Farewell

Written as a wartime diary, this book follows its author as new orders send his unit to the Akbaş seaport within five days, from where a ferry will carry them across to Anatolia. He writes of his eagerness to be in the trench facing the enemy, wanting to fight and to make his presence known to both himself and his adversary.

The entries describe Maydos (Eceabat), a small town whose buildings have mostly been burned and shattered by enemy gunfire. The writer is struck by the evening prayer sung beside him, whose voices move him deeply. Climbing a slope into a valley, he notices unmarked new graves, some dressed with branches or broken planks, and begins to consider how he himself would be buried if he were to fall as a martyr.

The diary closes as the unit goes into battle amid heavy bombardment, and as the First Corporal is wounded. The edition is in English, runs to 130 pages, was translated by Nilüfer Epçeli, and includes contributions from Burhan Maden, with material prepared by Seyit Ahmet Silay.