ANZAC SLAVES

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 156, 30 December 1918, Page 8

ANZAC SLAVES

1

fERRIBLE TALES FROM TURKEY

UNDERFED AND TORTURED,

BE? E. B. Peacock, who has under- > takes t. specis.l commission in the Mediterranean -^ Sydney Sun's cable service, telegraphed from Taranto on sth mat. an follows ~- "I met and welcomed to-day (Sunday), on behalf of The Sun, the first contingent of Anzac prisoners from Turkey Their awful experiences of slavery and imprisonment have not broken their •spirit,' or changed them from the same sunny, home-loving, youths "The party arrived by steadier,, and four Australians and four -iNew- Zealandras proceeded on board for Australia. iThe following 'landed'here, anjd are going to England :—F Ashton 'tilth Battalion), W. Cliffe (4th), T. Ch'arkoft, S Baku, H Foxcroft, J Kilir/artin,' and W Williams (all troopers of/the I4th)i M Troy (16th), J Thomas (15:h). 14. Flatt (10th Light Horse), R. M'Coll (2nd) J MacPheraon (6th), J TJdbot (9th), J. O'Neill (10th), L.'. Porter {Wellington), W Surgenor (Taranaki), 'W Martin (Auckland), A Pearce (Auckland). "We held a corroboree in the Cinimo. Camp, a great barracks overlooking the Wue Mediterranean, through which, during many months, hundreds of thousand* of troops, including' Australian contiri:i . ' beenje-paseirig .forfi-clireet '--' didinjg' tK'^'tlbjn ar'jnf ''■•■''.■:'■..' 'r : .one, 'howr.did'*'they? "'£.-■;!.■■■, ic.. he answered, • ■'iV-.-!■:-, !;■•'. 0n..;;. fyUittle,*''in'filtby,''c6n-■\'--'-l-wz. T hey' leenied.to think thsCth* -.j6tralian» could -do likewise; - ( . .--.-• " *Wi'"l^;-onlyvt'wo^^iß»v!ir.!a(iyv^he Wn,f all tlie v:;titt^soup7;;je^i.fc: ;riitja^, pumpkin, mjize^iind »ryebrg.ad:4ha{;>was black. Th6Ts'iz6"'oTrtlietloa.f :'Jva?i«l"v:ftc cording to the isiiippHei;:;'.' Usjully^iOva* very small, ;and: perhaps twice * month .we^gotviielit—she.epsh"e»d,: liver, or'offal "'jf'ho parcels,.' had arrived .w.e!'should be oeid."'.;-,'We are going to make »■ beeline for"i:tH»/lAuistrsiHan Red Cross in Eondon and tell'thenirwhat' we .ihirile- of them. ; "'The woilc/iii Turkay^at;r%st' % cbh«St:. Ed of carrying 6toneß;-fbr":road-makingj:;: md of trucking soil.:!vWhilst/woflting under the Turks the:'iheij-.go,t"rio"'pay; \ but when.put to work ■^ndw^G.erniafrsJj on the Taurus Tunnel, they got between t 20 and 3Q pence a day. Th»y were | given no food, «o they, formed messes ! and fared better- ; "■'..' '■"•. "'Were you treated cruelly?-'•• I ask-i cd. : ■ ■.•;:.',: .zrz ■ " 'It depended upon yourieli. If you took it you got it. The Russians and ! Rumanians submitted, and. they were j <jft«n tied and flogged, but i,f;the,,Ttirk, hit an Anzac »nd[got; knocked- out, hey Knew better next, time-' One ■- Australian, ■was flogged over his wounds, but we got level on them for that. Some ,died from disease, neglect, and shortage of 1 food, which brought on dysentery When i a man went into hospital, wo lost track of him unless we wei'e oalledon to bury him. Al Wesleyan parson from Kut who buried one man complained that his i body showed tfHreatment.. .The.sergeant.J. in charge of the prisoners was decent j enough, but the camp.commandant-was .{. very severe.' If anyoiie " offended tlie;j' whole camp was put on short rations, j and liberties were- reduced. One-man '■ was flogged for asking for more cocoa. J iT.he Turks took our best clothes and j gave us garments. made of old sacking, j Later Mr Phillips, of, the American Em- ■ bassy, visited us, and after, that some). clothing and money from Britain arrived, ; and later, the Dutch Embassy took j charge.' - : . 'The prisoners were at Bazanti, Kor- ; aiia, Angora, Afion, and Karachison. j iWhen the Australians . were> 'jj'ent'.' '.'-fo-.j' 'Angora.they were described,,as 39 scquii-, j. drels who had to be watched. Kara- \ chison was supposed to be a sick camp, j but the" Anzacs had to carry stories up a i steep hill under [ the. whip, until they j collapsed. . ' ' '.j , "The Anzacs won a reputation for i sticking 1 together, and this prevented) spiteful individual treatment, but often the party was put on half-rations and confinement. A few letters, three or four, and some even 18 months old, arrived, as well as a few parcels, but they had always been pillaged, especially for niedicine and quinine. When the armistice was declared they were sent to an hotel in Constantinople, where' parcel* •which had been held back, numbering 3000, were distributed Some were three years old. It was a good time for the boys then." ' The men did not know the slightest about the last three years of Australian (history. They eagerly gathered round Mr. Peacock, who had a lantern, with slides of old Australian scenes, and told all about the formation of the Australian army, and events in France. "We did not dream that it was possible," they said. My, what '■ we missed." ■"T consoled them," Mr. Peacock said, "though they had suffered much'for Austedia, and done their bit. They-made statutory declarations concerning^ the illr treatment, and said-that, theTurks^and; Germans feared the -Anzacs. EachWarned the other, and tried to curry favour after the armistice. ."The Turk,' they said, 'is a good soldier, but behind the lines he is a poor type.'--