Colonel T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, from With Lawrence in Arabia by Lowell Thomas
"When, early on 5 October [1917], a water train arrived from the north and passed over the mine, there was no explosion. At midday, when he hoped the Turkish guards were taking a siesta, Lawrence crept forward again and laid an electric mine beside the pressure mine. . . .At eight o'clock the following morning a train arrived from the north. From off to one side, Lawrence signaled to the men with the detonator when the locomotive was over the bridge. The explosion was devastating. It 'shattered the fire-box of the locomotive (No. 153, Hijaz), burst many of the tubes, threw the l.c. [locomotive cylinder] into the air, cleaned out the cab, warped the frame, bent the two near driving wheels and broke their axles. I consider it past repair.'"
T. E. Lawrence — Lawrence of Arabia — and his Arab forces, raided Turkish infrastructure and outposts in Syria, in particular the rail system in the Hijaz, along the west coast of the Arabian peninsula. Rail lines could be easily repaired, but not the engines that were the targets of the sabotage. British General Edmond Allenby, who had recently been transferred to Egypt after what was seen as his failure in the Battle of Arras, was preparing for an assault on Gaza. Both the First Battle of Gaza (March 26 to 28, 1917) and the Second (April 20) were British defeats. The quotation in the second paragraph of our quotation is from Lawrence's report on the action.
Setting the Desert on Fire by James Barr, page 186, copyright © 2008, 2006 by James Barr, publisher: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., publication date: 2009
1917-10-05, 1917, October, Lawrence, sabotage, T. E. Lawrence, T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia
