The Battle of Anzac

"...as the cries of the wounded continued and the hot sun rose, the Anzacs were moved to pity. They had never seen such bravery before. A truce was arranged and Anzacs and Turks together helped to bury the dead. It is said that the AUstralians' hatred of the dead. It is said that day and was replaced by a healty respect. From then on, the Turks were fellow sufferers; human beings. " A.K.MAcdougall-Australian History-Gallipoli and the Middle East


Trading Rucker with Turks
"Extraordinary friendly exchanges between the Turks and our fellows this morning early.Some of our chaps ran right over to the enemy trenches and exchaged bully, jam, cigarettes etc. The whole business was wonderful and proves how madly unneccessary this part of the war is" Lt T.E Cozens,AIF,DIARY,19 October. Jonathan King 8. section page: 187.

"So throught Churcill's excess of imagination, a layman's ignorance of artilary and the fatal power of a young enthusiast like Churcill to convience older and more cautious brains, the tragedy of Gallipoli was born" Charles Bean,War Correspondent At Gallipoli

"Turks Fight Fairly -

It is stated in messages from Cairo that the majority of wounded who have arrived there deny the stories of Turkish atrocities. They state that the Turks are fighting most fairly. In one case, a Turk dressed the wounds of a British soldier under fire. Another left his water bottle with a wounded Australian. An Australian who was taken prisoner but subsequently escaped stated he was very well treated.

Other sections in the papers refer to the fact that both sides had an amnesty to enable a number of dead

Turkish soldiers to be buried under the Red Crescent flag of their nation."
The Argus on Saturday 1st May 1915 referred to the fact that some 8000 Turkish soldiers including German officers had been taken prisoners when the allies deceived the enemy by sending ashore 100 donkeys laden with mock baggage as a ruse.

They landed at a spot away from the real landing place, which landed our troops. On the following May 3rd the same paper carried had fallen from some 8000 prisoners to 607. It seems that the press, even in those days, had difficulties in always getting their stories accurate.

The Australian Press, during the Gallipoli Campaign.This article extracted from the Melbourne paper "The Argus", on Tuesday 22nd June 1915 were collected from the Parliamentary Library service by Keith Remington M.L.A.

Turks have treated our captured men and officers excellently" [The diary of the Aus. Official Corres. C.E.W.Bean]

Turks are clean fighters
"During the war British high command wanted to give the soldiers on the front gas masks. The soldiers protested, "The Turks are clean fighters. They don't use gas." [The Britische Orientalist, Aubrey Herbert wrote in his famous book "Mons, Anzac & Kut ANZAC, 1915" . Monday, August 16th, 1915. No. 2 Outpost. ]



“You will hear extraordinary horrible stories practiced by Turks. Well, don’t believe a word of them. They are grossly exaggerated if not wholly false. You will be surprised at the gentlemanly way the Turks has fought us. " [Jim Haynes Cobbers - Stories of Gallipoli 1915 p. 178) ]



" I reckon the Turk respects us, as we respect the Turk, Abdul's a good, clean fighter - we've fought him, and we know" [Lieutenant Oliver Hogue]



"The Turks have always proved themselves perfectly willing to have armistices and have actually asked for one at Helles which was refused by our General Staff. " [Ashmead-Bartlett's Diary,1915]



" They (Turks) too were fighting for their country. Good and fair fighters. No. They fought very fair and honestly like us. Both sides lost their very valuable men.” [E.W.BARTLETT - was born in Australia , 1891. 11. Light Horse Regiment. One Hundred years old. He was one of last two hundred who left the Dardanelle.]



"The Turkish sniper understood that we were searching for him. He shot once and the doctor got wounded. When he realized that he was a doctor, he didn’t shoot again.”
[ Exerted from Sydney Alexander Moseley, former war correspondent during the Gallipoli Campaign ]



“ After the terrible punishment inflicted upon the brave but futile assaults all bitterness faded … The Turks displayed an admirable manliness … From that morning onwards the attitude of the Anzac troops towards the individual Turks was rather that of opponents in a friendly game."
[Charles. E Bean, the Australian official historian, The Story of Anzac, Vol II, Sydney, 1924, p.162]



"The Anzacs left Gallipoli without hatred in their heart for their enemy or bitterness at the incompetence of their own high command.” [A.K. Macdouggall, Australian historian]


TURKS AS FIGHTERS :One cannot conclude these reminiscences without paying a tribute to Abdul as a fighting man. All I know about him is in his favour. We have heard all about his atrocities and his perfidy and unspeakablenesses, but the men we met fought fairly and squarely; and as for atrocities it is always well to hear the other side of the question. At the beginning of the campaign it was commonly reported that the Turks mutilated our wounded.
Now I believe that to be an unmitigated lie, probably given a start by men who had never set foot in the Peninsula—or who, if they did, had taken an early opportunity of departure. We were in a position to know whether any mutilation had occurred, and I certainly saw none. I believe that similar reports were existent among the Turks regarding us, and I formed that opinion from the attitude and behaviour of one of the prisoners when I went to dress his wound. He uttered most piteous cries and his conduct led me to believe that he thought he was to be ill-treated. I have mentioned before the class to which most of the prisoners were. They were always most grateful for any kindness shown them. As to their sense of fair play, when the Triumph was sunk, they never fired on her—though I understand it would have been quite allowable directly the men set foot on another warship. Again, about a fortnight after the landing at Anzac, we tried to land a force at Gaba Tepe, but had to retire and leave our wounded.
The Turks signalled us to bring them off, and then they never fired or abused the white flag. The third instance occurred on our left, when we made the advance in August. Our Ambulance was under a hill, and a howitzer battery took up a position just in front. The Turk sent word that either the Ambulance or the battery would have to move, otherwise they would be forced to fire on the Ambulance. "
FIVE MONTHS AT ANZACA NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE OFFICER COMMANDING THE 4th FIELD AMBULANCE, AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCEByJOSEPH LIEVESLEY BEESTON C.M.G., V.D., L.R.C.S.I., Colonel A.A.M.C. Late O.C. 4th Field Ambulance, late A.D.M.S. New Zealand and Australian Division

