Brémond, September 21, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3051.
28 “Brémond’s antecedents”: Wingate to Graham, December 10, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3051.
29 “Salad, chicken mayonnaise”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 455.
30 A few days prior: Clayton to Sykes, November 28, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3054, f. 393.
31 “I have recommended King Hussein”: Wingate to War Cabinet, December 24, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3062.
32 The War Cabinet swiftly moved: Minutes to “Turkish Intrigues in Arabia,” December 26, 1917; PRO-FO 371/3062, File 243033.
33 Over the coming months: Great historical confusion has arisen from the fact that there were two Turkish leaders in Syria known by the honorific Djemal Pasha. These were Ahmed Djemal Pasha (also sometimes denoted as “the Greater”), the Syrian governor-general, and Mehmet Djemal Pasha (sometimes denoted as Kucuk, or “the Lesser”). Not at all helping matters, Mehmet Djemal adopted the Djemal Pasha honorific upon assuming command of the Turkish Fourth Army in early 1918, the same command that Ahmed Djemal had just vacated. T. E. Lawrence further added to this confusion by frequently referring to “Djemal Pasha” in Seven Pillars, without specifying whether he was talking about Ahmed or Mehmet.
As a result, most histories of the period mistakenly conjoin the two men as one, and thereby state that Faisal Hussein maintained a secret correspondence with Ahmed Djemal into the summer of 1918. In actuality, while Ahmed Djemal initiated the Turkish overture to Faisal in November 1917, all communication between them appears to have ended with Ahmed’s recall to Constantinople the following month; Faisal’s subsequent correspondence was with Mehmet Djemal.
Also, in both Seven Pillars and statements he made to his contemporary biographers, Lawrence claimed that Faisal maintained a separate negotiating correspondence with Turkish general Mustafa Kemal, the future Kemal Ataturk. While that may have been the case, I have found no documentary evidence to support this claim.
34 “By suitably guarded phrases”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars (Oxford), chapter 115.
35 Thus, the account in the 1922: Lawrence, Seven Pillars (Oxford), chapter 115, and Lawrence, Seven Pillars (1926), p. 554.
36 “All is fair”: Lawrence to Yale, October 22, 1929; YU, Box 1, Folder 4. Curiously, Lawrence asserted to Yale that he had played no authorial role in Faisal’s correspondence with Mehmet Djemal, claiming that he learned of it and read the various exchanges “unbeknownst” to Faisal. This is contradicted both by statements Lawrence made to others, and by his own account in Seven Pillars.
37 It was also necessary: Aaronsohn to Weizmann, December 13, 1917; ZY.
38 “It must be abundantly”: Weizmann to Brandeis, January 14, 1918; PRO-FO 371/3394, f. 423.
39 “now impossible”: British government White Paper, “Notes on Zionism,” Part 2. Communications of the Zionist Organization II, January–March 1918; April 19, 1918, p. 11; PRO-FO 371/4171, f. 99.
40 “Affairs are in rather”: Lawrence to Clayton, January 22, 1918; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 251–53.
41 “I began to increase”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 462.
42 “Everybody thought”: Lawrence to Clayton, January 26, 1918; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 254–58.
43 It had come at a cost: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 482.
Chapter 17: Solitary Pursuits
1 “It might be fraud”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 503.
2 “These interests crossed”: William Yale’s personal account of his intelligence work in Cairo in 1917–18 is drawn from Yale, It Takes So Long, c
hapter 8.
3 “On the strength of what”: Yale to Harrison, December 24, 1917; YU, Box 2, Folder 12.
4 “the truth seems”: Yale to Harrison, November 12, 1917; YU, Box 2, Folder 6.
5 “in a few words suggests”: Yale to Harrison, February 25, 1918; YU, Box 2, Folder 19.
6 “a young British officer”: Yale to Harrison, November 4, 1917; YU, Box 2, Folder 5.
7 Without those funds: Lawrence to Clayton, January 22, 1918; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 251–52.
8 “hummed and hawed”: Lawrence to Clayton, February 12, 1918; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 267.
9 “spend what was necessary”: Lawrence’s account of his confrontation with Zeid in Tafileh and his subsequent actions is drawn from Seven Pillars, book 7, chapter 90, pp. 499–502.
10 “I am getting shy”: Lawrence to Clayton, February 12, 1918; PRO-FO 882/7, f. 268.
11 In recent months: Lawrence, The Home Letters, p. 341.
12 “To be charged against”: Lawrence, Seven Pillars, p. 502.
13 “There was no escape”: Ibid., p. 503.
14 “I’m to go back”: Lawrence, The Home Letters, p. 348.
15 “Major Lawrence’s opinions”: Yale to Harrison, March 11, 1918; YU, Box 2, Folder 21.
16 Instead, he had found a king: David Hogarth, “Report on Mission to Jeddah,” January 15, 1918; PRO-FO 882/13 f. 35–40.
17 “[Hussein] refers to”: Wingate to Foreign Office, February 19, 1918; PRO-FO 3713380, f. 473.
18 In late January, he had penned: Lawrence, “Syrian Cross Currents,” Arab Bulletin Supplementary Papers, February 1, 1918; PRO-FO 882/14.
19 “I have urged Lawrence”: Clayton to Sykes, February 4, 1918; PRO-FO 371/3398.
20 “As for the Jews”: Lawrence to Clayton, February 12, 1918; PRO-FO 882/7.
21 While overtly rebuffing: Wingate to Foreign Office, April 8, 1918; PRO-FO 371/3403, f. 372.
22 “upon which all evidence”: Yale to Harrison, March 11, 1918; YU, Box 2, Folder 21.
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