Suleiman Aaskeri's suicide

[Peter H]

Suleiman Aaskeri was the Ottoman commander at Shaiba in April 1915 and is said to have committed suicide after being defeated.Is this true?

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/shaiba.htm

http://www.1914-1918.net/meso_bat3.htm

[Tosun Saral]

Lt. Col. Suleyman Askeri Bey, son of Vehbi Pasha, was founder of Teskilat-i Mahsusa. The image shows him in Egypt as a moslem Hodja on the way to Trablusgarb. He was one of those Turkish officers who went to Trablusgarb (Libya) to defend againts invading Italians.






Suayyibe is the Turkish name of the battle.

[Peter H]

Thanks Tosun.

He was said to be a good friend of Enver as well.

[infantry]

And the official founder of the Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa.

He was an avid supporter of unconventional warfare and irregular troops. He and like minded officers managed to convinced Ottoman General Staff to send 6th Army divisions to Caucasus front (except one) and compensate their absence with tribal levies and volunteers. According to him unconventional forces would have more advantage against conventional British forces in the trackless desersts of Iraq.

However irregular forces of Askeri melted against British D Force and only some conventional units showed some resistance against British advance.

He was wounded, frustrated and deserted by most of his followers. And committed suicide.

[Tosun Saral]

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... man+askeri

[Peter H]

Only 31 when he died as well.A more important person than I thought.

Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=120813

[Tosun Saral]

Military history of Suleyman Askeri Bey

During Sarkoy Landing and Bolayir battles Feb. 8/10 1913 Capt. Suleyman Askeri was c.o.s. of Harput Redif Division.

[TS nota:1- Harput is in East Anatolia. Soldiers of that div. was all from Harput.
2- Maj. Halil (Lt. Gen. Kut of Kut ul Amarra) was commander of Gonullu (volunteers) Detachment]

Maj. Suleyman Askeri : c.o.s. of 10th AC during the forth movement to Edirne from Catalca and Bolayir.

Maj. Suleyman Askeri c.o.s. of the Army of Turkish Independent West Trace Government
( TS Nota: Suleyman Askeri Bey began to fought together with Kuşcubaşı Eşref Bey on August 15th 1913 againts the Bulgarians and defeated them on August 31st 1913. They together established a Republic at West Trace in which they took part at the government. The Greeks and Bulgarians noninated that Repuplic.58 days after the Ottoman Government insisted to demolish the republic and leave the area to Bulgarians. They all returned to home sad and crying. The a pure Turkish land was forever gone.)

His brother Lt. Col. Hasan Askeri commander of 2nd Div. fought the British at Gallipoli

Situation at Jan. 3rd 1915 and the battle of Rota: Jan. 20. 1915
Lt. Col. Suleyman Askeri Bey commander of Irak and Surroundings. ( We was appointed to command Iraq on Jan. 2nd 1915. He took the order from Cavit Pasha. During the 1st Rota battle on Jan. 20th the commander of Composed 1st Reg. Capt. Uskudarli Cemil KIA, Suleyman Askeri Bey was wounded. The Fedai Osmancık Battalion (Fedai= Gonullu)( Volunteer Osmancık Battaion and Fire Regiment was also come to Iraq with Suleyman Askeri Bey.)
Fedai/Gonullu Osmancik Taburu/Battalion was established only from pure Turks of Kayi Tribe living at the area of Bursa. Leader of Kayi tribe Osman Bey founded the Ottoman Empire.)
Some of the officers of Fedai Osmancik Taburu:
Maj. Vedat commander of Fire Reg. KIA in April 13th 1915
1st Lt. Osman,
Capt. Dr. Sefer M.D. KIA in Rota on jan. 20th
Maj. Ali ( Statesmen Cetinkaya)
Capt. Dr. Nihat Sezai MD
Capt. Dr. Riza MD
Artillary capt. Şevki
Capt. Lutfi
1st Lt. Nazillili Fuat
Capt. halil ( Mp of Zonguldak Türkmen)
1st Lt. Resuhi ( aid officer of President Ismet Inonu)

C.o.S. of Irag and Surroundings: Maj. Adil
Detachment commander of Sahrica: Maj. Ata
Composed 1st Reg:Captain Uskudarli Cemil
Composed 2nd Reg.:Maj. Abdulhalim
Composed 3rd reg:Maj. Ahmet Muhtar
Artillary battalion: Capt. Kemal

Situation on March 1915 and battle of Şuayyibe on April 11/14 1915 and 1st Rota Battele on May 31st 1915

