I had the privilege this week of standing on the same small piece of ground as T E Lawrence.
Well, it was probably not the very exact spot but for me and with authentication from a grainy tinted photograph it was close enough.
The best thing about it was that it had been totally unexpected.
In the course of my normal daily routine of property inspections I was at a bungalow on the lumpy road out of the coastal village of Flamborough towards North Landing Beach. It was a busy time with day trippers making their way in their vehicles to the cliff top car park and holiday makers from the nearby caravan parks on foot carrying a picnic and folding chairs.
I parked on the grassy verge, put on my PPE as required where working in someones home and already a bit hot and bothered announced my arrival at the property.
In the porch was a photograph of a soldier in fatigues.
He had a faint smile as though he felt a bit awkward about having his picture taken even if by those he knew well.
In the background was the gateway to the bungalow and beyond that the hedgerow on the far side of the road.
I didn't recognise the soldier but in talking to the homeowner a great back-story developed.
The Title Deeds for the property go back to 1928 when the land was purchased from the Thornwick Bay Estate as a building plot by John Deheer, a local man who ran a Marine Company doing boat repairs, salvage and also a bit of fishing from premises on Bridlington Quay.
His son, Ian, was in the family business as a deep sea diver and it was he who befriended Lawrence and through the family connection the bungalow was a regular venue for meeting and socialising.
The photo was taken around 1934 and is amongst one of the last known of Lawrence before his untimely death in a motorbike accident in May 1935.
It is hard to deduce the workings of the mind of a man of whom Churchill called a tormented genius.
His posting to RAF Bridlington in the 1930's was a stage in his life when Lawrence was becoming more and more troubled. Emerging from the First World War as the widely proclaimed King of Arabia for the heroism he had shown in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks he could have had honours and any choice of prestigious and lucrative roles in Government or Industry.
His own talents were in archaeology, diplomacy and writing amongst many others but yet he lobbied to join the RAF as though to shun and escape from the public eye.
In 1927 he changed his name by Deed Poll to T E Shaw and in a protracted way he came to be on duty on the East Yorkshire Coast.
Lawrence did not however avoid danger and one of his roles whilst stationed in Bridlington was to tow bombing targets behind a fast launch for RAF practice. It sounds as though it was a hair-raising experience with only the speed of the boat and armour plating separating Lawrence and the crew from flying shrapnel.
Ian Deheer was at that time honorary skipper of a yacht, the Lily Maude which was owned by Rowland Winn, a motor engineer who appears to have been a work colleague of Lawrence. Sailing trips are likely to have broadened the friendship between the two.
Ian Deheer had some local celebrity status in newspaper reports of his pursuit of giant lobsters off Bridlington in his boat, Kermoozer. The mixture of unexploded bombs and sea bed lobster hunting brought about another common link.
A few Paparazzi of the time could be found hanging around the Quay hoping to catch sight and a photo of the elusive war hero. Lawrence was held in very high regard by his Bridlington friends who described him as a virtual teetotaller with only ginger beer as his regular indulgence.
He did not however dwell on or dine out on his war stories and always declined to answer questions about that time. When he did avail others of his life and times he did it on his own terms and those in attendance at that time knew they were very privileged to do so.
Lawrence had expressed his disillusionment about how the Arabs had been treated after 1918. Their part in defeating the Ottomans had been crucial and yet the deal that Lawrence had expected them to be rewarded with had not materialised. He felt he had misled and betrayed his Arab comrades. His own experiences in the war had included capture, inevitable torture or worse at the hands of the Turks and also the death of his girlfriend who had shot herself to protect him.
These experiences would all point towards Lawrence suffering from what we know now as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I like to think that his time on the beautiful East Yorkshire Coast gave him some respite and relief from his troubled thoughts and memories.
It was an honour for me to have briefly shared the same airspace albeit after nearly nine decades have passed.
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