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Page updated May 2012
Outline chronology: 1929
Youth |1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935
January
The RAF decides to bring Lawrence back from India. On 8 January he flies to Lahore, and four days later boards the SS Rajputana for England. During the voyage he finishes three more Books of the Odyssey.
February
Lawrence is taken off the ship at Plymouth in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the press. He spends much of his month's leave in London, while the storm of publicity gradually subsides.
March
Lawrence completes the purchase of Clouds Hill. On 8 March he arrives at RAF Cattewater near Plymouth, his new posting. He had first met the Commanding Officer, Sydney Smith, during the Cairo Conference, and the two are already friends. Lawrence's clerical duties include working as Sydney Smith's personal assistant during the organisation of the 1929 Schneider Trophy seaplane contest.
September
The Schneider Trophy event takes place at Calshot. In recognition of their hard work, Lawrence and Sydney Smith are presented with a Biscayne Baby speedboat, soon renamed the Biscuit. However, the press spot Lawrence at Calshot and he is again in the public eye, Furious, the Government minister responsible for the Air Force orders him to avoid all publicity, and to keep away from some of his more famous friends.
October
Lawrence has seven weeks' leave, most of which he spends in London working on the Odyssey.
Youth |1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935
Chronology
T.E. Lawrence 1888-1935
1888 16 August: born at Tremadoc, Wales
1896-1907: City of Oxford High School for Boys
1907-9: Jesus College, Oxford, B.A., 1st Class Hons, 1909
1910-14: Magdalen College, Oxford (Senior Demy), while working at the British Museum's excavations at Carchemish
1915-16: Military Intelligence Dept, Cairo
1916-18: Liaison Officer with the Arab Revolt
1919: Attended the Paris Peace Conference
1919-22: wrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1921-2: Adviser on Arab Affairs to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office
1922 August: Enlisted in the Ranks of the RAF
1923 January: discharged from the RAF
1923 March: enlisted in the Tank Corps
1923: translated a French novel, The Forest Giant
1924-6: prepared the subscribers' abridgement of Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1927-8: stationed at Karachi, then Miranshah
1927 March: Revolt in the Desert, an abridgement of Seven Pillars, published
1928: completed The Mint, began translating Homer's Odyssey
1929-33: stationed at Plymouth
1931: started working on RAF boats
1932: his translation of the Odyssey published
1933-5: attached to MAEE, Felixstowe
1935 February: retired from the RAF
1935 19 May: died from injuries received in a motor-cycle crash on 13 May
1935 21 May: buried at Moreton, Dorset