Ottoman Air Force
Encyclopedia
The Aviation Squadrons of the Ottoman Empire
(Turkish: Osmanlı Tayyare Bölükleri) were military aviation units of the Ottoman Army and Navy
. The history of Ottoman military aviation dates back to June 1909According to Hamit Palabiyik, its formation came about after the Ottoman Empire
sent two pilots to the International Aviation Conference in Paris
in June 1909 (Hamit Palabiyik, Turkish Public Administration: From Tradition to the Modern Age, USAK Books, 2008, ISBN 9786054030019, p. 85. or July 1911.The Turkish Air Force
regards flight trainings of Captain Fesa Bey and Lieutenant Yusuf Kenan Bey in 1911 as its own start line and celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011. "Türk Hava Kuvvetleri 100 Yaşında" in the official website of Turkish Air Force The organisation is sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Air Force.According to Edward J. Erickson, the very term Ottoman Air Force is a gross exaggeration and the term Osmanlı Hava Kuvvetleri (Ottoman Air Force) unfortunately is often repeated in contemporary Turkish sources. (Edward J. Erickson, Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, "Appendix D The Ottoman Aviation Inspectorate and Aviation Squadrons", ISBN 0-313-31516-7, p. 227.)According to GlobalSecurity.org
, the Ottoman aviation units never came under a centralised operational (as opposed to administrative) command, and never matured into an independent arm or corps as it did in other countries. Flying detachments (Tayyare Bölüğü) and fighter squadrons (Av Bölüğü) reported individually to either an Army or Corps command., Ottoman Air Branch - 1914-1918 - The Great War in the official website of the GlobalSecurity.org. The fleet size reached its apex in December 1916, when the Ottoman aviation squadrons had 90 airplanes.
On 2 December 1909, Belgian pilot Baron Pierre de Caters
and then French pilot Louis Bleriot
performed the first flight demonstration in the Ottoman Empire.
After witnessing the growing importance of an air combat support branch, the Ottoman government decided to organize its own military aviation program. For this purpose officers were sent to Europe by the end of 1910 to participate in the study of combat flight. However, because of financial difficulties, the student program was aborted and the trainees returned to Ottoman Empire in the spring of 1911.
Although left without any governmental guidelines for establishing an air force, the Ottoman Minister of War of the time, Mahmud Shevket Pasha, continued to encourage the idea of a military aviation program. On 28 June 1911, a written examination was held and on 4 July, Cavalry Captain Fesa (Evrensey) and Engineer Lieutenant Yusuf Kenan were selected. Fesa was sent to France and Yusuf Kenan was sent to Germany. But because the German school wanted an excessively high fee, both of them were enrolled in the Blériot School
at Étampes
near Paris
in July 1911.
In late 1911 Staff Lieutenant Colonel Süreyya (İlmen) was instructed with founding the Aircraft Committee (Tayyare Komisyonu) with members from the Inspectorate of Technical and Fortified Formations (Kıtaât-ı Fenniyye ve Mevâki-i Müstahkeme Müfettişligi). Two tent hangars for the Aircraft School (Tayyare Mektebi) was erected in January 1912 at Yeşilköy
(which is the Ataturk International Airport
today).
On February 21, 1912, Fesa and Yusuf Kenan completed their flight education at the Blériot School and returned home with the 780th and 797th French Aero Club certificates. In the same year, eight more Ottoman officers were sent to France
for flight education. Fesa Bey and Yusuf Kenan Bey flew over Istanbul on 27 April 1912.
The Ottoman Empire started preparing its first pilots and planes, and with the founding of the Aircraft School (Tayyare Mektebi) in Yeşilköy on July 3, 1912, the empire began to tutor its own flight officers. The founding of the Aircraft School quickened advancement in the military aviation program, increased the number of enlisted persons within it, and gave the new pilots an active role in the Ottoman forces.
Same year a single-seat and a two-seater Deperdussin airplanes were purchased from France and brought over to Istanbul in March 1912. Two of the two-seater version of Bleriot XI-b
were also acquired, first of which was presented by Supreme Commander Rıza Paşa. Three of a different two-seat model named XI-2
and three of the single-seat model called Pengouin
were also deployed at the Ottoman Army.
