HOW THE TURKS TREAT THEIR PRISONERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 133, 22 February 1918, Page 5

HOW THE TURKS TREAT THEIR PRISONERS

A NEW ZEALANDER'S DREADFUL EXPERIENCE NEGLECT AND POOR FOOD (Rec. February 21, 7.35 p.m.) . London, February 20. ' Corporal A. Shoebridge, No. '10/563, Wellington Battalion, New Zealand, was among the first prisoners to arrive ' from Turkey. He states that he was engaged on Anafarta, Gallipoli, in 1915, and when -she Anzacs were forced to retire lie was left on the field, shot • in the elbow, and-taken.with other New Zeahuders from Gallipoli in a jolting cart'. They stopped on the roadside, and an old Turkish woman ( belaboured them with a. heavy stick, killing his i mate, who was suffering from a serious bayonet wound in the stomach. The body was ■ left by the ■ roadside. Shoebridge was sent to a good hospital in Constantinople for a few days. Then they were told that the British were ill-treating Turkish prisoners, and as a reprisal were sent to a building ' like a stable. • The'tvindows were boarded and it was dark. They.were laid on a dirty floor with a blanket each. Their wounds- were not attended to. Later they were sent to various hospitals.. Throughout, the treatment and food were wretched, consisting of bread, wheat, and potatoes.' Other prisoners state that the British prisoners died like and were buried, unclothed ' and uncoffined, in holes holding four. The condition of the prisoners from Kut-el-Amara was indescribable. At first they could not believe Ithey were British. Some were clad in a shirt only. .The- prisoners received £4 per month from the Americans. Then'tho Dutch Consul was ■permitted to buy food. The prices were terrible. They stayed ten weeks in Austria en route. The food there was worse and scarcer than in Turkey. The conditions in Turkey have now much improved.—United' Service.