Halime Çavuş (1898–1976) (literally "Sergeant Halime", later Halime Kocabıyık) was a Turkish woman, who disguised herself as a man in order to serve in a militia during the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

Life

She was born in Duruçay village of

Kastamonu Province Kastamonu Province ( tr, ) is one of the provinces of Turkey, in the Black Sea region to the north of the country. It is surrounded by Sinop to the east, Bartın, Karabük to the west, Çankırı to the south, Çorum to the southeast and the ...

in 1898. Although her father and mother were reluctant, she wanted to take part in the

(1919–1923) and so joined the nationalist forces in disguise as a man. She was known by her colleagues under the name ''Halim''. She served in the logistics of the army. The main supply road of the nationalists was between

İnebolu İnebolu is a town and district of the Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is from Istanbul by road and north of Kastamonu. It is a typical Black Sea port town with many fine examples of traditional domestic architecture. Ac ...

port on the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, the declared capital of the nationalists. Halime used to carry weapon and ammunition on the road on oxen carts. On 9 June 1921 the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

cruiser ''

Georgios Averof George M. Averoff (15 August 1815, Metsovo – 15 July 1899, Alexandria), alternately Jorgos Averof or Georgios Averof (in Greek: Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ), was a businessman and philanthropist. He is one of the great national benefactors o ...

'' and

Greek battleship Kilkis USS ''Mississippi'' (BB-23) was the lead ship of the originally built by the US Navy in 1904–1908. The class was built to a design smaller than other American battleships as the result of a limit on displacement (ship), displacement imposed b ...

bombarded İnebolu and Halime was badly wounded in the leg. Due to permanent disability, she had to abandon her activity. At the end of the war, she was invited to Ankara to meet

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

(later Atatürk), the founder of

Turkish Republic Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, and his wife Latife. She was promoted to the rank of a sergeant and was decorated with the Medal of Independence. She was also put on a special retirement salary. After the enactment of the

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inuit ...

in 1934, she took the family name "Kocabıyık". She adopted her brother's son Sadık. Halime Kocabıyık died on 20 February 1976.

Legacy

There are two schools named after Halime Çavuş; ''Söğütu kindergarten'' in

Sakarya Province Sakarya ( tr, ) is a province in Turkey, located on the coast of Black Sea. The Sakarya River creates a webbing of estuaries in the province, which is in the Marmara Region. The adjacent provinces are Kocaeli to the west, Bilecik to the south ...

and ''Primary school for the deaf'' in

Kastamonu Kastamonu is the capital district of the Kastamonu Province, Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 102,059 of which 64,606 live in the urban center of Kastamonu. (Population of the urban center in 2010 is 91,012.) The ...

School page {{in lang, tr
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References

People from Duruçay, Kastamonu 1898 births 1976 deaths Women in the Turkish War of Independence Recipients of the Medal of Independence (Turkey)