Lawrence of Arabia Medal
The Lawrence of Arabia Medal (also known as the Lawrence Memorial Medal) was an award conferred by the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA).[1]
History
The Lawrence of Arabia Medal was established in 1935 in honour of T. E. Lawrence[1][2] to recognise "work of outstanding merit in the fields of exploration, research or literature" by British subjects. The design of the medal was by Eric Kennington.[1]
In 2025, the RSAA decided that, as the medal honoured activities that were mainly connected with Britain's imperial past, and because it had been awarded only infrequently in recent decades, it should be discontinued.[1]
Recipients
The medal was awarded 32 times between 1936 and 2016:[1]
- 1936: John Bagot Glubb
- 1937: Charles Bell
- 1938: Claude Scudamore Jarvis
- 1939: Harold Ingrams and Doreen Ingrams
- 1940: Frederick Peake
- 1941: C. E. Corry[3]
- 1942: Mildred Cable
- 1943: Orde Wingate
- 1944: Ursula Graham Bower
- 1947: Charles Pawsey
- 1948: Henry Holland[4]
- 1949: Freddie Spencer Chapman
- 1953: John Hunt, Baron Hunt
- 1954: Wilfred Thesiger
- 1960: Violet Dickson
- 1961: Stephen Hemsley Longrigg
- 1964: Nevill Barbour
- 1965: Hugh Boustead
- 1966: Charles Belgrave
- 1971: Seton Lloyd[5]
- 1986: Sandy Gall
- 2016: Michael Asher
References
- ^ a b c d e "The Lawrence Memorial Medal". Royal Society for Asian Affairs. 2025. Archived from the original on 2025-11-28. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
- ^ "Lawrence of Arabia: medal". December 18, 1936 – via The National Archives (UK).
- ^ "Dundee Evening Telegraph". 16 December 1941. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Capt. C- E. Corry, of the Iraq Police, has been awarded the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal for his work in tribal country.
- ^ Dow, Huch (October 18, 1966). "Obituary". Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society. 53 (1): 109–111. doi:10.1080/03068376608731940.
- ^ "Lawrence of Arabia medal". Asian Affairs. 3 (1): 68. February 18, 1972. doi:10.1080/03068377208729608.