FEATURED ARTISTS & PHOTOGRAPHERS

WILLIAM ROBERTS R.A (5 June 1895 - 20 January 1980)

William Roberts was an English painter and war artist. He was a founder member of the influential Vorticist Group, a powerful recorder of the front-line battles of the First World War, and a unique observer of the foibles and activities of Britain at leisure over almost fifty years. In 1922–6 he was commissioned to produce illustrations and decorations for Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom including this pencil drawing of S.F. Newcombe.

SFN by William Roberts R.A.

"In 1920 Colin Gill, who had been a fellow-student at the Slade, sent me a note saying 'Colonel Lawrence is seeking artists to make portrait drawings for a book he is producing; get in touch with him.' I wrote to Lawrence and as a result I contributed several portrait drawings to 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom,' besides a painting of Lawrence in his Royal Air Force uniform. He sat for this portrait (the Lawrence portrait) in a room I was using at Coleherne Terrace, Earl's Court. Sometimes if I was late for our meeting I found him sitting on the dark stairs that led to my temporary studio. He lent me during several Summers his small woodman's cottage at Clouds Hill in Dorset."

From William Roberts, Five Posthumous Essays and Other Writings (Valencia, 1990).

JOHN MANSFIELD CREALOCK, R.H.A (12 March 1871- 12 January 1959)

SFN by John Crealock R.H.A

This fabulous oil painting by the artist John Mansfield Crealock was painted in 1938 when Newcombe was sixty-years-old and working on proposals for what may be called a bi-nation state in Palestine, with limited and controlled immigration and absorption of Jews according to the physical and economic capacity of the country. 

Newcombe argued and lobbied this position to whoever in authority would listen. He set up committees to counter-balance the Zionist message, gaining access to high level ministers of state including the Prime Minister. He submitted his evidence to the Palestine Royal Commission, invited guests sympathetic to the cause to the Royal Central Asian Society Dinner Club, of which he was Honorary Secretary, and wrote articles for magazines and periodicals such as The Empire Review under the auspices of the Palestine Information Centre, where he also held the post of Honorary Secretary.

In this portrait Crealock has captured Newcombe's grey hair although there is still a hint of red to his familiar moustache, as well as a touch of humour shown in his eyes.

T.E. LAWRENCE (16 August 1888 - 19 May 1935)

January 1917. Newcombe, having just landed at Umlej, raced to catch Lawrence for the advance on Wejh. Lawrence’s diary records “At 1:15 Newcombe arrived with Mohammed Ali El Beidawi on a horse and joined the party.”

Newcombe appears in this photograph reproduced in Oriental Assembly emerging from, or disappearing into, a scrub of short palms alongside a well trodden sandy path at Semna. A copy of the photo is held by the Imperial War Museum - IWM (Q 58856).

"Our road to-day was easy for them, since it was over firm sand slopes, long, slowly-rising waves of dunes, bare-backed, but for scrub in the folds, or barren palm-trees solitary in the moist depressions. Afterwards in a broad flat, two horsemen came cantering across from the left to greet Feisal. I knew the first one, dirty old blear-eyed Mohammed Ali el Beidawi, Emir of the Juheina: but the second looked strange. When he came nearer I saw he was in khaki uniform, with a cloak to cover it and a silk head-cloth and head-rope, much awry. He looked up, and there was Newcombe's red and peeling face, with straining eyes and vehement mouth, a strong, humorous grin between the jaws. He had arrived at Um Lejj this morning, and hearing we were only just off, had seized Sheikh Yusuf's fastest horse and galloped after us." Seven Pillars of Wisdom

SFN at SEMNA, 1917 by T.E. Lawrence

"To-day had a grey weather, so strange after the many thronging suns, that Newcombe and I walked stooping to look where our shadows had gone, as we talked of what I hoped, and of what he wanted. They were the same thing, so we had brain-leisure to note Semna and its fine groves of cared-for palms between little hedges of dead thorn; with here and there huts of reed and palm-rib, to shelter the owners and their families at times of fertilisation and harvest. In the lowest gardens and in the valley bed were the shallow wood-lined wells, whose water was, they said, fairly sweet and never-failing: but so little fluent that to water our host of camels took the night." 

