THE SHIP
At last the ship came, and lay off Phokea, outside the Gulf of Smyrna.
We went off in tugs, out of that lovely bay, more beautiful, to my mind,
than the bay of Naples, and we went on board the Australian hospital
ship "Kanowna," where they gave us a royal welcome.
This was the 1st of November, 1918.
_August the 9th_, 1915--_November the 1st_, 1918.
They had many cots prepared, expecting many sick and cripples. They
asked as we came on board where the sick were, and we replied that they
were dead.
Phokea was a beautiful little Greek town when war broke out; it has
vineyards and olive groves behind it, and it looks out on the bluest of
bays. It had once been inhabited by Greek subjects of the Turks, but now
it lay bare and empty, with hollow windows staring at the sea. There
was an old Englishman on board, a civilian who had been many years in
Smyrna, and him I asked why it lay thus desolate. "When the Turks
declared a Jihad," he said, "a holy war, soldiers and a rabble came to
Phokea, and crucified the Greek men upon olive trees; the women they
raped and then cut their hands and feet off. What happened to the
children I do not know."
There our last sun set on Turkey, and we steamed away to the South.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The complete figures, according to information received up to 25th
October:--
BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR IN TURKEY.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|Believed |Repatriated,| | | Still
|captured.|Escaped, or | Died. |Untraced.|prisoners.
| | Released. | | |
------------------+---------+------------+-------+---------+----------
Officers-- | | | | |
British | 472 | 43 | 14 | None | 415
Indian | 231 | 7 | 7 | None | 217
|---------+------------+-------+---------+----------
Total officers | 703 | 50 | 21 | None | 632
| | | | |
Other ranks-- | | | | |
British | 4,932 | 279 | 1,840 | 449 | 2,364
Indian | 10,948 | 1,177 | 1,429 | 1,773 | 6,569
|---------+------------+-------+---------+----------
Total other ranks | 15,880 | 1,456 | 3,269 | 2,222 | 8,933
| | | | |
Total all ranks | 16,583 | 1,506 | 3,290 | 2,222 | 9,565
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[2] A fellow prisoner, who was kind enough to read through the MS. of
this book for me, contributes the following note:--
"To do our difficulties justice I think you ought to say that besides
the loss of value of paper against gold, the rise of prices reduced the
purchasing power of the LTq to _one-twentieth_ of what it was in the
summer of 1915. This is strictly true. I have a list of the prices of
ordinary commodities up to Spring, 1918. Actually the purchasing value
of L20 from England was between twenty and twenty-four shillings in the
winter 1917-18 as compared to the early Autumn, 1915."--A.D.P.
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
POEMS IN CAPTIVITY
Crown 8vo. +7s. 6d.+ net.
John Still was captured by the Turks in Gallipoli in 1915, and remained
in captivity for over three years, during which he found it essential to
have some absorbing mental occupation to preserve his sanity. He
discovered in himself then, for the first time, the power of writing
verse. For many years before the war he lived in Ceylon, and the latter
part of the book is taken up with poems on its peoples and lost cities,
the first part containing the poems inspired by captivity.
_Morning Post._--"The poems have a quiet power that grows
on the reader."
_Nation._--"Such excellent reading."
_Illustrated London News._--"One of the most interesting
books of war-verse which have yet appeared."
_Outlook._--"'The Ballad of Suvla Bay' is among the
finest poems of the war."
_Daily Graphic._--"Mr. Still has an unusual command of
varied form."
_Book Monthly._--"Mr. Still's verse is charged with the
full ripening of poetic harvest."
_Pall Mall Gazette._--"Mr. Still is distinctly happy in
expression, and his work has a very real interest."
_Scotsman._--"This remarkable volume."
_Athenaeum._--"Undeniably interesting."
_Bookman._--"Mr. Still is a poet of considerable worth."
_Ladies' Field._--"It contains very splendid verse. The
strength and simplicity of them will appeal to a big
public."
JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, VIGO ST., W. 1
THE ROAD TO EN-DOR
_Being an Account of how two prisoners of War at Yozgad in Turkey
won their way to freedom._
By E. H. JONES, Lieut. Indian Army Reserve
With Illustrations by C. W. HILL, Lieut. R.A.F.
Third Edition. Crown 8vo. +8s. 6d.+ net.
This book, besides being an extraordinary story, will specially appeal
to every one who is interested in spiritualism. It tells in minute and
exact detail how two young British officers, who previously knew nothing
of the subject, took up spiritualism--originally to amuse their
fellow-prisoners in a Turkish prison camp; how they afterwards convinced
not only the Turkish officials of their mediumistic powers, but even
their fellow-officers; how eventually the "spook" ran the camp, securing
many privileges for the inmates, and finally nearly effected the escape
of the mediums and kidnapped the Turkish Governor and Interpreter.
Afterwards the two officers feigned madness so effectually that they
were repatriated on compassionate grounds as insane, and had some
difficulty in convincing the British authorities of their sanity. The
book reads like a wild romance, but it is authenticated in every detail
by fellow-officers and official documents. The Turkish Governor was
actually court-martialled for his part in a treasure hunt instituted by
the "spook"; and since the Armistice the authors have received letters
from Turkish officials asking them to return and persist in the search
for the hidden treasure.
_Morning Post._--"It is easily the most surprising story
of the escape of prisoners of war which has yet
appeared.... No more effective exposure of the methods of
the medium has ever been written.... This book is indeed
an invaluable reduction to absurdity of the claims of the
spiritualist coteries."
