Turkish Air Operation on the 102nd Anniversary of the Great Offensive and the Battle of the Commander-in-Chief and the Road to Victory (Part-3)

On 1 September 1922, Commander-in-Chief Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; ‘Armies, your first target is the Mediterranean’ gave the order to the Turkish armies to pursue the historical enemy. In this context, reconnaissance missions were carried out by aviators in Seyitgazi, Eskişehir, İnönü, Karaköy, Kütahya and Uşak regions on the same day and Greek troops were bombed. On 1 September, with the liberation of Uşak, the Western Front Command ordered the transfer of a unit from the Afyon Aircraft Squadron to Uşak Square in accordance with the forward operation structure of the army. On this date, with 2 aircraft arriving from Konya on 1 September 1922, the company had an average of 19 aircraft, 6 of which actively participated in the operation, while 13 aircraft were temporarily out of flight due to major and minor maintenance and repair needs. The aircraft participated in operations in different regions between 07.20-16.45 hours and made 13 sorties. During the flights, reconnaissance in the Seyitgazi-Eskişehir-İnönü-Kütahya-Uşak region throughout the day, and very effective bombing raids and air strikes were carried out to harass the enemy troops, and great casualties were inflicted on the enemy. It was determined that Uşak and Eskişehir were on fire and that disorganised marching columns were moving westwards from Uşak. In Afyon and Uşak, 18 aircraft, 20,000 aircraft bombs, 40 tonnes of aircraft fuel and oil, and machine-gun bullets were captured.

In the operation order of the Western Front Command on 2 September 1922; "Monitoring the Uşak-Alaşehir-İnönü region and roads. Detection of the activities of Greek troops on the Eskişehir-İnönü-Kütahya road. Bombardment of the facilities and station in Alaşehir". In 2 reconnaissances made in the early morning of 2 September 1922; 1 cavalryman and some troops were seen just east of İnönü Village and some troops were seen on the southern hills, and between the village and the station, it was determined that about 150 Greek motor vehicles were moving from İnönü towards Bozüyük.

On the Eskişehir-İnönü road, it was reported that 2 Greek divisions had withdrawn towards İnönü and 1 Greek division was on the march towards Eskişehir-Çukurhisar. It was stated that Turkish troops were marching towards Eskişehir. On 3 September 1922, the Front Aircraft Squadron was ordered to ‘detect and bombard the enemy main forces in the Alaşehir, Salihli region, and to detect the enemy forces retreating towards Karaköy and Pazarcık on the Northern Front’.

During the offensive of the Turkish army, the first of the declarations addressed to the Greek soldiers and the Muslim population was addressed to the Greek army in Greek and the second declaration was addressed to the Muslim population in Turkish. Greek Declaration;"Greek Commanders, Greek officers, Greek soldiers! Defeated and defeated Greek troops are fleeing leaving their cannons and rifles. Their soldiers, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, are surrendering everywhere. You are surrounded on all sides. You will not be able to escape. Those who surrender are saved from death by starvation, misery and deprivation. We see that some Greek soldiers are persecuting and torturing Islamic people and destroying the railways in the places where they retreated. You are personally responsible for all kinds of cruelty and fire, both on the orders of commanders and officers and personally."

Greek soldiers were called upon to surrender, and it was stated that Greek commanders and soldiers who committed and continued to commit atrocities would be punished. In the Turkish Declaration; ‘Dear Turkish people, Dear brothers and sisters, the Turkish army has ravaged the Greek army. The Greeks are leaving their cannons and rifles everywhere and fleeing in disbelief and terror. Those who are surrounded surrender everywhere. Greek soldiers persecute the Muslim population in the places they pass through. They burn villages and threshing floors. They torture and insult women and children. O people! Do not be afraid. Allah Almighty has given a great victory to your army that fought in the mountains for 3 years to save you. He chased away the Greek executioners like lightning. Hide your women and children in the mountains and safe places while the enemy is fleeing. If the enemy attempts to burn a village or destroy a road, attack him immediately. Every village that stays with the fleeing enemy should know with confidence that the Turkish army will arrive within 24 hours. Also, whichever Greek troop and commander commits atrocities, learn its number and the name of the commander."

It was aimed to give morale to the people behind the front line, and the people were advised not to be afraid of the Greeks and to fight against those who tried to burn villages and commit atrocities. Turkish aviators continued to drop propaganda leaflets to the Greek soldiers and the Muslim and Christian elements behind the front line throughout the war and were effective in the surrender of Greek soldiers.

On 10 September 1922, the newspaper‘Babalık’ reported that the Greek prisoner Dimitri Ispiro from Lesbos: "We were reading the declarations dropped by your aeroplanes like snatching them. Those who found the opportunity fled. There are even those among us who surrendered to your army without firing a rifle. Most of us broke our rifles and fled to the mountains." He said. They stated that the captured Greek soldiers surrendered with leaflets containing the call to ‘Surrender’. On the same day, in the newspaper ‘Babalık’, the newspapers Rizospatris, Elefteros Tipos and Patris published in Greece stated that the Turkish army dispersed the Greek army with the declarations they threw. The Greek 6th and 9th Division Commanders at the Dumlupınar headquarters commented: ‘It is your right to win the war after having such excellent, self-sacrificing aviators who keep the commander-in-chief informed of the course of the operation every minute.’

At 08.30 on 4 September 1922, 3 hunting and 5 reconnaissance planes from Afyon flew to Uşak Square at 10 minutes intervals under difficult conditions. Because of the destruction of the roads and railways and the lack of trucks to be used in the transport of petrol and other materials needed, the ground support materials could not arrive, and the vehicles providing ground services were very old, which made it difficult and delayed the transfer to the advanced squares. 3.5 tonnes of aircraft gasoline was brought from Afyon to Uşak in 24 hours due to bad roads and traffic congestion. On 8 September 1922, while the Turkish army was advancing to Izmir, the Front Aircraft Squadron was asked to transfer two reconnaissance planes to Manisa-Salihli to determine the situation of the Greek troops in Manisa-Nif-Torbalı, and to land the planes in Alaşehir or Salihli after returning from the mission. The planes, together with maintenance equipment and ground support material, moved to the square prepared near the village of Duraselli, 10 kilometres northeast of Salihli. On the same day, the Front Line Squadron, which moved with the Turkish troops advancing towards Izmir, continued reconnaissance flights until 9 September and made 8 sorties. Turkish aeroplanes flew over Izmir before the Turkish army entered Izmir.

(To be continued)