[PALESTINE & SINAI CAMPAIGN / MANUSCRIPTS / WW1] Hâtira: Bu rapor... “[i.e., Memoirs: This is the interview report prepared by the personnel affairs department that was registered to the army before going to the Sinai, Syrian and Palestine Front…]

BINBASI [MAYOR] AHMED TEVFIK EFENDI [EROL] (1878-1938), Manuscript, [Palestine or Istanbul], AH 1337 = [1920/21].

COMPLETE TITLE: [PALESTINE & SINAI CAMPAIGN / MANUSCRIPTS / WW1] Hâtira: Bu rapor cevâblarini muvazzaf zabitân, sefer-i birlikden evvel muamelât-i zatiyyede mukayyid olduklari kitaat ile... “[i.e., Memoirs: This is the interview report prepared by the personnel affairs department that was registered to the army before going to the Sinai, Syrian and Palestine Front…]

Original manuscript on folded printed interview report supplied by the Ottoman Military Forces. The questions on the report are printed for the high-ranking military officer to fill in the blanks on the report. 4to. (26 x 20 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). [8] p. Foxing, creasing, stains, and fading on the paper, doubled over, and chipped extremities. Overall, a fair-good copy.

An extremely rare autograph manuscript and unpublished historical interview report of Major Ahmed Tevfik Abdülaziz, who served in the 8th Army of the Ottoman Empire on the Sinai - Palestine Front in World War I, including a valuable and unique firsthand and eyewitness account of the events during the war in the region and his captivity by the British forces between 1917 and 1918.

This historically significant document contains printed ten questions on eight pages.

The first question is “Where, how, and what position were you captured in? How many people and whom were you with? Were you captured wounded or sick? Who knew and saw your condition?”. The Major describes in detail his arrival at the Turkish headquarters near the Mesudiye pass on the Palestine Front on the night of June 19, 1324 [1917], the next day, the military goods transported in wagons, his meeting with the army commander, District Governor Sadeddin(?) and other military staff, and a British aircraft that passed over them while transporting the goods with the wagons. He then indicates the group encountered British forces near the Raboda(?) Strait and their captivity without any combat. In fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh questions, the Mayor describes the number of enemy forces, whether there were any survivors from captivity, and whether weapons were used during the raid. Mayor Ahmed Tevfik b. Abdülaziz answers these questions with a few sentences. The ninth question requested to draw a general map, and the Mayor drew a map showing their condition and the region. Finally, he scripted his short biography and dates of his captivity on the last page.

These reports are very rarely seen both in the market and institutional holdings. They are very important in building up archival ego documents which are invaluable resources in the military history. The Ottoman military system kept meticulous records on this subject until the collapse of the empire and used these records in the archives, military historiography, and publishing. These kinds of reports helped publish the postwar memoirs. Overall, this manuscript is an important source on the Sinai - Palestine Campaign during WW1.

The Sinai and Palestine Campaign was part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, taking place between January 1915 and October 1918. The British Empire, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy fought alongside the Arab Revolt in opposition to the Ottoman Empire, the German Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It started with an Ottoman attempt at raiding the Suez Canal in 1915 and ended with the Armistice of Mudros in 1918, leading to the cession of Ottoman Syria.

After the Arab Revolt and many combats in the region, on the evening of 8 January 1917, mounted units of Desert Column including the Anzac Mounted Division, the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, the 5th Mounted Yeomanry Brigade, No. 7 Light Car Patrol and artillery, rode out of El Arish to attack the next day 9 January, a 2,000 to 3,000-strong Ottoman Army garrison at El Magruntein also known as Rafa or Rafah.

Also, on 9 January four British aircraft bombed the German aerodrome at Beersheba during the afternoon and in the evening, on the way back, saw a considerable Ottoman force near Weli Sheikh Nuran. The British had reclaimed the northern section of the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula virtually to the frontier with the Ottoman Empire, but the new British government of David Lloyd George wanted more. The British Army in Egypt was ordered to go on the offensive against the Ottoman Army in part to support the Arab revolt which had started early in 1916, and to build on the momentum created by the victories won at Romani in August and Magdhaba in December 1916. This next strategic objective was on the border of the British Protectorate of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire some 30 miles (48 km) distant, too far for infantry and so the newly formed Desert Column commanded by Chetwode was to attack the Ottoman position along the coast. The Allied troops captured the town and the fortified position by nightfall with the loss of 71 killed and 415 wounded. The Ottoman garrison suffered heavily, with 200 killed and another 1,600 taken prisoner. After the end of the Sinai Campaign, the Palestine campaign began early in 1917 with active operations resulting in the capture of Ottoman Empire territory stretching 370 miles (600 km) to the north, being fought continuously from the end of October to the end of December 1917. Operations in the Jordan Valley and into the Transjordan, fought between February and May 1918 were followed by the British occupation of the Jordan Valley while stalemated trench warfare continued across the Judan Hills to the Mediterranean Sea. The final Palestine offensive began in mid-September and the Armistice with the Ottoman Empire signed on 30 October 1918. (Wikipedia).