Rusty pocketknife belonging to Lawrence of Arabia expected to fetch up to £300 at auction



Did the war hero use it when battling the Turks in the deserts of Arabia?

A rusty pocket knife Lawrence of Arabia is thought to have used in his desert campaign during World War One is going up for sale.

The Victorian-era knife was made by Royal cutlers Underwood and Farrant that produced them before the Swiss Army version became popular.

And historians are wondering whether this early multi-tooled blade proved invaluable to the war hero as he battled the Turks in the deserts of Arabia.

Cunning: The recent discovery of this knife could reveal the secret behind the success of the British hero

Hero: Thomas Edward Lawrence led the Arab Revolt against the Turks in the First World War



It was found in the garden of Clouds Hill, Lawrence's home near Bovington in Dorset, where the mysterious hero was living when he died after crashing his Brough Superior motorbike in 1935.

The knife has the initials TEL - for Thomas Edward Lawrence - burned into the wooden handle, a technique Lawrence used on many of his possessions.

The current owner bought the knife in the 1990s from the son of the local man who found it 40 years before.

It is likely Lawrence dropped the knife where it lay in the undergrowth for decades.

It is being sold along with the hero's 1916 military-issue pith helmet and his agal - the garment worn by Arabs around the head.

Lawrence was famed for shunning military fatigues for ethnic costume during his heroics leading the Arab Revolt.

The items are all being sold by the same owner who over the years has collected many items related to TE Lawrence.

Mark of a hero: The knife has the initials TEL carved into the handle - which stand for Thomas Edward Lawrence

The anonymous seller said: 'The pith helmet and the agal came from the home of Pat and Joyce Knowles who live opposite Lawrence and looked after Cloud's Hill.

'The knife I bought from a man whose father had found it in the garden at Cloud's Hill in the 1950s.

'He didn't say anything about it at the time in case it belonged to Cloud's Hill but I later checked and it wasn't on the inventory.

'Lawrence possibly lost it in his garden and it is a late-Victorian piece so it is possible it could have been with him when he made his name in the First World War.

'The helmet and the agal were sold after Pat and Joyce passed away. Under the rim of the helmet it has the date 1916.

'That would fit in with Lawrence first being sent to Cairo. And Pat knowles certainly identified it as having belonged to Lawrence.

'The agal is the type of thing he wore and it is known he bought several back and gave them to people. '

Unearthed: The pocketknife was discovered in the garden of Clouds Hill (pictured), Lawrence's home near Bovington in Dorset

Discovery: The pocketknife was manufactured by the Queen's cutlers Underwood and Farrant in late Victorian London

Richard Bromell, from Charterhouse auctioneers in Sherborne, Dorset, which is selling the items, said: 'These are exciting items. The knife has Lawrence's initials burned into the handle and there are similar initials carved on Lawrence's Lee Enfield Rifle which is in The Imperial War Museum.

'It is wonderful for such an item to emerge and one can only guess about whether it was with Lawrence in the desert.

'The helmet dates from 1916 when Lawrence was in the desert and and agal is typical of what he wore.' The pocket knife is expected to sell for 300 pounds and the pith helmet for up to 600 pounds.

The sale takes place on December 13.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence became a household name for his part in the Arab Revolt, but the fame didn't sit easily with him.

After the war he changed his name, joined the RAF and was based in remote British India.

He was forced to return to Britain when rumours circulated that he was involved in espionage activities.

In 1932 he was stationed in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight where he specialised in building high-speed rescue boats for the RAF and the Royal Navy.

Lawrence died age 46 after crashing his Brough Superior SS100 motorbike near to his home in Dorset.

He died six days after the crash, giving rise to conspiracy theories that he had been deliberately run off the road by government agencies.

TE Lawrence on his Brough Superior SS80 with the manufacturer George Brough outside the factory

Immortalised: Peter O'Toole as the British war hero in the 1962 David Lean film Lawrence of Arabia





