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

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*[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  
*[https://archive.org/details/fromkastamunito00woolgoog ''From Kastamuni to Kedos: Being a Record of Experiences of Prisoners of War in Turkey, 1916-1918''] by  C L Woolley, Capt. RFA 1921. Archive.org
*[https://archive.org/details/fromkastamunito00woolgoog ''From Kastamuni to Kedos: Being a Record of Experiences of Prisoners of War in Turkey, 1916-1918''] by  C L Woolley, Capt. RFA 1921. Archive.org
*[https://archive.org/details/prisonersofredde00gwat ''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.
*[https://archive.org/details/prisonersofredde00gwat ''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. HMS Tara was formerly the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) ship Hibernia, with more details in [http://blog.nrm.org.uk/prisoners-of-the-red-desert/ Prisoners of the Red Desert: Wartime Adventures of LNWR railwaymen] National Railway Museum.
*[https://archive.org/details/prisonerinturkey00stiliala ''A Prisoner in Turkey''] by John Still 1920 Archive.org. The title page contains a handwritten note “Ceylon Civil Service (Forests)”
*[https://archive.org/details/prisonerinturkey00stiliala ''A Prisoner in Turkey''] by John Still 1920 Archive.org. The title page contains a handwritten note “Ceylon Civil Service (Forests)”
:[https://archive.org/details/poemsincaptivity00stiluoft ''Poems in Captivity''] by John Still 1919 Archive.org
:[https://archive.org/details/poemsincaptivity00stiluoft ''Poems in Captivity''] by John Still 1919 Archive.org

Revision as of 01:27, 14 January 2016

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. (The author was in the 2nd Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, and this book was privately printed after his death in 1921, as a memorial). 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