Men who went into captivity after the fall of Kut

[trajan]

I was aware of the Adana POW Camp (I think an army barracks?), but my understanding was that junior officers from the capture of Kut went to Ankara, while the high and mighty went to Constaninople - was that so?

[Tucker Buck's grandson]

I believe Thomas David Raraty - Driver 76th Battery probably died as a prisoner in Turkey on 7th August 1916. I have just asked CWGC if they have any record of where he died in Turkey.

CWGC said they have no records of transfers and referred me to IRC which I have not yet done as the suggestion came too late for our publication deadline.

[SJ CLARK]

I have been fortunate to have been allowed to read a original a hand written account by one who was captured at Kut,describing how they were treated by the Turks. If I am given permission, I will try to post a few lines or offer a few copies on a CD for free.

SJC

[Ron]

My book 'Battles on the Tigris' published by Pen and Sword tells the story of the campaign and has a chapter (A nightmare Journey) on the capture and experiences of those who were captured after the surrender of Kut el Amara.

Ron Wilcox.

[SJ CLARK]

The commandant of the camp was a naval officer who treated us very badly as he thought nothing of hitting the men with a cowhide whip. Out of the 200 men who went into hospital on our arrival very few lived and had to find burial parties every day and the Turks made us bury all the bodies naked.

This a small part of what is written in the diary of the unpublished account of one mans treatment by the Turks whilst a prisoner.

SJC

[Michael Johnson]

A group formerly in my collection to Rfm. Rushmat Ali, 104th Rifles. Not only did he survive captivity, he was able to serve on in the Frontier expeditions that followed.

Michael

[Tucker Buck's grandson]

My understanding is that the Indian prisoners were favourably treated because the Ottoman forces wanted them to switch sides.

Did the allied survivors form any type of Association after the war ?

[James A Pratt III]

The Book "Black Bread and barbed wire" I believe has and account of an OR who survived.

A.J. Barker's book "The Neglected War/ The Bastard War/ The First Iraq War includes an account of the captivity and lists a number of sources including some written by ORs

The book "The Siege also has some OR accounts of Kut

[smithy]

My Great Uncle Acting Bombardier Albert SMITH service number 29360, 63rd Bty. Royal Field Artillery was captured at Kut-el-Amara.

He died on 28th August 1916 in a P.O.W. camp in Turkey of Enteritis.
Like many others, after the war the IRC reinterred him in the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery.

Unfortunately no personal picture. I suppose in the turmoil of war there were no Regimental pictures taken. However, if anyone knows if such things exist or if enlistment photos were taken

I would be most grateful for info.

[Michael Johnson]

My understanding is that the Indian prisoners were favourably treated because the Ottoman forces wanted them to switch sides.

Did the allied survivors form any type of Association after the war ?

Not according to Ed Haynes, who is an Indian Army specialist.

Michael

[Guest M Mansfield]

Clement Rootes (My great uncle)

Information taken from here on page 7

http://www.kentfallen.com/PDF%20reports/HIGH%20HALDEN.pdf

"Private 240612 Clement ROOTES. Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C). Formerly 6^thBattalion, East Surrey Regiment. Died Iraq 30^thJune 1916 aged 21 years. Born Tenterden. Enlisted Kingston, Surrey.

Resided Forge House, High Halden, Kent. Buried in the Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery, Iraq. Panel reference Nisibin Mem 252.

Clement’s name appears on a private family plaque in side the nearby High Halden parish church. His name also appears on the High Halden parish war memorial. He was taken prisoner by the Turks at the fall of Kut and died at Nissibin. The 6^thBattalion, East Surrey’s were never in Iraq therefore it appears that Clement must have been serving in the RFC when captured. His cause of death is not known but it is likely to be disease caused by maltreatment whilst in captivity. It is possible that Clement was one of those unfortunate men who were taken prisoner when the city of Kut fell to the Turkish army. The Turks treated British soldiers brutally. Major General Townsend the British commander in Kut was taken to Constantinople in style whereas his men were forced marched to Turkey on foot. Only a handful of men survived this forced march. "

[Ghazala]

TEL wrote in the Arab Bulletin No. 3, 14 June 1916

Mesopotamia

To the British Officers who were arranging the exchange of our wounded from Kut, Halil Pasha, Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish forces in Irak, spoke very freely on the question of the Arab attitude, At first he proposed the exchange of Indian sick for Arab prisoners of War; but later he went back on this, and refused to accept Arabs in exchange at all. He said that most of them were condemned to death, and would only be shot if they returned; and that in any case he did not want them.

