1914-1924 'British interests; British honour; British obligations'

[Allenby]

well the french havent done anything but get wasted on the western front as well so there input into the war doesnt equal much ...

Well, they've killed a lotta Germans at least.

Attack France, defeat them, and then you won't have to bargain with them about carving up Turkey. mmmm.

Splendid idea! They shall never suspect that! Perhaps Britain should sign an alliance with Turkey and they could carve France up together?

I suggested he do that years ago.

He would not go for it

I know. How short sighted of me. Now I shall end up paying for my folly.

Update now, sir.

I have written a preposterously lengthy update which I shall share with you all within the next few days. I just have to dot the 'i's, cross the 't's and colour everything in.

 

[unmerged(10426)]

I have written a preposterously lengthy update which I shall share with you all within the next few days.

At night?

 

[Allenby]

At night?

I don't know...

...would you like it at night?

 

[unmerged(10426)]

Broad daylight if you please.

 

[Allenby]

Broad daylight if you please.

I aim to please.

 

[unmerged(10426)]

Well get your update out for the lads then.

 

[Steed]

Well get your update out for the lads then.

oooooooo i say.. We await the holy grail

 

[Allenby]

CVII – Turkish Endgame

At dawn on 19th September, the 60th (London) Division landed on the Gallipoli peninsula at Cape Helles with the intention of seizing Seddülbahir as a base of operations. Based at Imbros, 60th Division embarked upon specially constructed X-Lighters during the evening and prepared to initiate the operation that intended to force the Ottoman Empire from the war. Under the cover of night, the men of 60th Division sailed serenely towards their destination whilst Allied battleships positioned themselves opposite Cape Helles. Admiral Beatty, commanding the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, had saturated the tip of the peninsula with shell fire during the past three days, leaving the Turks in no doubt that a landing was imminent. An hour prior to the landing of 60th Division, the Allied fleet commenced an intense barrage, with all available vessels aiming at the Turkish positions at the southern end of the peninsula. The task of the Londoners was daunting – to win a foothold from an entrenched and alert enemy with the aid of whatever naval artillery could be gathered. Nevertheless, 60th Division spearheaded the operation with alacrity and a fierce battle soon developed along the beaches of Cape Helles between the attacking British infantrymen and their Turkish enemies. Having expected a landing, the Turks were able to sweep the beaches with gunfire and British casualties were heavy. Yet the value of British naval support proved inestimable to the infantry. Having been the subject of a sustained naval bombardment in which the Allied warships were constantly restocked with shells, many Turkish soldiers broke under the pressure of the British attack. Lieutenant-General Sir George Barrow, commanding XXII Corps, ordered 10th (Irish) Division to commence its landing east of Seddülbahir and readied 52nd (Lowland) Division to follow suit. The introduction of the Irish to the battle stretched the Turkish defenders of Cape Helles and ensured that 60th Division would not be thrown back into the sea. After twelve hours of the first landing, the Londoners, although bloodied, had secured high ground above Cape Helles and Turkish reinforcements, en route to the tip of the peninsula since the commencement of the Allied bombardment, began to stream towards the scene of battle.