General commander of Iraq and Suroundings: Lt. Col. Süleyman Askeri Bey
c.o.s:Maj. Adil
Commander of Fırat(Euphrates) Group: Maj. Ali Cetinkaya ( The group was reestablished from 35th Div. of the4th Army and the Fire Reg. from Istanbul at the ends of Feb. 1915)
35th Div:Maj. Rıza
Composed Div: Maj. Ali
commander of Arap Tribes: Acumi Sadun Pasha ( He stayed loyal to Turks until bitter end and withdraved to Anatolia with his tribe. Became a member of Parliament of The Turkish Republic)
Composed Div. of Dicle/Tigris : Gendarm Maj. Abdulhalim (established on Jan. 25th 1915 by sahrica Detachment)
Composed 1st Reg.Maj. Ali
Comp. 2nd Reg: capt. Hafiz Hamdi
Comp. 3rd Reg: capt. Hasan Sami
Group Commander at Kerha : Retired Lt. Gen. Dagistanli Mustafa Fazil Pasha (This group was establisde onJan. 2oth during Rota battles among local Araps. First commander was Maj. Tevfik. As Fazil Pasha took command he was made c.o.s.)
Detachment commander at Örtme: Lt. Col. Sadullah later on Feb. 23th 1915 Lt. Col. Ahmet

Last Nota: Suleyman Askeri Bey became very sad that his army lost at the battle of Şuayyibe. He killed himself with his pistole on April 1915.

After his dead maj. Ali Cetinkaya commande the region for a while. At the end of may Col. Nurettin appointed to the command.
May his grave be in light
So mote it be

[Nikolay]

Suleyman Askeri Bey began to fought together with Kuşcubaşı Eşref Bey on August 15th 1913 againts the Bulgarians and defeated them on August 31st 1913.

No Bulgarian armed forces were deployed there at all at that time. I don't know who these two gentlemen fought against. Probably some local querillas.

[Tosun Saral]

Dear Nikolay, The region between Rodop Mountains at north, at east River Meric, at west Mesta-Karasu is called Batı Trakya or The West Trace. The Region was occupied by Bulgarians during Balkan War.
According to Treaty of Bucarest in August 10 1913 Bulgaria lost most of the territory that they gained in 1st Balkan War including East Trace. In the mean time report reach to Supreme Pforte at Istanbul that the Bulgarians were mishandling the Turks of West trace which was in their hands. Supreme Pforte gave his words and guaranty to the Western Powers that they will not cross to the west of Meriç while their offensive to Edirne. For that reason they didnt took care of Bulgarian mishandlings for a while. But some officers of the army accepted the government to establish an expetitory force towards West Trace to defend the Turks. The Supreme Pforte gave a Nota to the embassies of the Western Powers that the Bulgarians were crueling the Turkish population at West Trace for that reason they are sending an expeditory force to protect the Turks on August 19th 1913. After Turks took over Edirne from Bulgars Hursit Pasha the commander of the AC gave orders to raid with 116 men inwards West Trace. On August 15th the raiders commanded by Kuşçubaşı Eşref Bey entered West Trace. The Detachment cleared Ortaköy, Papazköy, Paşmaklı, Yenice, Habibçe, Harmanlı, Eğridere, Koşukavak, Kırcaali, Mestanlı, Cumaibala, Darıdere ve Nevrokopi in a short time from the Bulgarian querillas. On August 31st 1913’ after a short fight Gümülcine and on sep.1st 1913 İskeçe was freed from Bulgarians.

Sorry Nikolay they were Bulgarian Çete / querillas not army.
Huge Ottoman Army couldnt resist againts Bulgarian Army. How could 116 men?

[Peter H]

I seen a reference to the Baghdad Regiment as well.But this was a Jandarma formation?

[Nikolay]

Dear Nikolay, The region between Rodop Mountains at north, at east River Meric, at west Mesta-Karasu is called Batı Trakya or The West Trace. The Region was occupied by Bulgarians during Balkan War.
According to Treaty of Bucarest in August 10 1913 Bulgaria lost most of the territory that they gained in 1st Balkan War including East Trace. In the mean time report reach to Supreme Pforte at Istanbul that the Bulgarians were mishandling the Turks of West trace which was in their hands. Supreme Pforte gave his words and guaranty to the Western Powers that they will not cross to the west of Meriç while their offensive to Edirne. For that reason they didnt took care of Bulgarian mishandlings for a while. But some officers of the army accepted the government to establish an expetitory force towards West Trace to defend the Turks. The Supreme Pforte gave a Nota to the embassies of the Western Powers that the Bulgarians were crueling the Turkish population at West Trace for that reason they are sending an expeditory force to protect the Turks on August 19th 1913. After Turks took over Edirne from Bulgars Hursit Pasha the commander of the AC gave orders to raid with 116 men inwards West Trace. On August 15th the raiders commanded by Kuşçubaşı Eşref Bey entered West Trace. The Detachment cleared Ortaköy, Papazköy, Paşmaklı, Yenice, Habibçe, Harmanlı, Eğridere, Koşukavak, Kırcaali, Mestanlı, Cumaibala, Darıdere ve Nevrokopi in a short time from the Bulgarian querillas. On August 31st 1913’ after a short fight Gümülcine and on sep.1st 1913 İskeçe was freed from Bulgarians.

