WW1 Turkish Map?

[Simon127]

Hi All,

This is supposedly a First World War Turkish Map that was brought back by a soldier from the Middle Eastern theatre.

It is entirely in Arabic as you'd expect for something dating from the Great War and is in fact three separate maps of different locations. It would appear to be a general map rather than a particularly detailed one (possibly not even a military map) and it appears to show Australia, the Suez Canal and what appears to be a river (shown in the last photo). Does anyone have any idea where this last location might be?

I freely admit that I know nothing about maps whatsoever, but would very much appreciate any info that you could give me on it. Alternatively, if anyone speaks Osmanli Arabic and can tell me what it says on the key for each, I'd be most interested!

Thanks and best wishes,

Simon

[robigunner88]

I believe that the last map is of Constantinople. However, i'm not sure what the actual straits are called leading into the Black Sea.

[robigunner88]

Okay, its called Bosphorus but also known today as the Istanbul Strait.

[shippingsteel]

Hi Simon, they are very interesting maps and do appear to be in period Osmanli script ... I wonder why they had (or would need) the one of Australia.?

The last one is certainly of Istanbul. I will be able to translate the keys for you, but they will need some deciphering first, maybe when I get the chance.!

Would you be able to post a closeup shot of the key on the Australian map so I can do it as well. It will be particularly interesting to see what it has to say.

Cheers, S>S

[Simon127]

Thanks for your help Gents. I freely admit that Geography was never my strong suit; I knew my days of messing around in lessons would come back to haunt me.

S>S, I will take some photos and post them on here or e-mail them to you as you prefer. I am equally intrigued by the map of Australia which makes me think that this was possibly a generic map rather than a detailed military map, although certain aspects are similar to captured Turkish maps on the Australian War Memorial website: http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/gmaps/turkish/gallipoli.asp

Below is the photo of the soldier's inscription on the map which reads: 'Turkish map found on the battlefield after the advance on Gaza / Sam Harling / Tractor Driver / A.S.C.M.T.'

The National Archives medal rolls list Private Henry S. Harling M2/082844, ASC. M2 being the designation for Mechanical Transport.

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[shippingsteel]

Thanks Simon, some closeup photos of the key/headings of the maps would be ideal. The devil is always in the detail with these Osmanli scripts.!

You have to sift through what is calligraphy/decoration and what is the actual lettering just to get started.! The Istanbul map reads 'Istanbul xxxx'.?

Cheers, S>S

[shippingsteel]

The heading of the second map reads as jazirat al-Arab which simply translates as the Arabian Peninsula - so pretty straightforward.

The red lines on the map seem to indicate political boundaries ie. countries borders, etc. So may be able to date them from that detail.?

Cheers, S>S

[Simon127]

Great bit of detective work there. I was wondering what the red lines were about but I'm still curious what they may mean on the Australia map?

The map below is supposed to be the Middle East in 1914 and certainly some of the boundaries appear to be the same. Or am I just seeing what I want to see?!

[Simon127]

Following on from what you suggested about the red lines on the map, I had a closer look at the Australian one. New Guinea is divided into three sectors showing Dutch New Guinea, British Imperial/Australian New Guinea and, significantly, German New Guinea. As German New Guinea or Kaiser-Wilhelmsland fell to Australian troops in 1914 this must indicate the map to be 1914 or before as in 1920 Germany lost all her colonial possessions under the League of Nations.

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Also, the Arabian Peninsula map appears to show the Aden protectorate as a small - if slightly inaccurate - section, as it would have been prior to 1920.

[michaeldr]

Looking at the image in the OP, then don't these appear to be pages from an Atlas?

[shippingsteel]

I agree with all of that, pages from a slightly pre-war atlas. The Ottoman border in the Sinai was established in 1906, which would date the maps 1906-1914.?

This piece from Wiki ... "In 1906, the Ottoman Porte formally transferred administration of Sinai to the Egyptian government, which essentially meant that it fell under the control of the United Kingdom, who had occupied and largely controlled Egypt since 1882. The border imposed by the British runs in an almost straight line from Rafah on the Mediterranean shore to Taba on the Gulf of Aqaba. This line has served as the eastern border of Egypt ever since."

So at least that gives some clue as to why Australia was on those maps, just pulled out of an atlas. Some coincidence though ... Sinai/Palestine, Istanbul and Australia.?

It had me worried that it might have been part of some diabolical plan for the Turks to invade Australia via Asia, on the way to world domination.! (Very "Hitleresque" indeed)

Cheers, S>S

[shippingsteel]

Just did the heading of the last map featuring Australia, and it translates from the Arabic as Oceania ... so exactly as you would expect from an Atlas.

And taking a closer look at the map showing Istanbul, the heading on this one reads as Istanbul Bogazi which simply translates as the Istanbul Strait.

Cheers, S>S

[Simon127]

Many thanks for your help Gentlemen. I thought from the off that this couldn't really be a military map as it was too small, the detail too lacking and didn't look like any of those held in the wonderful Australian War Memorial collections (apart from the profuse Osmanli script!).

It does indeed look like the pages from a small atlas, perhaps owned by a Turkish soldier. The pencil note gives it interesting provenance; it seems quite possible that this dates from the Third Battle of Gaza in November 1917. Having had a look on the LLT website, the 989 and 990 MT companies of the ASC were formed in September 1917 as caterpillar tractor companies for the 205 and 43 siege batteries respectively.

Simon

[michaeldr]

Simon,

You can download 'The Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force' for free and find there some more information on the EEF's use of tractors. (the pdf version of the download is easy to search)

By the end of the war they had 281 tractors doing all sorts of things as well as the haulage of the heaviest guns. They also had 612 truck and trailers, which together with the tractors, formed convoys when the ground conditions demanded it; eg. boats were transferred from the Sea of Galilee to the port of Haifa in this fashion.

The OoB shows ASC Mechanical Transport companies 895 and 972* as 'Caterpillar Tractor Supply Column'

regards

Michael

* edit to add; 972 appears in the listing in the reprinted ed. which I have, though it seems to be missing from the version copied for the download

Edited 14 August , 2013 by michaeldr