World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
We had arrived at Afion so completely penniless that the Turkish
Commandant, at our request, sent a wire to the American Ambassador
asking for money. The Ambassador rose to the occasion and sent up £Tq.3
a head. Prices had already begun the giddy climb I have already
indicated, and our Turkish pay was already hardly enough to keep body
and soul together. The three pounds became a monthly grant, later it was
increased to five, and before we left Turkey it had become eighteen. Let
no one think that on this we were rich. But it was a great thing to feel
that our plight was not forgotten.
Some of the adventures that had landed prisoners at Angora have been
briefly described. Let me give a few of those that had brought others
to Afion. The first I must mention is that of an Australian observer,
for it tells of a very gallant deed performed by one of our enemies, and
even the bitterness of war should not be allowed to obscure glorious
deeds. In December one of our aeroplanes crashed into the sea about a
mile, more or less, from the coast of the Gallipoli peninsula held by
the Turks. The pilot sank, but the observer was buoyed up by his
life-saving waistcoat until he lost consciousness in the bitterly cold
water. When he came to his senses again he found himself ashore, a
prisoner, and he was told that a German officer had swum out and brought
him in: swum out into that December sea to save an enemy. Let that stand
to the credit of Germany, and the other story I shall tell to the
discredit of Turkey. It is the tale of Joe, a sturdy Yorkshire sailor
man, a naval reserve officer, who was sent into a bay on the southern
coast of Anatolia in command of a boat. They hoped to locate a submarine
base, but they were ambushed instead. Joe was hit in the neck by a great
lump of a Snyder bullet, which had first passed through the side of the
boat. The survivors were captured, and Joe, who rode as a sailor,
travelled many painful miles on horseback. He was operated on in the
most primitive fashion, by being held down by soldiers while a Turkish
doctor lugged the bullet by main force from its lodging place at the
base of his jaw. Finally he reached the civilised town of Smyrna, and
was there confined in the local war office, a large building facing one
of the main streets. Just below his window was the window of the office
used by the Commandant of the place. For three days and nights Joe was
not allowed out of that room for any purpose whatsoever. There was no
convenience of any sort in the room, but all his demands to be allowed
out, even for five minutes, were met by a fixed bayonet. Still, there
was the window, and Joe was a clean person. Eventually the high and
mighty person in the room below complained, and his complaint brought
Joe’s sufferings to an end. It is disgusting to write of these things,
but captivity among a disgusting people is a disgusting fact. Why should
white books and blue books have the monopoly?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account