Mesudiye Village biography
WWI Iraq Front (1879 Rumelia – Apr 1942 Mesudiye)
WWI veteran on the Iraq (Baghdad-Basra) front. Brother of Galip Ay. The "Aradığın kuzu burada" recognition story is preserved in village oral tradition.
Born in Rumelia 1879, brother of Galip Ay, son of Mutallip. İbrahim Ay served on the Iraq front during WWI, fighting against British forces on the Baghdad-Basra line.
Surviving the front, he walked home from Iraq — a journey of months, on foot, with no transport. Arriving at Mesudiye ragged, with overgrown hair and beard, he hid in a wheat field at the edge of the village, watching his children Rasim and Suude tend lambs in the harman (threshing field).
The story of his recognition — narrated as "Aradığın kuzu burada" ("the lamb you are looking for is here") — is one of the village's preserved oral histories. The neighbour Salih İnce recognised him first, took him home, and intercepted his father Mutallip with the celebrated line.
1879, Rumeli – April 1942, Mesudiye
Son of Mutallip — brother of Galip Ay
Iraq Front
Baghdad-Basra Line
In the First World War he fought against the British on the Iraq front, in the area around Baghdad and Basra. He returned to his village walking for days.
İbrahim Ay was born in Rumeli in 1879. His father is Mutallip. His brother Galip Ay too would fight on a different front; the Ay family is a lineage deeply rooted in Mesudiye.
When the First World War broke out, İbrahim was called to arms and sent to the Iraq front. In the area around Baghdad and Basra he fought against the British forces. Most of his comrades in his unit were killed, and some fell prisoner. Withdrawing behind the front with the few remaining comrades-in-arms, İbrahim set out on a journey that lasted days, even months.
He came from Iraq to the village on foot. In that period there were neither buses nor taxis. He approached Mesudiye with his clothes worn out, his hair and beard matted together, and his body grown thin. But he did not want to enter the village in that state.
The season was spring. The crops had grown tall. İbrahim hid in a grain field at the edge of the village, close to the threshing grounds. Two children were grazing lambs on the harman (threshing ground) — he looked and saw that they were his son Rasim and his daughter Suude. A few metres away he saw his children, for whose scent he had been longing for years.
He could not bear it. He came out from among the crops and cried out in a trembling voice: “Rasim, Suude”. The children could not recognise this stranger with his matted hair and beard; they ran home in fear. They told their grandfather Mutallip what they had seen. Grandfather Mutallip was an old man who had seen much of life. He grew suspicious — it could be one of his two sons fighting at the front (İbrahim or Galip).
At that moment Salih İnce, son of Hacı Ali, one of the village people, recognised İbrahim. After they had embraced and made up for the long separation, he invited him to his house. Grandfather Mutallip was walking down the street in agitation. Uncle Salih asked: “What is it, Mutallip Ağa, where are you off to like this?” Grandfather Mutallip answered: “Nothing, our lamb has gone missing, and I am looking for it.”
“Do come, the lamb you are looking for is here.”
Uncle Salih took Grandfather Mutallip to his son. When father and son were reunited, they embraced one another with longing and held each other close. That evening they talked with the people of the village until midnight.
İbrahim Ay died in Mesudiye in April 1942. This quiet gazi (war veteran), who returned on foot from the deserts of Iraq and who watched his children from a distance while hiding in a grain field, gained a lasting place in the village's memory.
Birth: 1879, Rumeli
Death: April 1942, Mesudiye
Father: Mutallip
His front: Iraq (Baghdad-Basra line)
War: First World War
His brother: Galip Ay (gazi of three fronts)