World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
Turkish officers, as a rule, have very good manners and promise one
almost anything without the least idea of ever keeping their word. They
speak French with a very good accent, which makes one give them credit
for knowing a great deal more of that language than is usually the case.
It is quite impossible to describe the uniforms worn by officers, as one
so seldom sees two dressed alike. All material being so scarce and
expensive, uniforms were made from almost anything, and there being no
such person as a provost-marshal no one could interfere. Consequently,
one saw some officers dressed in a highly picturesque style, looking as
if they had just been taking a part in "The Chocolate Soldier" or "The
Balkan Princess," and others whom one could only recognize from
shopkeepers by their badges of rank.
The Greek interpreter was the first one of the original staff to depart.
After him, two very much better fellows were sent us. One of these was a
young Turk named Remzi, who had been a naval cadet in Constantinople
when the war broke out--and still cherished the fond hope of one day
being an officer in the British Navy, for which he had the most profound
veneration. Unfortunately, in trying to help us, he wrote to
Constantinople; got into trouble with his seniors, and was sent away.
We were thus left with the second man, an Armenian, who was always
called "Napoleon" from his likeness to the Great Man. Napoleon was very
cautious, but, considering the difficulty of his own position, he did us
very well.
After our first commandant had disappeared, his successor arrived in the
shape of a very small, but very stout and cheery little man, named
Fattah Bey. He proved to be a very good fellow and things were soon
running much more pleasantly. A great point in his favour was that he
spoke German, and we were thus able to dispense with an interpreter.
Capt. H., of the I.A.R.O., took charge of him on most occasions, and
after we had had him a few weeks he was becoming quite pro-British.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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