Halil Sami Bey (1866 – 1925) was an

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

, who served in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He successfully managed to fend off British and French forces during the Landing at Cape Helles.

Career

Halil Sami was in charge of the Ottoman 9th Division on the morning of 25 April 1915 known as The First Battle of Krithia. He was responsible for a very difficult section of the peninsula. His division faced the British 29th Division landing on 5 individual beaches with an initial force of 6 infantry battalions and 2 infantry regiments. The total force on the beaches were the 6th Company defending Sarıtepe Altı and İkiz Koyu, 12th, 10th, 9th and 11th Companies defending Teke koyu and Ertuğrul koyu with a platoon defending the Zığındere (Gully Ravine). The 10th Company, with the heroic efforts of Yahya Çavuş who fought against 3000

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

infantry with one squad under his command, was totally wiped out with all the other Turkish forces defending the beaches. After the 25th, the battle turned into continuous trench warfare with the

and French forces not being able to reach Altçıtepe, a crucial hill which would open the way to the capturing of the

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

peninsula from the south. The Kirte and Zigindere battles inflicted heavy casualties on both sides with the majority dead being the Turkish defenders. Colonel Halil Sami did not die at

during the Gallipoli campaign. The memorials in Gallipoli accidentally state that he was killed in action but this is not true. There is not much information on what happened to him after the war but he probably joined the forces of

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa () is one of the names of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic language, Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in t ...

and got a commission in the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...

during the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

. He later quarreled with General Otto Liman von Sanders about the war plans. He was taken off the duty on 10 July 1915 and forced to retire from the army. He later participated in the

where he joined the forces of

and fought against the invading Greek, British and French armies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sami, Halil 1866 births 1925 deaths Ottoman Military Academy alumni Ottoman Army officers Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ottoman military personnel of World War I