General Chetwode was tasked with attacking Gallipoli​

Thus far, the operation organised by General Sir Philip Chetwode, commanding the Aegean Expeditionary Force, had gone to plan. Intelligence reports soon filtered through to British headquarters that Turkish troops were heading southwards to contest the landings to the delight of General Allenby at Lemnos, who had intended that the attack at Cape Helles be a diversion. The main blow was struck in Thrace, where four corps of infantry and a cavalry corps advanced against the Turkish Army. Here, General Franchet d’Esperey relied on overwhelming force, and he gathered a preponderance of infantry and heavy artillery. At the delta of the River Evros, General Danglis’ Second Army opened the offensive, pinning the Turks to their positions. Hours later, General Sarrail’s First Army attacked along the River Ergene towards Adrianople, instantly rolling back the Turkish defenders. These attacks drew away Turkish troops from the centre, where the Desert Mounted Corps, having retained its distinctive name upon the insistence of Lieutenant-General Chauvel, broke through the Turkish front line after an intense artillery barrage. The British, Indian, Australian and New Zealander cavalry streamed through the gap punched by the artillery, rounding up demoralised Turkish troops throughout the 20th and 21st September. Meanwhile, the main body of the Desert Mounted Corps, spearheaded by the Australian Mounted Division, headed towards Malkara. On 20th September, Franchet d’Esperey gave Danglis license to be more adventurous and the Greeks shifted from tenuous probing of the Turkish line to an all-out offensive. Lieutenant-General Dousmanis’ C Corps captured Enez and attempted to push the Turks towards the Gulf of Saros. However, the retreating Turks retained cohesion and fell back towards the Adrianople-Bulair road, mindful of being outflanked. The British cavalry, having burst through the centre, swiftly emerged as the greatest threat to the integrity of the Turkish Army in Thrace. The mobile thrusts of the British cavalry encouraged the Turkish units dropping back from Enez to maintain contact with those north of the Ergene. Despite the best efforts of Turkish rearguards to slow the progress of the cavalry, Chauvel’s mounted troops appeared unstoppable and Australian light horse squadrons reached Malkara on 21st September, having met diminutive opposition outside the town. Other mounted units rode southwards towards Bulair. Overhead, British and French fighters pursued the Turks, strafing their columns and bombing their escape routes. Having won total air superiority, Franchet d’Esperey utilised air power to its fullest extent, giving particular attention to Turkish positions in Adrianople, the capture of which Franchet d’Esperey regarded as a strategic imperative. With the news of the Allied advances in the south confirmed, Franchet d’Esperey sanctioned First Army to launch its offensive along the River Ergene, aiming to capture Adrianople at the earliest opportunity.

The Allies attempt to capture Constantinople​

At first, Turkish resistance south-west of Adrianople was notably solid, reflecting the crucial importance of the city to the Ottoman war effort. An important communications centre, it formed the main line of supply between the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria and thence to Austria-Hungary and Germany. Only too aware that German gold and arms passed through Adrianople, the Ottoman government ordered that the city be held at all costs. The defences surrounding the city were solidly constructed and complimented by a complex trench system protected the southbound road to Bulair. The concentration of Turkish troops in the area was high and civilians had been evacuated to enable the army to transform the city into a fortress. With the exception of the Dardanelles, it was nominally the most formidable obstacle to the Allies in Thrace and the Turks fought spiritedly in its defence when the Allies attacked. Yet the imposing façade of Adrianople shielded a Turkish garrison which had also wearied of the war and was starved as a result of the Allied blockade. Turkish high command was unable to prevent news of reverses in southern Thrace from filtering through to the Adrianople garrison. Only by imposing rigid discipline did the Turkish commander bolster his alarmed troops into offering further resistance to the superbly organised attack orchestrated by Franchet d’Esperey. Grossetti’s XVIII Corps led the assault on the city with Bulfin’s XXI Corps offering support adjacent to the River Ergene. Progress was unremarkable, albeit steady on 19th September and it appeared that the Turkish garrison would hold Adrianople with fanatical determination. However, resistance proceeded to wilt throughout the next two days, particularly on 21st September, as greater numbers of Turks surrendered to the Allies. British troops commanded by Bulfin cut the Bulair road on 21st September, ending the prospect of immediate reinforcements elsewhere from the front. This news swiftly reached the Adrianople garrison and resulted in the dissolution of entire battalions into disorganised bands of armed men. These elements led an eastward bound exodus from the city, leaving behind the defiant defenders of Adrianople’s outer perimeter, which valiantly attempted to hold back the steady Allied advance. Predictably, this stubbornness was insufficient in the face of Allied numerical and material superiority and Adrianople was soon isolated with the capture of the railway lines to the north and east of the city. The commander of the Turkish garrison realised that the situation was hopeless and ignored the admonition of the civil authorities to fight to the bitter end. On the evening of 22nd September, a party of Turkish soldiers humbly ventured towards the positions of an Algerian tirailleurs regiment under a white flag to surrender Adrianople to Francet d’Esperey. Accepting the plea with dignity, the French commander hurriedly ordered Allied units to enter the city. The white crescent of the Ottoman Empire was hauled down and the Tricolour raised above the city in its place. After protests from the British, the Union Jack was also flown alongside the French flag and Franchet d’Esperey improvised an administration for the city.

