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
It is a fairly well-known fact that in the East if villagers are driven
away from their homes for any cause, such as a punitive expedition,
they usually take steps to bury any valuables which they are unable
to carry away, the most common of which is grain. We had bethought
ourselves of the deserted village some miles back, near to which we
had halted just before our first glimpse of the sea. It occurred to us
that the occupants might have been compelled by the Turkish authorities
to quit on the outbreak of war, as being within too short a distance
of the coast. In this case, then, there might be food there, buried
or otherwise concealed. In this, providentially, we were to find
ourselves not mistaken, although the search party set off with little
hopes of success.
It required a five-mile climb up the series of ridges to reach the
village, and the track was very rough to the feet. On the previous day
even the descent had been trying enough in the oppressive heat which
seemed to prevail on the coast; so the ascent was doubly so. Moreover,
the village itself did not come into view until one was within a mile
of it, and as there were remains of other tracks branching off at
frequent intervals, it was not easy for the Old Man and Perce to keep
to the right one. Great was their relief when, after a good deal of
wandering, they found themselves safely within the farm enclosure; for
really the "village" comprised only one house with its outbuildings,
all within a square walled enclosure.
There seemed to be no one about, so they set to work to force the
rough country locks with which all the doors were fastened. They
had brought the little adze with them, and for this work it was
invaluable, although its steel edge was not thereby improved. One of
the upstair living-rooms was first invaded. On entering they found
the floor bare, but cupboards and lockers in the wall stuffed full of
a wonderful variety of things--rolls of cloth (obviously made on the
spot, for there were remains of the looms), coarse cotton-wool, a few
handkerchiefs, cobbler's materials and tools, an old coffee-grinder in
pieces, some hoop-iron, an enamelled mug, a dozen wooden spoons, and a
miscellaneous collection of odds and ends such as seem to collect in
all houses, English and Turkish alike. The only items of present value
were the handkerchiefs, a little prepared leather, the mug, and some of
the spoons. These they removed, and by dint of looking into many small
cloth bags found something of greater value--namely, a couple of pounds
of dry powdery cheese, and as much salt as we were likely to want if we
stayed on the coast for a month.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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