THE SECRETS OF A KUTTITE BY THE SAME AUTHOR AN EMPIRE VIEW OF THE EMPIRE TANGLE With an Introduction by the RT. HON. W. F. MASSEY THE PLACE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN JURISPRUDENCE [Illustration: "CTESIPHON" (THE FAMOUS ARCH WHERE THE WOUNDED WERE GATHERED AT THE HEIGHT OF THE BATTLE)] THE SECRETS OF A KUTTITE AN AUTHENTIC STORY OF KUT, ADVENTURES IN CAPTIVITY AND STAMBOUL INTRIGUE BY CAPTAIN E. O. MOUSLEY, R.F.A. LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXXII SECOND EDITION PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. THE TREK No pause, no rest! Forward the column pushes Across the stern and unproductive plain-- And Thirst, Satan's archfiend, darts at the brain And the weight of the great heat their spirit crushes To deeper silence and the tired feet bleed-- While the ruthless Turk with yells and sometimes blows Urges them on beside his impatient steed To a Future where and how no soldier knows Beyond the dust-cloud on the horizon's rim, Beyond the range of Hope--to memories grim. But neither desert thirst nor fiercest sun Nor dust-storms, nor the unknown miles ahead Can touch their heart or clog its valves with dread-- These English lads that fought at Ctesiphon. "SPARKLING MOSELLE." From _Smoke_, the Kastamuni _Punch_. TO MY MOTHER PREFACE The following pages were actually written during the siege of Kut or during captivity. The original manuscript was concealed in Turkey and recovered months after the Armistice. I have been persuaded by my friends that to recast or add to the story would detract from whatever appeal it may have as a human document. As such, with all its limitations, it is offered to the public. The exigencies of a captivity such as mine, even more than in the field, determine from moment to moment one's focus and perspective, and what to-day presents itself for record is to-morrow ignored or forgotten by concentration on the few things and the few moments that count. Added to this there is for the prisoner the pressure of existence when, so far from being allowed a pencil, he is considerably occupied with selling his last fork. One moves on from minute to minute between walls that recede or converge, and one's experience, therefore, is a series of incidents often unfinished. A diary must reflect one's experience. The secrets of every Kuttite would "make many books" as large as this. And from an experience more varied than fell to the lot of many prisoners the author hopes that the following extract, a simple story of incident, adventure and intrigue, may interest the British reader. EDWARD O. MOUSLEY. OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE CLUB, PALL MALL, _March, 1921_. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE ix PART I TO THE FALL OF KUT, APRIL 29TH, 1916