Allied operations were not restricted to Thrace and the Dardanelles. Further south, General Allenby launched a series of raids against targets in the Gulf of Smyrna. These were intended as feints that would encourage the Turkish high command to send reinforcements to the area, thereby preventing their deployment to Thrace. A handful of British battalions, stationed at Lesbos and Chios, were embarked on landing craft, and under the protection of light naval forces, journeyed to the head of the Gulf of Smyrna. Accompanied by a small number of Greek troops, they landed on either side of the Gulf, at Karburun and Foça. Turkish troops provided resistance, but they were unable to prevent the small Anglo-Greek parties from clambering ashore and occupying their objectives. Almost immediately, Turkish reinforcements were sent to confront what was imagined to be the vanguard of a major landing. So certain were the Greek population of Smyrna that the Allies would soon capture their city that popular demonstrations against Ottoman authority ensued. Riots between Turks and Greeks flared as the latter jubilantly hung blue and white banners from their windows. While Turkish troops were rushed to the city, the Ottoman governor crushed dissent. When three days passed without any further Allied advance, the Greek population placidly submitted to the reassertion of Ottoman authority. The raiding party at Foça destroyed her wireless station and wrecked the harbour before embarking upon their landing vessels and escaping prior to the arrival of Turkish reinforcements. At Karaburun, the Anglo-Greek force assumed defensive positions after occupying the town. Here, aided by naval gunfire, they remained, awaiting the attempts of the Turks to drive them away. The burst of Allied activity at the Gulf of Smyrna moved the War Minister, Enver Pasha, to rescind orders that reinforcements be sent from western Anatolia to Thrace. Uncertainty gripped Turkish headquarters, where Enver fretted over the multiple assaults launched by the Allies. By 22nd September, the landings at the Gallipoli peninsula had not been reinforced since the first day of the commencement of Allied operations and only a few thousand troops had attacked the Gulf of Smyrna. Enver was increasingly inclined to regard the Gallipoli operation as a distraction and pondered over the possibility of withdrawing troops from the peninsula to shore up the front in Thrace. Shortly before he sanctioned this redeployment, he received news that another Allied landing had occurred in the Gulf of Saros.

Australian mounted units consistently led the Allied advance through Thrace​

Two divisions of Lieutenant-General Sir John Shea’s XX Corps, 53rd (Welsh) Division and 75th Division, conducted the landing north of Bulair, the same location the Greeks had unsuccessfully attacked in 1915. Chetwode hoped that the capture of Bulair would prove to be decisive, separating the Turkish Army in Gallipoli from its supply lines and ending the possibility of their rescue. In one stroke, Chetwode aimed to remove the eight Turkish divisions guarding the peninsula from the battle and permit the Allies to dominate the Dardanelles. Desiring the attack to be carried out as a surprise, it was preceded by only an intense, half-hour barrage by Allied warships before dawn on 23rd September. Moving into position under darkness, dreadnoughts with the heaviest calibre guns concentrated their fire on select portions of the landing zone before sweeping the length of the beach. The two divisions of infantry, assembled on X-Lighters in the Gulf of Saros, proceeded to sail towards the beaches whilst the naval bombardment was still in progress. Through sporadic fire, the infantry rushed vigorously across the beaches and engaged the Turks in their trenches. With numerous Lewis guns and trench mortars brought ashore in the first wave, the attacking British infantry were able to bring a phenomenal volume of firepower to bear during the fierce initial battle for the exterior of the Turkish defensive system. Although British casualties were heavy along some sectors, the attackers were persistent and were helped by the introduction of the 13th (Western) Division to the battle. The Turks, already hard pressed, were overwhelmed by the injection of new troops. Now heavily outnumbered, the defending Turks progressively fell back, first southwards towards the Sea of Marmara and then, when it was evident that the British could not be held at bay and unwilling to be cut off, north-eastwards towards the base of the Gallipoli peninsula. The suddenness and enormity of the British landing had dazed the Turks and permitted leading troops from XX Corps to capture Bulair by the late afternoon on 23rd September and reach the Sea of Marmara later that evening. Lieutenant-General Shea formed a defensive line across the peninsula facing southwards in expectation of a Turkish counterattack to reconnect the Gallipoli army to Thrace. Meanwhile, the 53rd and 75th divisions pushed northwards, pursuing their beaten foe and aiming to complete Allied control of the Gulf of Saros. Shea sought to link-up with the 5th Cavalry Division, which had been ordered southwards by Chauvel after the initial breakthrough in Thrace on 19th September. The Turks traipsing northwards and attempting to reorganise after the reverse of 23rd September, were met by rampant squadrons of cavalry that swiftly rounded up several thousand prisoners. By the evening of the 24th September, Shea’s XX Corps had made contact with the Greek C Corps, confirming the rout of the Bulair garrison. With Greek troops assuming responsibility for the shifting front line in Thrace, Shea was able to transfer forces southwards to reinforce the bottling-up of the Turkish Gallipoli army. In the light of this latest defeat, Enver, aware that the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of defeat, ordered a series of desperate counterattacks.