TURKS IN KOREAN WAR __________________________________________

Australian journalist Harry Gordon: “ If the seeds of this joint respect were planted at Gallipoli; it ripened in the dust and snow of Korea. The Turks were small and shy and gentle ..."

Australian journalist Harry Gordon: The Turks were small and shy and gentle ...

Gordon recalled a particular meeting in Korea of Australian and Turkish soldiers:
“ If the seeds of this joint respect were planted at Gallipoli; it ripened in the dust and snow of Korea. The Turks' relish for hand-to-hand fighting, their first-class leadership, their discipline under fire… these were attributes the Australians in Korea possessed themselves and admired in others.”

“I went, and found Norm O'Neill, whose pals in the Field Ambulance used to call him Peggy, entertaining a bunch of stocky, dark-jowled young men. They stood and listened as O'Neill (with the help of a young Lt. who could speak a few words of English) told them about his father, who had been a machine-gunner at Gallipoli. We gave them packets of chewing gum, and they handed in return hunks of something that looked like a pancake and tasted like rubber… Their ready acceptance of us, their eagerness to make us feel at home among them, weren't just standard behaviour for newfound allies. They, too, had had the Gallipoli story drummed into them during their childhood.

“For the Aust'ns, many illusions were shattered. Somehow the ANZAC Day speeches of their youth had built the Turks up in their imagination as massive, heavily moustached fighters who carried daggers in their belts and remained sullen and aloof. Nothing could have been further from the truth; the Turks were small and shy and gentle … sometimes even a little comical in their oversized greatcoats. There were moustaches, certainly, but they were soft, boyish, kitten-tailed affairs with the texture and quality of those that 19-year old Australian soldiers were managing to cultivate.” The Turks proved tough soldiers. Gordon continues: “

The Turks continued to fight with a ferocity which made them something of a legend in Korea. In one action they are on record as having complained bitterly that the artillery barrage put in to soften up an enemy before their charge was too heavy … there weren't enough live Chinese left to make a decent fight. "


As the Brigade was taken back after this famous new battle it was met with the enthusiastic show of sympathy and appreciation by the friendly soldiers along the way. The friendly soldiers were running along the road and shouting, "The First Returns". The location where the Brigade gave the night battle on 17/18 May was given the name "The Turkish Fortress".

The commander in chief of the United Nations Forces, General Matthew B. Ridgway said: "I had heard of the fame of the Turkish soldiers before I came to Korea. The truth is I had not really believed what I had heard. But I now understand that in fact you are the best, and most trustworthy soldiers of the world" and thus explained the emotions he felt and the assessments he reached from the Teagyewonni Battle.


The attacks of the enemy which it undertook with the large forces it had concentrated and with strong artillery and mortar groups, for thirty hours was caught up in the battle front lines. During these battles, according to the report of our artillery advance surveillance officer, we suffered 300 and the enemy around 2000 casualties. On the other hand General Ridgway explains the casualties suffered in the battles with the following figures "
..

The Turkish Brigade Provides "Cease Fire"
Turkish Brigade had to again meet an enemy attack which had a decisive aim and which was well prepared and resolute. In the front the positions were very close to each other. Such a situation had serious tactical disadvantages. Besides, having to wait in tight, humid and dark positions was tiring and irritating the soldiers. As the days passed in such a manner on 28 May at 1948 hours the war again became bloody with the attack of the enemy supported by intense fire.
....

The enemy understood after this battle that there was no option but to "cease fire" and to restart the laying-down-of-arms negotiations in a lively and willing manner. In fact before long the "cease fire" was signed. The Turkish Brigade affected the "cease fire" which was signed in Korea, through the battles it fought on 28 and 29 May 1953.
As can be seen, the Turkish Brigade had often demonstrated successes during the Korean battles, which affected the course of the war. Finally, the Turkish Brigade also fought the last battle leading to the "cease fire". Of course all these battles were not easy and without loss.

The Turkish Brigade suffered 104 dead and 376 wounded. The enemy losses were established to be 2200 dead and 1075 wounded" (*).
(*) Refer to "The Korean War" written by the General Matthew Ridgway - p. 220.

Harry Gordon, another Australian journalist who frequently worked alongside Alan Dower, was one of the youngest Australian reporters in Korea. http://www.awm.gov.au/korea/faces/journalists/journalists.asp
see the pictures of Turkish soldiers in Korea.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=GXX1Y_X9ZUs&feature=related