In Smynra, orders were issued that all men aged between 18 and 45 were to be conscripted into labour battalions and sent to the Interior. This group of able bodied Smyrnean men were weeded out for deportation to the Interior. Photograph by Major Charles D. Morris of the Near East Relief.

Note: The photographer, Major Charles Dexter Morris (1883-1954), was a member of the Near East Relief in Turkey and previously was the Director of the Department of Public Information for the American Red Cross Commission in Europe. Morris graduated from Yale University in 1906 and before entering the Red Cross worked at the Sun newspaper in New York and then in the Associated Press Bureaus of New York and London. In 1923 Morris was decorated by King George of Greece for his work with the Near East Relief. On his return to the United States he joined the International News Service. Morris is now buried in Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Portville, New York. Major Charles Dexter Morris, son of Dr. Jacob Morris and Sarah Gillingham, had married Arminta I. Miles (1882-1969).

Source: Chater, Melville, "History’s Greatest Trek", The National Geographic Magazine, November 1925 (Volume XLVIII), National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., 1925, p. 562 (Caption: “Turned Back: After the fire these unfortunates, being between the age limits of 17 and 45 years, were not permitted to leave Smyrna with their families, but were sent back to the interior of Anatolia”).