Enver confronted the Cabinet amidst the crisis and endeavoured to maintain the veil of secrecy surrounding the true extent of the defeats suffered by the Turkish Army. Even Talaat, the Grand Vizier, was unaware of how perilous the predicament of the Turkish Army was. Enver assured his colleagues that the Turkish Army was in excellent fighting shape and that she had only sustained temporary reverses. The War Minister declared that Bulair was still in Turkish hands, that Adrianople had only been partially occupied and that Turkish forces were being readied to drive the Allies back. Astonishingly, the latter claim was not as shameless a falsehood as the former two. The Gallipoli army was aware of its hazardous situation and was preparing to attack northwards in order to re-establish its supply lines. Meanwhile, reinforcements sent from Constantinople had helped to rally stragglers from Adrianople and form them into a semi-coherent fighting force. Alert to the fact that the Ottoman war effort would perish without direct contact with Germany via Adrianople, Enver was prepared to throw the remnants of the Turkish Army in Thrace against the Allies in a last bid to avert catastrophe. On 25th September, three hastily arranged offensives were launched against the Allies, who were taken aback by the sudden determination of the Turks. General Franchet d’Esperey ordered Sarrail and Danglis to assume a defensive posture and to cancel offensive operations in order to deal with what he correctly estimated to be a last throw of the dice. North of the River Ergene, Grossetti’s XVIII Corps was subjected to an energetic attack by Turkish infantry along the railway to the east of Adrianople. Despite defending in makeshift trenches, the French infantry proved immoveable, for Franchet d’Esperey had brought forward a considerable number of heavy guns which provided invaluable assistance against the Turks. By the evening, the counterattack descended into a series of disorganised, ill-conceived probes at the Allied line which were easily beaten back. Adrianople would remain in Allied hands and so convinced was Sarrail that the enemy had been beaten that he immediately put his army on an offensive footing. Allied lines between the Gulf of Saros and the Sea of Marmara were also attacked, with the Turks attempting to re-establish contact with Gallipoli. The Turks assailing Bulair threw themselves against the British defensive positions with fanatical gusto but could make no headway against the heavily armed defenders. Casualties mounted startlingly quickly as commanders implored their troops to throw every effort into driving the foreign occupiers from Turkish soil. However, their efforts were largely futile and the morale of the Turks withered. This was especially true of the Gallipoli army, which remained isolated. Furthermore, Barrow’s XXII Corps had exploited the eagerness of the Turks to escape encirclement by attacking at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula. Here, the Turkish lines, stripped of troops to provide manpower for a northerly offensive, broke under the strain. British troops captured Krithia and the crucial strategic high point of Achi Baba early on 27th September. Admiral Beatty had already seized the opportunity of the breakthrough at Bulair to order his battleships into the Straits.

