Greek infantry at Gallipoli

[gilly100]

Going through the English Vol 2 of the TGS OH Vol 5, book 3 is the following regarding a diversionary landing in the Gulf of Saros on 6 August 1915 by a Greek detachment of infantry. It was news to me, so thought it might be worth posting for others to see.

"A voluntary Greek detachment, 300 men strong under the command of a Greek lieutenant (Lt Gruparis) carried by two British battleships, were discharged to the shore named above (between Sazlidere and Karacali to the north of Saroz Bay). This detachment repulsed the shore observation post attached to the Kesan Gendarme Battalion and advanced a few kilometres inland.

The Independent Cavalry Brigade Commander on learning about the situation repulsed the Greek detachment with a cavalry company and an artillery platoon he brought into the area with a counterattack he launched on the morning 7 August at 0700."

The detachment saved itself by retreating towards the shore burned the forest on both sides of Sazlidere pouring petrol and gasoline as they were retreating......

During this confrontation the Greeks took 28 casualties and left 3 POW behind. The Turkish casualty toll was 8 dead and 12 wounded....

Others may care to expand or comment. Interesting all the same.

Ian

[michaeldr]

You've an eagle eye there Ian! I cannot recall hearing of this incident before

From 'Naval Operations – Vol.III' by Sir Julian S Corbett, p.90

in order to distract the three Turkish divisions plus cavalry who were guarding Bulair, a demonstration was planed - “at the head of the Gulf of Xeros the Minerva and Jed were to land a force of three hundred and fifty irregulars under two French officers for a raid on the north shore”

On the Naval History Net you will find links to the log books of both the Minerva and the Jed

The Minerva's log http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM_53-49455/ADM%2053-49455-004_0.jpg mentions that on

6^th August between 1330 & 1530 they “embarked 350 irregular troops”

At 1940 they transferred 180 troops to the JED

and at 2310 they disembarked the remainder in ships boats, west of Xeros Islands

7^th August [http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM_53-49455/ADM%2053-49455-004_1.jpg]

at 0740 opened fire with 6-inch on shore north of Xeros Island

At 1030 sent boats to re-embark troops and bombarded shore to cover re-embarkation

The Jed's log seems to be more details and can be read here http://s3.amazonaws.com/oldweather/ADM53-45340/ADM%2053-45340-021_1.jpg

and http://s3.amazonaws.com/oldweather/ADM53-45340/ADM%2053-45340-022_0.jpg

The Jed lost one of their men killed by rifle fire from the shore [AB Samson Thompson*] so they must have been close in.

Looking at the final entry for 6^th August the hand writing seems to have beaten the best efforts of the transcriber, however to me it seems that the original might say “Cretan troops”

If so, then this would support the Turkish claim that the 'irregulars' were in fact Greeks.

*http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3042938/THOMPSON,%20SAMSON

best regards

Michael

[trajan]

... Looking at the final entry for 6^th August the hand writing seems to have beaten the best efforts of the transcriber, however to me it seems that the original might say “Cretan troops” If so, then this would support the Turkish claim that the 'irregulars' were in fact Greeks. ...

If they were Cretan 'irregulars' that would certainly make sense. Crete only won a state of semi-independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1897 after a series of bloody rebellions, and only formally became part of Greece in 1913, thanks to the support of Venizelos, who was, of course, in favour of Greece joining the allies militarily in the GW. So, one could envisage a scenario in which Cretans desirous of revenge on the Turks could volunteer their support for action at Gallipoli as a means of showing favour to Venizelos' position on the GW - and especially so if, IIRC, there was a significant Greek minority population living on the peninsula.

Trajan

[apwright]

The war diary of the French command has this account (my translation):

Coup de main by the Greek irregulars.
At the request of the British command, the 350 Greek irregulars, mostly Cretans, are to attempt a coup de main on the north coast of the Gulf of Saros. The mission of this detachment is to land between Ibridje [İbrice] and Kodja Tschesme [Kocaçeşme], to split into several groups and operate against the Kechan-Kavak [Keşan-Kavakköy] road, to blow the bridges at Grabounar [?Çamlıca] and to ambush convoys; in short, to draw the enemy's attention towards that region. This irregular force, commanded by the Greek lieutenant [Pavlos] Gyparis, and accompanied by two French officers, chef de bataillon Romieu and sous-lieutenant Avezou, embarks at Tenedos in the afternoon of the 6th on two British warships, the Minerva and the Jed. The landing takes place the same evening at midnight. The partisans eliminate the outposts and occupy the village of Saslo Dere [sazlıdere], where they seize the records of a cavalry brigade of the gendarmerie, destroy the telegraph apparatus and damage the lines. Pushing beyond the village, the detachment runs into a prepared position, 4 km from the coast, with machine-guns and two pieces of artillery. It is forced to retire and to re-embark at about 12 o'clock under the protection of the naval guns. Casualties were 13 killed or missing, and 18 wounded. One prisoner was taken (of the 7th Cavalry Regiment) and some arms and ammunition collected.

