REAL ROMANCE OF LOVE AND WAR.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 11860, 28 June 1919, Page 7

REAL ROMANCE OF LOVE AND WAR.

I BRITISH COLONEL WHO MARRIED TURKISH GIRL. ■ One of the most romantic stories of the war has been revealed through the marriage al St. Mar garet’s at Westminster of Brevetblonel S. F. Newcombe, D. 5.0., R.E., and Miss Elsa Chaki, formerly a Turkish subject living in Constantinople. It is a tale which seems to belong to the pages of a novel rather than to a record of actual events. [ The ceremony at St. Margaret’s was the culminating act of a chain of happenings which included adventures among the enemy disguised as an Arab, capture, love episode, escape, recapture, and finally happy j reunion in England and wedding s bells. s | Colonel Newcombe, an officer of the Regular Army, fought in France and Italy with the Second Australian Division, and then joined the forces of the King of the Hedjaz when they were raiding the Turkish railway communication. . Ten years service in Egypt had made, him fluent in Arabic and familiar -with Arab customs. He grew a beard, stained himself, and outwardly became an Arab. In one of the raids on the railway he was taken prisoner by the Turks and sent to Constantinople, where his real nationality was apparently speedily discovered. MEETING OF THE LOVERS. Here, while in hospital with smallpox, he met Miss Chaki, who speaks. English well, and a close sympathy sprang np between them. When he was removed to Brusa she followed, -with one faithful maid as a companion. The lovers adopted many subterfuges to meet, most of which, alas, failed. Then the colonel, with the aid of his bride-to-be, escaped, disguised as a priest and was retaken, but not before be bad arranged with , Miss Chaki for a hiding-place in ‘ Constantinople, a boat, and money. She made the arrangements, and , later he ‘again escaped and reached » the Turkish capital, He remained there hidden by his fiancee, and eventually got away on the eve of the armistice. Before going it is believed that he was asked by a high official who discovered him to present Turkey's request for an armistice to the Allies, and he indicated that General Townshend, as the senior officer, was the proper person to apply to. He had to leave his intended wife behind in Constantinople, but she was very soon placed under French protection when the. Allies occupied the capital. This protection was extended to her in recognition of her services to other Allied prisoners, one or two of whom, in addition to Colonel Newcombe, she also helped to escape. UNITED AT LAST. After several months’ delay she reached London, where she stayed at a Knightsbridge hotel. Then cam© another difficulty. Technically, Miss Chaki was an enemy alien, and marriage was therefore not easy; but there was no time to be lost, because Colonel Newcombe was due to go to Damascus at an early date. At the church the ceremony could not be performed because of some technical obstacle, and eventually the aid of the Registrar-General and, as a last resort, of the Home Secretary, had to be obtained before the path could he made clear for the ceremony at the Henrietta Street Registry Office. The bride then became a British subject, and eventually the religious ceremony was gone through at St. Margaret’s. Even this had to be specially arranged, because marriages are not usually permitted in the church during Holy Week. The officiating clergyman was Minor Canon Westalke, an old school fellow of the colonel. Thus at last the pair, who had met under such remarkable circumstances, and had gone through adventures together, had over-come the final difficulty, and were united. Colonel Newcombe is 40, and his bride 21. She is described as handsome and singularly charming. Major-Generl Salmond, who was at Woolwich with the bridegroom, was the best