Chapter 34 – Clarence

An account of Charles Palmer’s activities as British Vice Consul in Channakale, subsequent escape from house arrest and then commission as a naval intelligence officer, including his capture from the ill-fated submarined E15 is provided by Hugh Dolan in 36 Days – The Untold Story Behind the Gallipoli Landings. The tale of Clarence “Charles” Palmer is interwoven throughout 36 Days which is organised chronologically, some of the details referenced are as follows:

p. 25: [November 1914] “Palmer’s detention was indeed imminent and would have become reality had it not been for the timely intervention of the Americal Consul, Cornelius van Engert, who had been dispatched from Constantinople to spirit Palmer away…Following his narrow escape from Channakale, Charles Palmer met his rendezvous with the destroyer HMS Beagle on 17 November and was transferred to Vice Admiral Sackville Carden’s flagship, Indefatigable , for an intelligence briefing.”

p. 26: [22 November] “Vice Admiral Carden was sufficiently impressed to write to the Secretary of the Admiralty praising the Vice Consul’s intelligence work and describing Palmer’s experience of the bombardment while he was still at his post in Channakale. He included a detailed report on the partial destruction of the forts guarding the mouth of the Dardanelles and added two enclosures comprising information supplied by Charles Palmer on the minefields and batteries of the Dardanelles defences.”

p. 26: “Charles Palmer remained on the Indefatigable until 30 November. During his stay he briefed the naval staff on the location and the importance of the Lily Rickmeers and the Indefatigable’s officers discussed the possibility of sending a submarine up the Straits to dive under the minefields identified by Palmer and torpedo the headquarters vessel.”

p. 27: “Palmer returned to London to await commissioning in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as an intelligence officer.”

p. 31-33: [Submarine] “B.11’s crew was tasked with penetrating the Dardanelles and sinking the ship identified by Charles Palmer as the Lily Rickmeers .”   [13 December 1914] However, it identified the old battleship Messudieh and took the opportunity to sink her instead.

p. 259: “Lieutenant Charles Palmer had learned of E.15 and her mission and had approached the Chief of Staff, Commodore Roger Keyes, requesting to be appointed to the submarine… Keys granted him permission.” [to join the three week patrol mission].

p. 267-8: “Passing the harbour mouth…Brodie…prepared to dive…The intelligence officer [Palmer] had no actual station on the boat and was reduced to sitting at the chart table…E.15 was now at the mouth of the Dardanelles and fighting the current. Brodie took the boat deeper, operating his vessel at fifty feet below the surface. He would rely on a stopwatch and the occasional bearing through his periscope to guide him through.”

p. 271-3: An account of the submarine E15 hitting a change of water density, violently losing control, running aground and being shelled into submission off Dardanus. This includes a description of the first shell that failed to detonate, but passed through the conning tower and Commander Brodie, killing him on the way through.

p. 299-301: Lieutenant Palmer was captured with the other surviving submarine crew, and recognised as the former British Vice-Consul. He was taken aside, accused of being a spy and sentenced to death by hanging. Palmer later requested, and received a private meeting with the Turkish commander Djaved Bey.

p. 315-316: Palmer was interrogated by Djaved, and agreed to provide information about the landing plans in exchange for his life. Palmer advised that the original plans to land at Gaba Tepe and Sedd el Bahr had been changed as it was believed the Turks had learned of them, and that new plans had been made to land further north in the Gulf of Saros. This information was sent to Enver the Turkish Minster for War and 5 Army Headquarters.

p. 319-320: Palmer’s misinformation about the intended landing location being further north was taken seriously by the Turks.

p. 5: Charles Palmer was “Thirty two years of age and single.”

p. 405: Clarence “Charles” Palmer date of birth was 29 October 1883.

Additional details of the forts, concealed gun batteries, troop locations and sea mines that Charles Palmer reported on are provided in Hugh Dolan’s book, Gallipoli Air War – The unknown story of the fight for the skies over Gallipoli (pp 14-15).

A letter written by the Turkish Commander of the Straits forts, Colonel Djevad Bey, to the Supreme Command in Istanbul, dated 20 April 1915 is quoted by Tim Travers in Gallipoli 1915 , p. 39-40 as follows:

“Palmer, who was the Consul at Chanak, was captured and made a prisoner of war. He was accused of being a spy for the Allied powers. Also a certificate was found in the submarine showing that Palmer was a reserve officer. But we did not tell him that we found the certificate. Palmer was told that he was accused of being a spy and that is why he might be executed. Because no soldier wants to give information openly, Palmer wanted to talk privately. So I promised him that he would be regarded as a prisoner of war. Then, he agreed to give us information. I asked him about the Allied attack that was planned. He said that a British attach would be made against the Dardanelles with a force of 100,000 men, landing under the command of General Hamilton. According to Palmers’s statement, the Allies planned to land at Gaba Tepe. But as soon as they found out that the Turks had learnt of this attack, they changed their plans concerning Gaba Tepe and Seddulbahir. Also they did not think their plans concerning Seddulbahir would be successful. Consequently, the decided to land in the Gulf of Saros, and in the region of the northern part of the Peninsula…He does not have any information about the new attack plan. The information has been given by the ex-consul on the condition that his life be spared under this agreement. Please do not give the origins of this information…”

It would seem that Charles Palmer’s misinformation saved his own life and helped the Allies to gain a toehold on the Peninsula by ensuring that a good number of Turkish defensive resources were deployed in the wrong location at the time of the landing and the two days following.

In the first volume of his memoirs, The Narrow Seas to the Dardanelles 1910-1915 , Roger Keyes states that the Admiral the consented to E15 attempting a passage into the Marmara, and that the late Vice-Consul at Chanak, Mr Palmer, now an intelligence officer with the Admiral’s staff, begged to be allowed to serve in that capacity in the submarine (p. 288).