Mehmed Fasih

Discussions on the final era of the Ottoman Empire, from the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 until the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
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Peter H
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Mehmed Fasih

Post by Peter H » 02 Mar 2007 03:00

His Gallipoli Diary discussed here:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=45115


According to A War in Words,Svetlana Palmer & Sarah Wallis:
Turkish officer candidate Mehmed Fasih from Mersin interrupted his studies at the military academy at the end of July 1914..Fasih's 47th Regiment arrived at the Bloody Ridge positions(Lone Pine)..on the 15th May 1915...he is promoted to second Lieutenant.Injiured after a few days he is evacuated to Istanbul.On return to Gallipoli in late October 1915,Mehmed begins keeping a diary...
A famous Gallipoli photo.
...it has been suggested that the officer to the right inside the Turkish dugout at Bloody Ridge is Lieutenant Mehmed Fasih.
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Peter H
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Post by Peter H » 02 Mar 2007 03:09

Later Mehmed Fasih fought with the Turkish forces in Sinai.In October 1917 he was captured by the British in the desert near Gaza..and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp near the Suez Canal...released he escaped from Allied-occupied Istanbul,apparently disguised as an egg merchant,to join the Turkish War of Liberation in Anatolia.Mehmed rose swiftly through military ranks to become Deputy Commander of the Presidential Guards.During WW2,Mehmed became Director of Operations at the General Staff in Ankara.In 1955 he was appointed Chief of Staff of Turkish Land Forces...he married in 1924 and had 2 sons.Mehmed died in 1964,aged seventy.
His Wedding in 1924:
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Tosun Saral
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Post by Tosun Saral » 02 Mar 2007 12:44

"Hey Voyager !
If you are on the Kanlı Sırt (Bloody Hill) remember Nuri Cavusch/NCO Nuri from 5th Company of 47th Regiment. He was one of the best men of the Regiment. The Death called him on the morning of Sept. 5th 1915. According to the will of Allah he flied to his ancestors as a clean and innocent humanbeing" Experts from the diary of Lt. Mehmet Fasih


To a Traveller!

If you enter the Strait of Dardanelles from Aegean Sea you will see on the right the Hills of Canakkale and on the left the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the Hills of Canakkale you will notice a warning in capital letters colored with white chalk " Halt Traveller!" This warns all people who desires to enter the Dardanelles without permission. In March 18th 1915 British and French tried to enter the dardanelles without permission and paid their desire with blood and heavy losses. After that bloody fight a Turkish poet called Necmettin Halil Onan wrote the following poem. The poem is translated into English by Tanwir Wasti. published by the March 18th University Magazine 2003

I write the poem for the honour of all holy dead of Gallipoli. My their graves be in light
So mote it be!

To a Traveller

Stop wayfarer ! Unbeknownst to you this ground
You come and tread on, is where an epoch lies;
Bend down and lend your ear, for this silent mound
Is the place where the heart of a nation sighs

To the left of this deserted shadeless lane
The Anatolian slope now observe you well;
For liberty and honor, it is, in pain,
Where wounded Mehmet (x) laid down his and fell

This very mound, when violently shhok the land,
When the last bit of earth passed from hand to hand,
And when Mehmet drowned the enemy in flood,
Is the spot where he added his own pure blood.

Think, the consecrated blood and flesh and bone
That make up this mould, is where a whole nation,
After a harsh and pitiless war, alone,
Tasted the joyje of freedom with elation.

(x) Mehmet is the commen name given to Turkish Soldier.

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http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/7d696/1c1cb1/
Last edited by Tosun Saral on 02 Mar 2007 18:00, edited 2 times in total.

Tosun Saral
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Posts: 4073
Joined: 02 Nov 2005 19:32
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Post by Tosun Saral » 02 Mar 2007 12:48

He is General Mehmet Fasih Kayabalı

class of 1915
P (Inf.)- 1331 (1915)- 193

Brigadier:1945
Maj. Gen.:1947
Lt. Gen.:1953
retired: August 18 1960

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