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Lawrence, Thomas Edward Brevet Colonel (later, Shaw, Thomas Edward). (1888-1935) Born, Tremadoc, Wales. Intelligence officer affiliated with the Arab Bureau (MI 1(a)). In December, 1914 after enlisting, Lawrence was sent to Cairo where he became a more active part of the Arab Bureau activities encouraging the Hashemite revolt against the Ottoman Empire. In November, 1917, he was ordered to join the Emir Faisal's army as political and liaison officer.
Lawrence participated in the planning and execution of the bottling up of a main Turkish garrison in Medina, and executed the capture of al Wajh (Wejh) on 24 January 1917, which then served as the base to cross to and capture the port of 'al Aqaba, (6 July 1917) thus providing a support base to Allenby in Palestine. As part of Allenby's dash to Damascus, Lawrence commanded the victory at Tafila (21-27 January 1918), and was promoted lieutenant-colonel, subsequently directing the Arab forces as the extreme right wing of Allenby's offensive at Megiddo. The Arab Army entered Damascus on 1 October 1918, just before Chauvel's ANZAC Desert Mounted Corps. Lawrence served as a member of the British delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference, and as Arab affairs adviser to the Middle Eastern Division of the Colonial Office (1921-22), along with Winston Churchill and Gertrude Bell, and with many other members of the Arab Bureau.
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