A Prisoner in Turkey

In Short

This narrative recounts the capture and three-year captivity of a British officer in Ottoman Turkey during the First World War. Swept up after a failed assault on the Dardanelles, he is moved through dirty barracks, cold Anatolian monasteries, and isolated prison towns. The book details the daily indignities, severe deprivations, disease, and bureaucratic absurdities of the Turkish prison camps. It endures as a stark, unvarnished portrait of survival, driven by quiet camaraderie, private creative pursuits, and an uncompromising eye for human character under extreme strain.

The Story

The account opens in August 1915 on the rugged slopes of the Dardanelles. The author, serving with the East Yorkshire Regiment, takes part in a late, doomed assault toward Teke Tepe. Under relentless flank fire, his unit breaks down in the rough scrub oak until only a handful reach the hilltop. Forced to retreat down a exposed ravine, he is captured shortly after witnessing a fellow officer killed.

From the coast, he is ferried to Stamboul and held in the Ministry of War before transfer to Taxim barracks. There, the captives encounter the empty promises of Turkish officials, who treat them to patronizing speeches about being "honored guests" while keeping them in filthy, bug-infested rooms. By late August, the author is transported across the Bosphorus to Asia Minor, bound for the remote inland town of Angora. During this journey, he takes up writing poetry—a mental lifeline that sustains him throughout his confinement.

In Angora, the prisoners are housed in "The Wank," an old Armenian monastery built over foul-smelling cesspools. Life becomes a routine of dodging corrupt doctors, enduring harsh winter cold, and watching the brutal training of local recruits. Small diversions, like a makeshift Christmas celebration boosted by a relief hamper from the American Ambassador, help maintain morale. Yet disease is constant; the author survives a severe case of paratyphoid thanks to the nursing of a fellow prisoner acting as camp physician.

Later transferred to Afion-Kara-Hissar, the author spends nearly three years in a crowded, multi-national community of captives. Money loses its value to rampant inflation, forcing prisoners to draw on code-written letters to report abuses and secure funds from home. Tensions and strange eccentricities emerge in the cramped houses, where British, French, Russian, and Polish officers navigate their differences. Escape attempts periodically stir the camp, bringing collective punishments or quiet admiration.

By late 1918, as the Ottoman Empire collapses, the author passes a medical board and secures transport to Smyrna. Released two weeks before the official Armistice, he spends his final days in freedom among local Greek families before boarding a ship home.

How It Unfolds

The assault fails A delayed order sends the East Yorkshire Regiment up the rocky heights above Anafarta under heavy fire. The author reaches the summit with a small group before being forced back down the ravines into enemy hands.

The grand illusion In Istanbul, Turkish officials welcome the dirty, destitute prisoners with elaborate promises of quick liberty and comfortable quarters. None of the promised comforts materialize, establishing a pattern of official deceit.

Life at the monastery Transferred to Angora, the captives are confined in a dirty monastic compound known as the Wank. Surrounded by foul sanitation and harsh winter weather, they adapt to tight quarters and rely on a fellow prisoner for medical care.

The long trial at Afion Moved to Afion-Kara-Hissar, the author spends years in cramped quarters alongside allied officers of various nationalities. Skyrocketing prices, secret code communications with home, and news of distant battles define their routine.

The final release As the war draws to a close, a medical board selects the author for repatriation. He leaves the camp amidst cheers from those remaining and reaches Smyrna, gaining full freedom shortly before the Armistice.

The People

• John Still: The narrator, an officer who relies on writing poetry and maintaining a dry, observant disposition to survive thirty-nine months of Turkish captivity.
• Bill: A former medical student among the prisoners who becomes the camp’s informal doctor, nursing the author and others through typhus and fevers despite missing formal qualifications.
• The Skipper: The senior British officer at Angora, who maintains order, protects sick prisoners from hostile visitors, and manages camp relations with the Ottoman authorities.
• George: A fiery Russian Pole among the captives who finds British boxing matches fascinating, though his own sense of honor demands duels over physical blows.
• Chukri Bey: An Ottoman Army Corps Commander who displays impressive horsemanship and briefly invites the captured officers to view a military sham fight near Angora.
• Mrs. Constantine: A Greek woman in Smyrna who lets her furnished home to the author after his release while awaiting news of her own conscripted husband.

In Its Own Voice

"My own luggage consisted, I remember, of a bit of soap, a tooth-brush, and a few other odds and ends, all contained in a paper bag tied up with a bootlace: the sort of bag you buy buns in."

The author describes his total lack of possessions upon being marched into the interior of Asia Minor.

"The knowledge they acquired was literally kicked into them by the chaouses, brutal ruffians trained on the Prussian model."

An observation on the harsh methods used by Ottoman NCOs to train young country recruits outside the monastery windows.

"We had been locked up just long enough to hate it by Christmas, and we determined to have as merry an evening as we could."

Reflecting on the psychological turning point of their first winter in captivity and their resolve to maintain morale.

What It's Really About

Beneath the episodic account of prison life, the book examines the psychological mechanisms of long-term confinement. It contrasts the noble rhetoric of wartime authorities with the mundane, dirty reality endured by rank-and-file captives. The text explores how individuals preserve their identity and sanity through creative labor, shared humor, and small rituals when stripped of agency. It also offers a quiet study in cross-cultural friction and solidarity, observing how men of vastly different backgrounds—British, French, Russian, and Ottoman—behave when cooped up together under constant privation and uncertainty.

Why Read It Today

This memoir offers a vivid, first-hand look at a lesser-known theater of the First World War's human cost. Readers who appreciate historical non-fiction will find its direct tone refreshing; the prose avoids romanticizing war or exaggerating hardship, preferring a stoic, often sardonic realism. The narrative moves at a steady pace, driven by sharp observations of human nature under pressure rather than sensational action.

The text reflects period attitudes and casual prejudices typical of early 20th-century British officers, particularly in its portrayals of Ottoman officials and foreign allies. However, these elements remain grounded in the author's direct observations rather than theoretical malice. What stays with the reader is the sheer persistence of the captives—their ability to build a functioning community, run secret codes, write verse, and keep their spirits intact through years of isolation in the Anatolian highlands.