He said that ninety per cent of Turks were good soldiers, and ninety per cent of Arabs were bad. He said their desire was only to get taken prisoner, and that the whole lot of them were unreliable. Under protest he excepted from his condemnation some of the Arabs of Mosul and Syria, who were, he said, sufficiently 'Turkised' to have some virtue. Kasim Bey, his Chief of Staff, agreed with what he said, and it seemed to be the view shared by the younger officers we met. I suggested to them the case of Sami Bey, and they said that the Russian War of '6o and the Defence of Kars fell on a different footing, when the Arabs were still loyal to the Ottoman Empire. Lieutenant Mehmed Riza classed the Kurd tribes with the Arabs in disloyalty and disinclination to fight. This may lend colour to previous reports of disaffection among some sub-tribes of the Mili confederation.

Representations were made to Halil Pasha concerning the fate of the Arabs of Kut. These had shown themselves, in the main, friendly to us, but had not been asked to take any active part in operations. Townshend’s surrender having been unconditional, it was impossible to make any stipulation as to their treatment, but Halil was urged strongly to show moderation, and to treat them as compelled to side with us by force majeure.

He said that he had no intention of going to extremes, and seemed rather amused at our interest in them.

He broke the understanding, however, and has to date hanged nine individuals; they comprise a Turkish officer deserter, a Jew contractor, an Arab notable of Kut and his two sons, two Mukhtars and two prominent sheikhs. Halil's record of service, which includes some months Kurd-hunting in Van before the war, and a peculiarly ghastly Armenian massacre in the Melazgherd area compels one to look upon this performance as humane.

The executions are confirmed by British Officers engaged in removing General Townshend’s wounded from Kut. It is re­ported that one prisoner, when being led to the gallows seized his Musbah (Mohammadan rosary) and flung it to a British officer over the heads of the Turks. The man may have been a Shia, indeed probably was, but even so the incident is probably unprecedented in modern Islam.

Note. Halil's remarks about the Arabs, and the incident of the Musbah at Kut were reported by officers present under privilege from the Turks, and must not, therefore, be communicated in any way. They are given here as remarkable evidence of the relations existing in Irak between the Turks and their Arab subjects.

[Stanley_C_Jenkins]

There should be anple data relating to members of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry who became prisoners of the Turks.

[MAW]

Hubert Strowger

8514

Lance Sergeant

2^nd Norfolk Regiment

Born Kirby Cane, Norfolk 1892.

Resided Ditchingham, Norfolk.

Landed Mesopotamia 15th Nov 914

Wounded at Battle of Ctesiphon 22nd Nov 1915.

Captured Kut-al-Amara 29th Apr 1916

Died in captivity Apr - Dec 1916.

No known grave.

Commemorated Basra Memorial and Ditchingham War Memorial, St. Mary's Church, Ditchingham, Norfolk.

Mark

[Guest]

My Great Grandfather Mehta Jamit Rai Chhibber was in Kut when British Army surrendered . He was born and raised in Kharian Punjab India ( At that time Kharian was in India ) . He was an accomplished horseman and a good hunter . As a POW he was marched with many other men on a long march . Many people died of starvation . One of his cousins who was a physician was with him . One day the Turks decided to shoot some prisoners . Both my Great Grandfather and his physician cousin were in 10 or so prisoners lined up against the wall . Then the Turks changed their mind . After WW 1 was over my Great grandfather was released . Both him and his physician cousin survived and made it back home safe. He had lost half his body weight . His wife had first gone blind from weeping and then died before he reached back home.He had three sons including my Grandfather who later became the Thanedar of Kharian . My Great grand father was awarded some sort of medal by Britishers . He was offered to continue to serve in British Indian army .Fortunately for him he had ancestral lands in Kharian .That gave him access and audience with The Governor of Punjab . In 1945 he sought an audience with the Governor and was able to get the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment for some freedom fighters at a Baisakhi Mela . After this he and a bunch of friends were driving back to Kharian in a Lorry when they had an accident . My Great Grand father died in that accident . Kharian is in Pakistan now . After division of India in 1947 my family could not stay in Kharian any more and came to India along with many many other people .

[seaJane]

Thank you for telling us your great-grandfather's story, Jaswinder. May he and his friends be long remembered.

[Ghazala]

A moving story Jaswinder.  Thank you for posting it.

[rickpreston@nasuwt.net]

Thank you Jaswinder it was a most interesting yet sad story. The partition of India/Pakistan was a very painful time. 

In the 1970's I worked with a man who was in the British Army in  India at that time, in Calcutta. He described the situation of how they had gone to barracks on Independence and then was sent out to help control the crowds. He was leading his platoon at cross roads with one group down a street whilst another group was down another street. His job was to keep them apart. He indicated that it was a-little hairy!.

[charlie962]

Jaswinder, thank you for telling us your GGF's story. Do you know what regiment he was in when taken at Kut in 1916? Or that of his physician cousin?   Charlie

[Guest]

Thanks SeaJane .

