English: Ch.Schulz&Kugel, Egyptian political prisoners in Malta, 12 April 1919

(Mohamed Mahmoud, Isma'il Sidqi, Saad Zaghloul, Hamad el-Basel)

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Limited releases of former prisoners continued in March 1919 with the repatriation of 28 Ottoman Greeks and the release of two Austrian civilian internees.

More significantly, March 1919 saw an apparent change in Allied policy affecting the PoW Camps on Malta, with the arrival of political detainees from both Egypt and Turkey. In both countries after the end of World War 1, nationalist movements were striving for independence and self-rule, but in a manner that conflicted with Allied ambitions. In Egypt, this resulted in the arrest of Saad Zaghloul, leader of the Wafd party, who in 1924, was destined to become Prime Minister. Along with seven other Egyptian nationalists, they were deported to Malta and treated as PoWs. Leaving Alexandria on 8th March 1919 on SS Caledonia, they arrived at Malta on 13th March and were probably allocated local PoW numbers 2658-2665. The deportations created considerable unrest in Egypt and after only one month, at least five including Saad Zaghloul were repatriated on the orders of General Allenby. A photograph of four of those deported to Malta was taken in St. Clements Camp on 12th April 1919, a couple of days before repatriation.

The situation in Turkey was more complicated and influenced by the possibility of prosecuting a number of senior statesmen and military officers for war crimes. In 1919, a number of these senior personnel were arrested in Turkey and as a sign of things to come, General Ali Ihsan Pacha (Ali İhsan Sâbis) and his batman Corporal Ibrahim Ahmed were deported to Malta arriving on 29th March 1919. They were allocated PoW numbers 2667 & 2668. In a similar manner, the former PoW Camp Commandant at Philippopolis in Bulgaria was also sent to Malta on suspicion of harsh treatment of Allied PoWs. Georges Nikoloff was allocated PoW No.2666

Photo published in the joint MaltaPost and Malta Study Circle book “Malta in WW1- Photographic Postcards”, second edition (2014). Description courtesy of Alan Green