THE facts of the massacre of the French garrison at
Ufra, obtained from original sources, took place under the following
conditions:
The Nationalists had been besieging the small French
force in Urfa during the early days of Apr11, 1920, and at length Commander
Hauger was compelled to capitulate. On the eighth of April be decided to
evacuate the city and did so under the following terms: That all Christians
should have ample protection; That the houses occupied by the garrison should
not be reoccupied by the Turks until the garrison had left the city; that the
graves of the fallen should be respected that sufficient transport should be
supplied to convey their arms, ammunition, etc.(Their own transport being sadly
depleted.) One officer of the gendarme and ten men would accompany them for safe
convoy.
These were agreed to by the Mutessarif of Ufra and the
commander of the Turkish Nationalist forces, but, notwithstanding this
arrangement the French were attacked shortly after they had left the town and
nearly annihilated.
A native-born American who chanced to be in Urfa on
relief work and who desired to proceed to Aleppo decided to accompany the
ill-fated expedition and was an eye-witness of what happened. The following
account may be interesting as a chapter of authentic history, never before
published:
“We left Urfa a at one-thirty a.m. on Sunday the eleventh
of April, 1920, Captain Perraut being with the advance guard, four gendarmes
leading the way, in center of column the officer of gendarmerie, Emir Effendi,
who was to accompany us to our destination.”
“On passing the crest of the hill we observed several
gendarmes and we were informed that this was their post. The ascent was very
difficult as, the horses were in bad condition owing to lack of food and exercise.
The camels delayed us as they were well-laden and climbed very slowly. We
halted as usual ten minutes to the hour, the rear guard consisting of one
hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty men, being two kilometers in the
rear.”
“At six a.m., passing through a ravine on to a
straight stretch of road, we were suddenly attacked from the rear and both
flanks, the enemy having machine guns among them. The firing commenced before
the camels had passed out of the ravine. They were in the bend and halted.
Previous to the attack, I had been marching with Commander Hanger and five
minutes before the firing commenced was riding on a Red Cross wagon containing
two wounded. When the firing commenced, two wagons which preceded the others,
having their horses and mules wounded or killed, were forced to halt. I jumped
down, taking cover in a hollow at the roadside, and finding that I was exposed
to fire from the hilltops, decided to make my way forward trusting to find the
Commander, who I knew was only two yards in advance.”
“By this time the attack had taken a formidable form. The
ground here formed a basin surrounded by hills and bare of any cover so that
the column was forced to go forward to find a position of defence, which they
did five hundred yards ahead. The transport with the above exception, was thus
cut off, most of the horses by that time being killed. Firing by this time had
become extremely heavy, and going forward I joined Commander Hauger and two
other officers in a hole in the hillside, which had been left by some
stonecutters and from where he directed operations. We were afterward joined by
two other officers and the Turkish officer of gendarmerie, who was then
disarmed, and two interpreters.”
“About nine a.m., the rear guard were heard and
the firing became very heavy. We were shortly joined by the officer who had
been in charge of them, who gave us a thrilling account of what had happened;
they had been ambushed in a gully, very few escaping.”
“From a hill to the north, we observed the Turkish
Nationalist flag. Shortly after this, several Kurds were seen coming over the
hills, apparently a tribe. At ten o’clock or thereabouts, Commander Hauger held
a conference and decided to surrender.”
“At this time the
line was broken to the east, the transport was lost and the rear guard cut up
and many wounded were coming in. He then told the officer of the gendarmerie to
go out with a flag of truce.”
“As we had several Armenians with us who
needed protection, I suggested that I might accompany him. To this he agreed,
and taking my interpreter carrying the American flag, myself carrying the
white flag with the gendarme in the center, we proceeded toward the enemy’s
position. We were fired on continually. On reaching the destroyed transport
column, we came upon a large body of troops and asked for their commander. We
were informed that they were without one, being irregular troops, ‘Chetas,
etc.’”
“I then instructed the officer of the gendarmerie to send
off messengers to stop the fire and this was accomplished about ten twenty a.m..
A few minutes afterward a mob of Kurds rushed from the hills toward the
French positions, and the battle recommenced. Seeing that it was impossible to
do anything as they refused the truce, I told the officer of gendarmerie to
ride to Urfa, a distance of about nine miles, to inform the Mustessarif of what
had happened and to bring carriages for the wounded and this he did.”
“Here I witnessed the killing of wounded and the killing
of men, who were surrendering their arms. To this, there are many witnesses,
including Lieutenant Deloir, who at present is a prisoner in Urfa. I demanded
a guard of gendarmes who had by this time arrived to accompany me to Urfa. We proceeded,
encircling a hill and striking the road at a natural cistern where we were able
to get water. The officer commanding the gendarmes of Urfa arrived and gave me
a further guard of six men, instructing them to get to the city as soon as
possible, the tribesmen showing great hostility. We proceeded by a circuitous
route through a ravine, arriving in Urfa about two thirty p.m., having walked
for twelve hours, and bringing with me a Syrian, Jacob, who had been working at
the Swiss mission at Urfa.”
“I was unable to
save any Armenians as they were not to be seen.”
“Note: The prisoners, some fifty, are in hospital
and perhaps another fifty are in prison. There may be more, but at present it
is impossible to say as there is a possible chance that some may still be with
the Kurds. The official report of the Mutessarif says that they buried one
hundred and ninety, and one hundred in hospital and prison brings the number to
roughly three hundred, whereas the garrison when en route numbered more than
four hundred.”
“Sundry notes: Lieutenant Deloir, before mentioned,
was stripped by Turkish regular cavalry and rescued in a nude condition by
Kurds who found him some time afterward and who fed him and brought him to
Urfa.”
“The Syrian Yakub, whom I brought back with me and who
was trying to escape to Aleppo is now in Urfa. The Armenians have not been
heard of.”
“When crossing the battle-field, I observed a company of
Turkish infantry regulars and the machine section with mule transport
proceeding toward the French positions. They were, perhaps, a little late
unless there had been action in the hilltops and were going forward to
continue to fight.”
“The attack took place in the hills west of Urfa about
nine miles from town and two miles from junction of Arab Punar, and Seroudj
roads.”
The above story is given precisely as received by me,
without alteration, even of punctuation. The characteristic features of this
incident are:
The breaking of the agreement; the use of so-called
“irregulars” by the Turkish authorities to escape responsibility and the
presence of regulars in case of need; the killing of the wounded and of those
giving up their arms.
There were present in Urfa during the siege Mrs. Richard
Mansfield, widow of the famous actor; Mr. G. Woodward, accountant of the Near
East Relief; and Mary Caroline Holmes, a heroic American lady who wrote a book
on her experiences, entitled “Between the Lines in Asia Minor”, published
by the Fleming H. Revell Company.
The part played by Italy and France, which so greatly
contributed to the extermination of the Christian population of Turkey, and the
fearful events at Smyrna, are well summed up by George Abbott in the work above
referred to, in the following words:
“France, who since the Armistice had displayed a keen jealousy
of England’s place in a part of the world in which she claims special rights,
presently concluded a separate agreement with Turkey—an example in which she
was followed by Italy—and gave the Turks her moral and material support against
the Greeks; while England, while refusing to reverse her policy in favor of
their enemies, contented herself with giving the Greeks only a Platonic
encouragement, which they were unwise enough to take for more than it was
worth.”
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