Turkish Prisoners in Egypt Part 6

For the Germans and Austrians there is a good circulating library, containing English, French and German books.

The prisoners have formed an orchestra, and organised theatrical performances, for which they have painted pretty scenery.

There is a cinematograph performance every evening. There are a piano and harmonium. A photographer, who had an establishment in Cairo before the war, practises his art in the camp.

_Discipline._--The very occasional cases of infraction of rules which entail one or more days' detention in the police cells, have a special diet prescribed for them. The military authorities find the general conduct of the civilians quite satisfactory.

_Exercise and Sports._--The prisoners have at their own disposal that part of the grounds lying between the tents and the barracks, a broad s.p.a.ce where they can amuse themselves all day long with football and other games.

They have also a tennis-court, of which the Austro-Germans make more use than the Orientals; a committee of the prisoners arrange the hours for each set of players. Skittles are very popular. Fencing is eagerly learned; the English officer who teaches it being delighted with his pupils' progress. Lessons in gymnastics, like those in other sports, are optional.

Periodically a gymkhana is got up, with donkey races, gymnastic compet.i.tions, and the distribution of prizes.

_Work._--No work is demanded from the prisoners.

_Correspondence, Money Orders and Parcels._--Very few money orders are received. The interned Turks are chiefly illiterate; those whose wives are interned at Cairo, and who are allowed to occasionally visit them, seldom write, as they know them to be well treated. Parcels are seldom sent to the camp, and hitherto no philanthropic society has busied itself over the necessitous.

_Prisoners' Aid._--The only plea which has been addressed to us by means of the Ottoman interpreter, who speaks French and English extremely well, comes from a certain number of dest.i.tute prisoners. They wish to have, in addition to the complete outfit with woollen overcoat supplied by the English Government, a change of warm garments, which they have not the means to buy. Many find it difficult to wear the kind of foot-gear in ordinary use--the heelless leather Turkish slippers--and wish for laced shoes such as they wear at home. We asked the interpreter to make out a list of names of the needy; and after submitting it to the commandant of the camps for verification, we decided to send him from the Ottoman Red Cross Fund the sum of 2,000 francs, to provide these prisoners with the extra garments which they require, and with shoes and tobacco.

~7. Sidi Bishr Camp.~

_(Visited on January 6, 1917.)_

The camp of Sidi Bishr is situated 15 kilometres (9-1/2 miles) to the north-east of Alexandria in a healthy spot on the sea sh.o.r.e, where the sand dunes form little hillocks intersected by miniature valleys. Palms are scattered over it, and it lies open to the fresh breezes. The view from the highest points of the camp is very extensive. A recently constructed road for vehicular traffic leads into the camp, all the appointments of which give the impression that everything has been done to make the prisoners as comfortable as possible. A kitchen garden has just been laid out in a sheltered place, and a flat piece of ground surrounded by palm trees prepared for games, tennis, football, etc.

_Strength._--The camp at Sidi Bishr contains 430 officers, 60 of whom have been here since February, 1915; 410 orderlies captured with their officers, on whom they attend, each officer having 1 orderly; 10 imaums (priests); 20 civilians, who were captured by the Sherif of Mecca and at once handed over to the English.

The commandant of the camp is Lieut.-Colonel Coates.

The American charge d'affaires in Egypt has twice visited the camp.

_Accommodation._--The equipment of the camp at Sidi Bishr not having been entirely completed before our visit we found some of the buildings still in course of erection. But the officers' quarters were ready, and lacked nothing except some furniture, which was daily expected. The barracks, 25 metres (81 feet) long and 8 metres (20 feet) wide, consisted of a solid wooden framework, with part.i.tions either of timber or cement, constructed in the camp by native workmen. A corridor about 1 metre 75 (6 feet) wide runs all along the front of the building, and gives access to the chambers. These measure about 3 metres 50 (14 feet) by 4 metres (17 feet), and 4 metres (17 feet) from the wooden floor to the ceiling. All the interior walls are lime-washed. Each room has two windows, glazed and also covered with wire gauze to exclude insects, and a latched door. Chimneys rise above the roof, which is of timber covered with tarred felt.

According to regulation, the number of occupants of each chamber depends upon their grade. Officers up to the rank of captain are quartered four in each dormitory; captains three, and colonels two. (Some superior officers have each a separate chamber.) The orderlies are housed elsewhere. All the buildings are lighted by electricity, generated by a local plant.

_Bedding._--The iron beds have wire springs, mattresses stuffed with vegetable fibre, pillows, and sufficiency of blankets, to which many officers like to add curtains and coverlets. The rest of the furniture is adequate, and easy-chairs are general.

