Prisoners of the Turks (First World War): Difference between revisions

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Of approximately 2,962 white British officers and other ranks captured at Kut, 1,782 would go on to die in Ottoman captivity. Indian prisoners along with their white comrades, experienced a horrific death march from Kut-al-Amara to the northern railhead at Ras-el-Ain (in modern day Syria).<ref> "Prisoners of War" by Heather Jones.  encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net. 'Section 6: Mistreatment' contains information about prisoners in Turkey. See [[Prisoners of the Turks (First World War)#External links|External links, above]].</ref>  
Of approximately 2,962 white British officers and other ranks captured at Kut, 1,782 would go on to die in Ottoman captivity. Indian prisoners along with their white comrades, experienced a horrific death march from Kut-al-Amara to the northern railhead at Ras-el-Ain (in modern day Syria).<ref> "Prisoners of War" by Heather Jones.  encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net. 'Section 6: Mistreatment' contains information about prisoners in Turkey. See [[Prisoners of the Turks (First World War)#External links|External links, above]].</ref>  


There were camps in Kastamonu, Eskisehir, Capadoccia, Cankiri, Afion, Sivas, Yozgat, Hacikiri, Belemedik.<ref>Dogan Sahin [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1226&p=847997 Kut POW] ''Great War Forum'' 28 January 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2015.</ref> Some of these were work camps.
There were camps in Kastamonu, Eskisehir, Capadoccia, Cankiri, Afion, Sivas, Yozgat, Hacikiri, Belemedik.<ref>Dogan Sahin [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1226&p=847997 Kut POW] ''Great War Forum'' 28 January 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2015.</ref> Some of these were work camps, such as  Hacikiri and Belemedik in the Taurus Mountains.


Bagtsche, Airan and Entelli were railway work camps, under control of the German construction company, in the Amanus Mountains, (now Nur Mountains).  The section between  Bagtsche and Airan –Entilli was at kilometres “485,800-502,800”<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/geologiekleinasi00frec#page/50/mode/2up/search/Bagtsche Page 50] ''Geologie Kleinasiens im Bereich der Bagdadbahn'' by Fritz Frech 1916 Archive.org</ref>. William Fratel of the Indian Subordinate Medical Department, who had been captured at Kut, was court-martialled in England in 1919 for his actions  at Bagtsche.<ref>IPT [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=233239&hl=  Kut Cruelty - William Fratel] ''Great War Forum'' 5 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.</ref>
Bagtsche, Airan and Entelli were railway work camps, under control of the German construction company, in the Amanus Mountains, (now Nur Mountains).  The section between  Bagtsche and Airan –Entilli was at kilometres “485,800-502,800”<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/geologiekleinasi00frec#page/50/mode/2up/search/Bagtsche Page 50] ''Geologie Kleinasiens im Bereich der Bagdadbahn'' by Fritz Frech 1916 Archive.org</ref>. William Fratel of the Indian Subordinate Medical Department, who had been captured at Kut, was court-martialled in England in 1919 for his actions  at Bagtsche.<ref>IPT [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=233239&hl=  Kut Cruelty - William Fratel] ''Great War Forum'' 5 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.</ref>
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*Afyonkarahisar (modern name),  Afyon Karahisar, Afyon Kara Hisar, Afyon, Afion, Afionkarahissar, Afion-Kara-Hissar,  Afion Karahissar, Afioun Karahissar,  Afium-Kara-hissar.
*Afyonkarahisar (modern name),  Afyon Karahisar, Afyon Kara Hisar, Afyon, Afion, Afionkarahissar, Afion-Kara-Hissar,  Afion Karahissar, Afioun Karahissar,  Afium-Kara-hissar.
*Ankara, Angora
*Ankara, Angora
*Bor, Bora, Bore (Amanus Mountains)
*Bagtche, Bagche (Amanus Mountains)
*Bor, Bora, Bore   (north of the Taurus Mountains)
*Bozanti, Pozanti (Taurus Mountains)
*Bozanti, Pozanti (Taurus Mountains)
*Kiangri, Changri,  Çankırı, Cankiri, Cangara
*Kiangri, Changri,  Çankırı, Cankiri, Cangara
*Entelli, Entilli, Intilli, Intille, Intaley. A work camp in the Amanus Mountains.
*Entelli, Entilli, Intilli, Intille, Intaley. A work camp in the Amanus Mountains.
*Hacikiri, Hadschkiri, (the latter may be the German name), Hacýkýrý . A work camp in the Taurus Mountains.
*Hacikiri, Hadschkiri, (the latter may be the German name), Hacýkýrý . A work camp in the Taurus Mountains.
*Ngde,  Nigdeh (Amanus Mountains)
*Ngde,  Nigdeh (north of the Taurus Mountains)


