![LAWRENCE, Thomas Edward (1888–1935). Autograph letter signed (‘R’) to [R.A.M. Guy], n.p. [Bovington], 27 March 1923, drafted on rectos, 2 pages, 8vo, bifolium.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CSK/2014_CSK_05388_0022_001(lawrence_thomas_edward_autograph_letter_signed_to_ram_guy_np_bovington012919).jpg?w=1)
![LAWRENCE, Thomas Edward (1888–1935). Autograph letter signed (‘R’) to [R.A.M. Guy], n.p. [Bovington], 27 March 1923, drafted on rectos, 2 pages, 8vo, bifolium.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CSK/2014_CSK_05388_0022_000(lawrence_thomas_edward_autograph_letter_signed_to_ram_guy_np_bovington012846).jpg?w=1)
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LAWRENCE, Thomas Edward (1888–1935). Autograph letter signed (‘R’) to [R.A.M. Guy], n.p. [Bovington], 27 March 1923, drafted on rectos, 2 pages, 8vo, bifolium.
Refusing a visit at Bovington from Guy: ‘Won’t do: this is a hush-hush place, in a desert, with no houses or pubs near. You can’t come here’. Lawrence’s beloved Brough motorbike has arrived, and is garaged near the camp, ‘I’m afraid you can’t have him for Easter though’. He does, however, offer up the possibility of meeting in Farnborough, as soon as he has a period of leave. The degree of control held by Lawrence in his relationship with Guy, which also characterised his two other close friendships with servicemen ‘Jock’ Chambers and ‘Posh’ Palmer – orderly and private at Farnborough and Bovington respectively – is apparent here. His paternalistic attitude towards his service friends, who he once referred to as ‘the children’, extended to giving them money and gifts as well as advice. In return, however, the relationships he cultivated allowed him to act, as George Bernard Shaw remarked, much ‘like Colonel Lawrence with several aides-de-camp’.
Refusing a visit at Bovington from Guy: ‘Won’t do: this is a hush-hush place, in a desert, with no houses or pubs near. You can’t come here’. Lawrence’s beloved Brough motorbike has arrived, and is garaged near the camp, ‘I’m afraid you can’t have him for Easter though’. He does, however, offer up the possibility of meeting in Farnborough, as soon as he has a period of leave. The degree of control held by Lawrence in his relationship with Guy, which also characterised his two other close friendships with servicemen ‘Jock’ Chambers and ‘Posh’ Palmer – orderly and private at Farnborough and Bovington respectively – is apparent here. His paternalistic attitude towards his service friends, who he once referred to as ‘the children’, extended to giving them money and gifts as well as advice. In return, however, the relationships he cultivated allowed him to act, as George Bernard Shaw remarked, much ‘like Colonel Lawrence with several aides-de-camp’.