Enver Pasha, Minister of War, sought to conceal his defeats from the Cabinet​

At close range, the dreadnoughts Agincourt, Canada, King George V, Audacious, Ajax, Centurion, Revenge, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Resolution, Benbow and Emperor of India peppered the Turkish forts lining the Dardanelles Straits with high explosive shells. Initially, the fortress guns and mobile howitzers responded spiritedly and engaged the dreadnoughts in a lengthy duel throughout 24th September. Beatty, watching through his binoculars on the bridge of Lion, witnessed the Turkish score several hits against Agincourt, one of the leading vessels and part of the squadron most subjected to Turkish battery fire. Uneasy at the prospect of the unsuccessful 1915 naval operation being repeated, Beatty ordered the leading squadrons to persist in their efforts and maintain steady fire on Turkish positions. To provide an example, Beatty led Lion and the battlecruisers Indomitable and Indefatigable into the Straits to provide support, casually aware that his vessels, with their thin armour, were more vulnerable to Turkish gunfire than the leading dreadnoughts. The fight between the British vessels moving cautiously around the Straits and the Turkish guns intensified during the afternoon with six Turkish mobile batteries destroyed and six fortifications damaged. King George V and Audacious had sustained serious damage during the duel and when darkness descended upon the Dardanelles, Beatty withdrew his vessels with numerous mobile batteries and the fortifications overlooking the minefields still operational. On the morning of 25th September, Beatty, having asked Chetwode to attack at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, endeavoured to attack the Dardanelles again. This time, his battlecruisers fearlessly led the way with Lion in the van and the battle scarred dreadnoughts following behind. Restocked with ammunition, they resumed their bombardment against the mobile batteries on the Anatolian coast of the Dardanelles, gracefully manoeuvring to avoid mines and progressively knocking out one mobile battery after another. By the afternoon of 25th September, another four batteries had been destroyed and Beatty’s ships were concentrating their fire on the fortifications leading up to the Narrows at Chanak. A thickly laid minefield blocked the path and Beatty was obliged to halt his progress, sometimes engaging the Turkish guns whilst stationary. When Ajax and Centurion joined King George V and Audacious on the list of vessels too grievously damaged to continue the operation, Beatty brushed aside suggestions that the fleet should withdraw again. When the crippled Centurion turned and limped out of the Straits, Beatty turned to the recently recovered Flag Captain Chatfield and declared defiantly that “no Johnny Turk pop-guns will stop my ships!” Beatty raised the blunt, resolute signal “KEEP FIRING. NO WITHDRAWAL” to his fleet and watched with grim satisfaction as his guns increased their rate of fire upon the Turkish fortifications. The incessant firing of high explosive shells at the fortification guns soon began to render their operation intolerable to Turkish troops and permitted minesweepers to tentatively commence the laborious task of clearing a path through the minefield. By the end of 25th September, seven fortifications had been blasted beyond use and Beatty could consider his day to be a success. His ships slipped away under darkness and resolved to return again the next day, now aware that the pressure exerted upon the Turkish Gallipoli army would soon be impossible to resist. Beatty reasoned that the Gallipoli army, unable to break its encirclement and losing ground at the tip of the peninsula, would soon break apart and be incapable of operating the fortification guns overlooking the Straits.

