had served during the Balkan War at Edirne,
where he was taken prisoner, and at Çanakkale,
where he was wounded six times, during WWI.
After this "Bergama Raid", he led the Turkish
resistance to the ever-advancing Greek Army
but Soma was occupied in June 1920. Captain
Kemal's forces retreated to Balıkesir and
Eskişehir, joining Mustafa Kemal's forces at
the Battles of İnönü in January and April
1921.
This account of the raid was dictated to by
Captain Kemal to Ispartalı Tevfik Demiralp
and published in the Istanbul weekly "Yeni
Mecmua" in December 1923.//
Retaking Akhisar:
With an eye toward taking advantage of this feverish excitement
among the populace, on the morning of 11 June 1919, I considered
making a raid on the enemy "infantry battalion" at Akhisar so I
immediately began to make the necessary arrangements. We would
attack the city from the mountainous east side with at least 5,000
fighters from the vicinity - and make sure that the enemy was aware
of this threat.
As a result and as intended, the enemy got wind of our plans,
abandoned its heavy guns on the night of 10-11 June and fled Akhisar
in great haste. Consequently, our detachment entered the city on 11
June without a fight and Akhisar was peacefully retaken from the
enemy.
However, on that same day, we received a telegram from Bergama,
saying that the enemy was about to occupy the city and they invited
me, by name, to come and rescue Bergama. I realized that Bergama
had become the most urgent location. So after settling my detachment
in Akhisar, I set off for Bergama in a vehicle, accompanied by
Balıkesirli Raşid, one of our nationalist recruits.
En route, we stopped in Kırkağaç and Soma and gave instructions for
the local detachments that had been formed in both places to head for
Bergama. At the same time, I sent telegrams to Balıkesir and Ayvalık
with similar instructions. After leaving Akhisar, the enemy had
retreated to Yaya village in the Manisa plain. But an arm of the Greek
Army, moving north along the western slopes of Yunt Dağı (mountain),
reached Reşadiye and was in a position to occupy Bergama.
The danger to Bergama was more important than Akhisar because,
from a military standpoint, Bergama's geographic relationship to
Ayvalık and Balıkesir made that city a critical linchpin. Consequently,
I felt that disposing of the threat to Bergama with all my forces was
the best thing I could do. So, in order to meet up with all our other
detachments from the vicinity, I marched my troops through the night
of 11-12 June 1919 and arrived at Bergama.
//Ed. note: The raid occurred on 15 June with the Greeks
suffering heavy losses, as Bergama was temporarily saved.
However, a 3,000-troop contingent of the Greek Army
re-took Bergama on 19 June.//
//END of PART FOUR/FINAL//
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder