Turkish Air Operation in the Battle of Çanakkale
The Importance of the Battle of Çanakkale:
The Battle of Çanakkale has an important place in modern Turkish and world political history, not only in terms of military and strategic but also in terms of its political consequences. Along with Turkey's strategic location, Çanakkale also has a special strategic place, so throughout history, powerful states wanted to dominate the straits and fought wars to achieve this goal.
Hellespont:
The most important feature of the Dardanelles Strait, in parallel with its strategic and economic importance, is that it allows the Black Sea and Mediterranean states to connect via a short route. England and France; They considered this operation necessary to increase their power by directly contacting Russia, to remove the pressure of the Ottoman Empire on the Suez Canal and the Indian road, and to surround the German-Austrian armies infiltrating Central Europe from behind. Therefore, in order to have the straits in the First World War and to be able to successfully continue the operation in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the primary objective of the Allied Powers operation was to cross the Straits by sea. They acted in the belief that the support provided by the aircraft in the operation in the Dardanelles Strait, which they were planning to overcome with a strong navy, would lead them to victory quickly. The Battle of Çanakkale, which they started to realize these aims, constituted one of the important battles in the history of world aviation, as the parties met in the air as well as on land and sea.
During the war, which effectively lasted for about 9 months, the Turkish Air Force was the only force able to reach the enemy facilities and airports safely deployed on the islands protected by superior naval forces. The Entente forces brought 48 aircraft and 2 aircraft carriers to the operation area, the total number of aircraft increased to 55 before the Anafartalar landing, fixed balloons were used, and the operation was carried out without any personnel, supply, spare parts and logistics problems. During the war, the Turkish Air Force established the 1st and 6th Aircraft Divisions and was assigned to the 5th Army, a Naval Aircraft Company with 5 aircraft served under the command of the Dardanelles Straits General Command. The Entente Powers left with the defeat of the heavy defeat in the Dardanelles War, which they came with a much superior sea, land and air power compared to the Ottoman Army in terms of quantity and quality.
Air Operations in Çanakkale:
In the Battle of Çanakkale; “18 March Naval Operation” and “25 April, 9-10 August Land Operation” are well known. Although Turkish aviators contributed and supported the victory of Çanakkale Victory, which was engraved with golden letters in history with great success, its lesser known aspect is the "Air Operation".
The first operation in history in which the Air Force took part in the Dardanelles War, one of the most important defensive battles in Turkish Military History, carried out by the Ottoman Empire against the Anglo-French joint operation to seize the Dardanelles and occupy Istanbul. It is a fact that cannot be ignored. Because it played an important role in the fate of the war and the future of humanity, and it was the most important military operation organized to eliminate the Ottoman Empire. Despite the impossibilities, the Turkish Air Force continued to exist in the region until the withdrawal of the Allies from Çanakkale.
In the article, the "Air Operation" of the Battle of Çanakkale, where the roots of the "War of Independence" began to take shape, which has not been dealt with until now and which played an important role in the victory, is evaluated. How the air campaign developed, how it shaped the outcome of the war and how it affected the wars on other fronts were examined, and the sacrifice and heroism of the "Turkish Air Force", one of the world's leading air forces, was revealed.
The Role of the Air Force in the Dardanelles War:
The Turkish Air Force, which is in the development stage with the support of Germany, achieved its first and important victory after the Balkan Wars in the Dardanelles War. In this war, Turkish aviation prevailed in air battles and many firsts were experienced in the field of military aviation. In general, it took part in reconnaissance and bombardment purposes, and in this respect, it started before air operations, sea and land wars and continued intensely after January 1916, when the enemy was definitely withdrawn.
From the beginning of the Çanakkale War, Plt. Lieutenant Savmi Uçan, Plt. Lieutenant Commander Fevzi, Plt. Lieutenant Ali Rıza Göker, Plt. Lieutenant Huseyin Sedat, Plt. Lieutenant Commander Hasan Tahsin Kevenk, Plt. Lieutenant Commander. Mehmet Ali Kurçer, Plt. Lieutenant Fazil, Plt. Lieutenant General Cemal Durusoy, Plt. Lt. Emin Nihat Sözeri, Rasıt (Observer) Lt. Şakir Hazım Ergökmen, Rasıt Lt. Osman Tayyar and Reserve Lt. İbrahim Orhan served. At the beginning of 1915, the Turkish air force served 4 aircraft, 1 seaplane, under the command of the 1st Aircraft Company, for the air defense of the region. The aviators made a great contribution to the success of the operation with the reconnaissance flights they made with these planes with their superhuman effort and superior abilities. In this process, German Gustav Bassar's Rumpler type aircraft and French Levavassuer's 2 Nieuport type aircraft brought for experimentation were confiscated in Istanbul for demonstration purposes.
