Ottoman Army photos

[domsim]

Anybody interested in the Ottoman Army, air force, navy check out the photos on this site which are fantastic quality :

Ottoman photos

Scroll down to bottom of page wher the military photos start at "Turquie Armee artilleurs "

Cheers

Dominic

Edited 8 December , 2005 by domsim

[jwsleser]

Dominic

Thanks for the link. A truly wonderful site. Like you, I am impressed with the quality of the photos. Seeing these photos makes me wonder what else is out there still awaiting to be made public.

Again thanks!

Jeff

[burlington]

Amazing quality.

Thank you.

[Bruce Dennis]

Good stuff.

Thanks

Bruce

[Eceabat]

Hi Pals,

I agree, great set of photos. I would say that looking at them many date from just before the war. Some of the Ottoman warships shown had been struck off the active list in the couple of years before 1914. Of much interest to me at least were the shots of the Ottoman planes and aviators.

Not being an expert on aircraft of the period I could well stand to be corrected (please do someone) but I think the shots show some of the first aircraft in the fledgling Ottoman airforce. In a couple of photos some of the officers shown look like those mentioned in the story I have attached below, from 2001.

If, as I suspect, the photos are of the planes mentioned below, it would date the pictures to early 1914.

Some of the shots of soldiers on parade also are similar to those I have seen showing manoeuvres from 1914 in Istanbul of the Ist Corps.

For someone who lives in Turkey it was also nice to see some of the old Ottoman buildings, many of which still stand, not having been closed in by more modern construction.

Thanks for the link.

Cheers

Bill

Longest aerial flight during the Ottoman Empire in 1914 from Istanbul to Alexandria Egypt is to be re-enacted. Two new Bleriot type aircraft are to be built in Kayseri.

Flight to Alexandria Ottoman air epic to be to be re-enacted.

Using two replicas of the 1914 Bleriot monoplane in which Ottoman pilots made their longest-ever flight, next year will see Turkish airman re-enact the aerial feat.

The Golden Wings project as it has been called, is being co-sponsored by the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), the Turkish Air Force, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Turkey's Civil Aviation Authority and the Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTO).

The replica planes are to be built at aircraft facilities in Kayseri through collaboration between ODTÜ and Tekno Tasarim A.fi. The first is to be handed over to TRT for the nostalgic flight on February 8, 2001 and the second plane on March 1.

The nostalgic flights will take place on May 15, 2001, the day on which Turkey commemorates its air force dead. The flights will end on July 20 in Alexandria, Egypt. TRT will produce a 25-30 minute three-part documentary of the flights.

ISTANBUL-ALEXANDRIA FLIGHT

Ottoman officials had decided to develop the Empire's airforce and in a political show of force planned to conduct a flight from Istanbul to Alexandria in Egypt. Two Bleriot type aircraft piloted by the first Turkish pilots - Fethi and Sadik Bey and Nuri and Ismail Hakki Bey - took off for Alexandria on February 8, 1914 from Yeflilköy in Istanbul.

Of the two badly maintained aircraft, one, the "Muavenet-i Milliye", crashed on February 27 near Damascus, killing Fethi and Sadik Bey. The other plane, "Prens Celaleddin", crashed into the sea on March 11, 1914 near Jaffa in present day Israel, killing Nuri Bey. More money was then raised by Ottoman citizens to complete these journeys, so a new Bleriot type aircraft was purchased. The new flight was completed on May 15, 1914 by pilots Salim and Kemal Bey.

The Golden Wings project as it has been called, is being co-sponsored by the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), the Turkish Air Force, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Turkey's Civil Aviation Authority and the Middle Eastern Technical University (ODTO).

If all goes to plan, the two Bleriots will take to the skies on 15 May, the day Turkey commemorates those of its airforce personnel who have died whilst serving the country.

The 1914 flight was planned as a showcase of Ottoman military strength and to impress the locals of the already restive Arab colonies. As a flag flying exercise, the original flight must be deemed a failure, with both planes crashing, one near Damascus and the other off the coast of Jaffa, and three of the four pilots being killed.

[bob lembke]

Mehraba, Bill;

Don't leave us hanging here. Did the 2001 flight make it? Are they still in flight?

I hope that they did not re-enact the flights down to the smallest detail, including the fatal crashes.

My father first flew in 1917, while in hospital from a wound at Verdun, in a bathrobe and goggles, on the acceptance flight of a two-seater plane. He didn't fly again for 50 years. I've never flown in anything older than a DC-3, old enough for me. I hear that they recently started making Ford Tri-motors again in Brazil, due to their simplicity and ruggedness, but with modern engines and electronics.

Bob Lembke

[domsim]

Hi Bill

I think you might be right about the aviation photos I had a look in Ole Nikolajsen & Bulent Yilmazer's book on Ottoman aviation and they have a chapter on the on the Cairo flight with some very similar photos which means the plane could be the Bleriot XI-2 named "Muaveniti Milliye" that crashed in February 1914.

Some of the army photos also appear in the British "Handbook of the Turkish Army" dated 1916.

Cheers

Dominic

[michaeldr]

Dominic

Many thanks for the link; I have put it up there amongst the favourites along with the Matson negatives

Dominic, Bill & Bob,

You may be interested in the att doc

It is from the magazine section of the Israeli newspaper ‘Ha’Aretz’ of July 2000

It describes the memorial to the flight of 1914 and (from half-way down page 3 onward) the flight itself. The doc is about 7 pages long, but I found it fascinating and I will certainly make a detour to the monument when next in the area.

Thanks to you all for bringing this to my attention

Regards

Michael D.R.

The_eagle_has_crashed.doc

[Neil Mackenzie]

I would say that looking at them many date from just before the war.

Bill.

I am no expert but I would agree on the pre-war view. I don't think that guns completely exposed and firing over open sights was seen much during WW1.

Neil

[Guest Eugen Pinak]

They all were taken before WW I.

[Eceabat]

Bob,

sorry for taking so long to get back you over the re-enactment of the Ottoman flight. I just confirmed with a friend who is a pilot with Turkish Airlines and is a WWI buff that yes, the commemorative flight did take placed and that one of the replica aircraftis now in the Turkish Airforce Museum, located at Yesilkoy near the Istanbul International Airport.

Cheers

Bill