In accordance with the agreement reached in between the producer and the Ottoman Ministry of War, 7 REP, Robert Esnault-Pelterie
. The REP, Robert Esnault-Pelterie
are also one the first planes deployed at the Ottoman Empire. The plane was designed by Robert Esnaoult-Pelterie and its first flight took place in 1912 and they entered service during the same year in France. In accordance with the agreement reached in between the producer and the Ottoman Ministry of War 7 REP planes were also purchased and the first one was planned to join Ottoman Army on March 15, 1912. In late April 1912, the military aircraft was shown to the public for the first time when a large military parade was held the for honor of Sultan Mehmed V Reshad
.
Five of the seven purchased were single seaters and the remaining two were two-seaters. One of the single seaters were planned only for ground practicing. The last plane was confiscated by the Serbians while being brought to Istanbul by train. These primitive planes were already out of service by 1914.
By the end of 1912, the Ottoman Army had a total of 15 machines, acquired mostly through private donations.
invaded the Tripolitania Vilayet (modern day Libya
) of Ottoman Empire
, using aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing. On October 23, 1911, an Italian pilot flew over Ottoman lines and the next day Italian dirigibles dropped bombs for the first time in aviation history on ground targets.
Ottoman troops opened fire on an Italian aircraft on 15 December 1911. The first aircraft to be brought down in a war was that of Lieutenant Manzini, shot down on 25 August 1912 and the first aircraft to be captured was that of Captain Moizo, on 10 September 1912.
When Italy invaded Trablusgarp, Ottomans was not ready to use its few new aircraft in battle, it did not even have an army in North Africa and countered Italians with organized local Arab militia. There were attempts to purchase aircraft from France and to send them to the battlefield via Algeria
, but they did not materialize.
After Italo-Turkish War, the Ottoman aircraft saw action on another front in the First Balkan War
, against the Balkan countries of Montenegro
, Serbia
, Bulgaria
and Greece
. Seventeen Ottoman aircraft were used for reconnaissance, from September 1912 to October 1913. The Ottoman military aviation, in its inexperience, lost several airplanes at first; as they hardened to battle, they improved and there was a swarm of recruits to the new force.
Nevertheless, the Balkan League
won the war. A short while later, Bulgaria attacked Serbia to kick off the Second Balkan War
, and Ottoman Empire pitched in on the Serbian side.
By the end of the Balkan Wars, the fledgling Ottoman military aviation had already been through three wars and a coup d'état
.
With the end of the Balkan Wars a modernization process started and new planes were purchased. With the outbreak of the First World War, the modernization process stopped abruptly.
and on 18 November 1913, Belkıs Şevket Hanım, a member of the Society for the Defense of Women's Rights (Mudafaa-i Hukuki Nisvan Cemiyeti) rode the aircraft commaned by Fethi Bey.
The Ottoman aviaton squadrons began World War I under direct control of the Office of the Supreme Military Command (Başkomutanlık Vekâleti). Because of the cost of aircraft, it was a small unit. It would remain there for the duration of the war, never becoming a separate corps as in other World War I armies. Instead it was parceled out in small detachments to an army or corps which directed tactical use of the planes. Primitive logistics kept the units small.
To complicate matters, the Ottoman Navy
established the Naval Aircraft School (Bahriye Tayyare Mektebi), in Yeşilköy in June 1914.
In 1915 some German officers came to the Ottoman Empire, such as Hans Joachim Buddecke
, and some Ottoman officers went to Germany
for flight education. Buddecke himself would achieve some success flying for the Ottoman allies of Germany, achieving four confirmed and seven probable victories from very late in 1915 through the summer of 1916 while flying for the Ottoman air force.
By the end of 1915, two offices were established to govern aviation. The 13th Branch was part of the Ottoman General Staff; the 9th Branch was part of the Minister of War's office. Although the 13th Branch was senior to the 9th, opportunities for overlap and turf battles were legion.
By 1916, the growing air force had 81 pilots and observers and about 90 planes. Eventually, Germany would transfer 460 planes into Ottoman Empire; some 260 went to the Ottoman units and the rest remained in German units. Some 400 German aviation personnel served in Ottoman forces.
By war's end, the Ottoman aviation aquadrons was a potpourri of about 200 supplied, purchased, and captured aircraft from Germany, France, Russia, and Britain. Even a general enumeration is overwhelming: seven types of Albatros; four types of Fokker
s; three types of Gotha
bombers; two types each of Rumpler
and Caudron
; plus LVG B series
, Halberstadt
s, Pfalz
es, Voisin
s, DeHavillands, Nieuport
s, a Bristol Bullet, a Farman
, a Morane-Saulnier L Parasol, and a Grigorovich G.5.