==Mesopotamia==
==Mesopotamia==
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*Listen to the [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80008567 1985 inteview with Joseph William Lennox Napier], British officer served with the 4th Bn South Wales Borderers in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, 1914-1917; POW in Turkey, 1917-1918. Reel 2. iwm.org.uk
*Listen to the [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80008567 1985 inteview with Joseph William Lennox Napier], British officer served with the 4th Bn South Wales Borderers in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, 1914-1917; POW in Turkey, 1917-1918. Reel 2. iwm.org.uk
*[http://www.winkleighheroes.co.uk/level3/kutdeathmarch.htm Prisoners of the Turks: the fate of Frederick William Davey and Frank Turner following the surrender of Kut]  winkleighheroes.co.uk
*[http://www.winkleighheroes.co.uk/level3/kutdeathmarch.htm Prisoners of the Turks: the fate of Frederick William Davey and Frank Turner following the surrender of Kut]  winkleighheroes.co.uk
*[http://twgpp.org/downloads/news/TWGPP_Newsletter_Winter_2012.pdf Scroll to: "A Prisoner of the Turks"] by  Brian and Mari Walker,  Winter 2012 Newsletter ''The War Graves Photographic Project''. twgpp.org. Herbert George May 9th Light Horse Regiment 5th Reinforcement, died of disease at Ngde in the Amanus Mountains 26 September 1917. Private Colin Spencer Campbell, 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance was captured in Palestine 26-3-17, and was sent to Bagtche (Amanus Mountains) to work on the railway line, where discipline was harsh. He subsequently went to Jarbaschi, another working camp , and when sick with malaria, to Bore camp.
*[http://twgpp.org/downloads/news/TWGPP_Newsletter_Winter_2012.pdf Scroll to: "A Prisoner of the Turks"] by  Brian and Mari Walker,  Winter 2012 Newsletter ''The War Graves Photographic Project''. twgpp.org. Herbert George May 9th Light Horse Regiment 5th Reinforcement, died of disease at Ngde (north of the Taurus Mountains) 26 September 1917. Private Colin Spencer Campbell, 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance was captured in Palestine 26-3-17, and was sent to Bagtche (Amanus Mountains) to work on the railway line, where discipline was harsh. He subsequently went to Jarbaschi, another working camp , and when sick with malaria, to Bore camp (north of the Taurus Mountains).
====Historical books online====
====Historical books online====
*[http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/report-on-treatment-of-british-prisoners-of-war-in-turkey ''Miscellaneous No. 24 (1918): Report on the Treatment of British Prisoners of War in Turkey'']. Presented to Parliament  November 1918. HMSO 1918  IOR/L/MIL/7/18737  British Library  
*[http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/report-on-treatment-of-british-prisoners-of-war-in-turkey ''Miscellaneous No. 24 (1918): Report on the Treatment of British Prisoners of War in Turkey'']. Presented to Parliament  November 1918. HMSO 1918  IOR/L/MIL/7/18737  British Library  
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*Sample chapters from [http://www.saradistribution.com/otherranksofkut.htm ''Other Ranks of Kut''] by P. W. Long, M.M. Flight Sergeant R.A.F, 1938.  Transcription of the Preface,  Author’s Note,  Chapter One and Chapter Six only, with details of the titles of the remaining chapters. saradistribution.com.  The author was at the time Driver Percy Walter Long, 67528, 63rd Battery, R.F.A.<ref>[http://www.rushdenheritage.co.uk/war/longDriverPW.html Driver P. W. Long] 63rd Battery, R.F.A rushdenheritage.co.uk. [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31759/supplement/1230 The London Gazette Supplement] 27/30 January 1920, page 1230</ref> Long’s account starts on 30th April 1916, the day after the surrender of Kut.  From the preface by Sir Arnold Wilson, M.P.  “Of 2,592 British rank and file taken prisoner at Kut, 70 per cent died in captivity”. [http://www.naval-military-press.com/other-ranks-of-kut.html More about the book]
*Sample chapters from [http://www.saradistribution.com/otherranksofkut.htm ''Other Ranks of Kut''] by P. W. Long, M.M. Flight Sergeant R.A.F, 1938.  Transcription of the Preface,  Author’s Note,  Chapter One and Chapter Six only, with details of the titles of the remaining chapters. saradistribution.com.  The author was at the time Driver Percy Walter Long, 67528, 63rd Battery, R.F.A.<ref>[http://www.rushdenheritage.co.uk/war/longDriverPW.html Driver P. W. Long] 63rd Battery, R.F.A rushdenheritage.co.uk. [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31759/supplement/1230 The London Gazette Supplement] 27/30 January 1920, page 1230</ref> Long’s account starts on 30th April 1916, the day after the surrender of Kut.  From the preface by Sir Arnold Wilson, M.P.  “Of 2,592 British rank and file taken prisoner at Kut, 70 per cent died in captivity”. [http://www.naval-military-press.com/other-ranks-of-kut.html More about the book]
*[https://archive.org/details/anamericanphysic00usshuoft ''An American Physician in Turkey : a narrative of adventures in peace and in war''] by Clarence D Ussher and Grace H Knapp 1917 Archive.org. The author was a medical missionary. The chapters from  [https://archive.org/stream/anamericanphysic00usshuoft#page/212/mode/2up page 213] cover the war period.
*[https://archive.org/details/anamericanphysic00usshuoft ''An American Physician in Turkey : a narrative of adventures in peace and in war''] by Clarence D Ussher and Grace H Knapp 1917 Archive.org. The author was a medical missionary. The chapters from  [https://archive.org/stream/anamericanphysic00usshuoft#page/212/mode/2up page 213] cover the war period.
*[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=dtwDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA647 "Germany’s Railway Problems in Asiatic Turkey"]  by R J Bjurstedt page 647  ''Popular Mechanics'' May 1916. Google Books. Includes a map of the route of the Baghdad Railway.
*Baghdad Railway
**[https://archive.org/details/shortcuttoindiar00frasrich ''The Short Cut to India, the record of a journey along the route of the Baghdad Railway''] by David Fraser 1909 Archive.org. Includes a description of the areas where the railway had not then been constructed  such as the Taurus and Amanus  Mountains.
**[https://books.google.com.au/books?id=dtwDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA647 "Germany’s Railway Problems in Asiatic Turkey"]  by R J Bjurstedt page 647  ''Popular Mechanics'' May 1916. Google Books. Includes a map of the route of the Baghdad Railway.
**[https://archive.org/details/warbagdadrailway02jast ''The War and the Bagdad Railway; the story of Asia Minor and its relation to the present conflict''] by Morris Jastrow 3rd edition 1918 (first published 1917)  with a [https://archive.org/stream/warbagdadrailway02jast#page/n194/mode/1up  Map] showing the route of the railway


