GODFATHER OF THE SAS? T.E. LAWRENCE

Nearly 90 years after his death, the famously unorthodox officer deserves to be remembered as an early inspiration for the British special forces

- WORDS GAVIN MORTIMER

In February 1941 a Mobile Unit from the New Zealand Broadcasting Service interviewed the commander of a new force operating in North Africa called the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). His name was Ralph Bagnold, an English veteran of the First World War and a distinguished desert explorer in the late 1920s.

Bagnold's remarks were of particular interest to New Zealanders as most of the men recruited to the LRDG upon its formation in June 1940 were Kiwis. The programme's announcer introduced listeners to the LRDG by likening them to the legendary Lawrence of Arabia.

There was a distinction, however, the announcer pointed out, namely that "whereas Lawrence lived with the Arabs, as one of themselves, the LRDG operated for many months through countless thousands of square miles behind and within the Italian outposts". The reference to TE Lawrence was warranted. His exploits in 1917, in helping foment an Arab revolt against Turkey in the Arabian Peninsula, had inspired a generation of Britons. Bagnold had corresponded with Lawrence in the 1920s, seeking his advice on the desert, and many of the officers and men serving in the LRDG had read Lawrence's memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

One, Michael 'Lofty' Carr, who was one of the LRDG's most skilled navigators, told this author in a 2014 interview that his father had bought one of the rare subscribers' editions of Lawrence's memoirs in 1926. "It was a beautiful edition," said Carr. "I read it as a boy but I didn't read anything into it at the time." Later, however, when he joined the LRDG, Carr said they often took inspiration from Seven Pillars of Wisdom.