Efforts were made to reorganize the Ottoman aviation squadrons, but this ended in 1918 with the end of the First World War and the occupation of Constantinople.
; of six operational planes, two were sent to eastern Anatolia, with the others retained at the flying school. Another account insists the Ottoman aircraft detachments had only five aircraft and six pilots.
Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant
) Erich Serno arrived in January, 1915, accompanied by a staff of twelve. It was Erich Serno who convinced the Ottoman military leadership to give the pilots a distinct uniform (a winged crescent and star on their hats.) These men were parceled out to Ottoman detachments to fill out shortages in trained Ottoman personnel. Other German air personnel were later supplied. The augmentation became so extreme that one of the seven detachments formed by the end of 1915 was wholly German, although they wore Ottoman uniforms. Total Ottoman personnel in these seven detachments were 11 observers and seven army pilots, three navy pilots, and three civilian pilots.
The most important 1915 operation of the Ottoman aircraft detachments was the surveillance of the Gallipoli landing. This was performed by two detachments which was later reinforced. Ottoman airplanes from Gelibolu
also attacked Allied and Greek naval targets and bases throughout Northern Aegean.
The Ottoman aviation squadrons deployed to fronts of Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Western Thrace, Constantinople area and Caucasus
in late 1915.
Erich Serno's office was renamed as the General Inspectorate of Air Forces (Kuva-yı Havaiye Müfettiş-i Umumiliği) trying to reconstruct itself on July 29, 1918 had no personnel, but only remained as a title on paper.
In summer 1918, Palestine Brigade
of the Royal Flying Corps
and Australian Flying Corps
pressured the Ottoman and German aircraft detachments in Palestine out of its reconnaissance role. The Ottoman forces, lacking the information to fend off Allenby's offensives around Megiddo
, found themselves under heavy air attack while retreating from their rout.
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
(Turkish: Osmanlı Tayyare Bölükleri) were military aviation units of the Ottoman Army and Navy
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
. The history of Ottoman military aviation dates back to June 1909According to Hamit Palabiyik, its formation came about after the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
sent two pilots to the International Aviation Conference in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in June 1909 (Hamit Palabiyik, Turkish Public Administration: From Tradition to the Modern Age, USAK Books, 2008, ISBN 9786054030019, p. 85. or July 1911.The Turkish Air Force
Turkish Air Force
The Turkish Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. It ranks 3rd in NATO in terms of fleet size behind the USAF and Royal Air Force with a current inventory of 798 aircraft .-Initial stages:...
regards flight trainings of Captain Fesa Bey and Lieutenant Yusuf Kenan Bey in 1911 as its own start line and celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011. "Türk Hava Kuvvetleri 100 Yaşında" in the official website of Turkish Air Force The organisation is sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Air Force.According to Edward J. Erickson, the very term Ottoman Air Force is a gross exaggeration and the term Osmanlı Hava Kuvvetleri (Ottoman Air Force) unfortunately is often repeated in contemporary Turkish sources. (Edward J. Erickson, Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, "Appendix D The Ottoman Aviation Inspectorate and Aviation Squadrons", ISBN 0-313-31516-7, p. 227.)According to GlobalSecurity.org
GlobalSecurity.org
GlobalSecurity.org, launched in 2000, is a public policy organization focusing on the fields of defense, space exploration, intelligence, weapons of mass destruction and homeland security...
, the Ottoman aviation units never came under a centralised operational (as opposed to administrative) command, and never matured into an independent arm or corps as it did in other countries. Flying detachments (Tayyare Bölüğü) and fighter squadrons (Av Bölüğü) reported individually to either an Army or Corps command., Ottoman Air Branch - 1914-1918 - The Great War in the official website of the GlobalSecurity.org. The fleet size reached its apex in December 1916, when the Ottoman aviation squadrons had 90 airplanes.
Establishment of the Flying School and War Units
Pierre de Caters
Baron Pierre de Caters was a Belgian adventurer, aviator and car and motorboat racer. He was the first Belgian to fly an aircraft in 1908....
and then French pilot Louis Bleriot
Louis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
performed the first flight demonstration in the Ottoman Empire.
