- "The War of the Gentlemen": The Dardanelles War of 1915 -
24.03.2003 17:40:30
"Mothers who sent their sons to the war from the very far lands!
Please, stop crying. We hold your sons to our bosom. They are
tranquil here and they will repose peacefully. As they died
on these lands, we consider them as our sons."
(Mustafa Kemal Ataturk 1934)
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
The Dardanelles War is "the war of gentlemen" where soldiers who never met each other exchanged cigarettes, matches, chocolate and cans from trenches of 5 – 6 metre height at some points and friendships were established during ceasefires declared in order to collect the corpses.
These wars were also a blood bath. The Dardanelles War started by France and Britain with the purpose of seizing the strategic sea passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and to have access to the Russian Tzar regime ended by the victory of the Ottoman Turkish army.
At the end of the wars where both sides had nearly 500 thousand losses, martyrs and injured, the October Revolution was realised in Russia which affected the whole world; in Britain, Winston Churchill had to resign from the Ministry of the Naval Forces.
War of the giants
The Entente Powers formed by Britain and France started to control the entrances and the exits of the Straits of Dardanelles beginning from August 1914.
The British forces fired cannonballs to the bastions of Seddulbahir and Kumkale in December 1914. On the 2nd January 1915, the British government whose Minister of Naval Forces was Winston Churchill took the decision of seizing the Straits of Dardanelles.
On the 28th January 1915, the decision of the naval battles was taken. On the 19th February 1915, the Dardanelles War started effectually. The outer bastions of the Straits were destroyed. 12 big cruisers and the other ships were included in the bombardment. It was concluded that the naval war wouldn’t be enough effective and its was decided to carry out the real landing on the 18th March.
The middle bastions were continuously bombed and the soldiers were landed for the outer bastions. The search for mines and the cleaning were often conducted in the Straits. The great offensive of the Entente Powers started on the 18th March 1915 at 11.00am in the morning.
18 big cruisers, many destroyers and submarines were present. There were 150 cannons in the defense against 506 cannons. The result was obtained at 5.45pm the same day: Two British and one French cruisers were heavily damaged. Three ships were driven ashore.
When the fleet of the Entente Powers became aware that they would not cross the straits, "Australia and New Zealand Army Corps" or the soldiers called "ANZAC" and gathered from the colonies such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada were committed to the war.
The most bloody battles of the Dardanelles War started on the 25th April 1915. In the early morning, the British, French and ANZACs landed – naval forces landed 70 thousand soldiers to Seddulbahir and Ari Burnu supported by 109 military ships and 308 vehicle ships.
ANZAC Landing at Gallipoli 1915
Simultaneously, the French corps made a small landing to Kumkale with the purpose of misleading but they couldn’t succeed. The 19th Division commanded by Mustafa Kemal met the British corps who landed to Ari Burnu and advanced to Chunuk Bair.
Hand to hand combats were conducted during the months of May, June and July. During the big offensives on the 9th August and the 20th August, Mustafa Kemal came to Chunuk Bair after arranging the forces coming to Anafartalar against the enemies landing to the region and prepared the forces in Chunuk Bair to the assault and obliged the enemies to retreat.
Thus the French and British military officials became aware that they would not cross the Dardanelles from the land too and decided to end the war as of November 1915; they withdrew their last forces on the 9th January 1916.
The memoirs of Mustafa Kemal
Mustafa Kemal who never escaped of assuming responsibility and who proved his skill in planning strategy and tactics, was awarded by an increase of 3 – year seniority pay and a golden medal of privilege with sword and he was promoted from the rank of lieutenant colonel to colonelship.
The memoirs of the Dardanelles of Mustafa Kemal who prevented the Entente Powers to seize the region and to open the way leading to Istanbul are interesting. The location is Chunuk Bair...
Mustafa Kemal tells the morning of the 10th August as follows:
The dark curtain of the night was rising. It was time to launch an offensive. I looked at my watch, it was nearly four thirty. I made a quick and short inspection. I greeted the soldiers by passing in front of them. We went in front of the offensive line with the command of the division together with the commander of the division and the other persons.
