E-text prepared by David Clarke, Linda Hamilton, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/toronto) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 34069-h.htm or 34069-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/34069/pg34069-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34069/34069-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See http://www.archive.org/details/akutprisoner00bishuoft A KUT PRISONER On Active Service Series [Illustration: KASTAMUNI] [Illustration: THE CASTLE ROCK (KASTAMUNI)] A KUT PRISONER by H. C. W. BISHOP London: John Lane, The Bodley Head New York: John Lane Company. MCMXX Printed by the Anchor Press Ltd., Tiptree, Essex, England. TO THE MEMORY OF ALL THOSE BRITISH AND INDIAN OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE KUT GARRISON WHO HAVE SUFFERED AND DIED IN CAPTIVITY THIS BOOK IS REVERENTLY DEDICATED INTRODUCTION The experiences related in the following pages are simply the individual fortunes of a subaltern of the Indian Army Reserve of Officers who had his first taste of fighting at the battle of Ctesiphon, and was afterwards taken prisoner by the Turks with the rest of the Kut Garrison, ultimately succeeding in escaping from Asia Minor. It is not intended to generalize in any way, since an individual, unless of exalted rank, sees as a rule only his own small environment and cannot pretend to speak for the majority of his comrades. The book is published in the hope that it may prove of interest to the many relatives and friends of the Kut prisoners. Acknowledgments are due to Messrs. Blackwood, the _Times of India_, and the _Pioneer_ for their kind permission to republish those chapters which originally appeared in these papers. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. CTESIPHON 1 II. KUT 14 III. FROM KUT TO KASTAMUNI 34 IV. LIFE IN KASTAMUNI 80 V. ESCAPE FROM KASTAMUNI 104 VI. THE FIRST NIGHT 115 VII. ON THE HILLS 126 VIII. SLOW PROGRESS 135 IX. BLUFFING THE PEASANTS 147 X. REACHING THE COAST 158 XI. RECAPTURED 166 XII. RESCUED 174 XIII. IN HIDING WITH THE TURKS 184 XIV. CONTINUED DELAYS 194 XV. THREE DAYS ON THE BLACK SEA 208 XVI. THE CRIMEA AND HOME 219 XVII. FRIENDS IN CAPTIVITY 230 APPENDIX A 235