Lawrence of Arabias Brough.

I am just back from London, a long weekend visiting museums and interesting places. One of the stops was the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth.

In 1917 the Cabinet decided that a National War Museum should be set up to collect and display material relating to the Great War, which was still being fought. It was named the Imperial War Museum.

In 1936 the museum moved to its present home, formerly the Bethlem Royal Hospital, or ‘Bedlam’.

The first view inside the museum reminded me of my childhood room with all the planes hanging from the roof.

The museum has on display one of the world’s most iconic motorcycles:

  T.E. Lawrence had a passion for motorcycling, and rode the best and fastest he could find: the  Brough Superior. Lawrence owned eight Broughs in all.  On display at the IWM is the bike wich he died riding.

This is a 1932 1000cc SS100. In 1932 Brough Superior only produced 58 bikes.

The fatal accident happened in 1935, the bike was only slightly damaged in the accident and returned to the factory for repair.

Did they not replace the headlight rim?

This is the last known photo of Lawrence, on the displayed Brough, GW 2275.