Or you can read it in French at http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e00527f9f3984364/527f9f39b4a83
There's also a pretty useless map 3 pages earlier: http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e00527f9f3984364/527f9f39a9800

Pavlos Gyparis: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Pavlos_Giparis.JPG

****

If you're interested...

The other Greeks that actually fought on the Gallipoli peninsula were the 440 men under Pantelis Karasevdas, recruited on Limnos from Greek refugees of the Balkan Wars who were still technically Ottoman subjects, so as not to violate Greek neutrality. The original plan was to recruit a force of 20,000 men, but in the end Karasevdas only managed to cobble together about 1,100. For administrative purposes they were attached to 1er Régiment Etranger (Foreign Legion) and were armed and equipped as legionnaires.

Karasevdas and the first 440 men landed from Moudros at Sedd el Bahr on 23 July, where they became the 13th and 14th Companies of 1er Régiment de marche d'Afrique, remaining with them until the regiment moved to Salonika in October.
I haven't found anything to say whether the other 600+ men were ever sent to Gallipoli, but I assume not. It seems they were all disbanded at the end of September.

There's some more information if you have the French to wade through the war diary of 1er RMA, where the Greeks are referred to variously as the Bataillon Etranger d'Orient, Légion Hellenique, Bataillon Volontaire Grec ... etc.
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e00527e5aef7816a/527e5aef90e21

Adrian

[gilly100]

To Michael, Trajan and Adrian, thanks for the excellent input. A most interesting topic that brings in participants I knew nothing of. It all adds to the story. And yes, I did know the Brits were at Gallipoli before someone has a poke, hopefully in jest.

Cheers

Ian

[Guest]

At least one of the boats at the Gallipoli landings had Greek crews, who mutinied (dived below decks) when they realised what was happening. I think the reference might be in one of the RN officer's diaries quoted in Van Emden and Chambers' recent book on Gallipoli. MG

[SteveMarsdin]

I think some of the lighters with the River Clyde were part Greek manned (Peter Hart "Gallipoli").

steve

[michaeldr]

Many thanks for that informative post Adrian

re a pretty useless map 3 pages earlier

Here it is for comparison with a contemporary Austrian one, which may be of help

regards

Michael

[michaeldr]

Below is a War Office map of this area. It is dated 1915 and the orientation suggests that it is one of the very early ones.

I add it here since is shows the forest on both sides of Sazlidere referred to in Ian's o.p.

[Guest]

Mates,

The make up of the Turkish forces is known from what I can find;

"Independant Cav Bde - LtCol Hamdi Bey

Cof S - Maj Kenan (Dalbasar)

7th Cav Regt - Maj Avni Bey

13th Cav Regt - Maj Sami Sabit (Karaman)

11th Cav Regt - Maj Nadir Bey

While I can find little of the Kesan Jandarma Bn - as it was one of many such units along the coast.

S.B

[michaeldr]

Steve,

Erickson (Gallipoli – the Ottoman Campaign) does not gave an OoB for this exact date, however, he does have one for 30^th July 1915 which shows the 11^th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Lt Col Esat, not Nadir.

Was Esat on leave/replaced/moved between the 30^th July and the 6^th August 1916?

Erickson's next OoB for the Saros Bay command is dated 17^th August 1915 and shows the 26^th Division (infantry) led by a Lt Col Esat - is this the same officer?

Erickson also gives Hamdi's CoS Kenan ranked as a Captain on 30^th July and a Major on 17^th August – one wonders if he was promoted on the strength of the driving off of the Cretans?