Constantinople​

After the Turkish counterattacks dissolved ineffectually, Franchet d’Esperey’s Army Group Thrace promptly continued the offensive that it had initiated on 19th September. The French commander estimated that the Turkish Army was exhausted by its exertions and that a sudden blow would open the route to Constantinople and lead to the toppling the Ottoman Empire. Lieutenant-General Kallardis’ A Corps played the principle role in punching a hole in the brittle Turkish line on 26th September, once again enabling Chauvel’s Desert Mounted Corps to gallop through and exploit the disarray of the Turks. Freshly watered, the cavalry had recovered from its efforts on the opening days of the campaign and ominously outflanked fleeing Turks, rounding up prisoners and charging dispirited rearguards. Tekfur Dağ was Chauvel’s target and the Australian light horse led the charge, reaching the outskirts of the seaside town by the morning of 27th September. Turkish reinforcements from Constantinople provided determined opposition but they could not prevent the fall of Tekfur Dağ in the afternoon, where the defenders of the town surrendered after only a brief exchange of fire. Greek troops followed the path blazed by Chauvel’s cavalry and repulsed the half-hearted Turkish counterattacks. The capture of Tekfur Dağ served to detach more Turkish troops from their supply lines – one corps of infantry was now isolated, with its back to the Sea of Marmara and with dwindling willpower to alter its predicament. North of the River Ergene, the Turkish Army retained coherence but the collapse of the front between the river and the Sea of Marmara made its relatively healthy state irrelevant. Battered and run ragged, the Turkish Army in Thrace was virtually a vanquished force. Worse still was the state of the Gallipoli army, which had failed to re-establish contact with Turkish forces in Thrace. The failure to break the deadlock at Bulair made it obvious to every rank in the Gallipoli army that there would be no salvation. Morale collapsed on 27th September and the commander of the Turkish Army on the peninsula surrendered his force on 28th September. Eight despondent divisions laid down their arms and presented the most strategically significant peninsula in the world to General Chetwode, who had established his headquarters at the recently captured town of Krithia. By then, Beatty had made significant progress in the Straits, battering the forts guarding the Narrows throughout 26th and 27th September. The low morale of the Turkish Army was reflected in the growing failure of the fortification guns to respond to the blows inflicted by Beatty’s ships. When the Gallipoli army surrendered, Beatty had reached the Narrows at Chanak and was making swift progress in clearing a path through the minefields. The news of the string of defeats suffered by the Turkish Army could not everlastingly be suppressed and kept from an inquisitive Cabinet in Constantinople. The hyperbolic pronouncements of Enver that the Central Powers were winning the war and that the Ottoman Empire was secure were shown to be nothing short of nonsense. It was obvious that the Ottoman Empire was facing imminent destruction and the Grand Vizier, Talaat, was inclined to lead his Cabinet in rounding on the die-hards, Enver and Djemal Pasha, who wished to fight to the bitter end. Talaat successfully convinced the Cabinet that further resistance was futile and submitted the resignation of the government to the Sultan, advising him to appoint a peace ministry. Whilst Constantinople descended into political turmoil, Enver and Djemal escaped to Bulgaria on board a Turkish destroyer and General Allenby planned the final phase of his campaign against the Ottoman capital.

The collapse of Turkish resistance at Gallipoli and the ease with which Kallardis and Chauvel had torn into the Turkish Army in Thrace encouraged Franchet d’Esperey to order a general advance on Constantinople. Resistance was nearly nonexistent as French, British and Greek troops marched towards the Ottoman capital, taking Turkish prisoners and raising aloft Allied flags in captured towns and villages. Inevitably, it was Chauvel’s cavalry which covered the most ground. As in Syria during the summer, the mounted troops delved deep into Turkish territory, meeting isolated groups offering resistance and others timidly raising the white flag of surrender. Çorlu fell on 28th September and Çatalca followed on 29th September. Bemused Turkish subjects lined the paths as the Australian light horse, leading the advance, galloped elegantly towards the Ottoman capital. Chauvel was determined to reach his objective as quickly as possible, but the Australians were unknowingly engaged in a race for Constantinople. Beatty had finally cut a path through the Dardanelles minefields, and with its deck blemished by shellfire, the majestic Lion emerged onto the Sea of Marmara leading a line of battle hardened dreadnoughts. Unrestrained by the restrictive surroundings of the Straits, Beatty arranged his ships in cruising formation and made full steam for Constantinople. With warships engaging horses in a contest to reach the gateway to the east, the Supreme War Council in Versailles prepared to take receipt of an Ottoman armistice plea. News had reached Allied capitals that the Talaat ministry had resigned, encouraging the belief that the Ottomans were poised to request an armistice. Whilst Lloyd George and Curzon contemplated the terms that they would attach to the cessation of hostilities, President Roosevelt, having promised vessels to support Allied operations in the Dardanelles, ordered the dreadnought Arizona, leading the squadron, to increase speed so that the United States would have a tangible presence at any armistice proceedings. On 30th September, having traversed the Sea of Marmara in little time, Beatty was able to stare at the great dome and four minarets of the Hagia Sophia as Lion sailed closer to Constantinople. With Chauvel’s cavalry slackening with exhaustion, it was the dashing admiral who could claim to have first reached the Ottoman capital. News had reached the population of Constantinople that the Allies were advancing upon the city, but it was the appearance of Beatty’s warships that served as concrete proof. The presence of Lion and three squadrons of dreadnoughts anchored near the southern entry of the Bosporus was unmistakeable. Menacingly, the guns of the mighty vessels were aimed at the city and ready to fire at a moment’s notice. Beatty had arrived in the morning. Later in the afternoon, the new Ottoman government, headed by Izzet Pasha, officially sought an armistice. A small party sailed towards Lion in a motor boat flying a white flag. Welcomed aboard, they submitted to Beatty a message from the Ottoman government asking for armistice terms. Beatty thanked the Ottoman contingent and promptly forwarded the request to Allenby, who wired it to the Supreme War Council in Versailles.

