A Kut Prisoner

The surrender of the town of Kut-al-Asmara in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) by General Townshend was one of the worst British military disasters of the Great War - comparable to the fall of Singapore in World War Two. But even worse than the humiliating capitulation itself was the fate of the British and Empire troops captured by the Turks at Kut. This book offers a rare account of their suffering. The author, an Indian Army officer serving with the 66th Punjabi Regiment, was taken prisoner and marched to the town of Kastamuni in the Turkish heartland of Asia Minor. From here, incredibly, he managed to escape and make his way to freedom via the Black Sea. The book is therefore an exciting and unusual tale of escape from the Turks, as well as a story of military catastrophe. The author was one of the lucky ones: over half of the 8,000 men taken prisoner with him and put to hard labour by the Turks failed to survive the war.