In the TGS's 'Brief History of the Canakkale Campaign' plate 61 gives a chart of the 'Organization of the 5^th Turkish Army at the beginning of August 1915' and this shows the Keşan Jandarma as infantry and falling within Hamdi's command, which is also shown as including a unit of horse artillery and a detachment of engineers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The idea behind the attack was well founded, since the Cretans not only provided a distraction, but if successful, then by their blowing the bridges at Grabounar [?Çamlıca] and to ambush convoys they would have disrupted the Turks main reinforcement route from their railhead at Uzunkӧprü. In the end however, Erickson sums up the effort rather harshly, describing it as a “comic opera incident”

Regards

Michael

[Guest]

Mate,

You maybe right as I have a note that said;

11th Cav Regt - Maj Esat (Esad or Assad) Bey WIA 1915 to Maj Nadir Bey 1916

Esat (Esad or Assad) Bey 11th Cav Regt & 2nd Caucasus Cavalry Divison 4-16 & 3rd Cav Div 1916/18 Maj to LtCol WIA 2-5-18

I can find no date for his wounding in 1915 which led to his being replaced by Maj Nadir (shown as 1916 after he left to command the 2nd Cav Div on the Russian front) but it could have been earlier after his wounding in 1915.

But this may help

3rd Cav Bde (Gallipoli)

7th Cav & 15th Cav at Çorlu 1914, 4th Cav at Lüleburgaz 1914 - 4th Cav Regt four Sqn's (1, 2 ,4 & 5 Sqns) att 3rd Corps HQ - Aug 1915 renamed Independant Cav Bde at Gallipoli then shown around Van 1916

4th Cav Regt - LtCol Hamdi Bey (1915) to LtCol Halim Pertev Bey

7th Cav Regt- Maj Avni Bey 1915

Saros Bay Gallipoli 1915 Saros Bay Group Col Ahmet Fevzi 6-15 to Gen Von Goltz (G) 8-15 CofS Maj M. Hayri 6-15

Ind Cav Bde

7th Cav Regt- Maj Avni 1915

13th Cav Regt - Maj Sami Sabit

att 11th Cav Regt - Maj Nadir 7-15 (shown in command in July 1915)

(6th Div + Ind Cav Bde) - June 1915 (8th Div + Ind Cav Bde) - July 1915 (6th Div 7th Div 12th Div + Ind Cav Bde) - Aug 1915 1st Army 6th Corps (24th Div 26th Div + Ind Cav Bde) Bulair Arty - Maj Neset (Heavy Arty Bn)

Your right a LtCol Esat is shown as commanding the 26th Div around that time;

LtCol Esat Bey to LtCol Hamit Fahri Bey

But the dates for this are unknown so far, I am unsure if the same man?

There was also this man

Esat or Mehmed Esad Pasha (Bulkat) Dardanelles Fortified Area Command & 3rd Corps 1914/15 & 1st Army 10-15 shown 5th Army 2-17 to 2-18 3rd Army 6-18 to 11-18

As to "Erickson also gives Hamdi's CoS Kenan ranked as a Captain on 30^th July and a Major on 17^th August – one wonders if he was promoted on the strength of the driving off of the Cretans"

I have him only as Maj but its possible he was a Capt at that time.

Cheers

S.B

[Bryn]

Thanks Ian; good find, and some very useful information brought up by all.

There's a footnote reference to these men in Bean, Vol 2 p500:

"A feint was also made by several hundred Greek irregulars who landed at Karachali on the coast of the Gulf of Saros."

[gilly100]

Just when you think you have read Bean's two Gallipoli volumes, something always pops up that you missed. Nice spot too Bryn. Although I find Bean hard work, the detail is quite amazing. The Turk OHs are hard work for other reasons, but informative nonetheless. Aspinall Oglander's work is heavily called upon, Bean less so it seems.

Anyway, some nice maps and info put up on this thread that has certainly increased my knowledge on this little known of operation.

Thanks all

Ian

[michaeldr]

Steve,

the 11^th Cavalry were brought into the Scimitar Hill battle (August 21^st) as reinforcements to the 12^th Division, so perhaps this was when Lt Col Esat was wounded? But that's only a guess on my part

The Turkish Organisation chart for the 5^th Army at the beginning of August 1915 has Kenan ranked as 'Yzb' which I take to be Yuzbashi = Captain

…..............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Ian,

something always pops up that you missed.

That is so true! As I said when you started this thread, I could not remember coming across this incident previously. However, now having looked around a bit, I find it is referred to by Erickson, the British Naval OH, the TGS's 'Brief History...' etc etc etc.

I'm afraid it's a sad comment on how I do my reading too

best regards

Michael

[gilly100]

Michael

Too true. Sometimes it's what not is written that is hard to find elsewhere! So just keep digging, as sure as rain, it is there somewhere!