_Food._--The officers' mess is run by a contractor. One of the officers, appointed by his comrades, is entrusted with arranging the menus and seeing them properly carried out. No limit is fixed to the choice and quant.i.ty of food. The cost must not exceed 10 piastres (about 2s.) daily, including tea, coffee, sugar, preserves, etc. The officers can get any extras which they desire either from the canteen or from the town, except alcoholic drinks, which are forbidden. The meat is previously inspected by the veterinary of the sanitary department. The bread is particularly good. Officers are given European bread, orderlies native bread. We tasted the day's menu ourselves. No complaints with regard to food reached us. The Turkish officers take their meals in two dining-rooms, each of which seats 150. The tables are covered with cloths; the china and plate are suitable.

The orderlies' fare is wholesome and sufficient.

_Dress._--The Turkish officers are warmly and suitably clad. They can procure for themselves all kinds of toilet articles and other equipment.

Most of them wear civilian costume with a fez. An Alexandria tradesman comes to the camp to take their orders.

When inspecting the orderlies we heard some of them complain of a lack of linen, especially of drawers. Surprised by this, we made an immediate inquiry, which produced the following results: the orderlies all received their regulation supply of linen, and signed a receipt in the register. A certain number of them subsequently sold the articles to their officers; these are the men who now complain of a deficiency of linen.

_Hygiene._--Abundant and wholesome drinking water is laid on from the town system. The toilet supply comes to cement basins provided with many taps. The water from the lavatories and kitchens empties itself into a lake at some distance from the camp.

In the morning the officers use the baths or douches fitted up close to the barracks, and separated from each other by woven gra.s.s part.i.tions.

The officers' linen is washed by their orderlies in very convenient wash-houses built of wood and cement.

There are 44 Turkish W.C.'s, cemented, at a good distance from the quarters. They are arranged over cesspools 18 feet deep, disinfected every day with whitewash and cresol, and are quite odourless.

_Medical Attention._--The health of the inmates of Sidi Bishr Camp is looked after by an English doctor, Captain Gillespie, a.s.sisted by an Armenian doctor, who practised at Aleppo in Turkey before the war.

These two doctors speak Arabic and Turkish.

An English corporal and 5 English hospital orderlies take care of the sick.

Twenty-one Egyptian orderlies do the sanitary work of the camp; serious cases are sent to the English hospital at Alexandria. A Turkish Surgeon-Major, Dr. Ibrahim, interned at the camp, is present at operations performed upon his Ottoman comrades in the hospital. He expressed himself as entirely satisfied with the care bestowed upon them.

The infirmary contains 12 iron bedsteads, with wool mattresses and blankets. The consulting room is well fitted up, the cupboards abundantly supplied with drugs. An isolation ward accommodates infectious cases in the incubation stage. Bathrooms reserved for the patients adjoin the infirmary, and there is a kitchen service for preparing special diet.

Officers troubled by their teeth are taken to a dentist in Alexandria.

The prisoners' garments and bedding are sterilised in a special apparatus.

All new arrivals pa.s.s 14 days in quarantine, in special quarters in one of the sections of the camp. They are permitted to join their comrades only when it is certain that they are free from any contagious malady.

At present 36 officers and 34 orderlies are in quarantine.

_Illnesses and Deaths_-All officers imprisoned at Sidi Bishr having been vaccinated against smallpox, typhoid, and cholera, there are no epidemics in the camp. Three to five officers come forward each morning when the doctor makes his rounds. There are perhaps 6 light cases of malaria weekly, 3 to 5 cases of bacillic dysentery every month, treated with serum; 1 case of more serious dysentery was sent away to the English Hospital in Alexandria. In summer there are some mild cases of diarrhoea. There were 3 cases of trachoma among the officers' orderlies.

Four tuberculous patients, coming from the Hedjaz, were conveyed to the hospital without any stay at the camp; two died after 20 and 30 days of treatment respectively. In the infirmary at Sidi Bishr are now:

1 officer with a foot wound, 1 suffering from pharyngitis, and one pa.s.sing 1/2 per cent. of alb.u.men.

Some of the Turkish officers were wounded in the war:

One whose thigh was amputated is provided with a fine artificial subst.i.tute; one who had both bones of the lower arm fractured, and was operated upon four times, is now well on the way to recovery.

One suffering from hemiplegia, owing to a fractured skull, is now able to move again and to walk with crutches. Another lame officer is affected by rupture of a main nerve in the leg.