Orders, Decorations & Medals - Gallipoli

Lot 3637    Session 12 (11.30am Thursday 26 March)    Orders, Decorations & Medals - Gallipoli

Estimate $2,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $4,000

WWI GALLIPOLI DIARY, of Lt John Stone of Worcester Regt, a British prisoner of war in Turkey, captured during the bloody battle at Krithia Vineyard at Gallipoli, as well as a large quantity of various letters to Lt Stone as POW, and from Lt Stone as a POW with Turkish postal rubber stamps and censor stamps, many other letters and envelopes with some pre 1900, noted one envelope from Shanghai via Siberia with Chinese postage stamps and cancelled postal stamps of Foochow and Shanghai and others, also Croissant-Rouge Ottoman (Turkish Red Cross) postcards and an unused pre-addressed British POW envelope to Afion-Kara-Hissar POW camp in Turkey-in-Asia, also extracts from letters written by Captain McDonald POW at the Afion-Kara-Hissar camp, an outstanding collection of information and personal correspondence for Lt Stone, a WWI POW with a diary containing 135 pages in graphic detail for the period through to 31 March 1917 written in a very professional and legible style and includes a full account of the attack on Krithia Vineyard where he was captured. Good - very fine and an historically significant collection of a Gallipoli veteran. (lot)

Inside the diary is marked, 'John. L. Stone/Lieut: 4th Worcester/Regt Prisoner of War/Turkey 6th Aug. 1915'. At the left of this is recorded his details in Arabic. On page 1 Stone writes, '9817 Pte Charles Edward Butcher my Batman. Killed 6 Aug 1915', also '12452 L/Cpl Eli Edwards one of my Corporals. Killed 6 Aug 1915', and '12962 Pte (L/Cpl) David Lewis who on the 6 Aug 1915 carried me on his back for over a mile & undoubtedly saved my life.'

The attack at Krithia Vineyard on 6 Aug 1915 virtually annihilated the 4 Worcester Regt as a fighting force with losses of 16 officers and 752 ORs either killed, wounded or missing. In his diary, Lt Stone enters, '3.50 Charge 300 yds, men falling by the dozen & fire terrible.' Then he writes, 'Find myself half dazed by bomb concussion, lying among a pile of our own dead, in a Turkish trench, on the parapit (sic) were the Turkish soldiers.... Soon all who were not dead were gone, except L/C Lewis who bravely refused to leave me in spite of the threats of the Turks.'

Lt Stone then gives a detailed account of their brief trek before being captured by three German officers and then a very detailed account of the removal of both to Krithia and a hospital nearby. He states that he was very well treated for his wounds and well fed by the Germans and Turks with the Turkish officers sharing their food with him during the following days. During his transportation from hospital he notes coming across 17 Australians and New Zealanders who were laid in the sun with no medical treatment. When placed on a hospital ship Lt Stone was told that he should consider himself a member of the officer's mess. He was allowed to walk around the deck and once again came across the Australian and NZ soldiers who were laid out on the rear deck. There were also many injured Turkish soldiers on board.

Eventually they arrived at a POW hospital facility which he refers to as The Black Hole of Constantinople where the treatment was bad. On 30 Aug 1915 he wrote in his diary, 'To the Minister of War. We have wounded prisoners of war cannot understand our present treatment; and require an explanation. Many of the men being badly wounded will die. Signed by - Capt Coxon, Lieut Stone, French Officer Paul O??ovy'. He also notes in the diary a list in number of those at the facility including 23 Australians and 17 New Zealanders. He has various signatures and names recorded in the diary some of these being S.L. Stormonth 15th Bn AIF, L.H. Luscombe 2Lt 14 Battn AIF.

As an example of the conditions under which prisoners were kept, it should be noted that the abovementioned Stewart Lyle Stormonth post war resumed his job with the Justice Department as Clerk of Petty Sessions at Nambour in Queensland but on 13 Sep 1935, after a brief conversation with the Under Secretary of Justice, he pulled out a revolver and fatally shot himself twice in the chest. It was thought that his time as a POW had led to this action even though it was nearly twenty years later.