How the Muslims killed Dracula

“I have killed men and women, old and young… We killed 23,884 Turks and Bulgarians without counting those whom we burned in their homes or whose heads were not cut by our soldiers....”

Shibli Zaman

Born in the Ottoman Principality of Wallachia, Romania in 1435 AD, he was known as Radu al III-lea cel Frumos to his Romanian countrymen,Yakışıklı Radu Bey to the Turks, Radu al-Wasim to the Arabs, and Radu the Handsome in English. This ally and childhood friend of Sultan Mehmet II was instrumental in the conquest of Constantinople for Islam. Radu’s participation in that conquest ensured that Mehmet II would go down in history as “Fatih,” or “Conqueror.” Radu was the Ottomans’ secret weapon against the Safavids to the East and the Serbs, Romanians and Hungarians to the West. The Muslim world owes much to this hero of Islam, yet they recorded little other than cursory references to him, perhaps for fear of taking away from Fatih Sultan Mehmet’s limelight. The Byzantines recorded Radu as a reviled despot due to their hatred for his conversion to Islam and instrumental role in ending the Byzantine Empire.

Yet, this Ottoman general had a greater war, a war against darkness. He hunted the very progenitor of the vampire legend who impaled his enemies and drank their blood – Vlad al III-lea Ţepeş, also known as Vlad Drăculea, who would go down in infamy as, simply, Dracula. The character of Professor Abraham Van Helsing was no more than a figment of Bram Stoker’s terrifying imagination, but Sultan Mehmet II and Radu cel Frumos were perhaps the first and only true vampire hunters in history.

The Blood Brothers

Looking back, Radu’s devotion to Islam and to Sultan Mehmet II could be traced to the political alliance of their respective fathers before them. Vlad II from the House of Drăculeşti (“House of the Dragon”) was an ally and vassal of Sultan Mehmet’s father, Sultan Murad II. Vlad II had 4 sons: Mircea II, Vlad IV Călugărul (“The Monk”), Vlad III who would come to be known as Dracula, and Radu III cel Frumos (“The Handsome”). As a gesture of unity with the Sultan, Vlad II offered his sons, Dracula and Radu, to serve the Ottoman Sultan. Under the Janissaries they studied the Qur’an, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Islamic Theology and Jurisprudence, and, coveted above all, Turkish military strategy and tactics of war.

The Ottoman special forces who held a higher status both militarily as well as socially than the rank and file were the Janissaries and the Sipahis. The Janissaries were the elite infantry of the Ottoman military as well as the personal bodyguards of the Sultan and his family. The Sipahis were the elite cavalry who surrounded the Sultan in battle and would be sent to deal with the most stubborn of adversaries. They were the commandos and special forces of their day. Though the Sipahis were almost exclusively Turkic in origin as demanded by Sultan Mehmet II himself in his treatise of law entitledKanun Nameh-e-Sipahi (“Law Book of the Sipahis”), the Janissaries, within whose ranks Dracula and Radu found themselves, were conversely converts to Islam.

The young Dracula continually abused and rebelled against his hosts earning himself imprisonment and castigation. Due to the heavy handedness of the Turks in response to his insolence, he developed a compounded and complex series of grudges. He hated his father for allying with the Turks, which he saw as a betrayal of the Order of the Dragon to which his father had sworn an oath. The Order of the Dragon was a Christian fraternity whose sole aim was to wipe out Islam from the Balkans forever. Dracula hated Radu for his successes and the favor the Turks bestowed upon him. He was filled with jealousy for the then young Mehmet II who, like him, was a prince, but, very unlike him, lived in splendor. He was also jealous of his brothers Mircea and Vlad the Monk due to what he perceived as his father’s preference for them. His sentiments for Mircea however, would teeter between jealousy and awe. It is from him that the young Dracula learned the terror tactic of impaling thousands to create forests of the dead.

Radu remained faithful to Islam and the Sultan and spent his entire life in battle on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, vanquishing the most difficult adversaries of the Empire. His natural knack for battle was unparalleled even amongst the Janissaries and elite Sipahis of the Ottoman military, and he would be called upon frequently to subdue any foe that seemed insurmountable. It is reported that he turned the very course of Near Eastern history when he stopped the mighty Ak Koyunlu from overrunning the Ottomans, an event that, if not stopped, would have definitely changed the faces of both the Middle East and Europe today. For this very reason, he was called upon to face the threat from his homeland of Wallachia that neither the elite Janissaries nor the Sipahis could route.

