FourFifty Miles to Freedom 9

FourFifty Miles to Freedom 9

"Shorts," we knew, would be very comfortable, but unfortunately they

are a peculiarly British style of garment; so they were vetoed, at any

rate for wear by day. One or two, however, rendered their trousers

convertible to "shorts," for use during darkness, by slitting each leg

along one seam to a point above the knee, adding buttons and cutting

button-holes at the correct places to enable them to be turned up and

fastened, so as to leave the knees free. Most of us, however, preferred

not to risk the loss of any protection against cold such as this plan

involved, and eventually started off wearing trousers tied below the

knee with a piece of cord, in true navvy fashion.

 

It was realised that we could not hope to pass for Turks by day, so

no elaborate disguise was attempted. At night, however, a Turk's

silhouette does not much differ, except for his headgear, from that of

a European--for a Turk is not a European, even though he is allowed a

bit of European soil. We accordingly decided to wear fezes, so that

any one passing us at night would mistake us for Turks and ask no

questions. For the daytime we would hold to our original Changri scheme

of pretending to be a German survey party, and for this purpose would

carry either Homburg hats or British field-service caps.

 

As to the best means of taking along all this kit, opinions were most

diverse. The weary experiments which had been commenced whilst at

Changri were continued with renewed zest at Yozgad, until by a system

of trial and error each had worked his own particular idea into a more

or less practical form. Our difficulties were enhanced by the necessity

of concealing our experimental models from the eyes not only of

brother Turk, but also of brother officers, so that all our tests were

carried out in the somewhat confined space of the room cupboards. While

so situated there was the risk of finding oneself shut in for half an

hour if an officer not in the know came into the room to describe the

events of the latest fox-hunt. Eventually the equipment of our party

varied from a simple but enormous rucksack, with water-bottle slung

separately, to a rather complicated arrangement by which the pack was

balanced to some extent by biscuit-pouches, haversack, and water-bottle

attached to the belt.

 

In all cases the total load carried, with water-bottles filled but

chargals empty, amounted to close upon 50 lb.; of this 25¼ lb. were

food, 5 lb. water-bottle, and 12 lb. accessories and spare clothing;

and the remainder the weight of the equipment itself--in one case as

much as 8 lb.

 

A few notes as to the above food and equipment may be of interest. The

soft biscuits were obtained at the last moment from an officer who had

intended to decamp but was prevented from so doing by a game leg. They

took the place of 1½ lb. of a kind of sun-dried meat known locally as

"pastomar," similar to "biltong," but seasoned with garlic. This we had

bought two or three weeks previous to the date of departure, for it was

not always obtainable in the bazaar. Hence it was necessary to take it

while the chance offered, in spite of the unpleasantness of having to

keep such evil-smelling stuff in a living-room. Its taste to any one

but the garlic-loving Oriental is as disagreeable as its scent, so that

it was not altogether without relief that we found at the last moment

that most of the pastomar was already breeding maggots, and we replaced

it with the odd six biscuits apiece.

 

Having read during our captivity a good deal about Arctic exploration,

we had also experimented with the local pemmican, but found it would

not withstand the heat. The cheeses were from home parcels, and to save

weight were taken out of their tins on the last day. The same was also

done with the cocoa and Ovaltine, which were then carried in bags made

from handkerchiefs.

 

Two of the party also carried an extra pound of chocolate and some Oxo

tablets, on the understanding that they were to be thrown away if the

loads proved too heavy, for most of us felt that the last straw was

already nearly reached.

 

Spare clothing was left for individuals to decide for themselves, and

some carried a little thin underclothing and a "woolley" in addition to

the spare shirt and socks.

 

The medicines comprised quinine, aspirin, cascara sagrada, Dover's

powders, and iodine, these being supplied to us by our own doctors.

Also some arrowroot and Ovaltine in case any one had to diet himself.

We had in addition, while at Changri, managed to obtain from the

local chemist about fifteen opium pills per head. Most of us further

carried either boric powder or ointment for the feet. The vermin-proof

belts were to be more useful as a safeguard against chill than against

vermin, as in the end we on no occasion slept inside a Turkish dwelling.

 

With one exception, all the compasses were of the poorest description,

being of the more or less toy variety with a mirror on the back.

Changri, however, produced one of superior pattern, which we purchased

without arousing suspicion, and attempted to make more efficient with

the luminous paint off the face of an old watch, but without very

lasting success.

 

It is not easy to make a bag of canvas which will hold water, but by

dint of fine stitching and a special kind of beeswax, our naval leader

succeeded in producing three chargals which did yeoman service.

 

The map on which we were to rely was a French one, forty years old,

and on a scale of about twenty-four miles to the inch. An officer

had bought it for five pounds from a Greek dentist at Kastamoni. As

it happened it was not bought primarily for escape purposes, but we

persuaded him to sell it to us on his leaving Changri for Geddos. In

this the hill features were very indistinctly shown by vague hachuring,

and even a big river such as the Kizil Irmak was in several places

shown dotted, signifying not that this dried up during parts of the

year, but that no one had surveyed it. An up-to-date but very small

map had been received from home by means of a series of six "bananas,"

each containing a tiny section; but, owing to our change of plan, this

showed little of our proposed route.