Lawrence photographed Newcombe disappearing into a palm-grove, perhaps for a private moment, at an oasis named Samnah (Semna by TEL). This was where Feisal had camped after leaving Wadi Yanbo on the first stage of the march north to Wejh. Newcombe had raced across a broad sand flat which gradually rose to a rough lava field, its roughness smoothed over by an infill of soft sand and therefore made easier to cross, before descending as a sand-cliff to the verdant sanctuary whose palms were the outward indication of numerous wells and an abundance of water. Even so, the throng of men and animals rode a little higher up the further valley slopes in case of floods before Feisal tapped his camel lightly on its neck. At this signal she collapsed her legs under her and sank to the ground, pushing aside the shingle with her knees to make it more comfortable. Then the hearth carpet was spread and coffee prepared while the men jested, told stories or planned the next move. Then the scouts were sent out to seek rain-pools on the road ahead and to determine tomorrow’s route-march. Beyond Arabia

ELLIOTT & FRY PHOTOGRAPHERS 

Newcombe in retirement, by Elliott and Fry

Elliott and Fry Photographers had been taking photos of sitters since 1863. By the mid 1930's, when this portrait was taken, it operated out of three studios and employed a number of photographers. It is probable that this image of Newcombe was taken by Walter Benington as both photographer and sitter were living in Oxford at the same time. This is Newcombe at the time of Lawrence's death.  

UNKNOWN PHOTOGRAPHER, January 1917

Newcombe descending from HMS Hardinge
with Commander Linberry looking on

This photo shows Newcombe descending from HMS Hardinge at the small coastal town of Umlej with Commander (Acting) T.J. Linberry looking on. It marks the moment that Newcombe first arrived in the Hejaz in January 1917. 

Commander Thomas John Linberry was born in India in November 1882 and served during the Great War as acting Commander of HMS Hardinge as part of the Red Sea Patrol. Linberry is mentioned a number of times in Lawrence's Seven Pillars. He is credited with being a great supplier of Naval hospitality. Lawrence recounts the following report of one King's view of heaven:

"In the early days of the revolt it had been the Hardinge which had been given leisure to play providence to us. Once, at Yenbo, Feisal had ridden to the port from the hills on a streaming day of winter, cold, wet, miserable and tired. Linberry had sent a launch ashore, and invited him to the ship where he had found a warm cabin, a peaceful meal, and a bath made ready for him. Afterwards he lay far back in an armchair, smoking one of his constant cigarettes, and remarked dreamily to me that he now knew what the furnishing of heaven would be."

Linberry was also commended for his service in transporting the Holy Carpet (the Kiswah) from Cairo to Mecca. The yearly transport of the Carpet, the highly decorative covering of the Kaaba in Mecca, together with an escort of four hundred troops and a sacred white camel, required the Hardinge to be specially refitted to carry the important cargo. At the completion of the work, and with a full cargo of over six hundred and fifty troops, fifty seven horses, twenty six mules and three camels, the journey from Suez took two days, and included a customary twenty one gun salute on arrival. As part of her precious cargo, the Hardinge carried gold and silver for Sherif Hussein's Arabian Government amounting to £250,900, the equivalent of £10,000,000 today.

Dorset Treats

West Lulworth

The family gathered for Christmas 2012 in Dorset where we rented a delightful thatched cottage in the picturesque village of West Lulworth. Apart from a few research trips, it was our first time back to the UK for any significant period for over ten years. Happily my daughter had chosen a property that would evoke fond memories of bygone times. Christmas decorations that once adorned our own cottage in a small village three miles outside of Canterbury were shipped back over from Spain to decorate an inglenook fireplace that was eerily reminiscent of one I once owned. The oak bressummer beam, the brickwork, the log pile – it was all there, tricking me into thinking that time had stood still and it was the year 2000 again and the last English Christmas before we embarked on our big adventure. 

Lulworth Cove

A short walk from the cottage took us to the sheltered Lulworth Cove, once a flourishing smugglers’ haunt, and a starting point for some pleasant walks over the hills - in one direction to Durdle Door (on Christmas morning!) and in the other across Army Firing Range Walks to the Arish Mell cliffs which overlook the now inaccessible beach. It was here that T.E. Lawrence swam with his friend, Arthur Russell, the so-called ‘Patroclus’ of the small group of friends who regularly convened at Lawrence’s cottage, Clouds Hill. Russell was one of the pall bearers at Lawrence’s funeral, representing the Tank Corps period of his life alongside Stewart Newcombe as the representative of the Arabian years. 

Dorset and the West Country were mostly under water this winter so a walk to the local pub was more of an accomplishment than merely as a means of seeking entertainment or sustenance. But once reached there’s nothing quite like basking in the amazing breadth and scope of family conversations that comes from sitting for a couple of hours in a traditional pub supping pints of bitter beer while flood water flows through the kitchens!