The Conquest of Constantinople

“On the third day after the fall of our city, the Sultan celebrated his victory with a great, joyful triumph. He issued a proclamation: the citizens of all ages who had managed to escape detection were to leave their hiding places throughout the city and come out into the open, as they were to remain free and no question would be asked. He further declared the restoration of houses and property to those who had abandoned our city before the siege, if they returned home, they would be treated according to their rank and religion, as if nothing had changed.” (George Sphrantzes, 1401-1478, Byzantine Christian chronicler and witness of the fall of Constantinople)

It was a time of relief and rejoicing. It was a relief for the inhabitants of Constantinople who expected a prompt culling following the fall of their city. It was a time of celebration for the entire Muslim world for this historical conquest of a city that has remained, to this very day, the capital of the Turks. Yet as Sultan Mehmet II rode into the city victorious, a glance over to his childhood friend and chief of the Janissaries, Radu cel Frumos, son of Vlad II Duke of Wallachia, may have served as a sobering reminder that to the North, beyond the spoils of Byzantium, their fiercest enemies lay in wait. Among those enemies was the most feared of them all, Dracula, who just so happened to be Radu’s own brother.

The Rise of Dracula

Opportunistic betrayal was the way of Wallachia’s rulers and in one such brief betrayal, Vlad II silently allowed his older sons, Mircea and Vlad IV, to launch an insurrection after which Mircea impaled all his prisoners upon stakes. The young Dracula loved the sight of this and later joined Mircea in further insurrections against the Ottomans as well as the rival Dăneşti clan supported by the Hungarian warlord, John Hunyadi. Ultimately, Hunyadi overran Dracula’s father, slew him in the marshes of Bălteni and blinded and buried Mircea alive at Târgovişte. Hunyadi installed a Dăneşti prince, Vladislav II, over Wallachia. In his ambition and lust for power, Dracula put aside any vengeful sentiments for his slaughtered father and brother and allied with Hunyadi and served him as an adviser. As John Hunyadi went to face the Turks at Belgrade in modern day Serbia, Dracula attacked and slew Vladislav and took the throne for himself. As fortune would have it, a plague broke out amongst Hunyadi’s camp, infecting him which lead to his death. Sultan Mehmet was severely wounded in the battle. These events left Dracula to rule Wallachia uninterrupted for 6 years. It was the only time he ruled his home for so long.

The Impaler

“I have killed men and women, old and young… We killed 23,884 Turks and Bulgarians without counting those whom we burned in their homes or whose heads were not cut by our soldiers.” (Dracula, in a letter to Matthias Corvinus bragging of his tyranny)

As Sultan Mehmet approached what appeared to be a fetid balding forest of rotting trees in the distance he soon realized the horror of what he approached. They were so close to their destination – the Wallachian capital of Târgoviște -that he was in no mood for this puzzling sight. But the figures became more clear as the steeds in the cavalry grew unruly and the infantry felt ill. Before him stood 20,000 impaled bodies of innocent men, women and children, all victims of Dracula in that winter of 1462.

Dracula’s Muslim upbringing, albeit abandoned in deference to opportunity, and fluency in Turkish enabled him to move about the Ottomans’ most secured camps freely as a Turk without being noticed. This had deadly consequences for the Muslims. Dracula had entered Serbia with his men all dressed as Turkish Sipahis and slaughtered all the Muslim villagers, and those non-Muslims friendly to them that they could find. The intent was to leave a horrifying memento for Sultan Mehmet whom they knew to be soon taking their capital city. They erected this unholy monument in a bid to alarm the Sultan and terrorize his troops in hopes that they might turn around and retreat home.

What is remarkable is that there are no records of mass desertion of Ottoman troops after witnessing this. They pressed on unflinchingly. However, some historians have suggested that Sultan Mehmet II lost his taste for hunting down the ‘vampire’ following this invasion of Wallachia and left the task up to the only one who was capable of hunting down Dracula and killing him. After taking the Wallachian capital of Târgoviște, Mehmet returned home, leaving the hunt to Radu. After all, it would take someone who knew the mind of Dracula to defeat him, and none fit this bill better than his own brother.

