Victory at Gallipoli, 1915

The German-Ottoman Alliance in the First World War

Klaus Wolf, Thomas P. Iredale

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781526718051
• eBook ISBN: 9781526768179
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: German History
• Index: History

"The author delivers in fine detail, supported by excellent appendices and notes, the role of officers and men in the defense of the Dardanelles." —Michael McCarthy, Battlefield Guide The German contribution in a famous Turkish victory at Gallipoli has been overshadowed by the Mustafa Kemal legend. The commanding presence of German General Liman von Sanders in the operations is well known. But relatively little is known about the background of German military intervention in Ottoman affairs. Klaus Wolf fills this gap as a result of extensive research in the German records and the published literature. He examines the military assistance offered by the German Empire in the years preceding 1914 and the German involvement in ensuring that the Ottomans fought on the side of the Central Powers and that they made best use of the German military and naval missions. He highlights the fundamental reforms that were required after the battering the Turks received in various Balkan wars, particularly in the Turkish Army, and the challenges that faced the members of the German missions. When the allied invasion of Gallipoli was launched, German officers became a vital part of a robust Turkish defense—be it at sea or on land, at senior command level or commanding units of infantry and artillery. In due course German aviators were to be, in effect, founding fathers of the Turkish air arm; while junior ranks played an important part as, for example, machine gunners. This book is not only their missing memorial but a missing link in understanding the tragedy that was Gallipoli. "A great addition to any Gallipoli library." — The Western Front Association

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Maps
• Acknowledgements and Thanks
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The History of German-Turkish military relations to 1913
• Chapter 2 Paving the way for the ‘Liman Military Mission’, 1913
• Chapter 3 The Military Mission (MM) and the Mediterranean Division (MMD) until Turkey’s entry into the war
• Chapter 4 Everyday life and work in the Military Mission (MM), the Mediterranean Division (MMD) and the Special Command (SoKo) in Istanbul
• Chapter 5 The Fortification of the Dardanelles
• Chapter 6 The Sea Battles for the Dardanelles
• Chapter 7 Preparing to Repulse the Allied Landings
• Chapter 8 The Landings on 25 April 1915
• Chapter 9 The Fighting from 26 to 28 April 1915
• Chapter 10 The Three Battles for Krithia
• Chapter 11 Positional Warfare and the August Landing in Suvla Bay
• Chapter 12 German support in the formation of the Turkish Air Arm and air operations at Gallipoli
• Chapter 13 German Involvement in Naval Operations at Gallipoli
• Chapter 14 The Allied Withdrawal from Gallipoli
• Chapter 15 The Time after the Battles of Gallipoli
• Chapter 16 The German Military Cemetery in Tarabya
• Epilogue
• Appendix 1 Alphabetical list of German officers serving between 1914-1916 with units of the Ottoman Army, Navy and Air Arm engaged in the Gallipoli, Dardanelles and Black Sea theatres of war or in support of Ottoman war materiel production and logistics
• Appendix 2 Chronological list of German officers and men who died or were killed between 1914-1916 whilst serving in Turkey with units of the Ottoman Army, Navy and Air Arm engaged in the Gallipoli, Dardanelles and Black Sea theatres of war. The list excludes those killed or missing on the Breslau when she went down in 1918 (see Appendix 3)
• Appendix 3 Crew list of those killed when the Breslau sank on 20 January 1918
• Notes by chapter
• Bibliography
• Plates section