Secret desert camp used Lawrence of Arabia discovered intact

[Chacal]

This might be interesting to students of WWI/Arab Revolt/battlefield archaeology:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-campfire.html

Graham

[Pylon1357]

Interesting read. Something I will have to return to as time allows. Thanks for the link.

[Frank Kelley]

Fasinating stuff and a reminder of the gobal nature of the Great War!

[Hussar100]

I missed this first time round. What a fascinating story about one of the most bizarre and incredible soldiers ever to live. I've often thought the various deserts in the middle east still hide much from both wars and I'm never surprised when something like this turns up. I'd loved to have been there at the time of discovery.

I've also read much on Lawrence and am very much of the opinion that he was lucky not to have been locked up in an asylum but his abilities were of such use in wartime. War can bring out the best or worst in people and it often makes heroes out of misfits, like Lawrence (whose real name was Shaw btw).

[wright241]

A few mates and I went "bondu" bashing back in the late 70's and we found (I was working in Riyadh at the time) the remains of that train he attacked. I recall that engine was about out all that was left. Found purely by chance. It must have been in a "damp" region as any other "dumped" vehicles we saw in the deserts around Riyadh (I recall it being about 1800' above sea level) were polished and sandblasted - whereas the ones we found up at Dhahran were rusted hulks...

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by wright241

A few mates and I went "bondu" bashing back in the late 70's and we found (I was working in Riyadh at the time) the remains of that train he attacked. I recall that engine was about out all that was left. Found purely by chance. It must have been in a "damp" region as any other "dumped" vehicles we saw in the deserts around Riyadh (I recall it being about 1800' above sea level) were polished and sandblasted - whereas the ones we found up at Dhahran were rusted hulks...

I've seen the pictures of those (the rusty ones) in various books and they're also on the internet - amazing.

[Frank Kelley]

You know what, that was my first thought upon seeing this thread!

Originally Posted by Hussar100

I'd loved to have been there at the time of discovery.

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by Frank Kelley

You know what, that was my first thought upon seeing this thread!

I feel like that with every historic site I've ever visited.

[Frank Kelley]

I'm really not a beach type let alone desert! but, I would be happy to suffer discomfort to actually have been there and seen it for myself!

Originally Posted by Hussar100

I feel like that with every historic site I've ever visited.

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by Frank Kelley

I'm really not a beach type let alone desert! but, I would be happy to suffer discomfort to actually have been there and seen it for myself!

I'm not really a beach guy myself although I've had my moments - no point in paying to go to Barbados or Mauritius and not enjoy the beach. The desert intrigues me though. I've been in the Western Desert and flown over a lot of it too. I know there's so much hidden down there. Egyptologists reckon for a start that only 30% of the treasures of ancient Egypt have been uncovered so far.

There are settlements on the east bank of the Nile close to the Valley of the Kings and it's been found that some families have been able to explore under their homes into ancient tombs and have been trading in antiquities for decades, some making a small fortune out of it.

Old warplanes and tanks are always being discovered. I'd love to be in on something like that. Or finding one of the old dumps which the Matruh Mobile Force created in the run up to the declaration of war by Italy in 1939. They'd been mapping the desert for years and had gone out and dug great holes filled with supplies, many of which were never used or even found again because the cairns of stones used to mark them were buried in sandstorms.