After witnessing the growing importance of an air combat support branch, the Ottoman government decided to organize its own military aviation program. For this purpose officers were sent to Europe by the end of 1910 to participate in the study of combat flight. However, because of financial difficulties, the student program was aborted and the trainees returned to Ottoman Empire in the spring of 1911.
Although left without any governmental guidelines for establishing an air force, the Ottoman Minister of War of the time, Mahmud Shevket Pasha, continued to encourage the idea of a military aviation program. On 28 June 1911, a written examination was held and on 4 July, Cavalry Captain Fesa (Evrensey) and Engineer Lieutenant Yusuf Kenan were selected. Fesa was sent to France and Yusuf Kenan was sent to Germany. But because the German school wanted an excessively high fee, both of them were enrolled in the Blériot School
Louis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
at Étampes
Étampes
Étampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris . Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department....
near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in July 1911.
In late 1911 Staff Lieutenant Colonel Süreyya (İlmen) was instructed with founding the Aircraft Committee (Tayyare Komisyonu) with members from the Inspectorate of Technical and Fortified Formations (Kıtaât-ı Fenniyye ve Mevâki-i Müstahkeme Müfettişligi). Two tent hangars for the Aircraft School (Tayyare Mektebi) was erected in January 1912 at Yeşilköy
Yesilköy
Yeşilköy is a neighborhood of the Bakırköy municipality of Istanbul, Turkey.It is located along the Marmara Sea about 11 kilometers west of Istanbul's historic city center...
(which is the Ataturk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport is the major international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Opened in 1924 and located in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is west of the city centre. In 1980, the airport was renamed to Atatürk International Airport in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the...
today).
On February 21, 1912, Fesa and Yusuf Kenan completed their flight education at the Blériot School and returned home with the 780th and 797th French Aero Club certificates. In the same year, eight more Ottoman officers were sent to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for flight education. Fesa Bey and Yusuf Kenan Bey flew over Istanbul on 27 April 1912.
The Ottoman Empire started preparing its first pilots and planes, and with the founding of the Aircraft School (Tayyare Mektebi) in Yeşilköy on July 3, 1912, the empire began to tutor its own flight officers. The founding of the Aircraft School quickened advancement in the military aviation program, increased the number of enlisted persons within it, and gave the new pilots an active role in the Ottoman forces.
Same year a single-seat and a two-seater Deperdussin airplanes were purchased from France and brought over to Istanbul in March 1912. Two of the two-seater version of Bleriot XI-b
Blériot XI
The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in...
were also acquired, first of which was presented by Supreme Commander Rıza Paşa. Three of a different two-seat model named XI-2
Blériot XI
The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in...
and three of the single-seat model called Pengouin
Blériot XI
The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in...
were also deployed at the Ottoman Army.
In accordance with the agreement reached in between the producer and the Ottoman Ministry of War, 7 REP, Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie was a pioneering French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He was born in Paris, the son of a textile industrialist...
. The REP, Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie was a pioneering French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He was born in Paris, the son of a textile industrialist...
are also one the first planes deployed at the Ottoman Empire. The plane was designed by Robert Esnaoult-Pelterie and its first flight took place in 1912 and they entered service during the same year in France. In accordance with the agreement reached in between the producer and the Ottoman Ministry of War 7 REP planes were also purchased and the first one was planned to join Ottoman Army on March 15, 1912. In late April 1912, the military aircraft was shown to the public for the first time when a large military parade was held the for honor of Sultan Mehmed V Reshad
Mehmed V
Mehmed V Reshad was the 35th Ottoman Sultan. He was the son of Sultan Abdülmecid I. He was succeeded by his half-brother Mehmed VI.-Birth:...
.
Five of the seven purchased were single seaters and the remaining two were two-seaters. One of the single seaters were planned only for ground practicing. The last plane was confiscated by the Serbians while being brought to Istanbul by train. These primitive planes were already out of service by 1914.
By the end of 1912, the Ottoman Army had a total of 15 machines, acquired mostly through private donations.
Italo-Turkish War
In 1911, the Kingdom of ItalyKingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
invaded the Tripolitania Vilayet (modern day Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
) of Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, using aircraft for reconnaissance and bombing. On October 23, 1911, an Italian pilot flew over Ottoman lines and the next day Italian dirigibles dropped bombs for the first time in aviation history on ground targets.