The soldiers, the officers forgot everything at that moment and they concentrated their hearts, their looks on the sign to be given. Our soldiers with bayonets and one of their legs stretched out and our officers with their guns and swords before them, attacked in the form of an iron mass like lions upon cracking my whip.
In a second, we were just hearing a humming in the trenches of the enemies, rising up to the sky:
"In the name of God! In the name of God!..."
The enemy didn’t have time to handle his gun. After a heroic battle, the enemy at the first line was completely killed...
Chunuk Bair from the British front
The British Commander Sir Ian Hamilton tells about Chunuk Bair as follows: "It was such a struggle that the generals were fighting at the rank of soldiers and the soldiers were engaged in a fierce combat by leaving their guns.
The Turkish soldiers were attacking again and again and they were conducting an extraordinary combat in the name of God. Our soldiers were defending themselves and quarelling heroically, suitable to the traditions of their races. None of them tried to escape. They died without retreating..."
Turkish Trench at Gallipoli 1915
"They died by embracing their guns"
After the victory in Chunuk Bair, the region was bombed by the war ships. Mustafa Kemal describes that moment: Shrapnels and iron were pouring from the sky. The heavy shells of the sea cannons were buried in the soil and then were bursting by digging pits around.
The whole Chunuk Bair was covered by a heavy smoke and fire. Everyone was waiting what will happen in a manner of obeying his destiny. A few of the heroes of that offensive survived.
The ridges were full of dead bodies. Many of the soldiers died by embracing their guns as if they were waiting for the order of offensive. When one of the higher commanders asked "Where are our forces?", I answered, "These dead bodies are our forces..."
The watch saving the life of Mustafa Kemal
His comrade Lieutenant Colonel Servet Bey (Yurdatapan) tells the event of the shrapnel hitting the watch of Mustafa Kemal on his chest: "During the offensive of bayonet, I was next to him on the hill of Chunuk Bair. Soon after the fierce cannonfire of the enemy started, I saw that he suddenly held his chest.
This courageous soldier who noticed my excitement took his finger to his lips and made a sign to me to keep silent..."
"You ordered us to die"
Mustafa Kemal head heard that the French cavalries started an offensive on the Asian side with the purpose of preventing the advance of the infantry and they were combatting like knights although they were conscious that they would die.
Mustafa Kemal who planned to gain time in Anafartalar remembered it and ordered to the commander of cavalries to launch an offensive by a very strict decision. The commander said first "All right Sir!" but then he hesitated for a moment.
Mustafa Kemal called him back: "Did you understand what I said?"
"Yes Sir. You ordered us to die..."
Friendship in the battle field
The Colonel Fahrettin Bey who was one of the staff of Esat Pasha, the Commander of the Army Corps in Canakkale, tells the human stories and those reported to him during the ceasefire declared in order to collect the martyrs of both sides who started to putrefy.
At some point around Merkeztepe, the trenches are near to each other by 5 meters.
The commissions of both sides were working and at the same time, they were showing the trenches at this narrow place to each other and they were laughing. Since nearly all corpses were belonging to us, the British ones were taking them and leaving to our side and thus the sanitary officers had a lot of works to do.
The area was more crowded in the afternoon. We saw the soldiers called ANZAC at that time. They were cheerful and smiling persons. When I asked them whether they were British or not, they said, "No, we aren’t British, we are from Australia and New Zealand." I asked why they were participating in the war, they gave the following answer:
"The British people are our brothers. We have the same language, culture..."
They were showing too that the behaviours of our soldiers pleased them. Thus, a sympathy arose soon between the soldiers enemy to each other. They were giving the buttons of their clothes as souvenirs to our soldiers and they were asking for a souvenir from our soldiers too.
At that time, the buttons of our clothes were hidden so they searched for something else and they started to give coins. They were also offering chocolate, bonbons to each other and they started to talk with signs. Altough the commission of ceasefire tried to ban such kind of ‘friendship’, this kind of relations were established as soon as the watchers of the commission were leaving the place.