Clouds Hill

Nearby, Lawrence’s Clouds Hill was looking forlorn and exposed, locked up for the winter and with its gardens shorn of the rhododendrons that once gave it the privacy that Lawrence craved. A sign on the gate read that the National Trust was managing a particularly virulent disease that affects the rhododendron ponticum and has caused extensive damage to trees, garden shrubs and heath plants throughout the west of the UK. Replanting with rhododendron hybrids and other native evergreens is planned to continue throughout the winter. At the moment, it looks as if a tank has veered off course and wrought havoc in the garden, creating an effective fire-guard against the heath fires that were a constant worry during Lawrence’s time. 

I had hoped to gain semi-private access to the cottage and was indeed given dates that unfortunately did not coincide with my time in the UK. The staff at the NT were very helpful in their suggestions but due to the festive holidays we were unable to make it happen. Colonel Newcombe had provided building materials and advice to Lawrence during the refurbishment of the cottage and I wanted to see if I could match his suggestions to the finished improvements. 

Newcombe had innovative ideas on heating homes and buildings. In an era when insulation in properties in the UK was not commonplace, he came up with practical suggestions that were ahead of his time. Where heat efficiency in the construction of buildings could not be improved, he developed a parallel idea that was explained in his paper of August 1954, Comfort and Cost of Heating Persons, Not Room Efficiency, which was sent out to relevant organisations and experts for their consideration and general discussion. Clouds Hill lacked any insulation and was served by two fireplaces and a ready supply of firewood. But to its owner it was ‘an earthly paradise,’ its simplicity reflecting his wishes. As he wrote to the artist and sculptor, Eric Kennington: ‘There cannot ever be a bed, a cooking vessel, or a drain in it - and I ask you... are not such things essential to life... necessities?’ A boiler and a bath was as good as it got for its owner who craved the luxury of hot water.

At Bovington Camp, the Tank Museum’s extensive collection was overwhelming. Its archive staff kindly brought out of storage the John Mansfield Crealock portrait of Newcombe - a real Christmas treat for both Newcombe and I, especially as he rarely sees the light of day.

See also: Recently discovered oil painting of S.F. Newcombe

Whether my family realised it or not, Christmas food shopping in Wareham was always going to be interrupted by a small detour to the local outfitters – A.F. Joy at 35 North Street - to pick up the key to the Saxon-era St. Martin’s Church where Kennington’s reclining effigy of Lawrence is undoubtedly the highlight, although the fragmented frescoes dating from the 12, 16 and 17th Centuries are certainly going to impress. 

Kennington's Effigy

There’s something about having the key to the church door and being responsible for locking up afterwards that reminded me of Derek Nimmo, an actor well-known for playing clerical roles (All Gas and Gaiters, Oh, Brother!, and its sequel Oh, Father! – I once interviewed him for a Dubai magazine as he was a regular visitor with his touring company, InterContinental Entertainment). The key was returned to the manager of the outfitters who is also the Church Warden, Merville Gover – the only man I have ever met that appears completely at ease with a measuring tape around his neck – and who readily gave me a copy of Lawrence’s birth and death certificates (for free) plus for a small fee a copy of Lawrence of Arabia, The Simple Facts by a former mayor of Wareham, Harry Broughton. 

Cheese, pickles and bread bought from the local farmers’ market down by the quay on the swollen River Frome would make a tasty lunch but before that I took the family for tea and crumpets at the Anglebury House Tea Rooms. Little did they know that this is where Lawrence supposedly took tea at a favourite window table. As we were the only people present we made ourselves comfortable and got into conversation with a friendly local who gave us directions to the best butcher in town. 

Reaching Dorchester via detours around flooded roads was necessary for those last minute purchases but with Christmas shopping done, the big day finally arrived. We walked over hills, we ate, we laughed, we slept, we ate again, we visited family, we drank, and then on Boxing Day I revealed a cunning plan – refreshments in the award-winning Moreton Tea Rooms. Nothing to do with Lawrence, honest!

It was raining and St.Nicholas’ Church, Moreton, was empty with a diffused light coming through the superb engraved windows created by Laurence Whistler, a post-Lawrence-era addition following partial destruction of the church by a fleeing German bomber in WW2. 

Constant companions

Lawrence’s grave is located a few metres away down a leafy country lane in an extension to the graveyard. It is approached by a brick path paid for by the T.E. Lawrence Society and can be found at the back of a well-maintained site. Someone had even placed a Welsh flag in a corner of his grave by his feet. The red dragon fluttered stiffly in the chill afternoon wind connecting Lawrence of Arabia, of Oxford, of Carchemish and finally of Dorset to Tremadog in Wales, his place of birth. To the left of the headstone was a bench donated by Arthur Russell over twenty years ago and engraved with the name Patroclus, the constant companion of Achilles in Greek mythology.

