SECRETS OF A KUTTITE: An Authentic Story of Kut, Adventures in Captivity and Stamboul Intrigue

Language: English

Published by Naval & Military Press, 2005

1845742001 / 9781845742003

  • Softcover
  • New
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Seller: Naval and Military Press Ltd, Uckfield, United KingdomNaval and Military Press Ltd

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Softcover

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2005 N&M Press reprint (original pub1922, 2nd edition). SB. xvi+ 392pp with 20 b/w photos and three maps. Published Price £18 The author of this book was a subaltern in 76th Battery, X Brigade, RFA, 6th (Poona) Division, commanded by Maj-Gen Sir Charles Townshend. Mousley joined as a reinforcement from India at Ctesiphon in November 1915, which was the limit of the British advance up the Tigris to Baghdad. Unable to progress further the division retreated to Kut-al-Amara, where it was besieged for nearly five months and eventually forced into surrender on 29th April 1916 through starvation and disease. Repeated attempts by the Tigris Corps to break through and relieve the garrison had failed - at a cost of 23,000 casualties. This was probably the greatest humiliation inflicted on the British army during the war. Close on 12,000 men, British and Indian soldiers and followers went into captivity where over 4,000 died, many under appalling conditions.The first of the three parts into which the book is divided covers the retreat from Ctesiphon to Kut and the five-month siege, painting a graphic picture of the hardships involved. All the animals were slaughtered for food, and in a moving paragraph he describes the death of his own charger, which he could not bring himself to watch. He describes the brutality of the Turkish troops when they entered Kut, singling out the Kurdish rank and file as "the most barbarous savages in this country." It was the Kurds who, five or six years previously, had unsuccessfully rebelled against the Turkish authorities, refusing to serve in the army. Part II describes the trek to captivity aife as a prisoner of war. Despite protests the officers were separated from the men and despatched by river to Baghdad, the rank and file had to march, many of them dying on the way. While in captivity Mousley edited a magazine called Smoke, and one chapter is devoted to reproduction of extracts from it. His efforts to escape failed but eventually he was sent to a hospital in Stamboul and the third part of the book describes his experiences in a hospital in which he suffered starvation and neglect. Another attempt to escape, via the Sea of Marmora, failed and he ended up in prison. The final chapters describe the end for Turkey and Mousley's manoeuvring to secure his release and his eventual return home.…

Seller Inventory # 8456

Title
SECRETS OF A KUTTITE: An Authentic Story of Kut, Adventures in Captivity and Stamboul Intrigue
Author
Captain E. O. Mousley, RFA
Publisher
Naval & Military Press
Publication year
2005
Condition
New
Book Type
Book
Binding
Soft cover
Language
English
ISBN 10
1845742001
ISBN 13
9781845742003
Edition
2nd Edition
Seller catalogs
First World War - Mesopotamia, Iraq

Naval and Military Press Ltd

Uckfield, United Kingdom

4-star seller

AbeBooks seller since June 4, 2003

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The Naval & Military Press offer specialist books for the serious student of conflict. The range of titles stocked covers the whole spectrum of military history with titles on uniforms, battles, official histories, specialist works containing medal rolls and casualties lists, and numismatic titles for medal collectors and researchers. The innovative approach we have to military bookselling and our commitment to publishing have made us Britain¿s leading independent military bookseller. http://www.naval-military-press.com http://www.booksforcollectors.com …

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Regimental and Divisional Histories, First World War, Genealogy, Military Technology and Militaria, Books on Collectables and Antiques, Military History, Firearms and Weapons. Transport, trains, trams, busses motoring.

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Naval and Military Press Ltd

Unit 5 Riverside, Brambleside
Uckfield, United Kingdom TN22 1QQ