SOLDIER'S ADVENTURES.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 May 1919, Page 7

SOLDIER'S ADVENTURES.

! *i A PRISONER OF WAR. '•INTERESTING STORY BYRETURN- | ED NAILER BOY. ' (Special to the Times,) i Napier, April-21'. \_ Bsivaie Sonnan Steele, sob of Mr and] i.lfeji St»a3e, at Cameil sixtnA, Jfapiw, % ;jusi .rail known in Slew PlynwuthJ wAwhwcl to Jfapier no. Sataiday after \ j-wn jt&seote of nearly five years, He-!' •ema on*> ox the first to offer his services | >to bis King and ccpiaAarc, iwsd, succeeded-j lin getting away '&aa> the Dominion) '•wfih ifa Main 'J!be experiences r-he Siaa passed l&rotigh sjaeo tliea JfiaveJ j had- a serious* e&ert oa Sis fassißi, b::/;[ | tho voyage out fcas he&petl him to piefci !up wonderfully;. 'Pris'wfcs Steele vma-1 on© a* tho WellsngWK Battalion which. | ou Angisvt Sth, 'k*.ll% reo#wed orders to'i .adsaoee tea, siarfciin position .near 85111. '971, dig in. awl hold w> nrsUl jelievttlj Tho yosttiou was w-nafcsd and the mew] dug ;Sn all rijhi,. Tkrrr. was an Eng- i iish bai-fc&linn on tho left and another Engliah. tmit on tin; right of the New i Zeftfecdcw. Many ivao wotraded in i this advance, and both Kngiish batiaPfcms retreated and allowed the Turk? ''in on each aide of th« New Zealanders.

We kept out of the lire as much as possible, said Private Steele in an interview with a Daily Telegraph reporter. These who were wounded early did their best to get back. Some succeeded and others failed. These who were shot later had to remain azid most of them died. When darkness was coming on one man attempted to «;H.wi)e back but a machine-gun which was only a few yards away promptly got him and only two were left, both wounded in several places. They talked matters over and decided on making a run for it when it became darker. In ths meantime the Turks crawled up to their position and to the reserves of the New Zealanders about 900 yards to the rear of Private Steele's position, where he only had Private Greig, of Gisborne, as mate. Both feigned death, but even that ruse was discovered in the morning light, in spite of the hundreds of dead that were scattered about. German officers ordered some Turks to take them to the rear and the two mates then parted company, each going to different field hospitals. TREATMENT FROM THE TURKS. Private Steele remained in the field hospital for three weeks, and was then put on board a hospital ship just inside The Narrows, in the Sea of Mar-

mora. On the way to the ship he received some kind treatment from the Turks, who became annoyed with him because he would not hand over his boots, watch, and other valuables. They used their bayonets and the butts of their rifles on him just because he desired to keep his own property. After two weeks on the ship he was transferred to hospital at Constantinople. Private Steele described this hospital as the filthiest place possible, and the prisoners, of whom there were a good few, called it "the dark hole." After being there for a month he was sent to a prison in the same city. His wounds by this time were almost healed. Till then he had been living on boiled wheat twice a day, with half a pound of bread, with meat twice a week. This meat was about one inch 1 square. Up till this time some of the prisoners had never had their wounds washed for over three months. Private Steele was sent by train at Angora to the interior of Asia, and then marched for four days to Changheri. He remained there for a couple of months without work, when he was marched back to Angora through a couple of feet of snow, to say nothing of slush, mud, and a pair of Jacko boots about three sizes too big. From Anffora he arid others were sent by rail to Bilemedik to work on the Baghdad railway, the construction of whicb> was being continued under German and Swiss engineers. VILEST CAMP IN TURKEY.

The conditions here were not bad, and the work was not hard, but they were gradually removed from here to Afjon Ktra Hissar (at that time the worst and the vilest camp in Turkey). Here they broke stone for half a piastre per day, a day comprising 12 to 14 hours. Here the prisoners were robbed, cheated, and flogged by the German commandant, but Private Steele adds that he was fortunate enough to dodge the flogging. The commandant's chief entertainment was to thrash the English sergeant and sergeant-majors. During Private Steele's stay here they buried over 200 British prisoners in less than four months. Their deaths were chiefly dije to bad treatment and starvation Private Steele was sent back to Constantinople for a few months' work, and then on to Hesebin, near Mosul, to again work on the Baghdad railway. Some of the other camps had been bad as far as the food was concerned, but this was generally looked upon as "the end of the limit." The bread was composed of some mysterious material, the smell of which would have knocked one down if the loaf was broken open. It a man could not do his set task (all the work was.marked out each day) he had his rations stopped, and this' only made it worse for those who were sick, and they could not go to hospital till they were about dying. But this was not such a hardship, ap Private Steele said he would rather die outside of a hospital than be killed inside of one. The party was then packed off to Amanus to work in a German motor transport park. Private Steele said this was the only bit of luck he struck all the time he was a prisoner. They had the same food and bedding as the Germans, and even the same hospital treatment, which was the main thing in a country where starvation and illness were plentiful. HARSH TREATMENT.

The question of escaping was then talked over, but the fear of falling into the hands of unfriendly Arabs and Turks, which meant certain death, always acted as a deterrent. During all this time they were supposed to be receiving cash and parcels of food from the High Commissioner and relatives and friends in New Zealand, but very few of these gifts ever reached the person to whom they were addressed. The first allowance from the High Commissioner arrived in January of ]!H7, and Private Steele said he only received this one and the following one in February. >;m H cent did he receive after that date, betters were alio few and far between, but sometimes the prisoners got a pleasant shock by the receipt of a score or more at a time. Lice and dirt were plentiful, especially during the first few iiioiiUik when the prisoners were not allowed near the water. WHAT THE TURKS ENDURED. Private Steele said he had not yet discovered how ths Turk stuck out for

the 18 months of the war. They were kicked from pillar to post by the Germans and by their own officers and non-coms. They were starved and worked to death, and when wounded were sent back from the front and put to the gentle work of breaking stones or making roads to encourage recovery. The conditions existing in some districts were equal to famine, and the. people would do anything at all to secure a loaf of bread or a bit of meat. Ho had not seen the human head in the stew personally, for they never had stew, but such a thing was possible, lie had heard that during the height of the famine in a certain district a butcher suddenly secured quantities- of meat, which found ready buyers. This meat was proved later to be human flesh. Other prisoners and other New Zealand and Australian prisoner's were taken' by the Turks, and Private Steele stated that he had seen most of the New Zealanders at different camps. 'He had seen, the late Courtney Bowen taken prisoner in Asia. Bowen was well at the time of the meeting. Unfortunately, he was later sent to a camp where cholera broke out and caused many deaths, including that of the Napier boy mentioned, . AN ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE. A party, including Private Steele had decided to make an atempt to escape and brave the dangers of the hostile tribes. They had quitted their prisons and made for Horns, which was supposed to be 300 miles away. After travelling for four days, they fell in with a party of Indian prisoners who said that t v hey were being sent to Constantinople, where all were to be collected i:i readiness for release, because mi armistice was to be signed soon. Tliis statement was soon confirmed. So the escapees returned. Private Steele's party went to the Turks and not to the Gorman camp. They told the Turks they had run away from the Germans to get under the Turks. This delighted the Turks so much that the escape was not followed by punishment,- although the Turks' treatment was, as a rule worn thau tkat of tut Qtnuans.