Part 2 (1/2)

_Sickness._--Sick prisoners are transferred from the camps to the hospital in specially fitted motor vehicles. The English doctors without exception praise the patience and brave endurance of pain shown by the Turkish prisoners. The cases treated in the hospital up to January 2, 1917, the date of our visit, are a.n.a.lysed below.

Turks Bulgarians Germans Tuberculosis 27 0 0 Bacillar dysentery 37 3 2 Malaria 3 0 0 War wounds 74 2 4 Anaemia and weakness 30 12 5 Various 96 5 0 --- --- --- Totals 267 22 11 === === ===

There is no epidemic disease in the hospital.

_Deaths._--Sixty-six Turkish prisoners died in the Abba.s.siah hospital between August 8, 1916, and January 1, 1917.

From Dysentery 45 ” Tuberculosis 9 ” Beri-beri 1 ” Malaria 1 ” War wounds 9 ” Typhoid fever 1 --- 66 ===

In addition, one German prisoner died of pneumonia. As regards deaths from dysentery, most of the prisoners attacked by the disease came from the Hedjaz, and were in a seriously weak and exhausted condition.

Turkish prisoners are prepared for burial in the manner prescribed by their religion. They are buried in a Moslem cemetery. British soldiers from the garrison pay them the last honours, and the prisoners are represented at the cemetery.

~3. Maadi Camp.~

_(Visited on January 3, 1917.)_

The chief camp at Maadi is 9-1/3 miles south of Cairo, on the right bank of the Nile. All prisoners are taken to it after capture, and thence distributed among the other camps in Egypt.

_Strength._--Five thousand five hundred and fifty-six Turkish non-commissioned officers and men, including 1,200 men recently captured at El Arish in the Sinai peninsula.

No officers are interned in this camp. Three imaums (priests) were not cla.s.sed with the officers, as they had served as privates.

The prisoners include--besides Turks--Arabs, Armenians, Greeks, Jews from Palestine and Mesopotamia, and some Senoussi. Only a small number have been captives ever since the beginning of the war; a large proportion come from Gallipoli. We found among the prisoners a boy 8 years old, named Abd-el-Mohsen, who lives in camp with his father.

The camp is divided into 41 sections and 4 quarters. The last are divided off from one another by barbed wire fences.

_Accommodation._--The quarters of the Turkish prisoners in Maadi Camp include: (1) Old buildings originally erected as a school of music and subsequently used as a factory; (2) barracks built recently for prisoners of war.

The first consist chiefly of a huge hall 252 feet long and 49 feet wide, with many large openings in the walls. The roof, of match-boarding, is 33 feet above the floor. Standpipes are fixed all along the hall. There are, in addition, some out-buildings used by the management and as stores.

In the other camp sections new barracks, measuring as a rule 100 by 39 feet, were erected by a building firm. Walls and roof are of wood and thatch; the floor is hard-beaten earth. All camp quarters are well open to the air, so that proper ventilation presents no difficulties.

_Sleeping Accommodation._--Lengthwise of all the quarters run platforms of beaten earth, 6-1/2 feet wide, and 9 inches above the floor. On these are placed the woven rush mats which serve for beds. Each prisoner has 3 blankets. During the season when the temperature falls appreciably at night extra blankets are served out. All bedding is cleaned and disinfected at regular intervals. Shelves whereon the prisoners can keep their belongings are fixed between the rows of beds.

_Food._--The food of the prisoners of war is according to the scale already given. Kitchens are provided in each section and staffed by the prisoners themselves. We tasted the soup and meat stew, and found them of good quality and very appetising. The prisoners receive _baladi_ or native bread, which resembles their usual food and is supplied by Cairo bakeries. We questioned many of the men, who a.s.sured us that they were satisfied with the food. The only complaint noted by us was that of a man who thought that he got rice too often. A small canteen supplies black coffee, sweetened, at a farthing per cup. It is run as a private concern under the supervision of the authorities. Tobacco is distributed every Thursday on the scale mentioned previously.

_Clothing._--Soon after their arrival in camp the prisoners were taken to a large courtyard, in which they stripped off all their clothes and foot-gear. As a health precaution all this stuff was sc.r.a.pped and destroyed. After being disinfected, the men received a complete new outfit consisting of two pairs of drawers and two flannel s.h.i.+rts, a cholera belt, socks, a pair of trousers and a dark blue cloth tunic with linen lining and uniform b.u.t.tons, and a red fez. Leather slippers for privates and shoes for sergeants and corporals complete the outfit, the smartness of which leaves nothing to be desired. Although on the day of our visit the thermometer stood at about 53F. many of the men were also wearing their thick cloth overcoats. Every prisoner has fastened in his tunic a small metal plate bearing his registration number.

Non-commissioned officers are distinguished by a white linen armlet, crossed by a blue band for corporals, and by a red band for sergeants.

The sergeant-major wears a red armlet.