Given the considerable disharmony of the Allies over how the Ottoman Empire should be dealt with in a future peace settlement, their unanimity over armistice terms was surprising. Lloyd George initially wished to reach an immediate peace settlement with the Ottoman Empire that would leave Britain in control of the Arab Middle East and the Straits but was courteously reminded by Curzon that reaching a separate peace agreement was likely to enrage her allies and encourage them to seek compensation by seizing territory from their beaten Ottoman foe. The Foreign Secretary also insisted that leaving peace terms to a later date would allow Britain to undermine the claims of her Allies in the meantime. Consequently, the Supreme War Council considered the Ottoman armistice plea as a united body, formulating its terms whilst making it clear to the Ottoman government via Beatty that peace would only be accepted if they settled with the Allies as a whole and not individually. By 4th October, the Allies had finalised their terms and told Allenby to be uncompromising in guaranteeing Ottoman acceptance. The Allied delegation assembled on board Lion and prepared to receive representatives of the Ottoman government. General Franchet d’Esperey for France, General Danglis for Greece, Captain John D. McDonald, captain of Arizona for the United States and other Allied representatives stood on the recently polished deck of the British battlecruiser and admired the spectacle of Constantinople, now a captive of Allied arms. Shortly after 1pm, the Ottoman delegation arrived, led by the naval officer and Minister of Marine, Rauf Bey. Beatty, representing Britain, presided over the armistice ceremony and motioned the Ottoman delegation to sit opposite him at a large desk draped with the White Ensign. With the Allied delegation stood behind him, Beatty read aloud the terms of the armistice to Rauf and the Ottoman contingent. He then provided written versions of the armistice terms, prepared in English and French and silently pushed a pen across the desk to Rauf. Most significant among the armistice terms bringing peace between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire was permission for the Ottomans to maintain an army sufficient in size for retaining internal disorder and importantly, the right of the Allies to seize any strategic point within the territory of the empire. Under such provisions, the Allies were free to move troops freely across the Ottoman Empire. On this point, Rauf prevaricated until Beatty reminded the Ottoman delegation that he was prepared to order his ships to reduce Constantinople to rubble. With little alternative, a morose Rauf signed the document that ceased hostilities between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire, facilitating her exit from the war.

In London, Lloyd George was impatient to deliver the momentous news of the Ottoman capitulation to the House of Commons. The British public were already aware of the capture of Constantinople but had heard little from the government on the subject. Their wait ended when Lloyd George bounded into the well-attended chamber on 7th October and delivered a speech that described the campaign in typically heroic terms. The Prime Minister could not resist the opportunity to wax theological to the House of Commons, as Hansard recorded:

The PRIME MINISTER: ‘…under the supreme leadership of that indomitable soldier, General Allenby [hon. Members cheered] and that gallant sailor, Admiral Beatty [hon. Members cheered], Allied military and naval forces have delivered old Byzantium from the clutches of Ottoman barbarism and reversed the calamity of 1453. The city of Constantine is now under the jurisdiction of men whose military exploits and moral virtues its founder would have admired and approved.’

Lloyd George then proceeded to inform the house the spirit in which the Allies would approach a peace settlement with the defeated Ottoman Empire:

The PRIME MINISTER: “…We shall clarify the fact that we are not waging a war of aggression. Our peace with the Turkish Government shall be characterised by justice, not retribution and pay due attention to the aspirations of the subject peoples of the Turkish Empire, who shall be entitled to a recognition of their separate national conditions.”

