Prisoners of the Turks (First World War)

Officers who were captured were generally treated better than “other ranks”, who almost always experienced terrible conditions, often leading to death.

Spelling variants

Afyonkarahisar (modern name), Afyon Karahisar, Afyon Kara Hisar, Afyon, Afion-Kara-Hissar, Afion Karahissar, Afium-Kara-hissar, Afyon

Mesopotamia

For many accounts of members of the allied forces taken prisoner in Mesopotamia, especially after the fall of Kut, see Mesopotamia Campaign-External links and Historical books online

Additional information

External links

• Finding Aid: Foreign Office Files (FO 383) at the National Archives: Regarding Military & Civilian Prisoners of War: List of Files and Contents: 1915-1919. Compiled September 2014 by seaforths. Contains a FIND (Search) function. onedrive.live.com. Contains references such as "FO 383/090 1915 Description: Turkey: Prisoners, including…"
• "Prisoners of War (Ottoman Empire/Middle East)" by Yücel Yanıkdağ . Scroll down to the section "Entente Prisoners of War in the Ottoman Empire" encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net. The mortality rate of the British and Dominion prisoners in Ottoman captivity was very high.
• Pursuit of an 'Unparalleled Opportunity': The American YMCA and Prisoner of War Diplomacy among the Central Power Nations during World War I 1914-1923 by Kenneth Steuer, written as a dissertation in 2008. Website of Gutenberg-e, a program of the American Historical Association and Columbia University Press.
  • Turkish Prison Camps. Click on the map for a list of the camps in Turkey.
• Narrative of John Wheat c 1914-1918, who was a torpedoman on the Australian submarine A.E.2 which was sunk 30 April 1915 in the Sea of Marmora (Gallipoli), taken prisoner by the Germans, and subsequently became a prisoner of war in Turkey, working on the construction of the Baghdad Railway. Transcribed by, and from the collection of the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW. Photographs and postcards from his album Click on the tab “Online” to display 8 items.
• From the Sea of Marmara to the North Gate of Baghdad: The Story of Four HMAS AE2 Crew Members The crew was taken into captivity by the Turks. mhhv.org.au
• Sergeant Maurice George Delpratt, 5th Light Horse Regiment, A I F
  • The Delpratt war helenhambling.com
  • Maurice George Delpratt Correspondence, A Turkish Prisoner Of War State Library of Queensland, with Correspondence Includes digital images.
  • Afyonkarahisar… Curiously, it all turns out well in the end July 24, 2013. A Mevlevi (Dervish) Museum has information relating to Afyon’s key role in WWI for both the Turkish military, and for Allied POWs. helenhambling.com
  • A goat track to the Holy Grail… July 31, 2013. A journey to Belemedik and Hacikir, in the Taurus Mountains, sites of the camps where POWs worked on the railway tunnels for the Berlin to Baghdad Railway. helenhambling.com
• "The forgotten Anzacs: ‘honoured guests’ of the Sultan" 24 April 2014 theconversation.com. This article also mentions Indian POWs.

Historical books online

• Prisoners of the red desert, being a full and true history of the men of the "Tara" by Captain Rupert Stanley Gwatkin-Williams RN 1919 Archive.org. HMS Tara was sunk by a German submarine near Sollum, Egypt in 1915. The surviving crew were handed over to the Senussi, allies of the Turks and were held prisoners at Bir Hakkim (Bir el Hakim) in Libya until rescued in 1916 in dramatic circumstances by British Armoured Cars under the command of the Duke of Westminster.
• Eastern Nights--and Flights; a Record of Oriental Adventure by Alan Bott 1920 Archive.org The author was a scout pilot in Palestine, who became, after his plane crashed in 1918 a prisoner of the Turks, eventually in Afion-Kara-Hissar in Turkey. Alan Bott Wikipedia.
• In Brigands' Hands and Turkish Prisons, 1914-1918 by A Forder 1920 Archive.org The author was an American missionary who was taken prisoner in Jerusalem in November 1914 and jailed by the military. He was a prisoner in Damascus for four years until the British occupation.
• Agreement between the British and Ottoman governments respecting prisoners of war and civilians Presented to Parliament April 1918 HMSO. Archive.org
• National Archives of Australia files, mainly consisting of copies of files from the British Foreign Office. Search the NAA collection
  • 1916 Correspondence File S9/364 (4 pages)
  • Prisoners of War Camps in Turkey File 1917/69/526 (8 pages)
  • File 1917/89/397 (185 pages)
  • Australians captured in Turkey (40 pages) Alphabetical list with details. This is an Australian file.
  • Mortality among Prisoners of War in Turkey :1918 correspondence File 1918/89/724 (20 pages)
  • Agreements with Turkey (67) pages ((Australian) Prime Minister’s Department file) Includes treatment of the British Prisoners of War working for the Baghdad Railway Construction Company in Belemedik in the Taurus Mountains. Also prisoners from Kut who suffered terrible conditions.
  • Prisoners of War in Turkey Includes a copy of Reports on Conditions in Turkish Prisons, HMSO, presented to the British Parliament 1919. File 1919/89/298 (37 pages)
  • Narrative: Two and a half Years a prisoner of war in Turkey Related by Trooper GW Handsley, [2nd Light Horse] Written by Serj. JH Foster 1919. 39 pages. The narrative is pages 7-39. This is an Australian file.