Four-Fifty Miles to FreedomJohnston, Maurice Andrew Brackenreed
History
Four-Fifty Miles to Freedom
Johnston, Maurice Andrew Brackenreed
Prisoner-of-war escapes; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Turkish
On reaching the bottom of the ravine in safety, we allowed ourselves
nearly an hour's rest before we followed the slope of the stream. This
in the main continued to take us in a south-easterly direction, though
at times it ran due east. Along the bottom ran a rough and stony track,
crossing frequently from one side of the river-bed to the other as the
valley twisted and turned. At many points, too, it had been overgrown
by the thick brushwood which had sprung up in the scanty soil at the
foot of the ravine, and often we had to push our way through.
By this time, in fact, marching was altogether a most painful
performance. Our footgear was at an end. Uppers had all but broken away
from the soles, which were nearly worn through, so that walking over
stones was a refined torture. After two hours' going in the ravine we
saw a side valley running into the left bank. Here was a camel with two
foals, which were picking up a scanty living in the main river-bed. We
also heard the bells of goats and the voice of a small boy shouting
to them somewhere on the top of the ravine. Assuming there was a tent
village not far off, we made as little noise as possible. Nothing
however appeared. Towards six o'clock we came to a very sharp bend,
where the track we had been following climbed up the side of the ravine
in a southerly direction. At the time we debated whether to follow the
track or the river-bed, and finally decided on the latter course. As we
proceeded, the bed became rougher and rougher and the track less and
less defined, and just before dark we halted. We had walked for many
hours that day, but could only credit ourselves with five miles in the
right direction.
Moonlight, for which we had decided to wait, did not reach us in our
canyon till after 2 A.M. next morning, though the moon itself
had risen some time before. In the meantime we had cooked a little
porridge and obtained a few hours' sleep. Now we retraced our steps
till we came to where the track had left the ravine, and up this we
climbed into the open.
At the top we found ourselves in an old graveyard near a few deserted
and ruined huts. Halting for five or six minutes, we ate a few
mouthfuls of food and lightened our water-bottles. We then followed
the track till 5 A.M., when we came to another deserted
village. Near this was a well; so we replenished our stock, and halted
in some thick scrub a few hundred yards farther on. Here Grunt, to his
consternation, discovered that he had lost a small cloth bag containing
one and a half chupatties and two sovereigns. The loss of the coins
was nothing, but the bread was all-important. Grunt therefore decided
to go back to the deserted village near the graveyard, where he had
last eaten from the bag, and Nobby went with him. A couple of hours
later the searchers returned with the coveted bag, and said they
had seen the sea; the rest could raise no enthusiasm, and were very
sceptical.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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