Chapter 69 – Mustafa

Mustafa Kemal moved his 19th Division headquarters from Baby 700 (aka Hill 180, Turkish Kiliçbayır = Sword Slope) to Battleship Hill (Flat Hill) on 4 June 1915 – ref Harvey Broadbent, Gallipoli – The Turkish Defence , pp. 228, 402, 527. Kemal moved his headquarters to be more central to the area under his command, with the expansion to the north. However, he was concerned that it was not suitable for viewing the battlefield on the Ariburnu (ANZAC) front.

The positions held by Mustafa Kemal’s 19th Division on 6 August are listed by Harvey Broadbent in Gallipoli – The Turkish Defence , in a table on p. 238. These positions would have been similar in June, although Division headquarters is shown in a different location at this time.

Mustafa Kemal’s concerns about an enemy breakout from the northern flank of the ANZAC area are described in his memoirs. A translation of these aspects is provided by Harvey Broadbent in Gallipoli – The Turkish Defence , pp. 402-405. This includes correspondence from Kemal to General Esat raising the concerns dated 9 and 18 June 1915, and recounts a field meeting soon afterwards with Esat and and his Chief of Staff Fahrittin, surveying the view from Düztepe (English Translation = Flat Hill, English name = Battleship Hill). General Esat’s and Fahrettin’s dismissive responses are widely documented and have been paraphrased for inclusion in this book.

An account of the attack by the 18th Regiment at the Hill of Valour (The Nek) on the night of 29/30 June was given to Charles Bean by Major Zeki (commander of 1Battalion, 57 Regiment) in a post war interview at Gallipoli 1919. This account is described by Charles Bean in Gallipoli Mission (pp. 166-170) and incorporated into the Anzac perspective of the attack in Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18, vol II (pp. 308-316). This account states that the Ottoman Minister for War, Enver was visiting and staying with General Esat at his headquarters at Scrubby Knoll (‘Kemal’s Place’) that night. It also describes how Enver was critical of the attack as lacking a clear objective and how Enver demanded to see the two enemy machine guns that had allegedly been captured. Major Zeki described how Mustafa Kemal believed that the newly arrived 18th Regiment might do great things, and a short advance might be decisive at The Nek, looking down at Monash Valley and North Beach ( Gallipoli Mission p. 168). Zeki also described how the 18th Regiment commander was killed by a sniper’s bullet to the head two weeks earlier.

Andrew Mango states that Mustafa Kemal was decorated the German Iron Cross on 23 May, four days after the Ottoman offensive in Atatürk (p. 148)