Sorry Nikolay they were Bulgarian Çete / querillas not army.
Huge Ottoman Army couldnt resist againts Bulgarian Army. How could 116 men?

Actually the Bucharest treaty doesn't mention East Thrace at all. It was ceded back to Ottoman empire only after the Istanbul Treaty of 16(29) September 1913. Until then it was considered Bulgarian by the force of the London treaty of 17(30) May 1913.
About the supposed mishandling of the Muslim population - in July and August 1913 in Western Thrace there wasn't a single Bulgarian company or squadron, and in most of the region there were no Bulgarian chetas (querillas). There were indeed several examples of the cruel misshandling of the Pomaks - but that was earlier - in the end of 1912 and the beginning of 1913.
However, different parties does have different interpretations.

[Peter H]

http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Jun ... nJun05.asp

The Ignored Tactical Mind of Colonel Suleiman Al-Askary
The Ottoman General Staff frustrated by the abysmal performance of the Ottoman 38th Division in Southern Iraq assigned an Arab Colonel Suleiman Al-Askary to take charge. The Ottomans however could never fully allow him free control so his impact was not felt. Nadeem discusses some of his initial ideas before Ottoman General in Mesopotamia Bakr Bey, overruled him.

Colonel Al-Askary had little combat experience, but was aggressive and popular with irregular tribal warriors. Askary proposed organizing the 35th (arriving from the Levant) and 38th Divisions, volunteers and irregulars into two diversionary forces and one main attack force to capture Basra. The Karun River Attack Force would advance along the Karun River south to threaten Al-Muhammara forcing the British to divert forces to defend the tribe they found to be so cooperative. The Dajlah River Attack Force would travel southward along the Dajlah River to attack Al-Qurna. These were diversions that masked the 35th Division plus assault traveling south along the Euphrates to attack Basra from Al-Zubair. General Bakr wanted to harass Arabstan and threaten Ahvaz until the arrival of the 35th Ottoman Division and then wanted to concentrate his effort on creating chaos on British oil installations.

Nadeem spends several pages discussing the military tactical innovations and what might have been had Askari been given full command.[15] Askary understood the Euphrates and wanted to engage British forces in areas where the gunboats would have less maneuverability. He immediately understood the need to negate the British advantage of joint river and ground operations. Askary assessed that the Euphrates between Nasiriya and Shuayba represented a chance to contain British gunboats due to the shallowness of the part of the river.

The Battle of Al-Shuaybah
Although the Ottomans were unsuccessful, this particular battle saw the Turks going on the offensive in a conventional manner. Till this point the Ottomans in Iraq were fighting defensively and only offensively in guerilla style tactics along the Iraqi-Iranian border. Drawing under two dozen regiments from Nasiriyah, Rutah and Huwayzah supported by 30,000 tribal irregulars and forty cannon, the Ottomans engaged in stunted attacks on the British garrison at Al-Shuaybah on the night of April 11, 1915. They combined artillery and infantry and were able to get within 1,000 yards of the garrison. Seeing the size of the Ottoman force, the British sent two battalions from the 30th Division to reinforce Shuaybah. This force arrived on April 13th, and began securing the elevations occupied by the Ottomans and used to pour artillery fire on Shuaybah. Suleiman Al-Askary ordered a withdrawal that day, but paused one day to bury the dead. The British mounted an overland cavalry assault supported by a regiment of infantry, but when the orderly withdrawal Askary had planned turned into a rout that cost 6,000 Ottoman dead and 1,200 British dead, Askary committed suicide over his military debacle.[18]

A second Ottoman harassment force crossed the Tigris and was sent in early April 1915 to threaten pro-British Persia and particularly the refinery at Ahvaz. A third force of 24,000 irregulars left Nasiriyah south to harass British forces in Basra. These were all diversionary attacks for the Ottoman main effort to recapture Shuaybah. The British had been reinforced in Basra with 30,000 men but were short of supplies and in particular fresh water. The Ottomans also coordinated simultaneous artillery attacks on Shuaybah and Qurna.[19] What saved Shuaybah was the inability of the Ottomans to coordinate artillery and infantry assaults along with the British sending two brigades at the right time to reinforce Al-Shuaybah.

