THE KUT SURVIVORS.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—The 29th of this month is the third anniversary of one of the darkest days of the war, since it was on that day the garri- son of Kut-el-Amara was forced by sheer starvation to surren- der to the Turks. Why the garrison was placed in this disastrous position, from which it was not possible to relieve it, it is not my intention to discuss. What it is desired to bring to notice—and in doing so I am convinced that I am merely voicing the wishes of the greater part of the British public— is the apparent neglect of recognition of the survivors of that gallant force. What they endured during that siege, and afterwarde at the hands of their captors, cannot be realized by any except those who suffered it. The various articles and letters which have been published from time to time in the leading papers give some hint of its nature, and the small number of the survivors tells its tale.
It is too Into to give them the welcome home they deserved, but it is not too late to reward them, and I am convinced that it is the desire of the nation as a whole that this should be done, and done quickly. It cannot be too much to expect that the reward should take the form of a special decoration to commemorate that famous siege. In addition, and equally important, it is necessary that none of the garrison, officers and rank-and-ffie, should be allowed to suffer in a pecuniary sense for their imprisonment, which was caused by no fault of theirs. When one considers the numbers affected, the total cost of such reward and compensation would be a small matter in comparison with the sums which have been, and are being, spent on far less deserving cases. It is to be hoped that on or before the third anniversary of that dark day—April 29th, 1916 —the authorities will publish an official announcement to the effect that some special decoration is to be awarded to the defenders of Kut-el-Amara, as a mark of their country's appreciation of the manner in which they performed their duty. At the same time the authorities should announce that the garrison will receive some substantial form of gratuity. And last, but by no means least, that the relatives of officers and men who died during imprisonment will receive compensation at the expense of Turkey.—I am, Sir, &c., HENRY BENTINCE.
Previous page