During the Battle of Çanakkale, under the command of the German Plt. Lieutenant Von Serno, Yeşilköy Air Field Commander, air operations were carried out by deploying in 4 squares in Çanakkale. The 1st square was the land area stretching between Çanakkale and Karacaören in the northeast of Çanakkale. The 2nd square is 1 km from the Kocaçay Stream, which passes through Çanakkale. It is located 250 meters east of the road extending between Çanakkale and Erenköy. The 3rd square was arranged as a land airport in the Gallipoli region. The 4th square is 2 km from the town of Galata. It was the Sütlüce plain area located in the southwest. The Allies made great efforts to destroy the planes on the ground in order to maintain their air superiority in the operation area. Turkish planes, ready to fly in enemy attacks, tried to be protected by taking dispersal, concealment and deception measures in the area and did not suffer any casualties because of this.
Contributions of Yeşilköy Aircraft School:
Although there were no suitable aircraft for air operations in Yeşilköy Aircraft School, upon the declaration of mobilization on 2 August 1914, 2 of the 6 Nieuport seaplanes were transferred to İzmir and 1 of them to Çanakkale District Fortified Command Command in order to observe the Bosphorus in the first stage. were recalled due to malfunctions. During the war, Turkish troops' weapons, equipment, ammunition and other needs were made by sea. In the following months of the war, the naval traffic in Marmara became more intense due to the very tough battles. In order for this transport to be carried out safely, the only aircraft within the Fortified Area Command was assigned for reconnaissance and bombardment in order to detect enemy submarines entering the Marmara Sea.
Importance of Reconnaissance Flights:
Commander Mehmet Fazıl, who was given the command of the Çanakkale Region Fortified Command, transferred to Çanakkale-Nara square on 17 August 1914 with a Nieuport type aircraft. During the discovery made on September 5, by flying for 1 hour and 10 minutes, during the first exploration over Bozcaada and Limnos; It detected 2 torpedoes of Basilic class in the northwest of Merkep island 10 miles off the strait, the Vaymouth Cruiser 3 miles away near Imbros, and a Defense 9 class cruiser in the direction of Lemno 25 miles off the strait during the 10 September exploration.
In the expeditions made in September and October 1914, it was observed that the Allied Powers increased their naval power considerably and were preparing for an operation against the Dardanelles Strait. Plt. Lieutenant Fazil, in the October 2 discovery; British and French navy; In the west and south of Bozcaada, 4 destroyers, 1 cruiser, 1 battlecruiser, 2 battleships, 2 submarines, 2 coal ships and 1 yacht are anchored; It was determined that there were 2 British destroyers in the east of Bozcaada and around Marmara Cape.
On October 14, 1914, during the aerial reconnaissance, the Turkish aircraft was fired for the first time by the enemy navy. On October 19, 1914, Dnz.Plt.Lieutenant Savmi Uçan was sent to Çanakkale by Nieuport plane, had to land in the vicinity of Şarköy because the plane malfunctioned on the way, and after 24 hours on the sea, he was towed by a steamboat and taken to Çanakkale. For this reason, the Bleriot XI-2 aircraft named "Ertuğrul", which made a flight from Istanbul to Alexandria in the "Cairo Campaign", was dispatched to Çanakkale on January 12, 1915, together with Plt. Lt. Mehmet Cemal Durusoy and German Von Boemers, and was the first to arrive in the region. became a land plane. Plt. Lieutenant Cemal Durusoy made reconnaissance flights in the region and in the Dardanelles on January 20, 1915. In his reconnaissance flight on 1 February, he stated that no large warships of the enemy were encountered near the Bosphorus, that he saw 2 torpedoes and 1 submarine between Merkep Island and Bozcaada on 6 February, and that he counted 1 transport ship and 11 torpedoes around Bozcaada, and that his plane was fired upon from a ship. On February 1, 1915, the world's first aircraft carrier, British HMS Ark Royal, which sailed to the Aegean with 5 sea and 2 land Sopwith aircraft, arrived in Çanakkale on February 16, 1915. He launched his first plane for reconnaissance on February 17, and carried out long-range reconnaissance missions in İzmir and Enez regions with seaplanes. However, due to the worsening of the weather conditions, these planes could not be effective, they had difficulty in maneuvering against the compression of the German submarines and were sent to Thessaloniki.
