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[Page 5]
for neglecting a task I naturally detested and, which I am finding Nature never fitted me for.) The result was my writing "Marked Time." However, with the help of two note-books which I was fortunate enough to keep with me undiscovered, and in which I jotted down the important events of my sojourn there, I can truthfully say, and that aided by "memory's diary" where the writing is not blurred but very distinct, I am able to fill in the gaps and give a connected and accurate account.
When I came back home and showed these records to my friends they strongly advised me to complete them whilst the "happenings" were fresh in my recollection.
The harsh conditions imposed upon us by our German task masters (who wished to complete this narrow gauge connecting railway for the purpose of carrying ammunition etc., supplies to the Mesopotamian and Palestinian e fronts (with the Bagdad railway), and the many spells of sickness in the hospitals, and the time taken in my two attempts to escape, took up quite a large part of my time there; and formed surroundings which were not conducive to a written record of things one wishes to forget.
However, when I returned, my friends, and even strangers, repeatedly (and quite naturally) asked the same sort of questions such as "where was the AE2 lost;" "Did you get through the Narrows?" "Did the Turks treat you well?" Where were you kept prisoner?" Did you ever try to