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قراءة كتاب The Secrets of a Kuttite An Authentic Story of Kut, Adventures in Captivity and Stamboul Intrigue
تنويه: تعرض هنا نبذة من اول ١٠ صفحات فقط من الكتاب الالكتروني، لقراءة الكتاب كاملا اضغط على الزر “اشتر الآن"
The Secrets of a Kuttite An Authentic Story of Kut, Adventures in Captivity and Stamboul Intrigue
THE SECRETS OF A KUTTITE
AN EMPIRE VIEW OF
THE EMPIRE TANGLE
With an Introduction by the
RT. HON. W. F. MASSEY
THE PLACE OF
INTERNATIONAL LAW
IN JURISPRUDENCE
THE SECRETS OF A KUTTITE
AN AUTHENTIC STORY OF KUT,
ADVENTURES IN CAPTIVITY AND STAMBOUL INTRIGUE
CAPTAIN E. O. MOUSLEY, R.F.A.
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXXII
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
THE TREK
Across the stern and unproductive plain—
And Thirst, Satan's archfiend, darts at the brain
And the weight of the great heat their spirit crushes
To deeper silence and the tired feet bleed—
While the ruthless Turk with yells and sometimes blows
Urges them on beside his impatient steed
To a Future where and how no soldier knows
Beyond the dust-cloud on the horizon's rim,
Beyond the range of Hope—to memories grim.
But neither desert thirst nor fiercest sun
Nor dust-storms, nor the unknown miles ahead
Can touch their heart or clog its valves with dread—
These English lads that fought at Ctesiphon.
From Smoke, the Kastamuni Punch.
MY MOTHER
PREFACE
The following pages were actually written during the siege of Kut or during captivity. The original manuscript was concealed in Turkey and recovered months after the Armistice. I have been persuaded by my friends that to recast or add to the story would detract from whatever appeal it may have as a human document. As such, with all its limitations, it is offered to the public.
The exigencies of a captivity such as mine, even more than in the field, determine from moment to moment one's focus and perspective, and what to-day presents itself for record is to-morrow ignored or forgotten by concentration on the few things and the few moments that count. Added to this there is for the prisoner the pressure of existence when, so far from being allowed a pencil, he is considerably occupied with selling his last fork.
One moves on from minute to minute between walls that recede or converge, and one's experience, therefore, is a series of incidents often unfinished. A diary must reflect one's experience.
The secrets of every Kuttite would "make many books" as large as this. And from an experience more varied than fell to the lot of many prisoners the author hopes that the following extract, a simple story of incident, adventure and intrigue, may interest the British reader.
Oxford and Cambridge Club,
Pall Mall,
March, 1921.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| PREFACE | ix |
| PART I | |
| TO THE FALL OF KUT, APRIL 29TH, 1916 | |
| CHAPTER I | |
| En route from Hyderabad to Mesopotamia. Voyage up the Tigris | 3 |
| CHAPTER II | |
| With the Sixth Division after Ctesiphon. The retreat and action at | |
| Um-al-Tabul | 10 |
| CHAPTER III | |
| We reach Kut. Beginning of the siege. The Christmas assault | 22 |
| CHAPTER IV | |
| Relief delayed. Floods. Life during the siege | 52 |
| CHAPTER V | |
| General Aylmer's attempt. More floods. Pressure of the siege. Preparations | |
| for relief. Failure. Life in a siege mess | 88 |
| CHAPTER VI | |
| The last days of Kut. Sickness. Death. Surrender | 120 |
| PART II | |
| THE TREK. KASTAMUNI | |
| CHAPTER VII | |
| The Third Captivity. Baghdad. The desert march of the sick column. | |
| We reach Ras-el-Ain | 163 |
| CHAPTER VIII | |
| By rail and trek over the Taurus to Angora. The last trek to | |
| Kastamuni | 185 |
| CHAPTER IX | |
| Life in |