This event earned Dracula the name of Vlad Ţepeş, the Romanian word “Ţepeş” meaning “Impaler”. Legend has it that if you look closely at the word you can see Dracula’s fangs dangling beneath as a hidden warning to the vampire’s terrible lust for blood.

Radu vs. Dracula: Brothers in Blood

As Târgoviște was taken, Dracula fled towards Transylvania in hopes of finding refuge with John Hunyadi’s son Matthias Corvinus. As was typical of Dracula’s opportunism and lack of reverence for religion, he offered to become Catholic in order to win Corvinus’ favor. He scorched the earth and slaughtered all the living in his path leaving a wake of desolation and writhing impaled bodies. He would not give up his homeland to the Muslims that easily. He began a beleaguering campaign of guerilla warfare that the elite Ottoman Sipahis could not endure. It is said he slaughtered 15,000 of the Ottoman soldiers in one single night. Still, as the mightiest of the Ottomans fled, Radu was undeterred seemingly driven by what can only be interpreted as an austere piety, to end the bloody reign of his haplessly misguided brother. None remained to fight Dracula save Radu and his fellow Romanian Muslim Janissaries.

The brothers fought lingering battles for the throne of Wallachia and Radu’s control of the region increased staggeringly with Dracula receiving less and less support from Matthias Corvinus in Hungary. In a strange twist of fate, Corvinus, the one to whom Dracula retreated, had him imprisoned for 12 years on charges of high treason. The people of Wallachia and their Christian nobles had enough of Dracula’s terror and put their support behind Radu who was pronounced Voivod, Prince and Ruler of Wallachia in 1462. Radu ruled the land prosperously for 11 years until his death while Dracula wasted away in a Budapest prison patiently waiting to rise again from the darkness.

Dracula’s Release and Final Battle

After Radu’s death in 1473, Dracula was released from prison. He immediately assembled an army and invaded Bosnia, slaughtering its Muslim population and impaling 8,000 on stakes in a forest of human bodies. Once again, Dracula had arisen from the darkness with the objective of eliminating Islam from the Balkans forever. He finally acquired the throne of Wallachia after his departed brother, but only for a month. Sultan Mehmet invaded Wallachia to remove this profanity from the throne his dear friend Radu had vacated in death. In 1476 the forces of Sultan Mehmet faced the forces of Dracula in Bucharest, Romania. Dracula’s army was overrun in a blitz and all were killed, including Dracula himself. The vampire had been slain. News of this did not suffice. His head was cut off and preserved in a jar of honey and sent to Constantinople. There, in a fitting end, Dracula’s head was impaled upon a stake in the center of Constantinople for all to see. There was to be no doubt or mystery.

The Muslims had finally, at last, killed Dracula.

WB

Israeli soldiers stormed Masjid al-Aqsa 47 years ago

After the invasion of Jerusalem, the Israeli administration began an effort to eliminate all signs of Islam. With numerous reasons, they removed mosques and Islamic relics

News Desk

The Masjid al-Aqsa and the sacred city of Jerusalem had been conquered during the caliphate of Omar. Under Muslim control for almost 400 years, it fell to the Christians during the first crusade.  From 1097 to 1187 Salauddin Eyyubi ended the Christian rule by entering the city. The city was now under Muslim rule and in order by the Ayyubi, Mamluk and finally the Ottoman empire.

Balfour Declaration disrupts population balance

Muslims, Jews and Christians lived harmoniously and peace for hundreds of years in the sacred land of Jerusalem but this came to an end when the Ottoman empire lost the war during the first world war. With the Palestinian front being lost by the Ottomans, the land of Palestine came under British rule on 11 December 1917. The British Foreign Affairs then made a declaratin allowing all Jews to migrate to Palestine. Thousands of Jewish migration led to Palestinian lands being one of major conflict.

The British mandate after WWI led to such a tide in migration to Palestine that the population in 1922 of 83000 Jews increased to 467000. The Jewish population and the control of Palestine led to the birth of a Jewish problem.

Jerusalem-Corpus Separtum (separate body)

This was not just a societal and political issue. At the same time the conflict in the region gave rise to a terror issue. In order to solve the conflicts in Palestine, England, with the objective of playing peacekeeper, requested help from the United Nations.  The United Nations Palestine Commission was set up whereby the Jews and Arabs of Palestine would have a separate partioned territory with a decision made that identified the region as Corpus Separatum (separate body). Fifty five of the most fertile and productive area was allocated to the Jews, and the remaining infertile, barren land and desert was allocated to the Arabs who refused to accept it. Upon this disagreement, on the 14th May 1948 the Jews announced the State of Israel.

