A bullet found on the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia confirmed Lawrence of Arabia's involvement in a raid on an Ottoman train in September 1917. This attack by Arab insurgents, involving a British officer, is considered one of the first successful examples of guerrilla tactics in the 20th century. The discovery is reported by Live Science.
Archaeologist, officer and spy Thomas Edward Lawrence became famous for his exploits during the Great Arab Revolt of 1916-1918, when he, along with Prince Faisal (of the Hashemite dynasty) and the Bedouins, fought against the Turks in the Middle East. He told about his exploits in the book "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", but many accused him of boasting and lying.
Photo: NJ Saunders
However, archaeologists involved in a project to study the Arab uprising found at the site of the seizure of the train (Hallat Ammar) a bullet from an M1911 self-loading pistol, which was owned only by Lawrence. The shell was found with a metal detector. Experts have confirmed that the bullet is different from the numerous shells of other British, German and Turkish rifles and pistols found at the scene.
Another confirmation of Lawrence's stories was the nameplate from the Hejaz Railroad train, which the officer kept as a souvenir and presented to his friend Vivienne Richards. The tablet was considered lost for almost 80 years, and was also found by archaeologists led by Nicholas Saunders. Most of the train ambushes that Lawrence and his Arabs carried out were very fast. However, the incident in Hallat Ammar, where the insurgents attacked two trains (a repair crew arrived on the second), took a long time, and Lawrence managed to unscrew a souvenir for himself.