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PRISONER OF WAR.

TREATMENT \lj!r "TURKEY. Such details of life m a Turkish camp for prisoners of war as are. allowed to be. given by the men are contained m- a letter received. from* a New Zealand soldjeiy Private, jrW< R. Surgenor; of Ota'keho^ Trivanaki. -Private Surgenor, who was a,, member,of;>iho Main 1 Body, was wounded! on August 8; 1916, and was for some time m, Tnrki^fy hospitals. He hna: wrjltien^fn; previous; letters of the- good , treatment; ha. u'eceived •m the hospitals. THio following, , letter was written at • Adabazaiv on*: . October 28, 1917;—' /; v.^mv ■■•>'! ■; . v "Just a $ey lines to' let you. know, wp are, still here, and getting along ; fairly well. We get a half -day off, every week now, besides Sunday,- and. get our ganieofc football. I play/Sower with the rest. We are. trying Ho get lip a game of Rugby soon; but Rugby is', not; very well- known, aniohgst regular soldiers. At all our previous games we have had a certain number of spectators, Tvith '.fixed; bayonets,; expecting/ every moment to see someone. make a. br^ak for free aii', though here we have a,, lot more liberty, ow.ing., chiefly to. our, isolated position. Also, the hills around allow of a little latitude; . we can go> into the bush any evening with V sentry ami gather our supply of dry wood. Qur messeg are made,, up, of twos mostly, owing to the inconvenience of cooking for a larger number. Where no cooks are allowed, as I mentioned before, we have three Turkish meals a day, cooked •foi\ us «.by, two of 4 our own cooks, though I would! sooner have a good plate of porridge than any of these. The meal consists of a. handful of crushed wheat; flavored with ai'lifctlp salt, boiled for two or three hours; a< little boiled olive oil is added to taste, and the dish is served^ hot for; fiye or six . Mngry ni,en. . ; 6ur menu now- chiefly-'- is :— Dinner— 'Come m from work and fry a couple of eggs to eO , with bread , after . wheat soup ; for te& TTf ,boil;a* small- pot; of potatoes and pumpkin to cat, with', our soup; for breakfast we adwaya . have a few cold potatoes',' and if - we' get ; up early fry them, and: eat them, with our soup. On Sundays we usually "buy a little flour if any money is m the "firm,," arid fry a few sultana cakes. Carbonate of soda is greatly used here as a' substitute for baking pOwdei". A lot of tobacco is grown, around, here., I. ana. r , still a very moderate pipe smoker, And do. not smoke cigarettes^; at. all. I hayft not seen a cigar fof months. We iised to get a very small ißsue.' of tobacco,, also some from the Embassy. NQw, ; we. get neither the High Commissioner*^ parcels nor money, and must find! all these luxuries. I have learned to, sneak Turkish sfaU'ly well, also a little French. I can also pass" the time of day to many nationalities. I can use tne bakehouse 'if I work on Sundays, but I am dping anything now "until Christmasj when, I can make it worth while. If anybody wantg to know how I -am 'jet them .write.- Letters are to us as cheques are to farmers. I break as much stone here a day as would earn me Is 9d a day at home. I do it for love here. Ii dp i\ot th«&. I. will ever feel like an honest day'a work again unless I have something- more kindly to coax me than fixed bayonets ;

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19180405.2.79

Bibliographic details

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14571, 5 April 1918, Page 7

Word Count
597

PRISONER OF WAR. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14571, 5 April 1918, Page 7

PRISONER OF WAR. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14571, 5 April 1918, Page 7

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