Israel's announcement  of independence let to the surrounding Arab countries declaring war on Israel. They were unsuccessful in this war.  After the Suez Crisis of 1956 the war between Arabs, Israel- France and England was also unsuccessful.

After the 6 day war fiasco Israeli soldiers enter Masjid Al-Aqsa

1967 with Egypt at the helm, the regions Arab nations of Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait starting preparations for a huge war with the goal of ending the Israeli occupation and recover Palestinian land. However there was an unexpected defeat. The Arab states during the 6 day war suffered a huge blow. The actual blow was on the third day. From the very beginning of the war, Israel had planned to occupy Jerusalem. Because of the huge success in a short time, the Israel government changed their mind and decided to occupy Jerusalem.  On the 7th June Israeli soliders entered the historic city of Jerusalem. Suburban street brawls defended the invasion somewhat, however in a few hours the Israeli soliders were in front of the Wailing Wall and stormed Masjid al-Aqsa. After the separation of Jerusalem from Ottoman rule in 1917, after fifty years Jerusalem was passed onto Israel After occupying the south of Jerusalem, Israel announced that Jerusalem will forever be the undivided capital city.

Israels effort to wipe out all traces of Islam in Jerusalem

After the invasion of Jerusalem, the Israeli administration began an effort to eliminate all signs of Islam. With numerous reasons, they removed mosques and Islamic relics. Again, under the illegal Israeli occupation, on 21 August 1969 a fanatical Jew by the name of Denis Ruhan attempted to burn down Masjid Al-Aqsa. The resulting fire destroyed relics that were thousands of years old. Along with these, the symbol of Salahauddin Ayyubi's conquest of Jerusalem was the wooden pulpit that was also destroyed.

The UN Security council of 1968 made a resolution that Israel’s attempts to change the status of Jerusalem were “uneccessary” and “ illegal”.  Despite this, Israel continued their attempts to alter the status of Jerusalem and has continued their illegal settlements in Palestine to this day.

WB

A Forgotten victory: The Kutu'l-Amare Siege

General Townshend entered Kutu'l-Amare in 29th September 1915. The Ottoman forces withdrew and reinforced “Selman-i Pak”, under the command of Colonel 'Bearded Nurettin Bey'. While the reinforcement continued, Mirliva Halil Pasa the uncle of Enver Pasa, entered the frontline with a corps and changed the cause of the battle. General Townshend, with 4500 loss regressed Kutu'l-Amare

A Forgotten victory: The Kutu'l-Amare Siege

General Townshend entered Kutu'l-Amare in 29th September 1915. The Ottoman forces withdrew and reinforced “Selman-i Pak”, under the command of Colonel 'Bearded Nurettin Bey'.

While the reinforcement continued, Mirliva Halil Pasa the uncle of Enver Pasa, entered the frontline with a corps and changed the cause of the battle. General Townshend, with 4500 loss regressed Kutu'l-Amare.

One of the frontline in which the Ottoman Empire had to defend in the First World War was Iraq, for the reason of it being the UK's target because of the oil bearings it contains. UK started the preparations for the occupation on September 1914 and gathered the Iraq expeditionary forces,  which consisted of Indian and British soldiers, on the Bahrain islands. Then occupied Basra on 22nd of October 1914. Suleyman Askeri Bey was assigned to stop these Indian-British forces commanded by General John Nixon from proceeding in Iraq, which was ruled by the Ottoman for almost 400 years. There were insufficient amount of soldiers on the frontline, so just like in Trablusgarp, Suleyman Askeri Bey tried to get organised with the local Arab militia. After being defeated in the Basra attack, Suleyman Askeri Bey committed suicide. Meanwhile, the commander in charge of the British that seized Nasiriye and Amare was General Charles Townshend, who will later on be a mediator between the British and the Ottoman Empire for the Armistice Truce.

