ESCAPE FROM KASTAMUNI
Returning to events in Kastamuni, in November 1916 a little more housing
accommodation had become available for us, and as a result I found
myself sharing a good room with Keeling, a lieutenant in the I.A.R.O.
One evening, soon afterwards, I asked him if he would make an effort
with me to reach the Russians if, as we hoped, they should advance
further west from their lines, which were then running due south to
Erzinjan from a point a little way west of Trebizond. He replied that he
had long been thinking of it, and had made a start towards preparing for
such an effort by carefully preserving two 1 lb. tins of chocolate which
he had received from home!
At that time such a journey meant a distance of 300 miles across country
from Kastamuni, and we considered it quite hopeless in view of the
mountainous country to be passed. It was also obvious that any attempt
to get a long distance across country would stand a much better chance
if made in the summer time. It would be impossible to carry enough food
and we should have to fall back on such crops, fruit and vegetables as
might be ripe and obtainable. We thought April or May would be the
earliest possible month. Another alternative was to get to the coast,
only 38 miles as the crow flies, and then to steal a boat. This
necessitated having one man in the party who knew how to sail a boat,
and added a big risk in the very fact of having to launch a boat
secretly and get away from a coast which as far as we could hear was
well guarded.
The general opinion was that it was quite hopeless to try to get away.
This belief was shared by the senior officers and, under pressure from
the Turkish commandant, most people gave their parole not to try to
escape under present conditions. About ten of us refused: some because
they believed such an act was definitely against Army rules, and the
others, like ourselves, because they hoped for a chance to get away and
considered that they were justified in taking such a chance if it seemed
to offer any possibility of success. Pressure was brought to bear upon
us by the Turks to change our views; but we remained firm. We were told
our liberty would be curtailed; we would be put in a separate house by
ourselves; while the others were to get additional liberty. What
actually happened was exactly nothing, and we all went on precisely as
before. It appeared to be merely a dodge on the part of the Turks to
save themselves trouble and responsibility. From time to time, owing to
various good reasons, many others withdrew their parole, and by the date
we departed--August 8th, 1917--nearly half the officers must have
followed suit.
In the meanwhile K. and I had been trying to collect information and had
been sounding a few other officers. It was very hard to get anything
which was at all trustworthy: some reports said there were no boats on
the coast, others that a boat could probably be obtained. One Greek told
us that it would be impossible to get through to the Russian lines, as
the people east of Samsun were so wild and savage. This man was making
plenty of money out of us in his professional capacity, and evidently
did not wish any disturbances between us and the Turks to imperil his
tranquillity and source of gain. We were not therefore much influenced
by his fears.
Maps were a necessity, and the only one we had was on a scale of 32
miles to an inch. I made tracings of this, so as to have duplicate
copies, but the scale was too small to be of much use beyond showing the
general trend of the country. I also succeeded in making a compass of a
rough description by fixing a dial to some magnetic needles and
suspending it with a thread. Fortunately, however, a little later, we
discovered a shop in the town where we could buy some cheap but
tolerably serviceable compasses, and secured several of these, taking
care that the sentry with us did not see what we were buying. The best
map we had seen was hanging up in our commandant's office. This was a
German one and to a scale of about seven miles to an inch. No
opportunity occurred, unfortunately, of being able to copy it. It showed
us, however, a large number of farms and villages sprinkled over the
countryside. The Russians had advanced no further, and the only plan at
all feasible seemed to be to get a boat on the coast and make for
Trebizond.
As the summer began our discussions took a more practical shape, and we
got in touch with people who were in a position to know something
trustworthy. One of those we approached was an interned Ally. Under
various pretexts I succeeded in getting a sentry to come with me to his
house, which was strictly against the rules, saying I wanted to buy a
guitar. On arrival he produced the guitar, and while pretending to try
it we discussed the possibility of getting away. He considered that it
would be possible to get a boat on the coast at Ineboli and suggested
sending someone he could trust to find out how things stood and if
possible to make arrangements. Conversation was not too easy, as his
knowledge of English was very sketchy and I knew nothing of his
language; also the sentry was present, so that everything had to appear
to be about the guitar and no names of places mentioned aloud. A little
money and cigarettes to the sentry ensured his not talking later about
where we had been, and I endeavoured to get the same man on the next
occasion. One day at this house I met a fellow countryman who as a
civilian had been interned at Constantinople. For some reason the Turks
had become more suspicious and he had been packed off to Kastamuni. He
gave me some useful information about the state of the country further
east, but was not at all hopeful of our getting through. I did not see
him again, as he was naturally very loth to be seen speaking to any of
us, as that would mean his being sent out to live in one of the small
villages away from every vestige of civilization. Meanwhile K. had been
interviewing one or two people whom we thought might be trusted. For
this purpose an appointment was generally made at the Hamam, or Turkish
bath. We were allowed to go to these baths, of which there were a large
number in the town, whenever we liked, and, as the sentry always stayed
in the entrance hall, one could speak freely to anyone inside. On the
whole these Allies recommended us not to make any attempt, one saying
that had it been possible he himself would of course have gone long ago.
Actually, they were afraid of trying anything of the sort or being in
any way implicated by us.
