T.E. Lawrence question (the movie)

[johnboy]

There is a lot of good info on the net in regards to T.E lawrence and Brough Superior Motorcycles and the SS100.

T.E Lawrence owned eight Broughs in all, listed below, with notes in brackets:

* 1922 - Boa (the name was short for Boanerges)
* 1923 - George I (the cost of £150 was more than the price of a house at the time)
* 1924 - George II
* 1925 - George III
* 1926 - George IV
* 1927 - George V (RK 4907; see photo)
* 1929 - George VI (UL 656)
* 1932 - George VII (GW 2275) (the bike he died on)
* Undelivered - George VIII (still being built when Lawrence died)

Lawrence's last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) was built in 1932 and was on loan to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire. It is currently on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.

J.A.P on the engine stood for JA Prestwich.

Wikipedia has some info on them..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JA_Prestwich_Industries_Ltd

Boanerges (Βοανηργε&#962

Mark 3:17

And James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, and he gave them the name Boanerges, which is Sons of Thunder.

Jesus surnames the brothers James and John to reflect their impetuosity. The Greek rendition of their name is Βοανηργες (Boanērges).

HTH...

 

[JonathanD]

There is a lot of good info on the net in regards to T.E lawrence and Brough Superior Motorcycles and the SS100.

T.E Lawrence owned eight Broughs in all, listed below, with notes in brackets:

* 1922 - Boa (the name was short for Boanerges)
* 1923 - George I (the cost of £150 was more than the price of a house at the time)
* 1924 - George II
* 1925 - George III
* 1926 - George IV
* 1927 - George V (RK 4907; see photo)
* 1929 - George VI (UL 656)
* 1932 - George VII (GW 2275) (the bike he died on)
* Undelivered - George VIII (still being built when Lawrence died)

Lawrence's last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) was built in 1932 and was on loan to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire. It is currently on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.

J.A.P on the engine stood for JA Prestwich.

Wikipedia has some info on them..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JA_Prestwich_Industries_Ltd

HTH...

There are many that believe that it is a fake. Amazingly along the Lovejoy line of conspiracy theories. The evidence for that being the bike is somewhat iffy IIRC.

 

[johnboy]

There are many that believe that it is a fake. Amazingly along the Lovejoy line of conspiracy theories. The evidence for that being the bike is somewhat iffy IIRC.

Well research and present the evidence...far better than conjecture.

 

[JonathanD]

Well research and present the evidence...far better than conjecture.

I have no interest in the truth either way, in as far as that particular subject is concerned. I was merely pointing out that many scholars in LawrenceLore think it is not correct. You could also call it conjecture that it is THE bike, as is always the case in these matters.

 

[slamdunk]

But then there are conspiracy theories around so many historical events; Kennedy's assassination, moon landings etc etc. Only a very few will ever know the truth.....

 

[Laurentius]

As an aside: we used to have to run up to Lawrence's cottage and back in time for tea when I was a stickie (junior leader's regiment RAC) at Bovingdon. His legend was bi down there and he's still a bit of a hero of mine - anyone read the Seven Pillars of Wisdom?

Yes I have read the seven pillars of wisdom. My dad was a great fan of Lawrence, he served in Egypt, Palestine and the Sudan during his national service and became a fluent Arabic speaker and admirer of the Bedouin. So he named his first son after Lawrence.

I can remember him taking me to see the movie, and the seven pillars was almost compulsory reading

I've also read Michael Asher's books.

 

[JonathanD]

But then there are conspiracy theories around so many historical events; Kennedy's assassination, moon landings etc etc. Only a very few will ever know the truth.....

Exactly, no one knows why he crashed that day. No one knows whether that particular bike is his or another resembling it. I'll leave that debate to those it matters too, cos' it sure doesn't matter to me, although it is interesting.

 

[pango]

Not a bushcraft question... I also noticed for the first time the initials JAP on the heads of both cylinders. :thankyou

JAP stands for J A Prestwich, a Tottenham company which manufactured V-twin engines. Brough also used Matchless engines.

There were specific reasons for Lawrence's placement in "Arabia", for one thing he spoke 7 or 8 languages and was fluent in Arabic, Turkish and Syriac and had been involved in an archaeological excavation in Syria before WWI. It was said of Lawrence however, that his intelligence, single-mindedness, determination and abilities were such that he could have fitted almost seamlessly into any theatre of war.

He was however, most certainly uncomfortable and disillusioned with the outcome of the disposal of lands of the former Ottoman Empire in Palestine and the Sykes-Picot Agreement and ultimately American manipulation of the situation which assured an eventual Israeli homeland in Palestine in betrayal of assurances made previously to King Faisal's Arab Delegation for whom he had personally acted as a representative.

There are still many questions asked regarding the circumstances of Lawrence's death and the roles he played after his involvement in the Middle East. Always an enigmatic character, Lawrence's activities, particularly after the war, are somewhat confusing. He seems to have continued working covertly for the British Gov't. While on intimate terms with prominent figures in the Military, Government, Literature, the Arts and Sciences and the Theatre as he seems always to have been, he was equally accused of being a homosexual, a Bolshevik and a Fascist, and one must wonder whether his apparent friendship with the Fascist, Oswald Mosley was a contrived one. He had also alienated himself from many fellow officers who, while being resentful of his fame in Arabia while they remained anonymous on the Western Front, saw him as something of a traitor to his class after Colonel Lawrence enlisted as an Aircraftman in the RAF. He certainly appears to have despised what he saw as a decadence society and attempted to withdraw from it while, true to form, was reported as having contemplated going into politics shortly before his death, which is roughly when the accusations of Bolshevism, Fascism and homosexuality surfaced.

The official circumstances of his death are that he had swerved to avoid 2 boys on bicycles, but there were persistent rumours of a black car at the scene. Mrs Brough, wife of the owner of Brough motorcycles later claimed that her husband had been warned by unidentified men not to divulge that black paint had been found on the motorbike when Mr Brough inspected it after the fatal crash. A serving soldier stationed at Bovington who claimed to have seen a black car at the scene of the accident, Private Catchpole, was so unnerved by his interrogation that he shot himself.

The investigation into Lawrence's death was not undertaken by the local Police but by MI5, who are also reported to have prevented the mothers of the two injured boys from seeing their sons for 4 days and who shut down Bovington Army camp when the supposed routine inquest was held into an ordinary road accident.

Consequently, rumours circulated that Lawrence had commited suicide. Remind you of anyone named Kelly?

 

[John Lee]

You guys are great. Very intelligent and willing to put up with your American cousin's question which at first light didn't have a damn thing to do with bushcraft.

 

[Acorn62]

sounds like my uncle who bought me up.....

Yes I have read the seven pillars of wisdom. My dad was a great fan of Lawrence, he served in Egypt, Palestine and the Sudan during his national service and became a fluent Arabic speaker and admirer of the Bedouin. So he named his first son after Lawrence.

I can remember him taking me to see the movie, and the seven pillars was almost compulsory reading

I've also read Michael Asher's books.