Despite him seeing it dangerous to continue, his seniors, thinking its essential to seize Baghdad as soon as possible ordered him to continue the operation. General Townshend entered Kutu'l-Amare in 29th September 1915. The Ottoman forces withdrew and reinforced “Selmani Pak”, under the command of Colonel 'Bearded Nurettin Bey'. While the reinforcement continued, Mirliva Halil Pasa, the uncle of Enver Pasa entered the frontline with a corps and changed the cause of the battle. General Townshend, with 4500 loss regressed Kutu'l-Amare. Due to its geographical location, this town being on the coast of The River Tigris was a trap for the British-Indian army. While General Townshend, having no choice left but to keep position here was reinforcing the town, Mirliva Halil Pasa commanded his troops to make a manoeuvre to close the circle of the siege.

Mirliva Halil Pasha being aware of the situation of the enemy, while closing the circle, offered the British to surrender as they don’t have another choice. With the rejection of this proposal, the siege of Kut began on the 7th of December 1915 which lasted for 143 days, 29th April 1916. While attempting to split the siege line,  General Townshend had to face with not only the Ottoman soldiers but with the problems that occurred within his army. This was because the Indian soldiers in the 6th division, especially the ones that are Muslim and don't want to fight against their own brothers in religion, which led to discipline problems, desertion and mutiny. Mirliva Halil Pasa by writing out leaflets tried encouraging the Muslim soldiers to join the Caliph's army and inviting the non-Muslim soldiers for rioting over British imperialism.

Meanwhile, the necessary measures were being taken to stop the British forces coming over Basra, the general headquarters combined the forces in Iran, Iraq and Mosul into two divisions making it 5th army and gave it under the command of the German Marshal 'Von Der Goltz Pasa'. Mirliva Halil Bey was then appointed as the commander of the frontline.  The British took initiative with General Fenton Alymer to save Townshend's forces. When it was 22nd March 1916, Times newspaper wrote, the situation of Townshend was extremely dangerous.

The failure of both the British in Kutu'l-Amare and the British sent to help them, with heavy casualties, caused diseases and decrease of provisions. After all of the fruits, vegetables and canned foods eaten up, the oxen were eaten. When these were finish the British soldiers began eating the horses and mules. Not eating these because of religious reasons, the health of the Indian troops were getting worse day by day. Although General Townshend, to persuade the Indian soldiers to eat horse meat, asked the British authorities in India to take words from the religious leaders that eating horse meat is permissible the Indian soldiers refused to eat it and became weak.

One of the soldiers fighting in Kutu'l-Amare explained this situation as follows: “We slaughtered the first horse 3 weeks ago. After that day we slaughtered 20 a day, we had meat but it wasn't meat. Minced horse meat, horse soup cooked in pot, stuffed with horse meat. The British soldiers that eat horse meat has more strength compared to the Indian battalions that refuse to eat horse meat.” Via the newspapers, this situation was also carefully monitored by the Ottoman public. For example, 'Tercüman-ı Hakikat' newspaper, based on the news on Times newspaper says: “Time newspaper, about the situation in Iraq admits that with the latest official evidence the situation of the Englishmen around Tigris is a reason for many concerns. The same newspaper publishes a report about the corruption of the British administration in Iraq saying: “We received complaints of the things that have been done between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They specifically complain too much of the Indian officials. In supplying the needs of the war the Indian officials are equal with the London officials.

News and complaints reported to us, are proof of the failure of the sanitary completely. Heavy wounded soldiers remain without treatment for two three days. The first aid for the injured are being done only after two three days. The ships sailing down Tigris are full of injured men. The condition of the injured that arrive to Bombay are very critical. The wounds open up because of the heavy rain.

The Indian sanitation is responsible for this terrible condition. Especially at the last stage of the Iraq war, the Indian sanitation is completely ruined. Malcolm, a member of the parliament, in a letter he wrote said: “It is reported that the condition of the soldiers at the Iraq front line are very severe. Food supply and clothing for the soldiers are insufficient which is very worrying. Thousands of patients are treated by only three doctors. The bandage stock is insufficient. Operations being done without anesthetize. Five hundred injured are under the supervision of one caretaker. Only a few carriers are helping out the caretakers. An officer wounded from foot has not been looked after and his bandages aren't changed. I demand an explanation from the government regarding this bad situation. They can not get rid of the responsibility by stating that the sanitary belongs to India. Now that the UK government is sending their sons to Iraq, failing to look after them is in governments responsibility.”