March 1915 Operational Flights:
Turkish aviation participated in the operation with 3 Albatros and Rumpler B.I type aircraft in Yeşilköy in March 1915. On March 1, 1915, Plt. Lieutenant Mehmet Cemal damaged the British navy's Majestic Battleship under way in the Dark Harbor by aerial bombardment. On March 6, 1915, the first British aircraft was shot down in the sea in Seddülbahir by the fire of Turkish artillery. On the night of March 7/8, 1915, the Nusret minelayer, under the command of Captain Captain Hakki, set out by anchoring at 05.00 in the morning, taking advantage of the foggy and rainy weather to narrow the field of view, provided that the minute revolution of its engines was kept at 140 in order not to produce smoke. It dropped a mine every 15 seconds and dropped 26 mines in Erenköy Bay and the region. Since mines and batteries are the most sensitive elements of the war, aerial reconnaissance has been very important for their detection in the region. Three of the planes that came to Istanbul from Germany were given to the Çanakkale Front. On March 16, 1915, one of these planes, which took off from Istanbul, arrived in Çanakkale 4 hours later, the second plane made a forced landing on the west of Marmara Ereğli on 18 March due to an engine failure and got stuck in a swamp, and the third plane in Çanakkale due to a malfunction in its engine. It has not been transferred to .
March 18, 1915 Operational Flights:
Upon the news that the Entente Powers were preparing for a landing in the Straits region, on the night of 17/18 March 1915, the Air Counselor of the Commander-in-Chief, German Plt. Lieutenant Serno, came to Çanakkale with a torpedo boat. Plt. Lieutenant Serno and Rasıt Staff Lieutenant Shneider, Rumpler B.I. In the discovery they made in the morning of 18 March in the direction of Bozcaada for the discovery of the naval power of the Allied Powers; He reported that 40 warships, 19 heavy armored and battlecruisers, 3 light cruisers, 2 repair and hospital ships, 10 minesweeper fishing boats, several destroyers and submarines were approaching the Dardanelles in battle order, thus it was certain that the enemy would attack. Plt. Lt. Cemal Durusoy, during his reconnaissance with the Bleriot XI aircraft named “Ertuğrul” on March 18, determined that some of the previously laid mines were collected by the Allied forces and confirmed that the Entente navy was approaching the Dardanelles in battle order. These discoveries, the information given by the air power to the other forces have been a very important support for the sea and land elements to be on early alert and to take precautions against a possible operation.
On March 18, 1915, this intelligence information obtained by the reconnaissance of the Turkish planes in the early hours, was effective in guiding the operation by notifying the Çanakkale Fortified Area Command in time, which is responsible for the defense of the strait. All units defending Çanakkale and expecting an attack began to prepare to take the necessary order. With the report that there were no mines from the air reconnaissance, the morning naval war started with the attack of the Allied navies. Since the Allied Air Forces could not make a reconnaissance flight, they were not aware of the laying of mines on March 18 before the big operation, and thus the Entente States, which faced a great surprise, lost their important ships within a day. The mines laid by the Nusret minelayer caused the sinking of the very important ships Bouvet, Irresistable and Ocean, while the Gaulois, Suren and Enflexible ships were severely damaged. The failure of the Allied planes to fully fulfill their reconnaissance mission was effective in changing the course of the attacks, and this operation changed the fate of both the war and the country.
Conclusion:
On March 18, at 16.00, Plt.Mehmet Cemal and Rasıt Lt.Osman Tayyar stated that they were on their way to Bozcaada, with 9 armored, 11 torpedoes and 4 armored armored vehicles in front of the Bosphorus in front of the Bosphorus. Plt. Lieutenant Frank Seidler and Rasıt Lieutenant Huseyin Sedat detected 13 warships, 4 transports and 29 coal ships in the Mondros Bay during their flight to the island of Lemnos in the evening. They stated that the enemy had definitely withdrawn with great casualties.
(To be continued)
