As the British and Sharifian forces sought a way to overtake the Ottoman forces at Aqaba, the British decided to send Captain (later Colonel) T. E. Lawrence (commonly referred to as “Lawrence of Arabia”) to help Faysal lead his forces.[6] Lawrence's plan was to make the Ottomans think that the Arabs were planning on attacking Damascus by creating a few diversions, including the destruction of a railroad bridge in Baalbek. Upon arrival in Aqaba on July 6, 1917, the Sharifian forces brutally massacred about three hundred Ottomans before their superiors could get them under control. Another 150 Ottoman troops were taken prisoner and after a few subsequent small scale attacks by Ottomans, the Arab and British forces solidified control in Aqaba.[7] From this point onwards, the Sharifian Army fought at the side of the British armed forces that were coming from British-occupied Egypt.