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 23:55, 7 November 2015

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

Of approximately 2,962 white British officers and other ranks captured at Kut, 1,782 would go on to die in Ottoman captivity. Indian prisoners along with their white comrades, experienced a horrific death march from Kut-al-Amara to the northern railhead at Ras-el-Ain (in modern day Syria).[1]

There were camps in Kastamonu, Eskisehir, Capadoccia, Cankiri, Afion, Sivas, Yozgat, Hacikiri, Belemedik.[2] Some of these were work camps, such as Hacikiri and Belemedik in the Taurus Mountains.

Bagtsche, Airan and Entelli were railway work camps, under control of the German construction company, in the Amanus Mountains, (now Nur Mountains). The section between Bagtsche and Airan –Entilli was at kilometres “485,800-502,800”[3]. William Fratel of the Indian Subordinate Medical Department, who had been captured at Kut, was court-martialled in England in 1919 for his actions at Bagtsche.[4]

In 1917 Angora (Ankara) became the centre of the working groups engaged in laying the narrow-gauge line towards Yozgad. [5]

Gedos was a parole camp on the shore of the Black Sea established late in 1917, where officers who gave their word that they would not escape were well treated.[6] Eskichehir and Konia were camps for Indian officers only. [7]

Transfers between different camps were common.[8]

A POW Museum has now been established at Afionkarahissar in the main (namazgah-chapel) section of the Madrasa[9]

Spelling variants

  • Afyonkarahisar (modern name), Afyon Karahisar, Afyon Kara Hisar, Afyon, Afion, Afionkarahissar, Afion-Kara-Hissar, Afion Karahissar, Afioun Karahissar, Afium-Kara-hissar.
  • Ankara, Angora
  • Bagtche, Bagche (Amanus Mountains)
  • Bor, Bora, Bore (north of the Taurus Mountains)
  • Bozanti, Pozanti (Taurus Mountains)
  • Kiangri, Changri, Çankırı, Cankiri, Cangara
  • Entelli, Entilli, Intilli, Intille, Intaley. A work camp in the Amanus Mountains.
  • Hacikiri, Hadschkiri, (the latter may be the German name), Hacýkýrý . A work camp in the Taurus Mountains.
  • Ngde, Nigdeh (north of the Taurus Mountains)

