Page "Gertrude Bell" Paragraph 13

On 3 March 1916, after hardly a moment's notice, Gen. Clayton sent Bell to Basra, which British forces had captured in November 1914, to advise Chief Political Officer Percy Cox regarding an area she knew better than any other Westerner.

She drew maps to help the British army reach Baghdad safely.

She became the only female political officer in the British forces and received the title of " Liaison Officer, Correspondent to Cairo " ( i. e. to the Arab Bureau where she had been assigned ).

She was Harry St. John Philby's field controller, and taught him the finer arts of behind-the-scenes political manoeuvering.