I had seen that an Australian soldier was trying to measure the height of our tallest soldier with the measure in his hand and our soldier was obeying him by laughing. As time passed, the area seemed like a place of festival; people working in the area established such close relationships that they were embracing each other.
As it was very hot, the dead bodies started to decay and the smell was really very bad. The works of collecting the corpses ended at 4.00pm and those who finished their works started to move to their trenches.
The area which was very noiy since the morning because of the members of both sides running about and teasing each other, was silent again and Esat Pasha ordered the following: "All batteries and infantries... FIRE!..."
Sphinx at Ari Burnu, ANZAC Cove
An example of humanity
"The cruiser Triumph belonging to the Britain was leaving Imroz every day and bombarding our trenches by heavy cannonfire. One day, the German forces brought secretly a submarine from the Baltic Sea and bombarded suddenly Triumph; the ship started to sink.
When some torpedoes came speedily to rescue some people, Esat Pasha was human enough to order ceasefire so that people can be rescued easily. When we stopped to fire they also stopped the fire.
We were happy with this attitude and the enemy forces were surprised and they were looking at us sadly."
One Turkish and one British soldiers...
"Some part of the trenches were pulled back after the battles of Kanlisirt (Bloody ridges) as its name suggests. While walking through these trenches, the dead bodies of one Turkish and one British soldiers were found in a manner of killing each other with bayonets.
One of our safe soldiers and another one injured, drilled the soil in the sewage the whole night with a rifle-sword, they went out and they came to our side."
The Unknown Soldier Memorial at Gallipoli Peace Park
Water carrier rescuing the British soldiers
"One of our soldiers carrying water barrels with his animal entered by mistake without gun among the British soldiers in the hot weather. And he met two soldiers who were lying there half unconsciously.
They were nearly dying because of hot weather and thirst. They showed their tongue and asked for water with signs. Now, let’s hear the soldier: "I thought, if I give them water they will revive but they will take me with them; but if I don’t give water, they will die. I had piety.
I asked for their guns by signs, they laid down their guns. Then I dropped water in their mouth from a bowl. I was afraid that they would die if I had given water suddenly. They revived and they stood up.
Then I made a sign so thay they come with me. When they came to our side, I delivered them to the first officer whom I met. And I went to our soldiers and gave them water..."
"Repose peacefully on these fellow lands"
Mustafa Kemal who was on the verge of resigning from his military service because of the cool attitude of the Minister of War and the Deputy Commander in Chief Enver Pasha while visiting the fronts of the Dardanelles but then persuaded the Commander Liman Von Sanders, made the following promise in 1934 as the President of the Turkish Republic to the mothers of soldiers from New Zealand, Australia, Britain, France, India and Senegal, who died in the Dardanelles:
The heroes who were sacrificed on the lands of this country!
"You are lying on the land of a fellow country. Repose peacefully.
You are in the bosom of the Turkish soldiers. Mothers who sent
their sons to the war from the very far lands! Please, stop crying.
We hold your sons to our bosom. They are tranquil here and they
will repose peacefully. As they died on these lands,
we consider them as our sons."
Shrapnel Valley Cemetery at Gallipoli Peace Park (683 Burials)
More info about Gallipoli War Graves:
Gallipoli War Graves
More info about Gallipoli Dawn Service:
Gallipoli Dawn Service
Sources: Fahrettin Altay: "Gorup Gecirdiklerim, 10 Yil Savas ve Sonrasi" (What I lived and I witnessed, 10 – Year War and the Following; Sevket Sureyya Aydemir: "Makedonya’dan Orta Asya’ya Enver Pasa, III.Cilt" (From Macedonia to the Central Asia Enver Pasha, III. Vol.); Lord Kingros:"Ataturk, Bir Milletin Yeniden Dogusu" (Ataturk, the Resurrection of a Nation); Sevket Sureyya Aydemir: "Tek Adam Mustafa Kemal, I.Cilt" (The One Man Mustafa Kemal, I.Vol)
acknowledge:
by TURSAB Magazine
http://www.tursab.org.tr
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