Kiretch Tepe Gendarme Memorial & cemetery

[michaeldr]

Kiretch Tepe Gendarme Memorial and cemetery

Kireçtepe Jandarma Aniti ve Mezarlığı

The units whose fallen members are interred in this cemetery include not only Jandarma, but also Topçu (Artillery), Istihkam (Engineers) and Piyade (Infantry). None of those buried here has been identified and the exact number is unknown. It is thought that about 1,700 Turks died in the fighting here in early August 1915, including the commander of the Gelibolu Jandarma, Captain Kadri Bey. Regarding the fighting nearby at Kiretch Tepe on the 15^th & 16^th August 1915, Erickson* gives more specific details;

“the Turks lost 3 officers and 315 men killed, 8 officers and 1,238 men wounded and 2 officers and 85 men missing.”

[*quoting Çanakkale Cephesi Harekati (Haziran 1915-Ocak 1916)]

The monument of shells was first erected very shortly after the burials were made in 1915. Prof. Haluk Oral, in his 'Gallipoli 1915 Through Turkish Eyes' informs that

"This monument was built while the Battle of Gallipoli was still in progress. According to Cevat Abbas (Ģűrer) the monument was commissioned by Mehmet Arif (Ayici Arif)."

Prof. Oral's book also reproduces the famous photograph of Mustafa Kemal striding past the monument and identifies the image as being taken from the front cover of the January 1916 issue of the magazine Harp Mecmuasi.

The original monument was demolished in the 1950s. It was rebuilt in 1995/6 by the 116th Gendarme Private Education Regiment's commander Cafer Çağlayan.

In September 2013

In 1915

NB: text edited to add detail of Mehmet Arif (Ayici Arif)

Edited 14 October , 2013 by michaeldr

[michaeldr]

The dedication inscription as seen in September 2013

the translation from Ottoman script into modern Turkish

[michaeldr]

As far as I could tell, only one original grave inscription is legible today

the rest have worn away with time and exposure

and some plots are overgrown with shrubs