Mesoptamia - TarsusRaid

TarsusRaid
Paul Strong
2009/06/02 22:05

Table of Contents

August 17th, 2:00a.m.
4 mixed platoons from Force D (6th Indian Division) landed in fishing boats on the coast of Turkey south of Adana.
Worcester Force
CO - Gerald “Saucy Gerry or Gerry Wooster” Worcester (Norfolk Rgt) A Platoon (Norfolk & Gurkha) - (2iC WF) “Daffy” Morgan (Norfolk Rgt) B Platoon (Sikh) - (GSO) Franco “Spooky” Craven (Intelligence corps) C Platoon (Punjabi Pashtun) - Jack Perrett (66th Punjabis) D Platoon (Dorset, Hamts & Ox/Bucks)- Rickard Haythornethwaite (Dorset Rgt) Col Sgt - Alpin “Jock or Mountain” McKindrick (Hants Rgt) Eng Cpl - Harry Laffin MO - Lt “Bones” McCoy
A Column : led by (brevet) Major Wooster with 3 platoons went overland to the railway at Tarsus. Buried guns en route and then attacked the signal junction north of Tarsus.
Destroyed the track at the junction and hi-jacked train and proceeded north to the Cicilain gate. failed to destry an ammunition train but laid charges to destroy the railway through the Gate and laid in wait for the enxt troop train. Successfully killed or captured all 200 troops and set of all charges, closing the pass for some time. Almost no casualties.
B Column : led by Lieutenant Craven with 2 sections and 3 tonnes of Amatol. Went by fishing skiff upriver to Adana where they laid charges under the railway bridge whilst Craven reconnaisenced the town. Bridge was successfully destroyed and contact with local Armenians established. Tigran Vardanian, his son Vartan and his (much admired granddaughter) Ava. Franco was explaining his mission to Tigran when the German Bridge detonated...
C Column : Led by Lieutenant Haythornethwaite headed for the main bridge over the River… The bridge was damaged but not destroyed… C Column escaped to the north...
The team head for a Hittite hill-fort in the mountains...
Major Worcester decided on an ambush plan to eliminate the Adana cavalry garrison...
The Alexandretta Cavalry commander is highly competant… The Governor of Adana is apoplectic
~~~~~
Successes so far :
Berlin-Baghdada railway destroyed at several points along the Cicilian gate, 6 weeks plus to repair
Adana’s German Bridge destroyed,
2 railway engines destroyed plus rolling stock
Turksih troop losses : Tarsus : 25 killed/wounded Cicilian Gate : 200 killed/wounded
~~~~~~
More notes/updates to follow
Sources:
Already happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sunday - warning sign of nastiness to come
Adana - Capital of Adana (Seyhan) province, southern Turkey, about 50 km/31 mi north of the Mediterranean Sea, near the Taurus Mountains; population (2003 est) 1,219,900. Adana is a commercial centre and Turkey’s fourth-largest city. It is located in the middle of the Çurukova (Cilician) plain, in the most fertile area of the country, where cotton, grains, and fruits are grown. Manufacturing includes cotton textiles, processed food, tobacco, machinery, and cement. Adana is said to have been founded by Adanus, son of Kronus, the god of weather. It was probably founded by the Hittites, and was colonized by the Romans in 66 BC. In the 16th century the city passed to the Ottoman Turks. The River Seyhan is spanned at Adana by the 274 m/900 ft-long Tasköprü (stone bridge), which was built in Roman times by the Emperor Hadrian, and repaired by Justinian. Only 14 of the bridge’s original 21 arches remain standing. Other sites of interest include the 16th-century Ulu Camii (great mosque), Eski Mosque, Hasan Aga Mosque, and the Saat Kulessi clock tower (1882). The city’s principal museums include the Archaeological Museum, which houses Hittite and Roman remains; the Museum of Ethnography (1983), which is housed in a 19th-century church; and the Atatürk Culture Museum. The Seyhan Dam and Lake lie to the north of the city. Also to the north is Karatepe, a Hittite archaeological site. See also - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana In 1915 Turkish troops rounded up all Armenians living in Adana, mostly woman and children and elderly, and marched them out into the Syrian dessert which resulted in the final mass extermination of Armenians in and around Adana and all of present day Turkey, this event is commonly known as the Armenian Genocide. Today there are no Armenians living in Adana after having lived within the area for more than three thousand years. Adana Massacre - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana_Massacre The Adana massacre occurred in Adana Province, in the Ottoman Empire, in April 1909. A religious-ethnic clash in the city of Adana amidst governmental upheaval resulted in a series of anti-Armenian pogroms throughout the district. Reports estimated that the massacres in Adana Province resulted in 15,000 to 30,000 deaths. Armenian Genocide - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide See Temporary Law of Deportation (the “Tehcir” law) On 13 September 1915, the Ottoman parliament passed the “Temporary Law of Expropriation and Confiscation”, stating that all property, including land, livestock, and homes belonging to Armenians, was to be confiscated by the authorities. I’m assuming Adana post dates this law… Dave - look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_the_Ottoman_Empire plus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_Turkey Leader of Armenian resistance in van is Aram Manougian Do not read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aram_Manougian - keep for source data
Main bad guys: The Three Pashas (rulers of the Empire) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_Talat_Pasha (hated Armenians) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enver_Pasha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemal_Pasha Plus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Halim_Pasha
Heh heh heh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Nemesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te%C5%9Fkilat-i_Mahsusa Ottoman Intel

Page  - last modified by Paul Strong on 2009/06/02 22:05