I wish David Lean had stuck with the story of the Battle of Aqaba as Lawrence told it, would have made for a much better scene in the movie.
18th July 2026
First rule of Camel warfare - Try not to shoot your Camel in the back of the head
Everything about David Lean’s 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia I love. From the cast to the stunning way its shot to the score to well…. everything. It’s a masterpiece. However, as most of us know, as a piece of historical documentation, it is at best iffy!
In the film it shows Lawrence and the Arab forces sweeping down on to the defences at Aqaba itself and ploughing through the Ottoman defences in about one minute. I would give it a historical accuracy of 1/10 (and thats being generous).
In reality the forces of Turkey and Prince Faisal met at Abu Lissan in the region of Ma’an, some 86km north of Aqaba. Not exactly close and you would not be on the beach in minutes as shown in the film. Even at pace that’s a minimum 10-hour journey by Camel.
Abu Lissan
It is a truly atmospheric place to this day. 300 Turkish soldiers died there, with 160 taken prisoner. The Arab losses remarkably totalled only 2. Most of those Turkish dead remain where they fell to this day. It is not uncommon to find human remains and equipment sticking out of the stones and sand, I came across a couple 303 shells on the ground. Although not a designated war grave site (The Turkish honour their dead at Salt Turkish Martyrs Memorial around 30km northwest of Amman, also well worth a visit) I feel strongly that its best to treat this site with the respect it deserves so I placed them back where I found them.
So, back to the action at Abu Lissan and our hero Lawrence charging forward towards the Turks on his trusty Camel, his Colt 45 Model M1911 pistol in hand, picks out his intended Turkish victim, takes aim, and shot his Camel, quite accurately, in the back of the head.
I will let Lawrence continue with the story himself…..
“I had got among the first of them, and was shooting, with a pistol of course, for only an expert could use a rifle from such plunging beasts; when suddenly my camel tripped and went down emptily upon her face, as though pole axed. I was torn completely from the saddle, sailed grandly through the air for a great distance, and landed with a crash which seemed to drive all the power and feeling out of me. I lay there, passively waiting for the Turks to kill me, continuing to hum over the verses of a half-forgotten poem, whose rhythm something, perhaps the prolonged stride of the camel, had brought back to my memory as we leaped down the hillside”
The people of the Ma’an area are amused to this day by a story, passed down by their Great Grandfathers, of how Lawrence was separated from his camel. The story confirms that Lawrence, drawing his pistol and aiming for a Turk at full gallop, accidently shot his camel in the back of the head.
““After a long time, I finished my poem, and no Turks came, and no camel trod on me; a curtain seemed taken from my ears; there was a great noise Infront. I sat up and saw the battle over, and our men driving together and cutting down the last remnants of the enemy. My camel’s body had laid behind me like a rock and divided the charge into two streams; and in the back of its skull was the heavy bullet of the fifth shot I fired out. Auda was hit by six separate bullets during the charge that remarkably left him unharmed.”
Now that, for me, makes a much better scene for the movie, a triumphant victory for the Arab forces, a total rout, and their beloved ‘Aurens’ spent the vast majority of it spark out cold after shooting his camel in the back of the head. Lawrence - the hero of Aqaba!
As they say the truth is stranger than fiction.