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Lesson 4: Ali Pasha: The Tortoise who travelled farThe tortoise veteran of Gallipoli was smuggled on-board HMS Im-placable, bound for urgent duties in the Mediterranean.

Background ContextThe Ottoman Empire and GallipoliAt the start of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest lasting empires in history. By 1914, it had ruled continuously for four centuries and was the world’s greatest Islamic power. In 1914, the Ottoman Empire became a hostile force in the conflict aligning with Germany and the ‘Central Powers’. This alliance represented a serious threat to the British Empire.1

The Ottoman army fought the British in Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) and Persia (today’s Iran). Today in Turkey the Gallipoli campaign - Çanakkale Savaşı (Battle of Çanakkale) as it is known in Turkey - is

remembered as one of the most significant battles in these conflicts.2

‘Mehmetçik’ – ‘Little Mehmet’ – was the Turkish nickname for Ottoman soldiers, similar to the British term ‘Tommy’ for a British soldier. The term ‘Mehmetçik’ came from the popular name ‘Mehmet’ - which is a contraction of ‘Muhammad’ used by many Muslims.3 The ‘Mehmetçiks’ came mostly from rural peasant backgrounds and had little education and knowledge of the world beyond the nearest market town. Even the majority of those recruited from the cities were illiterate. Many of the Mehmetçiks who were sent to Gallipoli thought at first that they were fighting the Greeks once again. They had almost certainly never heard of New Zealand or Australia.4

When the war ended for some countries in 1918, it did not for Turkey: the First World War led straight into the Turkish

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Key Questions:• How does Ali Pasha create a sense of

atmosphere and setting as he tells his story?

• What is Ali Pasha’s journey?

• What does it mean to ‘go on a journey’?

• What is the difference between a spiritual and a physical journey?

War of Independence (1919-1923). This, together with the secret wartime agreements between the British and the French to divide up the Ottoman territory amongst themselves, sealed the fall of this empire, and led to the creation of the Turkish republic under Mustafa Memal Ataturk.5

Story Frame:This story has a frame narrative in which Ali Pasha, in his new home in England, asks the audience if they would like to hear his story. He then takes the audience back into the past and recounts the events that led him to find a new home in Suffolk. Ali Pasha’s story and emotive experiences parallel with that of a soldier, Able Seaman Friston, by whom he is adopted. He uses repeating phrases throughout, such as ‘slowly, deliberately, as tortoises do,’ or ‘talking to you makes me feel lighter, because we are old pals, and we help each other out.’

Key Words:Story Words• Friendship• Help• Home • Journey

Storytelling Words• Atmosphere• Figurative language• First person narrative• Flashback• Repetition• Sensory description• Setting• Simile

Ali Pasha and Henry with medal and certificate© Don Friston collection and The Amazing Tale of Ali Pasha by Michael Foreman

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Courtesy of The Library of Congress - Submarine “U-14” Henry Friston in whites © Don Friston collection and The Amazing Tale of Ali Pasha by Michael Foreman

Ali Pasha at sea © Don Friston collection and The Amazing Tale of Ali Pasha by Michael Foreman

Henry, Don and Ali Pasha © Don Friston collection and The Amazing Tale of Ali Pasha by Michael Foreman

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Prepare to AdvanceDraw It!• The story plays on the word ‘shell.’ Draw a tortoise shell in your book, and fill it with

words you would associate with the word ‘shell.’ Share your ideas with the class. Possible answers could include: a home, a bomb, fear, protection, claustrophobia, shyness, a sandy beach, a heavy load.

• Using ideas from this activity above, discuss: What does the word ‘shell’ mean in this story? Link to these quotes from Ali Pasha: “I’ve been carrying this story around for one hundred years now, and it’s getting rather heavy.“…”Perhaps you would like to hear my story? Telling it would make it a bit lighter.”

Discuss It!• Think of 3 words to describe Ali Pasha’s character.

• Think of 3 words to describe the different moods of the story.

AttentionMap It!• Trace Ali Pasha’s journey from Gallipoli to Egypt to Corton in Suffolk.

Make It!• In pairs, decide on one adjective that describes the story. Then, make up a tortoise-

language word for it.

• Share your tortoise-language word with the rest of the class. The rest of the class must try to guess what it might mean. Use actions and expressions to help them guess!