Cheers

Ian

[alantwo]

I'm not quite sure this quite fits-in with the theme but I have one casualty admitted to HMHS Assaye on 4th August. G Theokritoz, a Greek Labourer. He had acute appendicitis and died the following day at 6.30pm. Others admitted at the same time include Manchesters, Worcesters, RMLI and South West Borderers which suggests the ship was at Helles.

Regards

Alan

[michaeldr]

Alan,

There were Greek labourers based at W Beach (Lancashire Landing) at this time

[see 'No Labour, No Battle' by Starling & Lee]

regards

Michael

[alantwo]

Thanks Michael, I'll take a look on the 25th.

Regards

Alan

[michaeldr]

Thanks Michael, I'll take a look on the 25th.

Regards

Alan

Happy Christmas, Alan

[alantwo]

Just came across this in the 29th Division CRA War Diary:

Gallipoli

4th May 1915

9am

Units informed that Greek Gendarmerie has been formed and attached to French Expeditionary Force. For purposes of identification it is notified that they wear uniform of Tirailleur Algerians. Light blue with yellow braid as in summer English khahi uniform. Head dress blue [frizzed ?] cap. They also wear dark blue band with white grenade on left arm.

Perhaps someone can help with the term 'frizzed', have I got that correct. Handwriting in this diary is terrible.

[Edit: band for braid]

Regards

Alan

[alantwo]

Happy Christmas, Alan

Michael

Santa was kind enough to leave a copy of 'No Labour, No Battle' on Christmas morning and it would appear that having skipped forward quite a few pages, the authors believe there were 1,255 Greek Labourers at Helles of which I presume the unfortunate G Theokritoz I mentioned above was one.

Santa also managed to get hold of a copy of Westlake's 'British Regiments at Gallipoli' thus there is plenty of reading ahead.

I would be grateful if you could avoid recommending other books for a couple of weeks, I'll have to buy those.

Best wishes for the New Year.

Kind regards

Alan

[Keith_history_buff]

On 10/12/2015 at 10:04, apwright said:

If you're interested...

The other Greeks that actually fought on the Gallipoli peninsula were the 440 men under Pantelis Karasevdas, recruited on Limnos from Greek refugees of the Balkan Wars who were still technically Ottoman subjects, so as not to violate Greek neutrality. The original plan was to recruit a force of 20,000 men, but in the end Karasevdas only managed to cobble together about 1,100. For administrative purposes they were attached to 1er Régiment Etranger (Foreign Legion) and were armed and equipped as legionnaires.

Karasevdas and the first 440 men landed from Moudros at Sedd el Bahr on 23 July, where they became the 13th and 14th Companies of 1er Régiment de marche d'Afrique, remaining with them until the regiment moved to Salonika in October.
I haven't found anything to say whether the other 600+ men were ever sent to Gallipoli, but I assume not. It seems they were all disbanded at the end of September.

There's some more information if you have the French to wade through the war diary of 1er RMA, where the Greeks are referred to variously as the Bataillon Etranger d'Orient, Légion Hellenique, Bataillon Volontaire Grec ... etc.
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/ark:/40699/e00527e5aef7816a/527e5aef90e21

Adrian

I just came across the following article, published in December 2018, with a photo. They seem to be wearing either white or sand (kaki clair) coloured uniforms, and are behind the Zouaves in the foreground.

https://neoskosmos.com/en/125561/in-the-wake-of-agamemnons-army/

[Keith_history_buff]

On 17/12/2015 at 13:31, alantwo said:

Just came across this in the 29th Division CRA War Diary:

Gallipoli

4th May 1915

9am

Units informed that Greek Gendarmerie has been formed and attached to French Expeditionary Force. For purposes of identification it is notified that they wear uniform of Tirailleur Algerians. Light blue with yellow braid as in summer English khaki uniform. Head dress blue [frizzed ?] cap. They also wear dark blue band with white grenade on left arm.

Perhaps someone can help with the term 'frizzed', have I got that correct. Handwriting in this diary is terrible.

[Edit: band for braid]

Regards

Alan

I have tried to enlarge the photo, and rather than appearing like the sand coloured conventional uniform of the Infanterie Coloniale, they appear to be wearing dark coloured headdress and the shama jackets usually associated with the Zouaves. Given that the Tirailleurs Algeriens did not deploy to Gallipoli, it seems peculiar that this uniform turned up on Lemnos.

Two images of Turkish prisoners being escorted by guards in light coloured shama jackets and dark headdresses.

 

[Keith_history_buff]

Original attributable source of each image:

IWM Catalogue number: Q 13247

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205248479

 

IWM Catalogue number: Q 13245

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205223152