Thanks Ghazala.

Thanks Rick

Thanks Charlie.father told me

Thank you all for reading the story.

Rick the partition of India was a sad and violent time . My Grandfather who was the Thanedar ( Police Officer ) of his area when this happened was responsible for Law and order in his part of the world. He tried to save people and maintain law and order. But in a few days he saw the writing on the wall. And he realized that the land he was born in was raised and spent all 44 years of his life in is not safe for him any more. His muslim sepoys ( constables ) begged him to leave as they could not defend him any more . He left with a broken heart as he could not do his duty . But our family fared better than most thanks to my Grandfather's access to Lorry and he was well to do so could afford transport and such things. He had a large family though . Had 8 kids . His elder brother and wife had another 8 kids .His younger brother and wife had no kids at that time . They all travelled 100 miles from where they were to Amritsar India in 2 Lorries . They were escorted by armed people . Along the way they saw unspeakable acts that us humans are capable of . They were very very fortunate. On arrival in India my Grand Father got his Police job from Govt of India and a Govt provided Home with one room and a small kitchen . So him and his three brothers lived in that home for 5 years with all the kids.

Charlie this was told to me by my late Grand Father . He died in 1989 . My father is 85 now. He might remember something . I am not sure about the regiment etc . Same for his cousin . I know his cousin continued to practice for sometimes after he came back . I know that my GGF had something to do with transporting all sorts of equipment and things needed by the fighting men . I think they used a river there for that purpose . I know a lot of men had bad diarrhoea . Some died from it .

Edited 10 August , 2017 by Guest
Spelling mistakes

[notme]

It's a long shot but does anyone know the name of the boy / ex boy from Clarence Square Council School in Gosport who died at Kut? None of the boys I've researched so far fit the bill but the school log book tantalisingly says there was such a person. I can't get to Winchester, where the log book is, at the moment. Thank you to anybody who can supply even part of the name

 

[Guest]

My grandfather Frederick Poulton joined up in 1914.  He was a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery captured at Kut.  He only ever spoke about it to my father on a very few occasions and then didn't say much at all.  He did describe Townsend's surrender.    

 

Fred told my father he was left for dead but would say no more.  We do know he was (as was everybody) incredibly ill with malaria.  Somehow he ended up fighting the rest of the war on the North West Frontier in India.  To this day my father and I have tried to find out how he got there.  The only clue is that the American counsel raised funds to have 500 men repatriated under the condition they did not fight against the Turks again.  Maybe he was one of the 500?

 

We have some great photos of him in Mesopotamia.  He died at the age of 85 in in 1980.

 

I now live in Dubai and I have noticed that we fly over Kut on the way to/from the UK.

Edited 30 April , 2018 by Guest

[charlie962]

Holiday Steve, Welcome to the forum. A terrible time for those taken and I'm not suprised he didn't want to talk of it.

 

Do you have your GF's service number(s) ? Do you know what battery he was in ? Can you tell us his date and place of birth  and is Frederick Poulton his full name?

There were a few seriously sick or wounded that were repatriated but the majority had to wait until the war ended. Of the latter a few then continued to serve but most were discharged through ill health.

Charlie

[Guest]

Thank you for your reply Charlie. 

 

His name was Frederick Arthur Poulton.  His service number was R.F.A. 122699.  He was born on 7 November 1894 in London.  I have attached a photo of him in his uniform.

 

I have tried to find out which battery he was in without success.  If you are able to point me in the right direction to find more information that would be fantastic.  

 

many thanks 

[charlie962]

Thank you for that detail, Steve. Do I take it you got the service number off his medals ? Can you confirm he has only BWM and VM ? Perhaps he also has the IGSM ?

 

Looking at his Medal Index Card he received the British War Medal and Victory Medal. It is possible that there is another card with just a 1914/15 Star but I didn't see it.

 

I don't want to cast any doubt on your GF's obviously harrowing experiences.  The problem I have is that all those who underwent the seige and surrender of Kut-el-Amara were entitled to 14/15 Star due to the timing. All the men in Kut arrived in Mesopotamia before 31/12/15 which is the 14/15 Star cut off date. The Siege started on 7th December 1915 and no new  soldiers got in after this date.

 

Furthermore he is not on the listings I have of the members of the RFA taken at Kut, whether exchanged or not. I admit these lists are not 100% but  (unusually except for Mespot) the records of survivors are more complete than those who died in captivity.

 

There were a also large number of men involved in the ill-fated Relief Expedition and some ended up PoWs.  A lot of them arrived early 1916, some having served in France or Gallipoli already. Could he have been in this group ? His story of being left for dead would

 

I have looked at the obvious family history sites and cannot find anything more on his military service.

 

Charlie