We discussed the proposal of my friend with some of the others and
decided to try his suggestion. Accordingly ten of us collected about 50
liras--one lira equals 18s. 6d. nominally--which was handed to him. He
in turn was to arrange with a Greek who was going to the coast and
promised to bring back the information we needed. After some delay he
finally departed, and, as we had feared, never turned up again.
Some of those who had subscribed considered any attempt without
previously obtaining a boat to be hopeless and, when the Greek never
returned, the number who were keen to go was reduced to half a dozen.
Much discussion followed as to the size of the party, whether there
should be two parties and who should go in which, and what routes should
be followed. Eventually only four of us prepared to start, the others
promising to give us all the support they could. Our party now consisted
of Captains R. J. Tipton, R.F.C., R. T. Sweet, 2/7th Ghurkas, Lieut. E.
H. Keeling, and myself, both of the I.A.R.O. "Tip" had been taken in
Egypt, while we three had all been in Kut.
There were two possible ways of getting out of the camp, or rather away
from the street in which we lived, and either seemed fairly easy to
arrange.
In order to get our provisions ready, we had to take one or two of the
British orderlies into our confidence. We decided after much scheming
that we would take 20 lb. of food each, consisting of 11 lb. of
biscuits, 2-1/2 lb. of cheese, 2-1/2 lb. of smoked meat, 1-3/4 lb. of
chocolate, 1-1/2 lb. of Horlick's Malted Milk and the remainder of soup
squares, cocoa and sugar, with a box of tea tabloids. The biscuits were
made of good white flour, for which we had at that time to pay an
exorbitant price as it was almost unobtainable; butter and sugar, which
were also appallingly expensive, were added. Some were made with
raisins, all being baked as hard as possible to save weight. These, with
raisins, proved much the most popular subsequently. Our mess cook,
Gunner Prosser, R.F.A., made most of the biscuits and was very keen to
do all he could to help us. In order to keep things dark we told as few
people as possible, but several people must have suspected us before we
finally took our departure. The all-important question of the food to be
carried caused much discussion before the final schedule was drawn up.
Some were for taking one solid lump of duff instead of biscuits, but the
latter won the day as containing less water and being therefore of more
value weight for weight. K. had a profound belief in Horlick's Malted
Milk, which was fully justified by our subsequent experience. For some
days prior to our departure a notice on the board, which was used by
people who wished to exchange contents of parcels from home, informed
all and sundry that Lt. K. could offer a very large variety of articles,
ranging from honey to socks, in exchange for Malted Milk. This resulted
in most of our supply being obtained. The question of meat was
difficult, as tinned stuff received from home was too heavy and there
was nothing to be got in the bazaar but smoked mutton, which was not
very appetizing. Eventually, we decided on the mutton. We had a good
many soup squares of different kinds, but on the journey we wished we
had had more cocoa instead. We decided to pack as much food as possible
in small bags, for which some puggaree cloth came in handy, and an old
pillow-case made a good receptacle for the biscuits. K. spent a long
time sewing up small bags and in generally thinking out and preparing
for all eventualities.
In the event of our being forced to buy food, we had decided that our
only chance was to pretend we were Germans, since the country people,
while seeing we were not Turks, would be too ignorant to know any
difference between Briton and Hun. This also fell in well with our plan
of going in uniform. To make things more secure we forged a passport.
This was written out by Captain Rich, 120th Infantry, who knew Turkish
fairly well, and purported to be a letter from the Army commander at
Angora to Hauptmann Hermann von Below, who, with three German orderlies,
was said to be travelling on a surveying expedition. It was requested
that the utmost facilities should be given him in his work. The name of
the Army commander we had managed to obtain correctly, and this was
signed in a different hand and ink. A seal was also appended, as is
usual in all Turkish documents, and suitably smudged so that the name
which did not correspond with the signature might be illegible.
A volume dealing with woodcraft was perused by K., who discovered that
the ordinary type of rock lichen was a highly nutritious food and, also,
that nearly all forms of toad-stool were equally useful. We hoped not to
need such emergency rations and, fortunately, never got to that stage in
our subsequent adventures. Over and above the 20 lb. of food we
estimated that each one would need to carry 10 lb. more in kit and
equipment, the former comprising a spare pair of socks, a "woolly" and
vest or something similar, and the latter a haversack and waterbottle,
matches, knife, spoon and soap. In addition we carried a sail, about 40
feet of light rope, a light axe head, two canteens, a safety razor,
housewife, nails and thread for repairing boots, maps, and compasses.
These were divided up into equal weights between the four of us. The
sail was rather a work of art. It was made in two pieces from a bed
sheet, the lining of two Wolseley valises and a couple of towels. With
the help of a sailor friend, Lieut. Nicholson, R.N.R., we roped it all
round. It measured about 10 ft. by 7 ft. 6 in., and weighed complete
about 7 lb. The idea was that, having discovered a boat and if need be
hewn down a small tree for a mast, we would paddle off from the coast
and put up the sail as quickly as possible after sewing the two pieces
together. Tip was to be our navigator, as he had done a good deal of
sailing in pre-war days.
As Sweet was the only man with a rucksack, we three had to make our own.
This meant a good deal of laborious sewing. My own was laid on the
foundation of a khaki drill bag originally received in Mesopotamia with
gifts from the ladies of Bombay; this was reinforced with an old pair of
braces and the necessary webbing sewn on. It proved a most useful
article and stood the journey wonderfully well, although getting
somewhat soiled in appearance.