Gallipoli victory marked on 101th anniversary

[T-123456]

Turkey commemorated its fallen on March 18 on the 101th anniversary of the Ottomans’ World War I victory over Allied fleets attempting to break through the Strait of Dardanelles in the northwestern province of Çanakkale.

“We, as a nation, never fear or shy from battle no matter who or how powerful they [our enemies] are. ... No one can prevent us from writing a new epic as long as we protect our solidarity and brotherhood,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told members of the audience at the official Martyrs’ Day ceremony held in Çanakkale, referring to the fight against recent terror attacks in Turkey.

Erdoğan praised the sacrifices of thousands of soldiers killed while preventing the Allied fleets from passing through the Dardenelles en route to Istanbul.

“Could we have sacrificed Istanbul, could we have given it away?” said the president. “That is why Çanakkale is impassable; they could not get through Çanakkale.”

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli released a written statement to mark the day.

“A century ago, invasion trenches dug right in front of our horizon were covered with the blood of our martyrs; Western projects were drowned in the spirituality of Çanakkale,” said Bahçeli, in a reference to the trenches dug by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in some southeastern districts.

“The puppets of imperialist murderers today once again think that they will get results by trenches, by killing the sons of this land. Our beloved nation, integrated with its state, will not permit the lobby of destruction, the armed human wastes deployed in towns [to succeed],” he said.

Many citizens, troops, combat veterans, government and opposition officials also flocked to memorials and cemeteries across Turkey to mark the day.


Fierce battle on the Dardenelles

The Allies in World War I attempted a naval breakthrough in March 1915 through the Dardanelles with the aim of capturing the Ottoman capital of Istanbul and securing a much-needed sea route to Russia. After a number of British and French capital ships were either sunk or damaged, however, the Allies were forced to abandon the naval campaign.

The Ottomans’ initial naval victory in March was soon followed by an amphibious landing on the peninsula. Better known in the West as the “Gallipoli Campaign,” the ensuing land warfare lasted from April 1915 to January 1916 and ended with the Allies’ complete withdrawal from the area.

The Gallipoli battle also marked the rise of Atatürk, as he served there as an officer. Around 1 million troops, including many Australians and New Zealanders, participated in the trench warfare in Gallipoli, which is regarded as a defining moment in the history of the Turkish people, as well as part of the foundations of a sense of national identity for Australia and New Zealand.

March/18/2016
Gallipoli victory marked on 101th anniversary - LOCAL

 

[T-123456]

 

[Solomon2]

Private Robert Eardley of the Lancashire Fusiliers had the extraordinary experience of rescuing, and being rescued by, the same Ottoman soldier in the course of battle. In early August, the Lancashires attacked Turkish lines astride the Krithia road in the southern tip of Gallipoli. Private Eardley took part in a bayonet charge that overran the Ottoman front line. Once again he was amazed at his own survival, as he saw comrades fall dead and wounded on either side as they dashed across no-man’s-land. When he reached the Ottoman trench, Eardley came between a British soldier and a wounded Turk who lay defenceless on the ground.

“Here you get out of my way— he has killed my mate and I am going to stick him,” the Briton growled.

Eardley reasoned with his comrade, arguing that it was a cowardly act to kill a defenceless man.

“Put yourself in his place chum— one never knows—knows— cheer up old pa— don’t do it, that’s a good fellow,” he cajoled.

Eardley managed to prevent the angry Lancashireman from killing the Turkish soldier. He found himself alone in the trench with the wounded Ottoman. The two men could not communicate in words, but the Turk made clear to Eardley that he was in terrible pain. “Poor fellow,” Eardley muttered to himself, as he bandaged the man’s gaping head wound. He settled the injured soldier in a safe spot away from the line of fire, put a coat under his head as a pillow, and sat with him for a spell, “exchanging signs and glances”. When Eardley was called to take up sentry duty he gave the wounded man a drink of water and a cigarette. “I could see by his eyes that he appreciated the kindness and as the old saying goes ‘one good turn deserves another’.”

The Lancashire Fusiliers did not hold the Turkish trenches for long. A massive Ottoman counter-attack drove the British troops back to their original lines. Eardley was left in one of the occupied Turkish trenches to cover the retreat of his comrades. He watched as his area was overrun by hundreds of Ottoman soldiers charging with bayonets fixed. “The excitement was intense— beads of perspiration on my forehead— our foe galloping on in one great effort to sweep us off the face of the earth.” He was surprised by a Turkish soldier who hurdled the parapet, bayonet first. “I felt a sharp piercing sensation— a burning feeling at the back of my left shoulder. I knew I had got the bayonet. . . . I distinctly felt the thrust and drawing out.” Eardley fell face forward to the bottom of the trench among the dead and wounded, where, suffering from shock and loss of blood, he lost consciousness.

Eardley was awakened hours later by the sensation of dirt being shovelled onto his back. As he struggled to stand up, dizzy and disoriented, Eardley found himself surrounded by hostile bayonets pointed towards his chest. He had no doubt they intended to kill him. But before his captors had the chance to strike, a wounded Turkish soldier with a bandage around his head leapt into the trench and protected Eardley with his own body. The Briton immediately recognized his deliverer. The injured Turk was himself quite weak— he had presumably just been rescued by his comrades in their recent counter-attack— but he clung to Eardley for all he was worth and shouted for a sergeant.

When the Ottoman sergeant finally arrived, the wounded Turk told his story. “Away they jabber,” Eardley recalled, unable to understand a word of what his protector was saying but recognizing from the expression on the sergeant’s face that his chances of survival were rapidly improving. Finally, the sergeant turned and spoke to him in broken English: “‘ English get up, no one will harm you— you would have died only for this soldier— you gave him water, you gave him smoke and you stop bleed (wound from bleeding)— you very good Englishman,’ and patted my back all over.” Before being led away, Eardley took leave of his Turkish friend. “I shook hands with this Turk (and would give all I possessed to see this man again). As our hands clasped I could see he understood for he lifted his eyesand called ‘Allah’ and then kissed me (I can feel this kiss even now on my cheek as if it was branded there or was part of my blood).”

They never saw each other again. Jostled through a hostile crowd of Ottoman soldiers, Eardley was taken up to a communications trench for interrogation. Further on, a hostile soldier dealt Eardley a blow to the chin that knocked him out. He later came to among a handful of other wounded British prisoners. It was a rude reminder that for most Turkish soldiers, Eardley’s English uniform marked him as the invading enemy, the duşman. But Eardley’s days in combat were over. He would spend the next three years alternating between confinement and heavy labour as an Ottoman prisoner of war.

Rogan, Eugene (2015-03-10). The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East (pp. 199-201). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.

 

[KingWest]

To bad that not so many Turks still know about the siege of Kuts. There used to be a holiday in turkey commemorating this battle, the Brits however demanded that we stopped doing this if we wanted to enter NATO.