A scarce confirmed Gunner 'Prisoner of War of the Ottoman Turks', Turkey 1916-1918 Great War campaign medal pair: Sergeant Albert John Von Coultre Sausman , Royal Artillery, late 63rd Battery Royal Field Artillery

- British War Medal. Silver issue (58009 Dvr. A. J. V. C. Sausman, R.A.)
- Interallied Victory Medal (58009 Dvr. A. J. V. C. Sausman, R.A.)

Medals verification: Driver Albert J V. C. Sausman, is confirmed entitled to the British War and Interallied Victory Medals, as well as being entitled to a 191-15 Star, per below following cited medal rollls:

- 1914-15 Star: WO 329/2536 the medal roll dated Woolwich 28/11/1919. Shows disembarkation into theatre of war 5a (Asia) on 3/12/14
- British War Medal. Silver issue: WO 329/94 the medal roll dated Woolwich 4//3/1920
- Interallied Victory Medal: WO 329/94 the medal roll dated Woolwich 4//3/1920


Whether the 1914-15 Star (which would have been issued separately, earlier, from the recipients Great War pair) was ever actually issued to the recipient (basis his place of residence in British India & presumed death and subsequent late repatriation from Turkish captivity) is not known

Prisoner of War of the Ottoman Empire: Driver Albert J. V. C. Sausman, is confirmed having been captured at the fall of Kut-al-Mara, in Mesopotamia on 1916 - and subsequently 'marched' as a Prisoner of War into captivity in Turkish, Anatolia - where most British surviving 'Other-Ranks' were used as labour on railway and tunnel projects in the Taurus Mountains region. The entry for Albert Sausman, in the Registers of Soldiers Effects 1901-1929 held at The National Archives has the below laconic two-word footnote added against his initial 'Missing presumed Died' (date 26 September 1916) entry -

- Man Alive!

Albert John Von Coultre Sausman, son of John Charles Sausman and Isabel Suasman, was a true son of the British Empire. He was born into a well known Eurasian family, in Madras Presidency, on 24 July 1894, and where some years later he was baptized at St. Thomas Mount, Madras (now Chennai) on, 21 March 1906. Albert enlisted in the British Army, at St. Thomas Mount, Madras, India, on, 22 June 1909, on which date he was posted as a 15 year old 'Boy' soldier to the Royal Regiment of Artillery

When war was declared in 1914, Albert was serving in British India - the land of his birth - where the 63rd Battery RFA, formed part of the 6th (Poona) Division. As the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire had entered the war on the German side the British decided to send an expeditionary force, including 6th (Poona) Division. After landing in Mesopotamia on, 3 December 1914, Albert and 63rd Battery R.F.A., took part in the push pp the Tigris river with the aim of capturing Baghdad. However, the Battle of Ctesiphon on 22-23 November 1915 was a decisive victory for the Turks under the command of a German, Baron Colmar von der Goltz. General Charles Townshend, V.C. (hero of the Defence of Chitral in 1895 - and referred to as 'The Brat' by Lord Kitchener) and now officer commanding the 6th Division decided to fall back to Kut Al Amara - fateful decision, with the British Indian force subsequently cut-off, surrounded and continuously battered by Ottoman Turkish forces. The siege of Kut lasted several months, before ending in surrender to the Turks on, 26 April 1916.

A most interesting and hard-earned campaign medal pair to a Eurasian 'Gunner' who survived the horrors of captivity as a Prisoner of War in Ottoman Turkey

Condition: GF

Code: 24088