Col Selahattin

[johnshep]

Could anyone confirm that the Turkish officer standing top right in the image captioned 'Col Sala-ed-Din is in fact the Col Selahattin who commanded the 12 Division in August 1915. The image is copied from Flickr. I suspect Tosun Saral may be able to help.

Was this perhaps a post war picture?

John

[Tosun Saral]

Selahattin Adil Bey
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=91990&hilit=Adil
Cheers

[Tosun Saral]

Selahattin Adil Bey

[stevebecker]

Mate,

Yes I agree with our friend Tosun, while the other two known officers named Selahattin who were Col's not so much

Selahattin (Adil) CofS Dardanelles Fortified Area & 12th Div 1915 to 9-15 & 13th Div 9-15 & 11th Corps 6-16 & 19th Corps 1916/17?) & 17th Corps 1917/18 Maj to LtCol to Col (born Istanbul 1882 died istanbul 1961) 1315-b-Top.2 graduated 1900 & from Harbiye the War School in Istanbul in 1902 as an artillary officer to Maj 1908 Balkan War to LtCol 1914 to Col 1915 & War of Independence 2nd Corps (against the French & Greeks) & Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Defense to Maj Gen 1923 Member of Parliament from Ankara 1950-54

Other two;

Hüseyin or Çolak Selahattin (Köseoglu) CofS 2nd Corps & 10th Div 1915 & 5th Caucasus Div - 1916/17 & 2nd Cauc Corps & 4th Corps 7-17 & 13th Corps 11-17 & 4th Corps 9-18 LtCol - Col born 1882 - died 1949) 1314-P. Infantry 9 graduated 1898 Balkan Wars & War of Independance to 32nd Corps 1919 arrested in 1926 for take part into a coup against Kemal but found not quilty retired 1923

Selahattin Bey (Kiper) 53 Div 3-17 to 8-18 & 8th Corps dates? Col & War of Independence 12th Corps (sorry not much known?)

Cheers

S.B

[johnshep]

Many thanks to Tosun and Steve for those very comprehensive replies.

I have often wondered why Col Selahattin was relieved of command of 12 Division in early September. Was he being held accountable for the delay in bringing 36IR into position in early August 1915 perhaps? (If so, I would have thought the way he organised the defence of the heights on 21 August would have secured his reputation). On the other hand his writings suggest a rather impatient man quick to criticise others and I wonder if he fell out of favour with his higher command for a time?

None of this detracts from his status as a hero of his country.

I will have a look for his obituary in The Times digital archive.

John

[stevebecker]

Mate,

Its my understanding that yes he was in conflict with another officer possibly the boss (Von Sanders). I think we discussed this some where, some years ago?

Another reason was possibly Col Hovik (Havik) (Albert Heuck) the German officer who he changed with?

S.B

[johnshep]

Thanks for that, Steve
John

[stevebecker]

Mate,

Not much admitted by our Turkish mates, but many Ottoman officers didn't like their German advisers, and resented there interfering.

How much that lead to clashers between officers is unknown?

Cheers

S.B

[turcoscot]

Dear All,
Good to hear from John again. I had a look in my copy of Col. Adil's memoirs (Hayat Mucadeleleri - life struggles). Referring to the battles one early August, he says that "while expecting the Army Command to be happy with the results of the fighting, I found myself being reprimanded by Liman Pasa the following day. The Pasa, based on information given him by Major Willmer, stated that Mestantepe had not been occupied, and our sport was incorrect." He says this was due to a mistake in map reading due to a lack of large-scale maps, and a footnote clarifies: "The error arose when the occupation of Pinartepe was reported as that of Mestantepe, which was on the same projection on the map.Based on this information Group command has prepared plan for the second line units of the 12th Division to join the battles in the area of Conkbayiri (Chunk Bair), and the army commander had approved it. Once the error was realized, the need to stop the units and wheel them south caused delays, allowing the enemy to reinforce their lines with the 53rd Division and 159th Brigades during the night of August 8-9. The Army Commander's anger was for this reason". (pp.263-264)

Regarding the photo, he mentions that he was in charge of the handover of the dardanelles fortifications and the removal of mines after the armistice, leaving Canakkale on 11 November 1918; it is possible the photo is from this period. He also served later as commander in istanbul, taking over from the Allied occupation forces.

[johnshep]

Thanks for your welcoming comment Reha. To me your suggestion as to the circumstances of the photo are entirely plausible.
John