Ottoman troops opened fire on an Italian aircraft on 15 December 1911. The first aircraft to be brought down in a war was that of Lieutenant Manzini, shot down on 25 August 1912 and the first aircraft to be captured was that of Captain Moizo, on 10 September 1912.
When Italy invaded Trablusgarp, Ottomans was not ready to use its few new aircraft in battle, it did not even have an army in North Africa and countered Italians with organized local Arab militia. There were attempts to purchase aircraft from France and to send them to the battlefield via Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, but they did not materialize.
Balkan Wars
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
, against the Balkan countries of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Seventeen Ottoman aircraft were used for reconnaissance, from September 1912 to October 1913. The Ottoman military aviation, in its inexperience, lost several airplanes at first; as they hardened to battle, they improved and there was a swarm of recruits to the new force.
Nevertheless, the Balkan League
Balkan League
The Balkan League was an alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Balkan states of Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the time still controlled much of the Balkan peninsula...
won the war. A short while later, Bulgaria attacked Serbia to kick off the Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
, and Ottoman Empire pitched in on the Serbian side.
By the end of the Balkan Wars, the fledgling Ottoman military aviation had already been through three wars and a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
.
With the end of the Balkan Wars a modernization process started and new planes were purchased. With the outbreak of the First World War, the modernization process stopped abruptly.
Pre–World War I
On 29 October 1913, Captain Salim Bey and Captain Kemal Bey flew over the Sea of MarmaraSea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
and on 18 November 1913, Belkıs Şevket Hanım, a member of the Society for the Defense of Women's Rights (Mudafaa-i Hukuki Nisvan Cemiyeti) rode the aircraft commaned by Fethi Bey.
World War I Structure and Organization
The Ottoman aviaton squadrons began World War I under direct control of the Office of the Supreme Military Command (Başkomutanlık Vekâleti). Because of the cost of aircraft, it was a small unit. It would remain there for the duration of the war, never becoming a separate corps as in other World War I armies. Instead it was parceled out in small detachments to an army or corps which directed tactical use of the planes. Primitive logistics kept the units small.
To complicate matters, the Ottoman Navy
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
established the Naval Aircraft School (Bahriye Tayyare Mektebi), in Yeşilköy in June 1914.
In 1915 some German officers came to the Ottoman Empire, such as Hans Joachim Buddecke
Hans Joachim Buddecke
Hans-Joachim Buddecke was a German Flying Ace in World War I, credited with thirteen victories. He was the third, after Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke, to earn the Blue Max...
, and some Ottoman officers went to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for flight education. Buddecke himself would achieve some success flying for the Ottoman allies of Germany, achieving four confirmed and seven probable victories from very late in 1915 through the summer of 1916 while flying for the Ottoman air force.
By the end of 1915, two offices were established to govern aviation. The 13th Branch was part of the Ottoman General Staff; the 9th Branch was part of the Minister of War's office. Although the 13th Branch was senior to the 9th, opportunities for overlap and turf battles were legion.
By 1916, the growing air force had 81 pilots and observers and about 90 planes. Eventually, Germany would transfer 460 planes into Ottoman Empire; some 260 went to the Ottoman units and the rest remained in German units. Some 400 German aviation personnel served in Ottoman forces.
By war's end, the Ottoman aviation aquadrons was a potpourri of about 200 supplied, purchased, and captured aircraft from Germany, France, Russia, and Britain. Even a general enumeration is overwhelming: seven types of Albatros; four types of Fokker
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names, starting out in 1912 in Schwerin, Germany, moving to the Netherlands in 1919....
s; three types of Gotha
Gothaer Waggonfabrik
Gothaer Waggonfabrik was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building.-World War I:...
bombers; two types each of Rumpler
Rumpler
The Rumpler Tropfenwagen was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.Rumpler, born in Vienna, was a designer of aircraft when on the 1921's Berlin car show he introduced the Tropfenwagen. It was to be the first streamlined car . The Rumpler had a Cw-value of only 0.28...
and Caudron
Caudron
The Caudron Airplane Company was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 by brothers Gaston Caudron and René Caudron . It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for the military in both World War I and World War II...
; plus LVG B series
LVG
Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H. was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Berlin-Johannisthal, which began constructing aircraft in 1912, building Farman-type aircraft. The company constructed many reconnaissance and light bomber biplanes during World War I.The raid on London in 1916 was...
