IXAR 86, NO, 148 In the Twilight of a The Amazing Experiences of a British Captured Officer In the early part of 1918 Captain Alan Bott in flames near Nazareth and he was wounded. He was captured by the T Flydhg wiih General Allenby's army in Palestine. was splendid sport. All through the dampalgn in the Holy Land the German aviatues showed far less courage thin those on the western froct, so that we had an almost compleic. maste.y of the air and chased en:my machines as we pleased. I During the spring and sumer mynths, when everybody gdsped in the brofling heat, the aviator was fortunate indeed, because he could offen leave the sun-scorched. ground for the cold reglons abuve. A flight +was! Hke a gold plunge afier a Turk- ish bath, - Bven at eight thousand feet the atmosphere "was wirm en- ough for "me to fly capless, goggle Yess and fu my shist sleeves. Moat day; we longed for German mia chines to appear and give us an exX- cuse for taking to the air. And what a country below, seen by an alrman! Stretches of 74 brown desert that gave plage to green river-hasins and extravagan: vegetation: hill. districts that were extraprdinarily bleak and wild; lakes and streams that sparkled in the brilliant, sunlight; and bemuti- ful white towns, bearing names such as Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlshem Nazareth and Sh hem! io was not unincky en- guer, the Pales- ideal" for the war pilot... But if it were his fate in be shot down on the wrong side of ihe . Pe ad ve been better a 1 #5 had he fallen into the & £ the Hun (Who gt any rate - ore or less iaga . European) inviead of into the haus of tie Unspeakable Turk. Fhe | discovered for mysgll during tne summer of lust year, > I Start Up From J, i : ' alfa. Late jn the afternoon of April 24. 1918, 1 Jott me at Jar a8 mé we we 'beyond ue ine- | gest '| when a shout from one of his com- thor shook. | what would" have been a colossal headache if unconsciousness had not {felt an : no a IY body but my head, neck and) one : 01 the war in Ashi ana Syria | thro r sashes were usua he .botie-handled KINGSTON, ONTARIO, SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1919 eT Rs h Empire By CAPTAIN ALAN BOTT, M.C,, R:A.F., Author of "CAVALRY OF THE CLOUDS" done---to get down fo solid earth as quickly as possible. I banked rignt oyer and fell iy ayvertical side-slip, go that if the ¥ire grew the" flames should not reach back to" the tall- plane. A' strange mixture of thoughts raced at lightning speed through my ning, including memaor- ies of friends' and old haunts of every kind. But above all 1 was conscious of a thrill of fear tint was So intense as to be almost physical, and 1 found myself shouting bitfor curses into the unhearing air." With great difficudty I foreed my body through the tremendous pres- sure of the uprushing gir and lean- ed out to look under tHe fuselage. 1 'Was relieved to find that the same such of akr that was boxing my ears had put the small flame, The Tao. riey still smouldered and sparkled in places. At a height of a'few hundred fet I brought the bus into a normal guide and sought a landing place, only 'to find that I was over rocky and desolate hill country. I pieked out a small patgh of level ground fringed by a few stunted trees. It was not nearly long enough for landing 'an aeroplane, but it = was cértainly better than the jaggeil slopes that were the only aiterna- tive. #1 flattened out and pancaked on to the near end of this patch of ground; ran right across it, swerved i nd crashed "and the beginning of brought relief. Cay ibiily, I.Come to Under My Machine. When 1 began to regain nly senses 1 found that it was moonlight. The oolossal headache remained, ani I intense pain in my right thigh. The engine and tue body of she machine were on top of me, so that I could move no part of m § 1" looked around and saw, elimb- ing toward me over a pile of stones, a band of about a dozen mountain Arabs--ragged, unkempt and fierce- eyed---the sort of wandering no- mads who during. the lawless days knives and long drawn knife In his hand, and the fingered its glittering blade sug- ively. He was quite close to me # A Prison urks. His story begins at this point, prisonment in Turkey. Copyright, 1919, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate. joined the aviation service of General Allenby's army in Palestine. In March, 1918, Captain Bott' 'in Palestine BRITISH AIRMAN ESCAPES IN CONSTANTINOPLE. hesteéd argument followed, in which most of the Arabs took part fn those days 1 could understand little Arabic, and in any case 1 was not in a fit state to make ihe mental effort needed "to ' understand it. However, from frequent! gesture and from the few words I cdught, I was certain that they were discussing a rather dificult problem. Would it be wiser to give somebody up altv and demand baksheesh from wr 74 Turks, or strip the somebody of hig clothes and leave him on the hill- side oF in the somebody aud take iS clothes and leave th the hd ® ody on Yet, beimg still half-stucned and unable to grasp the full conselous- ness of my own identity, I dil not regard myself as being concersied in the argument, but adopied the da- tached attitude of the cinewatograph Spectator. When '-the problem: was definitely settled by the 'mrrivai of Some men in Turkish uniform, who Kept the ragged Arabs at a distanea; 1 looked upon the scene