For Lawrence, Christmas in the ranks as a single man held little appeal. He once wrote to George Bernard Shaw's wife, Charlotte: 'Mankind punishes himself with such festivals.' Barracks became 'wet' and the men boisterous; Lawrence preferred to take his turn at guard duty to escape the excitement. 

In 1932, Lady Astor gifted him two heat lamps to warm the cottage and keep the damp off his books. The following Christmas he wrote to say how successful they had been. He then described how he had spent this year: ‘On Christmas day it was mild and grey,’ he wrote, ‘so we walked for fourteen miles and dinnered off a tinned chicken. The long walk made it taste good.’ 

Fourteen miles! Perhaps he walked across to the coast, maybe down to Lulworth which was generally off limits without a pass, past 'our' cottage with its smoking chimney to ‘smile at the sea.’ He once complained that it was too cold to bathe in the cove except in the rain. Then there were the gulls ‘questing through the spume’. He wrote: ‘They have the saddest, most cold, disembodied voices in the world.’

Our Christmas was nearly over. The weather had been Dorset weather. Lawrence accurately summed it up: 'wind and rain: rain and wind: wind: rain: and so on.' Corfe, with its castle, had a good pub. Still to be explored were Weymouth, Bournemouth, and Southampton, each with its Lawrence connections. It's easy to be sidetracked but it was time to go home to the sun. Happy days! 

Recently discovered oil painting of Colonel S.F. Newcombe

By John Mansfield CREALOCK, R.H.A., 1871-1959

S.F.N by John Crealock, 1938

This fabulous oil on canvas portrait of Stewart Newcombe was painted in 1938 by John Mansfield Crealock and is held by the Tank Museum at Bovington, Wareham. It was gifted to the museum in 1988 by Dr G. E. Moloney of the Radcliffe Infirmary where Newcombe was treated prior to his death. Unfortunately, it is not on public display and has languished unseen for many years in the Museum's reserve collection until an image of the painting was recently posted on the BBC's Your Paintings website. Viewing can be arranged by prior application to the curator (see contact details below). The museum is well worth a visit as it holds the finest and most historically significant collection of tanks in the world. From the first tank, Little Willie, to the modern Challenger 2, the Tank Museum’s definitive collection comprises over 250 vehicles and thousands of supporting artefacts from across the globe.

The portrait of Colonel Newcombe is beautifully executed and Crealock has captured the stature of the sitter at the age of sixty years old as he actively worked on the Palestine issue, tackling his own government as it moved towards partition in the region. His hair is grey but there is still a hint of red to his familiar moustache, as well as a touch of humour shown in his eyes.

The artist John Mansfield Crealock was born in Manchester, went to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and served in the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) in the Boer War. He attained the rank of Captain before resigning at the age of 26 in May 1897 to become an artist. He later studied at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1901-04 and exhibited at the Royal Academy, Goupil Gallery, and New English Arts Club.  

He was living at 24 Beaufort Mansions, Beaufort Street, Chelsea, prior to rejoining his old regiment the Foresters for service in the First World War.  He inherited several journals and sketchbooks from his father and his uncle, both soldier artists, which he donated to their regimental museums. He died in Hove in 1959, 'fortified by the rites of the Holy Church'. 

His father was John North Crealock, Military Assistant to Lord Chelmsford and a war artist at the time of the Battle of Isandlwana ( 22 January 1879), the first major encounter between the British Empire and the Kingdom of Zululand in the Anglo-Zulu War. He is celebrated for his pen-and-ink drawings that were scribbled hastily into a sketch-book propped on the pommel of his saddle. His images depicting the carnage at Isandlwana were the first to reach London and the pages of the daily press, shocking an incredulous Victorian public. Many of these drawings appeared in the Illustrated London News of the time.  He later appeared at the Public Enquiry on Isandhlwana. 

John North's elder brother, Henry Hope Crealock, was also an artist, and had, for a spell, left the army in an abortive and futile effort to earn a living as a painter in Rome.

A visit to the Tank Museum can be easily combined with one to the home of T.E. Lawrence at Clouds Hill. It was on the road between Bovington and Clouds Hill that Lawrence was fatally injured on 13th May 1935 in a motorcycle accident. He died in the Bovington camp hospital six days later. Stewart Newcombe attended the inquest into Lawrence's death at the camp and was a pall bearer at the funeral.

Contact the museum at:

The Tank Museum
Bovington, Dorset, BH20 6JG

Tel: 01929 405096 - Fax: 01929 405360

Website: www.tankmuseum.org Email: info@tankmuseum.org

The Tank Museum is open daily 10.00 - 17.00

Christmas closure dates: The Tank Museum will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day.