, Halberstadt
Halberstadt
Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
s, Pfalz
Pfalz
Pfalz may refer to:*Kaiserpfalz, also known as Königspfalz, a castle which was a temporary seat of power for the Holy Roman Emperor in the Early and High Middle Ages, etymologically derived from Latin palatium - Geography:...
es, Voisin
Voisin
- Companies :*Avions Voisin, the French automobile company*Voisin , the French aircraft manufacturer- People :*Catherine Monvoisin, known as "La Voisin" , French sorceress during the reign of Louis XIV...
s, DeHavillands, Nieuport
Nieuport
Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...
s, a Bristol Bullet, a Farman
Farman
Farman Aviation Works was an aeronautic enterprise founded and run by the brothers; Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rationalization of its aerospace industry, Farman's assets were...
, a Morane-Saulnier L Parasol, and a Grigorovich G.5.
Efforts were made to reorganize the Ottoman aviation squadrons, but this ended in 1918 with the end of the First World War and the occupation of Constantinople.
World War I Operations
In August 1914, the Ottoman military aviation had eight planes assigned for operations and four in the flying school in YeşilköyYesilköy
Yeşilköy is a neighborhood of the Bakırköy municipality of Istanbul, Turkey.It is located along the Marmara Sea about 11 kilometers west of Istanbul's historic city center...
; of six operational planes, two were sent to eastern Anatolia, with the others retained at the flying school. Another account insists the Ottoman aircraft detachments had only five aircraft and six pilots.
Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
) Erich Serno arrived in January, 1915, accompanied by a staff of twelve. It was Erich Serno who convinced the Ottoman military leadership to give the pilots a distinct uniform (a winged crescent and star on their hats.) These men were parceled out to Ottoman detachments to fill out shortages in trained Ottoman personnel. Other German air personnel were later supplied. The augmentation became so extreme that one of the seven detachments formed by the end of 1915 was wholly German, although they wore Ottoman uniforms. Total Ottoman personnel in these seven detachments were 11 observers and seven army pilots, three navy pilots, and three civilian pilots.
The most important 1915 operation of the Ottoman aircraft detachments was the surveillance of the Gallipoli landing. This was performed by two detachments which was later reinforced. Ottoman airplanes from Gelibolu
Gelibolu
Gelibolu, also known as Gallipoli , is the name of a town and a district in Çanakkale Province of the Marmara region, located in Eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey on the southern shore of the peninsula named after it on the Dardanelles strait, two miles away from Lapseki on the other...
also attacked Allied and Greek naval targets and bases throughout Northern Aegean.
The Ottoman aviation squadrons deployed to fronts of Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Western Thrace, Constantinople area and Caucasus
Caucasus Campaign
The Caucasus Campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire, later including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Central Caspian Dictatorship and the UK as part of the Middle Eastern theatre or alternatively named as part of the Caucasus Campaign during World War I...
in late 1915.
Erich Serno's office was renamed as the General Inspectorate of Air Forces (Kuva-yı Havaiye Müfettiş-i Umumiliği) trying to reconstruct itself on July 29, 1918 had no personnel, but only remained as a title on paper.
In summer 1918, Palestine Brigade
Palestine Brigade RAF
The Palestine Brigade of the Royal Flying Corps, and later Royal Air Force, was formed 5 October 1917 in respose to General Allenby's request for an air formation for his planned offensive against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine.-Background:...
of the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
and Australian Flying Corps
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
pressured the Ottoman and German aircraft detachments in Palestine out of its reconnaissance role. The Ottoman forces, lacking the information to fend off Allenby's offensives around Megiddo
Battle of Megiddo (1918)
The Battle of Megiddo took place between 19 September and 1 October 1918, in what was then the northern part of Ottoman Palestine and parts of present-day Syria and Jordan...
, found themselves under heavy air attack while retreating from their rout.
External links
- Aviation pages in 'Turkey in the First World War' website
- Gallery of Pilots in 'Turkey in the First World War' website
- Turkish Aircraf in 'Turkey in the First World War' website
- "Türk Deniz Havacılık Tarihi" in the official website of the Turkish Naval Forces.
- http://www.incirlik.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5470 Accessed 2 October 2008.
- http://flagspot.net/flags/tr%5Eairf.html Accessed 2 October 2008.