Four-Fifty Miles to Freedom

by Maurice Andrew Brackenreed Johnston Narrated by Kevin Green

Overview

Four-Fifty Miles to Freedom is the true but little known story of the escape of eight British Prisoners-of-War from a Turkish POW camp during the First World War. The story, written by two of the escapees, describes their life in the various POW camps in Turkey in which they were moved around, and then their well-planned and executed escape from the camp at Yozgad. They were then faced with a trek of over three hundred miles across arid deserts, and a mountain range, constantly searching for water, all the while attempting to avoid detection by soldiers and the local population. A further 120 miles of hostile ocean faced them when eventually reaching the coast before they eventually set foot on friendly soil. A 'boys own' story of derring-do and survival against all odds. A must listen-to story! Summary by Kevin Green

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169480405
Publisher:	LibriVox
Publication date:	08/25/2014

Read an Excerpt

39 CHAPTER III. AN ATTEMPT THAT FAILED. Thus disappointed of two of our schemes, we looked around for other ways and means of escape. Nobby had another of his brain-waves. In search of dry firewood he had made several tours inside the roof of the barracks : for the ceilings and tiled slopes were carried not by modern trusses, but by the primitive and wasteful means of trestles resting on enormous horizontal baulks, running across from wall to wall at close intervals. Having entered the roof space by a trap-door in the ceiling, it was possible to walk on these completely round the barracks, and eke out the miserably green firewood we collected ourselves by chips and odd ends of comparatively dry wood, left up there presumably several decades before, while the barracks were in building. Why not, said Nobby, disappear up there one night and leave the Turks to infer that we had escaped, encouraging them in the belief by leaving the bars of some window cut and forced apart? We could then waituntil the rest had left for Yozgad and slip out from the deserted barracks at our pleasure. There were, however, two obvious objections to this scheme. It was hardly feasible as a means of escape for more than one or at most two parties : the Turk might be deceived into thinking half a dozen fellows had slipped past his sentries, but hardly twenty or more. Secondly, it was quite conceivable that the escape of even a small party would lead to the move being cancelled altogether: it is true it would be possible for the stowaways to be fed in the roof by their companions below, but the prospect of spending " three years or the duration of the war " in that dark and musty garret took awayfrom the otherwise considerable attractions of the scheme. In the end a very much modified form o...

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