Unsurprisingly, Lloyd George neglected to reveal whether this promised the partition of Anatolia, although he delivered an oblique warning to his Allies when he declared that Britain possessed no ambitions in Asia Minor, a land “predominantly Turkish in race”.

General Sir Edmund Allenby and General Louis Franchet d’Esperey meet in Constantinople​

General Allenby arrived in Constantinople on 8th October having been asked by the SWC to oversee the Allied occupation of the Ottoman Empire. Upon arriving, he met General Franchet d’Esperey and congratulated him on his rapid occupation of Thrace before they travelled together through the glum streets to the Büyük Postane, the Constantinople post office, where the Allied headquarters had been established. After a jovial discussion, Franchet d’Esperey departed Constantinople for Salonika, where he had founded a headquarters of his own. Shortly after the armistice with Turkey, the SWC appointed him as Allied Supreme Commander in the Balkans. Pressure was being exerted in Versailles for operations to commence against Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary and Franchet d’Esperey began plans for an offensive that could start as quickly as November. Meanwhile, at the Büyük Postane, Allenby, to the alarm of British Foreign Office officials and the Greek military attaché, received a party of Russian officers and civil servants who had landed with a battalion of troops at Constantinople the day after the armistice. Remarkably, they asked that Constantinople be transferred to Russian civilian rule in accordance with treaty obligations. Maintaining imperturbable calm, Allenby merely told the Russians that with the city was under military occupation, the only authority in Constantinople was himself. This was entirely in accordance with the wishes of Curzon at the Foreign Office, who did not wish to be hurried on the subject of future territorial arrangements. At the prompting of Curzon, Allenby had ordered British troops to begin the seizure of the Ottoman railway network in Anatolia. The Foreign Secretary was determined that Britain, from this position of strength, should dictate the future peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire.

 

[Sir Humphrey]

Gen. Allenby in charge of the Ottoman empire, Beatty capturing Constantinople, Ruskies sailing in, and Lloyd George making dramatic speeches in the house.

An example to us all.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Wonderful!

Next step, Vienna, methinks...

 

[Lord E]

An absolutely wonderful update Allenby. A very impressive and well conducted campaign there, a great show by Allenby and his generals. Also Beatty did very well I think, continuing to press forward even when his ships got a good beating from the Turks, had that been done in 1915 the Ottoman Empire might have been forced out of the war much earlier. I can only imagine the scene onboard the Lion as Beatty and Chatfield lead their squadron into Constantinople and then using gunboat diplomacy forces the Ottoman authorities to sign the treaty of surrender.
Jolly great work

 

[unmerged(10426)]

Excellent update. Excellent, just what the doctor ordered. This puts the Central Powers in the Balkans at even greater peril. Surely Austria won't be long in folding too.

 

[ReconUK]

Great detailed work
Its a Pleasure to see this return, With a Welcome victory in the Middle East

 

[Vann the Red]

Your updates are always worth the wait, Allenby. This particular update leaves me with two huge questions. What effect will the opening of the straits -- and the concomicant ease if trade with France and Great Britain -- have on Russia? How will Turkey (or rather, what is left of Turkey) evolve with Enver in exile?

Vann

 

[unmerged(10426)]

What effect will the opening of the straits -- and the concomicant ease if trade with France and Great Britain -- have on Russia?

Lend-lease here we come. :nods:

 

[Mettermrck]

Oh my, Constantinople falls! I can't wait to see how this what-if is written out in Allenby's detailed historical style. Good show, sir!

 

[unmerged(10426)]

btw, it'll be interesting to see what happens once the 'historical' (broadly, at least) war is over. As Mr A. is going to run this to 1924, there's doubtless going to be a lot of action in the early twenties. Based on the events in the 1914 mod, and a fairly secure hunch, I imagine there's going to be a huge rumpus from Bolshevism post-war, but who knows. It'll be interesting to see what happens in Russia - and Austria, if she goes down the shitter too.

 

[unmerged(19363)]

Superb and detailed update. The Turks really never stood a chance against such force.

 

[Raze]

I'm not trying to start a fire or anything but I can't believe that anybody would still be playing this game.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Following with the topic. Are we going to see a rush towards Bulgaria?

By the way... A hard coup for the westeners, methinks.