Thomas Edward Lawrence

"'Don't forget me', he cried, as if I ever would. The man was a hero even then."

- Indiana Jones, recollecting this adventures with T.E. Lawrence in Egypt

Thomas Edward Lawrence was a British soldier and liaison during the Arab Revolt. He was known as Ned to his friends and family, and became well-known as Lawrence of Arabia during World War I.

Biography
T.E. Lawrence attended Oxford University, where he was an aquaintance of Miss Helen Seymour. In 1908, Lawrence was bicycling around Egypt, when he came upon Miss Seymour and Henry Jones, Jr., who had been abandoned at the Great Pyramids by their guide. Upon meeting Jones, he recognized his name, and revealed that he was a fan of his father's books. Lawrence asked to be called Ned, and the two became friends. That night, Lawrence discussed world religions with Jones and told him ghost stories of mummies awakening in the pyramids.



The next day, Lawrence arranged for Indy and Miss Seymour to go to an archaeological dig, led by Howard Carter. On the trip up the Nile River to the dig site, Ned impressed upon Indy the importance of learning local languages when traveling. At the dig site, Lawrence introduced Indy and Miss Seymour to Howard Carter, and enlisted Indy's help in uncovering Demetrios as the murderer of Rasheed Sallam for the Jackal Headpiece. Although Lawrence was able to track down Demetrios before he got away with the Jackal, he escaped anyway after a brief fight between the two in the desert. Later in life, Indy told it differently, believing that Lawrence missed Demetrios' ship by five minutes.

As Indy grew older, he kept in contact with Lawrence, exchanging letters while Indy was serving in the Great War. Indy kept a photograph of Ned and his bicycle from the 1908 meeting in his diary. In October 1917, when the British and Australian forces were unable to take Ottoman-held Gaza, Major Lawrence recommended Jones, then serving in French intelligence, as a suitable agent fluent in Arabic and Turkish for a British spy mission. Lawrence and Jones were re-united at the British camp in Palestine for a few days before Jones left on his mission to Beersheba, and Lawrence returned to Arabia.

In May 1919, the friends crossed paths again in Paris.

Lawrence died in a motorcycle accident in 1935. A movie was later made about his life.

Behind the scenes
Two different actors portrayed Lawrence in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; Joseph Bennett played Lawrence in Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal (now part of My First Adventure), and Douglas Henshall played Lawrence in "Paris, May 1919" (now part of Winds of Change) and "Palestine, October 1917" (now expanded into Daredevils of the Desert).

In Curse of the Jackal, Lawrence alludes to the fact that he likes to make up stories. In real life, it is thought by some that Lawrence exaggerated some of the stories in his book Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

In real life, Lawrence died in 1935&mdash;the year during which Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom takes place.

Appearances

 * My First Adventure
 * Young Indiana Jones in the Curse of Kha
 * Love's Sweet Song
 * Demons of Deception
 * Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life
 * Oganga, The Giver and Taker of Life
 * Attack of the Hawkmen
 * Daredevils of the Desert
 * Tales of Innocence
 * Winds of Change
 * Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Mount Sinai