much as if it had bedn an old-time Wild West film, showing thé sheriff and his posse riding to rescue the heroine from the brigands, Of the days that followed I hava vigld recollections of 'simo highly: fored episodes; = There was a dreadful -night-tide through the 'hills 10 German headquarters, with a 0 y was a wretched period Is the Aus- trian Hospital at Tul-Karaa, whery 1 endured, beside my' physica! vain, that agony of 'mind whien contes té nearly all newly captured prisoners There Was a hopeless attempt to es: cape from this hospital by climbing: over the wall from the yarl av night tim with the idea of walking fif- t miles to the sea and then swim- n I0uthward past the tranches, del 0 ve m les from whers I should have hit ths onast The attenrpt. failed, becauss my. leg would not allow me to walk more three hundred yards. I return: ed to the hospital and dried 10 steal back unobserved; bit was caught at the door by an orderly. & Punishment in a Jail at Nazareth. Following this misfortune 1 was As punishment I was put into Nazareth criminal fall, to- gether with a particularly dirty Arab prisoner. and verminous and, without the rons brought him fo a Bait. . A a '9 THE TRUE < least exaggeration, . thousands of we. were each' all sent tb Nazareth in an open railway |; : ¢ : pls ruck, with a group of jeering Turk: | sh tols. The leading Bedoult. had a |ish soldiers. The floor was 'siMmy |p bugs crawled over the walls at night. After four days in this pleasant home I managed to get in- to conversation with a German staff officer, to whom I complained of the Turkish treatment. As a result 1 was given beuter quarters for the rest of my satay in Nagdreth. A fortnight later | was sent to Damascus, with some Australian of- ficers who had recently been cap- tured. In Damascus we had a wonderful plan of escape. Two Druse Arabs agreed to supply dis- guises, ride with us to Deraa and then take us in the mountains east of the Turkish froht to the Dead Sea, where we hoped to find the friendly Hedjaz Arabs, who . were fighting for the British, and wouid obtain money to pay the Drusss. Two hours before we had arranged to slip eut of the ' barracks the Syrian Interpreter who had been our intermediary betrayed us; We wera closély guarded all night and next morning were sent with other pric sonersy to Aleppo. Next we travelled to Asia 'Minor and in atter despair, ws found our- selves dumped in a desolate village to 'be punished because some of us hid wamted to escape. da a' litte mud. room in a mud hut we Ived for seven day: ght British offi cers (two badly wouhded) and two welly Tarkish ards. For food pmelly alowed: to bay one che hob Kar: | A i A largest pri- 8 's Sar 3 Shak Crd EE at ry 0 sible," 1p was: hire i is oi coast and, 'apart' 4 ul tes of disguise and language, 'the whole of the interior (0f "Asia Minor was infested, during: the fast © two years of the war, by thousands of briginds---starving, In tags; utterly ruthless, utterly. 'merciless, . and ready to kil} a stringer a8 Soon as Jook at him. ~My only' chamce was to be sent to Constantinople, Where 1 hoped 'to find friends. . How to 'manage thi 8 'a 'difficult' pro- Mew, is my: Iihuried nad. heated and there was nothing to justify an opie for medical tréatment in An Australign captain named White hyd agreed to escape with me. His plan for going to the same hospital was to put several hot. poultices ou his ankle until it was badly mark- ed, and then to suggest that the sald ankle was tubercular, This bluff also .suceeeded. In the same ward as myself were seven other British officers, only one of whom pad anything the mat. ter with him. The rest were sham: ming various f{linesses, either to gain time while arranging an es- cape or in hopes of being passed by a medical board as Sufficiently un: fit to be sent Sut of the country. Turkish doctors, like most Turks, are enormously stupid, 'and my nervous: fits were realistic = enough to convince them, so that I stayed in the hospital for sevéral weeks. But getting to Constantinople was not enough--! must arrange to be allowed to go about the city, so as to get into touch with some people whose addresses had been given me. One day, while discussing the war with the chief Turkish doctor, he expressed a great admiration for Mr. David Lloyd George, Remem- bering 'that under the Young Turk regime a Grand Visier (mere or less equivalent to a British - Prime Minister) had the power of life and 'death over most people, 1 announck ed casually and untruthiully . that Mr, Lloyd George was a great mau, and that I his cousin; * That day ithe chief do présented several of His friends to Mr. Lloyd George's gousin, and during the fonomE week he brought me into = the roi several time, took me sail on th Bosphorus, and introduced 'me to two of his lady friends, talking In: cessantly of what M2 Lloyd George would do if England w sha Brae. tér 1 persuaded the chief doctor to-dllow me out for walks, alone but for a Turkish guard, who followed at my heels. Thus I was able to meet people for whom 1 had been jooking. 'There was a Greek ' cafe proprietor, who took letters Tor me and through = him 1 met a British civilian who cashed my checks . k several hundred dollars. 