Lessons from Shuaybah
Ottomans could have learned much from this battle, they had a problem of concentrating their forces, cooperation among units, and conducting advanced reconnaissance. Other problems included controlling forces with a mix of irregular volunteers and regular Ottoman troops and finally finding counter-measures to superior British firepower. The British although the victors never understood they could not sustain the same casualties as the Ottomans and needed to appreciate that the assault did require reinforcements from other units policing southern Iraq. Instead of taking stock of the casualties, the British declared victory and decided to press onward to Nasiriyah.

[stevebecker]

Mates,
I was looking again into the death of Süleyman Askeri Bey and again ran into problems.

The British OWH Vol 1 mentions that he was wounded during the fight at Ruta 18 Jan 1915 and sent back to Baghdad

He returned for the fight at Shaiba in April 1915

An account mentioned he was wounded in the foot, but its unknown if on the 18 Jan or 12 April

Other accounts (stories) give all sorts of strange reasons for his death, like;

"captured the city of ahvaz in iran , the oil under the control of the british in abadan .While he set fire to his wells and stunned the British forces in Basra, he drowned in the Erati Bercisiye swamp because they could not cross the wire fences because he did not have a wire cutter, and he committed suicide by using his gun"
or

" he committed suicide was to rob the dead. The Arabs fighting in the army stay in their places when the attack is started and wait for the result of the war and rob the loser. When the Ottoman soldier lost, they flocked to the heads of the corpses like vultures and robbed them. Seeing this situation, he committed suicide"
or

" Despite the severe wound he received in both feet during the battle at the front, he continued the war so that the soldiers would not be affected by the injuries of his commanders, but he committed suicide by holding himself responsible for his dead soldiers"

Take your pick
S.B

[Tanzania]

Hello Steve,
Interesting theme! Here are some records from German eyewitnesses:

"Suleiman Askari Bey, Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Army, before the Battle
of Shoibe, seriously wounded on a stretcher. Last recording before his death."

Source: “Hans Lührs, Gegenspieler des Obersten Lawrence“, p. 80, Vorhut-Verlag, Berlin 1936


The Text passages about Suleiman Askari Bey are translated from German:

"At that time Suleiman Askari-Bey was the supreme commander of all troops in Iraq and Mesopotamia.

"During the first battles against the English at Basra he had been badly wounded – a shot through both legs had shattered his knee, leaving him bedridden, but this did not prevent him from continuing to lead the supreme command and to new great plans forge."


"On April 10, 1915, the advance of Nasrijeh through the desert was started. On 13 April, they stood in front of the English positions at Sobeir and the nearby Schoeibe, immediately before Basra, and immediately the attack began. Thanks to the never failing bravery of the Turkish soldier, the troops (of an Anatolian Line Regiment) worked their way close to the enemy positions on 14. April. The success seemed almost certain; - only one last storm on 15. April against the already noticeably weakened opponent, and the penetration to Basra had to succeed. Meanwhile, the English had drawn their gunboats from Kurna; and on 15. In the morning they attacked from the river, unattainable for our artillery, in the fiercely raging battle. Their fire was all the more devastating because the completely flat fighting area offered no protection or cover.

. . . Almost three full days Suleiman Askari-Bey led the battle - immovably tied to his strange support chair, which he had had erected in the meager shadow of a tamarisk bush on a small hill. Rigid and pale, Suleiman Askari-Bey had watched the disaster. Now nothing could be changed, the game was lost, and he gave the order to retreat.

Suleiman Askari-Bey was carried on his stretcher into the old Viennese carriage that had driven him here. Two of our comrades who had distinguished themselves during these memorable days, Lieutenant Schadow and Lieutenant Schencker, swung themselves on horseback and rode to the right and left of the chariot these heroically defeated army leaders from thenen. Suddenly they heard a gunshot falling: Suleiman Askari-Bey had shot through his head and lay dead in the car. He had perhaps anticipated this end and had previously asked Lieutenant Stern, who had made a portrait sketch of him, to deliver this sheet with a short dedication if he saw it again."

The above-mentioned German officers were later participants of the expedition under Major Fritz Klein and Lieutenant Hans Lührs and blew up the British oil pipelines on the Karun.

The German Command: Walter Bachmann, Conrad Preusser, Hans Lührs, Edgar Stern-Rubarth, Fritz Klein.

Source: http://www.nibelungenlied-gesellschaft. ... urbach.jpg

[Tanzania]

Here is a photo with Lieutenant Schadow, Lieutenant Schenker and Lieutenant Stern, who took part in the
attack on Schoeibe near Basra and were eyewitnesses to Suleiman Askari-Bey's death on April 15, 1915.

Source: https://img.welt.de/img/geschichte/mobi ... seum-4.jpg

Cheers Holger