While this situation caused changes in the British commanding group and bad reactions from the public, General Townshend, hoping that a he will receive help, have rejected the second proposal from Halil Pasa to surrender by saying: “Turks are always people who are good soldiers and noble during combat but I do not yet think to surrender.” The British headquarters, despite of everything started trying untried ways to supply their besieged forces with food and ammunition. For the first time in the war history, in 15th-29th April 1916 tried to help from air using Short 184 type 225 HP seaplanes. The last attempt to help the besieged British army was done on the night of 12th April 1916, by “Julnar Ferry” carrying 270 tones of food supply, various weapons and three machine guns. This was the ferry sent from Felahiye that was inactivated with the captain and the crew. After the last defeat in Iraq British General command, commanded General Townshend to take care on his own because of no hope left for them from the siege by Halil Pasa in Kutu'l-Amare.

General Townshend began negotiations for surrendering, and as a last attempt to save his army, he offered to bribe Halil Pasa which was regarded as a joke by him. This proposal was repeated by the famous British spy Lawrence but was rejected. The bribe offer to Halil Pasa was announced to the Ottoman Public by Tercuman-i Hakikat newspaper with the following words, with the headline: “The offer from Townshend to get away” and continuing: “Although General Townshend offered to be let gone freely along with his army for a payment of a million Pounds, all of the canons he has in hand and Kutu'l-Amare. This laughable offer was immediately rejected.

As a result, General Townshend, by receiving an approval from the headquarters unconditionally surrendered with his army on 29th April 1916. The victory aroused a great repercussions in the foreign and local press. In the Tercuman-i Hakikat newspaper, it has been published with the headline, “The Biggest Disaster Of The British In History”. The news continues saying, “It is announced by the Headquarters that, General Townshend and his army of 13,000 men, that was stranded in Kutu'l-Amare, has started to be taken as captives of war. Today, the Turkish army, once again risen the Ottoman flag with a new glory and honour. For the past several days, in the British sources, the thought for the fall of Kutu'l-Amare was being felt. The result was what the British were afraid of but we waited impatiently for. So the British, but now much worse, felt the pain of the Turkish bayonet this time in Iraq, just like in Canakkale. These defeats that follow each other explicitly show that the future star of the British is fading away.” This news, not only stateside but abroad, was a reason happiness. The German Emperor, Austrian King, King of Saxony and allies as such congratulated by letter. On the victory of Kutu'l-Amare, the city of Vienna was decorated by Turkish flags.

This shaded or even a bit forgotten victory was settled in the memory for being, “The most abject capitulation in the British history.” Never forgetting the defeat here, while General Townshend in his memories wrote, “The British government promised to save me if I withstand, I made it for five months but unfortunately the promise wasn't kept... If I owned the Hell and Kutu'l-Amare I would have sold Kutu'l-Amare and held the Hell.” One of the British soldiers, William Spackman: “Everyone was devastated. I'll never forget that terrible morning of surrendering, which gave the feelings of worthlessness. We started doing the melancholic work for surrendering. Poor gunners, some of them couldn't stop the tears while dismounting their gun that they used to look at with pride. The Turks came at midday and took over the positions. We sat on the edge of Babylon water side and we cried. Years later, the officers who experienced the siege, have established “Society of Kut.”

WB

The Ottoman Army's fight For Gaza

One of the subjects that has stayed in the shadows of Ottoman history was the “Gaza Combats” that were fought on the Palestinian front during WW I

The Ottoman Army's fight For Gaza

One of the subjects that has stayed in the shadows of Ottoman history was the “Gaza Combats” that were fought on the Palestinian front during World War One. With the aid and support of the Palestinian women, the Ottoman solders defended Gaza with great dedication and bravery.

The Anzacs at Gaza

The Ottoman Army, in order to put pressure on the British and to be able to control the Suez Canal launched the unsuccessful “Suez Campaign”, were pulled towards Gaza-Tellus-Saria-Sebi and established their self-defence line from here. The weakening of the Ottoman army in these areas helped prepare the British, Palestinian and Syrians to advance on them.

General Archibald Murry after a years effort moved forward with the British and the Anzacs taking advantage of the rebellion of Sharif Hussein. Their goal was to take over Jerusalem and Palestine and cut their tie to Syria, Iraq and the Arab Peninsula.

The Gallipoli regiment in Gaza

The Ottoman troops under German Admiral Von Kress were weak and with little provisions.

