Siege of Kut-el-Amara
Item
Title
Siege of Kut-el-Amara
Who?
Ralph Hookaday and POWs in Kut-el-Amara in Iraq
Item(s)
Medals (4) (including dispatches pin)
Lapel badge 'Kut'
Letter from prisoner of war
Dinner menus and photos from reunions
Photographs from the time
Miniature medals
List of Devonshire Regiment
Box with contents
Lapel badge 'Kut'
Letter from prisoner of war
Dinner menus and photos from reunions
Photographs from the time
Miniature medals
List of Devonshire Regiment
Box with contents
Story
Based in Mesopotamia in 1914.
The visitor’s father took part in the siege of Kut-el-amara, 1915-6, where the garrison were killed in the siege or died in captivity. The soldiers were surrounded for five months before surrendering. They were then marched 200 miles in 120 degrees Fahrenheit. When they reached the Turkish medics, they decided who was fit enough to continue and who would be kept to be swapped for other prisoners. The interviewee’s father was declared unfit and left at the checkpoint. Two friends who had supported him on the march were declared fit and later died.
He returned from India in 1919, having been sent there to recover, and weighed only 5st 6lbs. He then helped to run the poppy appeal until the mid-1950s.
The visitor’s father took part in the siege of Kut-el-amara, 1915-6, where the garrison were killed in the siege or died in captivity. The soldiers were surrounded for five months before surrendering. They were then marched 200 miles in 120 degrees Fahrenheit. When they reached the Turkish medics, they decided who was fit enough to continue and who would be kept to be swapped for other prisoners. The interviewee’s father was declared unfit and left at the checkpoint. Two friends who had supported him on the march were declared fit and later died.
He returned from India in 1919, having been sent there to recover, and weighed only 5st 6lbs. He then helped to run the poppy appeal until the mid-1950s.
When?
1915-16
Where?
Iraq and India
Contributor
John Hockaday - son of Ralph
Collection Day
South West Roadshow, Plymouth
This item was submitted on June 3, 2019