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

  • British Prisoners Of War House of Commons 12 October 1916. Lists the location of where British prisoners are detained in Turley. hansard.millbanksystems.com
  • Imperial War Museums Catalogue entry: Private Papers of Colonel W C Spackman: Ts memoir (331pp) covering his service as Regimental Medical Officer to the 48th Pioneers, 6th Indian Division in Mesopotamia, 1914 - 1915, at Kut during the siege, December 1915 - April 1916, and as a prisoner of war in Anatolia, 1916 – 1918. An edited version has been published.
  • The Liddle Collection at the University of Leeds has a number of books, manuscripts and tapes, including transcripts in its collection, relating to Prisoners of War in Turkey. For catalogue references, use terms such as prisoner, Turkey in the Search. Includes a photocopy of the book The Sufferings of the Kut Garrison during their March into Turkey as Prisoners of War, 1916-1917 by F A Harvey, Lt & Q-Mr, published 1922. Note, the actual items do not appear to be available online.
  • 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.[10] Contains a FIND (Search) function. onedrive.live.com. Contains references such as "FO 383/090 1915 Description: Turkey: Prisoners, including…"
    • Catalogue entry FO 383/231 Turkey. Prisoners... includes mention of camps at Magnesia, Smyrna, Tchoroum, and transfer of British and French prisoners from camps at Kiangri and Afion Kara Hissar to Bosanti for employment on railway construction.
    • Other records from FO 383 include FO 383/456 File 117571 (03/09/1918) Various lists: Nominal role of British Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, Men and Indian military personnel held at Afrion Kara Hissar, Kedos, Konia, and Magnesia in Turkey providing rank, name and unit/ship… 2. List of Assistant Surgeons of the Indian Medical Service: PoWs in Turkey. 3. List of Sub Assistant Surgeons of the Indian Medical Service; PoWs inTurkey…[11]
Note: findmypast has a dataset of records "Prisoners Of War 1715-1945" (located in Armed forces & conflict/Regimental & service records) which appears to contain some records from FO 383, including some for Indian Army soldiers. Includes FO 383/336, POWs in Turkey, 1917, Death date of prisoners who have died in camps in Turkey, Cause of death, Burial place; FO 383/456, POWs in Turkey, 1918, British prisoner of war deaths in Turkey, including name, rank, date of death and cause.[12]
"Appendix A: Prison Camps: Turkey". This alphabetical list, which contains information about location, appears to be from an earlier/different version of the above book, and does not appear to be included in the current version.
"First World War Central Power Prison Camps" by Kenneth Steuer 1-1-2013 History Faculty Publications, Western Michigan University . Includes Turkish Prison Camps

Historical books online

Poems in Captivity by John Still 1919 Archive.org

References

  1. "Prisoners of War" by Heather Jones. encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net. 'Section 6: Mistreatment' contains information about prisoners in Turkey. See External links, above.
  2. Dogan Sahin Kut POW Great War Forum 28 January 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  3. Page 50 Geologie Kleinasiens im Bereich der Bagdadbahn by Fritz Frech 1916 Archive.org
  4. IPT Kut Cruelty - William Fratel Great War Forum 5 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  5. Page xv A Prisoner in Turkey by John Still 1920 Archive.org.
  6. Timbob1001 [Tim] Bombardier A N Christison Indian Volunteer Artillery Great War Forum 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  7. Page xx A Prisoner in Turkey by John Still 1920 Archive.org.
  8. page 150 “Australian Prisoners of the Turks: Negotiating Culture Clash in Captivity” by Kate Ariotti, ‪Other Fronts, Other Wars?: First World War Studies on the Eve of the Centennial‬. 2014 Google Books
  9. Sahin, Dogan Henry James Harding POW held by the Turkish Army Great War Forum 23 May 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015
  10. seaforths "Foreign Office Files on POWs (FO 383)" Great War Forum 30 September 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  11. themonsstar POWs Great War Forum 13 January 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  12. themonsstar Find My Past WW1 PoW records The Manchester Regiment Group Forum: POW User Group April 24, 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  13. The War Graves Photographic Project: Autumn 2011 Newsletter
  14. Driver P. W. Long 63rd Battery, R.F.A rushdenheritage.co.uk. The London Gazette Supplement 27/30 January 1920, page 1230