_Daily Telegraph._--"This is one of the most realistic,
grimmest, and at the same time most entertaining, books
ever given to the public.... 'The Road to En-dor' is a
book with a thrill on every page, is full of genuine
adventure.... Everybody should read it."
_Times._--"Astounding.... Of great value."
_Punch._--"The most extraordinary war-tale which has come
my way."
_Birmingham Post._--"The story of surely the most
colossal 'fake' of modern times."
_Daily Graphic._--"The most amazing story of the war."
_Outlook._--"It deserves to become a classic."
_Evening News._--"The tale of the two lieutenants is
perhaps the noblest example of the game and fine art of
spoof that the world has ever seen, or ever will see ...
their wonderful and almost monstrous elaboration ... an
amazing story."
_Bystander._--"The book reads like the wildest romance."
_Glasgow Evening News._--"An absolutely fresh,
unexpected, and inimitable true story of what we fancy is
the greatest spoof of the Great War."
_Everyman._--"One of the most amazing tales that we have
ever read. The gradual augmentation of the spook's power
is one of the most preposterous, the most laughable
histories in the whole literature of spoofing. Lieut.
Jones has given us a wonderful book--even a great book."
_New Statesman._--"This amazing story is told in great
detail, but never tedious."
JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, VIGO ST., W. 1
THE SILENCE OF COLONEL BRAMBLE
By ANDRE MAUROIS
Second Edition. +5s.+ net.
_Westminster Gazette._--"'The Silence of Colonel Bramble'
is the best composite character sketch I have seen to
show France what the English gentleman at war is like ...
much delightful humour.... It is full of good stories....
The translator appears to have done his work wonderfully
well."
_Daily Telegraph._--"This book has enjoyed a great
success in France, and it will be an extraordinary thing
if it is not equally successful here.... Those who do not
already know the book in French will lose nothing of its
charm in English form. The humours of the mess-room are
inimitable.... The whole thing is real, alive,
sympathetic; there is not a false touch in all its
delicate, glancing wit.... One need not be a Frenchman to
appreciate its wisdom and its penetrating truth."
_Star._--"An excellent translation ... a gay and daring
translation ... I laughed over its audacious humour."
_Times._--"This admirable French picture of English
officers."
_Daily Graphic._--"A triumph of sympathetic observation
... delightful book ... many moving passages."
_Daily Mail._--"So good as to be no less amusing than the
original.... This is one of the finest feats of modern
translation that I know. The book gives one a better idea
of the war than any other book I can recall.... Among
many comical disputes the funniest is that about
superstitions. That really is, in mess language, 'A
scream.'"
_New Statesman._--"The whole is of a piece charmingly
harmonious in tone and closely woven together.... The
book has a perfect ending.... Few living writers achieve
so great a range of sentiment, with so uniformly light
and unassuming a manner."
_Observer._--"The flavour of M. Maurois' humour loses
little in this translation.... The admirable
verisimilitude of the dialogue.... M. Maurois' humorous
gift is unusually varied.... He tells a good story with
great vivacity."
Holbrook Jackson in the _National News_.--"The Colonel is
an eternal delight.... I put the volume under my arm,
started reading it on the way home, and continued reading
until I had finished the same evening.... That ought to
be sufficient recommendation for any book...."
_Times Lit. Supplement._--(Review of French
Edition.)--"M. Maurois ... is indeed so good an artist
and so excellent an observer that we would not for worlds
spoil his hand, or do more than merely introduce to
English readers by far the most interesting and amusing
group of British officers that we have met in books since
the war began."
_Gentlewoman._--"The translation of this book is so
splendidly done that it seems impossible that it can be a
translation.... One of the very few war books which
survive Peace.... This is one of the few war books that
will not collect dust on the bookshelf."
James Milne in the _Graphic_.--"It is all very wise and
very charming."
_Morning Post._--"This gently-humorous little book....
Half-an-hour with Colonel Bramble and his entertaining
friends will stop you worrying for a whole day."
_Saturday Review._--"The wittiest book of comment on
warfare and our national prejudices that we have yet
seen."
JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, VIGO ST., W. 1
A KUT PRISONER
By Lieut. H. C. W. BISHOP. Illustrated. +6s. 6d.+ net.
This book is the remarkable story of the first three British officers to
escape from a Turkish prison camp. It contains a description of the
siege and the march of 1,700 miles to Kastamuni; of their capture,
escape, and dramatic rescue, and finally the voyage in an open boat to
Alupka, in the Crimea.
SONNETS FROM A PRISON CAMP
By ARCHIBALD ALLAN BOWMAN
Crown 8vo. +5s.+ net.
This book falls naturally in two parts; the first is a sonnet sequence
describing the author's capture with his battalion in the great March
Offensive, his weary tramp as a prisoner, and internment in a German
camp; the second consists of a series of meditative sonnets on theses
inevitably suggested by close confinement. The poems show great promise,
their intense sincerity being foremost among their merits.
_Morning Post._--"Mr. Bowman's rich and dignified sonnets."
_Scotsman._--"There is only one possible verdict on this
volume--well done."
SAPPER DOROTHY LAWRENCE
THE ONLY ENGLISH WOMAN SOLDIER
_Late Royal Engineers, 51st Division, 179th Tunnelling Coy., B.E.F._
With Portraits. Crown 8vo. +5s.+ net.
_Daily Mail._--"Her very astonishing tale ... an
extraordinary performance."
_Daily Chronicle._--"Miss Lawrence's book is interesting
and well done."
_Scotsman._--"Her exploit supplies the materials for a
fine tale of adventure, and she tells her story
uncommonly well."
JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, VIGO ST., W. 1