My grandfather in the First World War
My grandfather died before I was born so this story has come to me from my father.
When the Ottomans joined the war my grandfather was sent to Palestine and the front against the British in Egypt. During the fighting, I don't know at which battle - whether for the Suez Canal or for Gaza, my grandfather was taken prisoner. The Ottoman prisoners were put on trains towards Egypt for internment there. But the British had taken more prisoners than they cared to care for so they conveniently forgot to lock the waggon doors. Scores of Ottoman soldiers jumped the train! The story is that my grandfather then never rejoined the ranks but found his way back home to Istanbul on his own. If this is true it must be at the very end of the war when the Ottoman Empire were in its death throes.
A photograph from 1937 which shows my grandfather and grandmother on their wedding day.
Nessim Haskiya, Rakel Haskiya
Photograph
My grandfather's wedding photo
CONTRIBUTOR
David Haskiya
DATE
1916 - 1918
LANGUAGE
eng
ITEMS
1
INSTITUTION
Europeana 1914-1918
PROGRESS
METADATA
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