World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
most polite. We were searched, and our maps and compasses and diaries
taken, except from K., who managed to smuggle his map through. My
original compass, not being recognized as such, was not taken.
Sweet told us that on first landing he had seen the commandant of the
local _gendarmerie_, whom he had no difficulty in bluffing, as the
skipper had foretold. Sweet told him we were on our way to the Caucasus
to help in preparing a coming offensive for the Turks. He took all this
in and Sweet was congratulating himself that our troubles were over.
After giving Sweet coffee he said, no doubt, we would now like to be
going on our way to Samsun. Sweet agreed, and they were just coming back
to rejoin us when the Yuzbashi mentioned that there was a colonel who
was commandant of the town and that he would probably like to see Sweet
before he left. The fat was then in the fire. Sweet proffered our
passport, but the colonel was suspicious and a Turkish naval officer
whom he called in confirmed his ideas that we were British. The colonel
told us later that there were two mistakes in our passport, which
otherwise he evidently thought was quite good. He had our names and had
been warned of our escape some two or three days after we had left
Kastamuni.
The yuzbashi, finding how thoroughly he had been bluffed, was now
equally frantic in his wrath. We were said to be going off that day to
Sinope, and he was already preparing to handcuff us together in pairs.
Luckily, the colonel turned up in time to prevent this. Most of our
money was now taken and a receipt given to us for it. A little later we
were told we were not going that day and were given a better room in the
police station. The chaoush was very pleased with himself and told us he
was going to accompany us to Kastamuni. He, also, it appeared, had been
warned of our escape and, having passed through Kastamuni recently,
probably suspected us more quickly than he would otherwise have done.
The colonel came in to see us, and endeavoured to find out as much as he
could from us as to which way we had come and how we had got food, but
we told him very little. We got some food sent in and finally lay down
on the floor for the night. Tip was now suffering again from his
previous complaint, and we insisted that a doctor should be brought.
However, no one was forthcoming. Next morning we were allowed to go
into the bazaar to buy a few things needful, and on our return were told
to get ready to march at once. A small donkey was brought up and on this
we loaded our kit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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