The Anatolian and Iraqi reinforcements were on their way, and at this point the troops who fought at Gallipoli were sent to Gaza. With enhancements on both sides, the “First Battle of Gaza” against the British began on the 26th March 1917 and lasted for 7 months 11 days. Starting suddenly the raids by the black infantry of Britain used air attacks, fleets, armoured cars, planes and cavalry. The Ottomans were victorious in these attacks under these conditions due to their bayonet thrusts.

The arrival of the first troops from Gallipoli aided in this initial victory. Their presence psychologically affected the British troops. At that time Falih Rifki Atay in his work named “Zetindagi” noted: “The British were tired and during the deserted attack, attacked the Gaza army twice. They attacked and demolished the city threw cannonballs a number of times. After the devastation of Gaza, the incredible troops that saved it would go down as the best name in history”.

This particular regiment saved Gaza from troops that were at least four to five times more experienced than them. After a metal rainstorm that would making anyone lose their mind during the “Battle for Gaza” , one of my friends asked one of the soliders “D you think they will come back, what do you think?” to which he replied “They can't, They saw our regiment”.

Lost Opportunity

Despite the strength of their army, the British who had no choice but to withdraw also began their “Second Gaza Campain” on 17th April. By this time the difference between the Ottoman army and the British army had begun to be evident. Whilst the British had been able to dig canals through the desert to provide drinking water and ample provisions, the Ottoman soldiers were deprived of this. Despite this advantage, the Ottomans soldiers successfully defended the front resulting in heavy casualties for the British army.

Explaining the Gaza Battles, Falih Rifki Atay observred and wrote in his letters that: “I three letters of a friend who participated in the most difficult battles of the Gaza Battles. He said, “If only you knew how comfortable I was in Gaza. I believe that in the time of war I have no other consolation apart from being at the front. In front of Gaza there are small mountains and is a small one that looks like a small dominant on. On that small mountain there is the tombe of Sheikh Ali Mantar as well as two trees that have no leaves. The Gazans bury their most important person around the sacred land of this tomb. In short, this ledge called “Mantartepe”, has the unforgettable, “Battles of Gaza” name on it. Between our front and the enemy's front, this was the most convenient observation point. We dug eight tunnels under the graves of the Arabs, and the brave observation officers would go through these tunnel to administer the cannonballs being shot.

In the Second Battle of Gaza, the British all but destroyed the Sheikh Ali Mantar peak with heavy fire from both air and see. With a terrying sound, the missiles stirred the earth with dust all around just a few metres short of the top of the peak, making it look like a volcano on fire, drowning in dust, glowing and black smoke everywhere. We lost count of the number of times that pieces of the tomb, gravestones, trees and rocks pelted us as well as the bones of those who had been asleep, buried for years. The Mantar peak had caused so much suspicion that after they had left theat on the movement of the rocks the British pelted the peak with even more bullets. Those officers who were on watch on the Sheikh Ali Mantar peak watching and observing were the actual heros during the battles of Gaza”.

Those at the front and the Ottoman public were overjoyed and pleased with the outcome while the British thought it was nothing but a fiasco. General Murray paid for the failure by being removed from his position and was replaced by General Allenby. During the recovery period Allenby tried to make up for the missing elements in their army whilst the affairs of the Ottoman army that had a high morale and pscyhologically were in a better state, was starting to go wrong. The burden of the reinforcement troops and the disagreements between the Front Commander and the Commander-in-Chief had started to war them out.

Amir Faysal's betrayal and the loss of Gaza

In order to seek revenge for the defeat of the first two battles and in order to save the Gaza front, General Allenby, after completing their supply shipments, initated plans for the “Third Battle of Gaza”. At this time, Emir Faysal, one of the sons of Makkan Sharif Huseyin with military forces under his control collaborated with the enemy to betray the Ottoman army. On the 6th November 1917 with heavy bombardments from the sea, land and air gave way for the British to advance onto Gaza. Having also felt the betrayal of the spititual brotherhood, the Ottomans could no longer hold onto the Gazze-Tellu's-Seri'a-Biru's-Sebi line and evacuated Gaza. This repaired the damage that was caused by the previous two defeats and ensured the success of occupying Jerusalem.

Sources: 

İsmail Hami Danişmend, İzahlı Osmanlı Tarihi Kronolojisi, c.4, İstanbul, 2011.

Falih Rıfkı Atay, Zeytindağı, İstanbul, 1943.

WB