 

The "sun compass" needs some explanation. This was an invention of

Captain A. B. Matthews, D.S.O., R.E., who had been a prisoner of war at

Yozgad since the fall of Kut-el-Amara. Wishing to make a rough survey

of the immediately surrounding country for the use of the Hunt Club,

and finding that local magnetic attraction made a compass altogether

unreliable, he bethought him of a simple means of utilising the sun,

which in the wonderful climate of Asia Minor is rarely obscured

throughout the spring, summer, or autumn. The "sun compass" consists

merely of a thin wooden disc of say 5 inches diameter, with the outer

edge divided into 360 degrees, and with a hole at the centre through

which can be inserted a piece of stiff straight wire. A table of the

sun's bearing at any hour on any day completes the instrument. In

actual use the disc is held horizontally, with the graduations upwards,

and the wire kept vertical and protruding above the disc. Then, by

turning the latter till the shadow of the wire falls on the sun's

bearing plus 180 degrees, you have the disc set to read off true

bearings in any direction.

 

Captain Matthews was also responsible for the star charts. By means

of two maps of the heavens obtained from a book on travel, published

by the Royal Geographical Society, he devised from first principles a

"bus" consisting of three concentric cardboard discs. By means of these

it was possible, almost mechanically, to read off the bearings of the

brighter stars in the main constellations for any hour and any night

of the year. It was thus possible to obtain a series of charts showing

on which star one should march for any required bearing, and at any

particular time. We prepared them for all hours of the nights from the

1st August to the 15th September 1918. This chart-book was of value

as a check on a magnetic compass by night, but assumed an elementary

knowledge of at least those constellations which would be of use for

the particular purpose in view.

 

Although it was expected that if we wished to evade recapture we

should have to avoid replenishing our supplies at any villages, it

was necessary to take money in case we were compelled to do so as a

last resource. For this purpose a certain amount of gold and silver

was essential: otherwise it was quite possible that, in payment for

anything in an out-of-the-way district, the paper money would be

received at its true value, namely, nothing at all. A certain amount

of paper money was, however, advisable in view of the conditions we

might expect if we were recaptured, as paper money was less likely to

be taken away from us than gold and silver. It was decided then to

start if possible with at least £2 each in gold, £30 in paper, and two

medjidies (worth four shillings each) in silver. This we succeeded in

collecting, thanks to being able to cash a few cheques locally: for

both the gold and the silver, however, it was necessary to pay five

times their face value in paper. We bought silver coins, a few at a

time, from various sentries. These men thoroughly understood our desire

for them when we hinted at a pretty girl in England who would look very

handsome with a necklace of medjidies round her neck.

 

While at Changri our party had succeeded in obtaining from other

officers two _pukka_ helio-mirrors, which had escaped destruction

on the fall of Kut-el-Amara. With these we had fitted up a duplex

heliograph, complete with signalling key and adjusting screws. Whereas,

however, for the Samos scheme it would have been invaluable, for

Rendezvous X its use was more problematical; and in view of the way in

which essentials had gradually mounted up, it was in the end rather

reluctantly decided that the helio must go by the board, as it weighed

about three pounds.

 

Another decision now made was that in our party we should not use

violence in order to make our escape, unless it should be necessary

on the coast itself to avoid throwing away a really good chance. It

was recognised that if bloodshed occurred, the Turks would be quite

capable of killing off the whole of our party, and possibly others, if

recaptured. For this reason no attempt was made to procure firearms,

though this would probably have been no more difficult than obtaining

the fezes, compasses, and field-glasses.

 

During the four months we were at Yozgad, Grunt, being one of the best

Turkish scholars in the camp, started a class for any who chose to

learn Turkish. About five times a week, therefore, all the original

six of our escape-party and a few others used to meet in Grunt's room

for an hour's instruction. In the case of would-be escapers, the main

attraction of these lessons was this: if any of us were recaptured,

as some were practically certain to be, it would be possible to make

oneself understood to some slight extent, and thereby perhaps alleviate

the unpleasantness of prison life by being able to let our jailers

know our wants. Since, also, to judge by the experience of those who

had been recaptured, we should, if equally unfortunate, spend several

months in the close company of some of the worst criminals in Turkey,

it would be a pity not to take the opportunity of picking up a really

good conversational knowledge of the language under exceptionally

favourable circumstances. For this a grounding in grammar would be

invaluable. Nothing else but these considerations would have induced

the majority of us to attempt so difficult a task as learning even the

rudiments of the Ottoman tongue.

 

As the time grew near for the great adventure, the last stage of our

training was entered upon. Every opportunity was taken of going out

hunting, although the field was limited to a total of thirty. Keenness

in hockey died off, as many of us were afraid of sustaining some injury

which might incapacitate us on the actual day. Running and hard walking

round the garden became a regular institution in some houses; and

several cupboards, if suddenly opened at almost any hour of the day and

at many in the night, would have disclosed a member of an escape-party

loaded up in the most extraordinary manner, and performing gymnastic

exercises for the strengthening of leg and shoulder muscles. In view

of the inevitable hard marching, towards the end several of the party

even went so far as to soak the feet several times a day in a strong

solution of alum, in the hope of hardening the feet and avoiding blisters.