Kizmet: the Fate of the Australian Gallipoli POWs

Abstract

This thesis examines the experiences and fate of the Australian soldiers captured at Gallipoli during World War I and has attempted to provide a coherent and detailed narrative of the experiences of capture and imprisonment of these neglected soldiers of the Gallipoli campaign. The topic has received scant attention from historians for the past ninety years despite the professional and public attention paid to the Gallipoli campaign and subsequent Anzac legend. For the first time, the thesis has identified and verified the number of prisoners, as well as broadening the source base for the prisoner of war experience to include relevant Turkish sources. The historical context of Western 'orientalist' attitudes towards the Ottomans that underpinned many contemporary sources has also been examined. A central theme has been to challenge the myths that have developed since the end of World War I, including the belief that few of the captured Australians returned home and that their experiences mirrored that of the brutal World War II POW experience under the Japanese. The thesis is based on extensive archival research in Australia, Britain and Turkey, site visits, oral history and local tradition.