'T also go! into 'touch With various other peor ple whom it would be still inddvis- able 'to mention; but all' of whom' took great risks in helping various British officers to escape. = Finally, through the enginser of a Russian tramp 'steamer that was then lying od |i: the Bosphorus, opposite the Sul: tan's Palace, Captain White } ar to be taken doe Black Sea to Odessa as stowaways. ------ F 3 Foiled by a Turkish Spy, Just about . this time's Turkish 3 the |, » spy saw Captain White and myself visiting one of my newly-made friends, while the guard, who had been. bribed for the purpose, re- mained outside the house. As a result we were turned out of the hospital next morning and sent to the prison camp at Psamatia, in a few ys' time, we were told we would" be sent back to Asia Minor, So 'that we had .tp act quickly. - We fixed the morning of August 22 for our escape, and travelled to Con- stantinople with guards, on the pre- tense of going to see a dentist. By the grace of God, just before we were ready to make our attempt, the train, on which we were travel. ling collided with another train. Taking advantage of this Heaven- sent. opportunit, we both jumped during the confusion. At the bottom of the railway slope 1 slipped and feil. A guard jumped on top of me, so that 1 failed once again. I looked up and saw White racing down a winding street and pushing the Turks out of his way, pursued by twolsoldiers. He round- ed a corner, and seeing an open doorway, dodged into it; while the guards, thinking he had gone on, ran past the doorway and into the next street Fortunately for him, the inmates - of the house were Greeks and friendly to the Allies. & Greek woman hid him for three hours, and from her he bought a tex a During the af- ternoon he left the house efféctively disghised as & Turk and reached the 'hiding place that had 'been found for us. HET ¥ m -- ¥ 'What a Bribe Does in Turkey. Meanwhile I was taken fo the feéarest police station. AN Turks can be bribed, and knowing this, 1 offered the two soldiers with me fifty dollars if they would say that 1 personally had not tried to escape, but that I had been present wnei mySgompanion. jumped from the trai, They accepted the biibe with w+ The police searched me the- rgughly; but my bank notes, safely i in my braces and suspenders, were not found, and 1 had no other incriminating evidencp about me. | Next morning, as a result of White's escape, every British olticer and soldier In the neighborhood of 'Constastinople was to be sent into 'thie interior of Anatolia. We were marched through the streets te the Midge across the Golden Horn and: 'on to the ferry stage, whence a steamer was fo take us to the Asiatic shore. oT was desperate, for in five min- utes' time my last chance of escape. | would be gone. 1 turned round at SECOND SECTION oy s machine was brought down and it goes on to tell of his amazing experiences during his im- random and saw the open door of a little cate, Inside was a Greek walt- Tess, who smiled. I slipped into the cafe, placed myself in « corner, aud, speaking hurri , In French, ask- ed the waitress tO stand In front of me, Being told by her a few min« utes later that the field was clear, I dodged out agein, and without showing any undue haste that would attract attention, walked up the steps leading from the ferry stage gd eldge. Jv my great reliet 1 ot fellowed, an into the city. J. I disappeared The place of rendezvous fof the min who had agreed to hide us was a German beer<house in the Grande Rye de Galata. 1 entered the beer. house, sat down, ordered a' glass of beer and waited. 1 stayed over an hour and drank three more. glasses of beer, but still the man 1 was ex- pecting did not arrive. The pro: prietress--an enormously fat Gep- Man woman---came to my table and began talking in Germany. : "You look: very hot," she fald. "Have you been running?" "No, madam, I have been walking ing in the sun, It is very strong today." : § She continued to ask guéstions, and although I happened to have | been at college in Germany, it was several years since I had spoken : German continuously, and I was frightened of giving myself away. Finally: the tension was 00 great and I could hang on no longer. I went back into the street. By mow, 1 knew, the police would be searching the town for me, Thinking that it would be better ib be on the water than on land, I wen: back to the bridge, with the idea ot hiring 'a small boat to row on the osphorus. At the toot of the idge 1 recognized, to my = great horror, two of my old who had evidently been to look for me. I slipped behind them unnoticed, into' Galata fruit bazhur. Being the only man in the basagr wearing a European hat, I attracted a certain amount of attention. A Turkish gendarme approached and demanded to see my vecika (the Turkish passport with which every. body had to be furnished). Natur- ally, I had no vécika. But before ° escaping I had thought of such & predicament, and had signed a eivii- ian phofograph ' of myself--"Frits Richter, ~Oberleutnan in her Flilegertruppen" (First Lieutenant in the German Flying Corps), I now produced this, and explained in fluent German and : Turkish' that I was a officer: wear ing muftl, and that I would get the i ». weat away. LL Half an hour later I made my vay to the Russian tramp stesmier that was to take me to Odessa, snd siayed on board for the night. Nexg morning I disguised myself at a Sd ples a a8 ek en; eer," - énter's workshop, 'where Captain hite was already policeman into serious trouuls for 5