Austin Sanders Arch, 1880-1957
Austin was in the first line (1/1st regiment) which embarked at Avonmouth on 9th April 1915, and disembarked at Alexandria on 24th April. With 104 others, he stayed at Chatby near Alexandria to look after the horses when his regiment went to Gallipoli. Austin was captured by the Turks at the Battle of Katia (also spelt Qatia), about 35 miles east of the Suez Canal, on 23rd April, 1916. He spent most of the rest of the war as a prisoner of war at Afion-Kara-Hissar (Afyonkarahisar) in Turkey, but towards the end worked as a carpenter in Istanbul. He kept a diary after his capture. This has been published privately by his grandson Jonathan Arch who also remembers him here.
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