I will not repeat the details of these massacres and atrocities

TCD MS 3416 page 37

TCD MS 3416 page 37

[June 1916]

gave me as much wood as I could carry away. He was very sorry to hear of our bad luck at Kut, and cursed the Turks vehemently saying that “He had had enough of the Crescent.” He also told me about the horrible massacres that had been carried out by the Turks in the district of Ras-el-Ain, and the systematic extermination of his fellow Armenians in the Ezeroum and tan districts, where he said “Some 800,000 men women and children were cruelly done to death” I will not repeat the details of these massacres and atrocities, they were too ghastly for words.

We left Ras-el-Ain by train on the evening of the 10th June, the senior officers in 1st & 2nd class carriages, and the Captains and sulbalterns in large enclosed trucks; though the latter were very badly sprung, we were far better off than the senior officers as we were only ten in each truck which gave us ample to unroll our bedding and lie full length to sleep, which could certainly not be done in the passenger carriages. All the wayside stations were of European design and very well built, as were also the culverts and bridges: one of our number, however, who had had