User:Nedrutland/Stewart Francis Newcombe

Lt Col Stewart Francis Newcombe (1878 – 1956) was a Royal Engineers officer, who was an associate of T.E. Lawrence.

S.F. Newcombe was born in Brecon, Wales, the son of Edward Newcombe, and educated at Christ's Hospital and Felsted. He entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich where he was awarded the Sword of Honour. Commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1898, he served in the Second Boer War. He served with the Egyptian army from May 1901 until 1911.

In 1913 and the early part of 1914, following short spells at the War Office, he carried out a survey across the Sinai Peninsula to Beersheba, under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund He was joined by Leonard Woolley and T.E. Lawrence who had been appointed as archaeological experts. The Negev was of strategic importance, as it would have to be crossed by any Ottoman army attacking Egypt in the event of war and the survey updated mapping of the area, showing features of military relevance such as water sources. This began a long  friendship and collaboration with Lawrence of Arabia.

When Turkey entered the First World War he was sent out to Egypt as assistant to Gilbert Clayton, who was head of both the Military and Political Intelligence Services there. Among the picked group of officers who worked with Newcombe were George Lloyd, Aubrey Herbert, Woolley and Lawrence. Newcombe served at Gallipoli from September 1915 until January 1916, and was awarded the D.S.O.; “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty near Anzac, Gallipoli Peninsula, on 29th October, 1915. During rescue operations he entered a mine tunnel soon after the first casualties were reported, and, although suffering from the effects of fumes, he continued to lead rescue parties till he was completely disabled by the gas. One officer lost his life on this occasion in the attempt at rescue.”

At the end of 1916 he was appointed Chief of the British Military Mission with the Sharif of Mecca's forces in the Hejaz where he again worked with Lawrence and played a key role in the Arab Revolt. After the capture of Wejh, the demolition raids on the Hejaz railway were largely his work.

Newcombe was captured during the 3rd Battle of Gaza after he led a party of seventy men of the Imperial Camel Corps behind enemy lines north of Beersheba to cut the Hebron road. His force was surrounded and forced to surrender around 3 November 1917.

Newcombe was imprisoned in Constantinople with General Townshend. He escaped from a Prisoner-of-war camp at Brusa with the aid of a French woman, Mlle Elizabeth Chaki, and went into hiding in Constantinople. Rauf Orbay took Newcombe carrying draft peace proposals to be met by HMS Liverpool.

Newcombe married Elsie Chaki in London in April 1919. Their son, born 1920, was christened Stuart Lawrence in honour of T.E. Lawrence who agreed to be the boy's godfather. Newcombe was one of the six pall-bearers at Lawrence's funeral in 1935. The daughter Diana, born 1921, became Baroness Elles.

He went to Malta in 1929 as Chief Engineer, retiring in 1932.

His medals were sold at auction in 1992 but were then revealed to have been stolen in 1955.