• Translate your tortoise-language word into English, and explain why you chose that word.

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Discuss It!• Ali Pasha describes humans as “moving in straight lines, as ants do.” Explore this

simile. How could humans resemble ants? Is it an effective simile? Is there any other creature you could use to describe soldiers at war?

Discuss It!• Retell the story in pairs. Then, make a list of what you consider to be the key

elements of the story. What sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures enter the story? What are the main themes and emotions?

• Using evidence from the story, find words to describe the characters of the tortoise and of Henry. Compare and contrast their characters.

• Henry says to Ali Pasha, “You helped me like a true pal.” Explore the theme of friendship. What makes a good friend? Does it matter if a friendship is with an animal, not another human?

• What does ‘journey’ mean? What different types of journey can we go on? What is Ali Pasha’s journey? What is the difference between a physical and a spiritual journey?

• Listen carefully to how Ali Pasha describes the soldiers building trenches. What does he think and feel about it?

• Explore the way Ali Pasha uses figurative language to describe things he has never seen before (e.g. tanks are ‘enormous grey beasts’; explosions are ‘great flashes of lightning’; aeroplanes are ‘birds that had no feathers’). In pairs, try to describe an urban object using only references from nature - for example: a car, a telephone, a computer, a motorbike, a shop till. How easy or hard is it? How must the tortoise have felt, seeing all these new bewildering things and not having the language to describe them?

Act It!• Choose a volunteer to be Ali Pasha and sit in the hotseat. The rest of the class can

interview Ali Pasha about his experiences. Ali Pasha must be careful to describe everything he sees through metaphorical language, as explored above.

• Ali Pasha describes the soldiers as “shaking with fear.” Hotseat Henry. Does he have similar thoughts and feelings to Ali Pasha?

Research It!• Research zoological facts on tortoises, especially hibernation and how long they

can live. How might these facts add to our understanding of the story?

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Make It!• If you were going to tell the story of Ali Pasha through objects, what objects would

you include? How could you represent the different senses in the story? How could you show the different emotions, such as fear or relaxation, and themes such as friendship?

• Everyone has a story inside them. Make an Ali Pasha tortoise with a shell, either 2D or 3D, using craft materials. Fill the tortoise sculpture with an assortment of objects to retell the story, using ideas from the discussion above. For example, you could include dates, sawdust and newspaper. Alternatively, make Henry’s helmet, and fill it with objects from the story. Would he have the same objects as Ali Pasha, or different ones? Why or why not?

• When you have made your Ali Pasha or Able Seaman Friston Story Box, share the contents with the rest of the class. Ask other students to guess what each object represents, and give a presentation explaining your choices.

Forward MarchWrite It!• Create a news report on the story of Ali Pasha. This could be for television or for a

newspaper. Include an interview with Able Seaman Friston.

• Notice the use of repetition in this quote from the story: “Perhaps, if I waited long enough, the madness would stop. Perhaps, if I waited long enough, the world would go back to how it had always been. Perhaps, if I waited long enough…”

• Write a poem from the point of view of Ali Pasha watching the explosions. Every line should begin with, ‘Perhaps, if I waited long enough…’ This could be a collaborative piece, with every student contributing one line each.

Hum It!• As a class, make a soundscape of the story, showing the various interludes of

fighting and peace. Notice how often the story varies in mood and atmosphere. Use this to make a story map of the structure of the story.

• Reflect as a class using these questions: How does Ali Pasha create a sense of atmosphere and place? Does it make you, as a listener, feel like you have been on Ali Pasha’s journey?

Illustrations by Sheena DempseyText © The Story Museum42 Pembroke Street, Oxford OX1 1BPwww.storymuseum.org.uk

1 The Ottoman Empire, BBC Religion 4.9.2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ottomanempire_1.shtml

2 Why Turkey hasn’t forgotten about the First World War, Anne Bostanci, Voices, The British Council Magazine, 1.9.2014, www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/why-turkey-hasnt-forgotten-about-first-world-war

3 Ottoman Infantryman 1914-18, David Nicole, Osprey Publishing 20104 The Turkish Soldier’s Experience, www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/ottoman-empire/turkish-soldier-experience (Ministry for

Culture and Heritage), updated 13.01.2016