The Raid on Erbeyli was a raid conducted by the

Kuva-yi Milliye The Kuva-yi Milliye ( ota, قواى مليه; 'National Forces' or 'Nationalist Forces') were irregular Turkish militia forces active in the early period of the Turkish War of Independence. These irregular forces emerged after the occupation of ...

. After invading Aydın and

Nazilli Nazilli is the largest town in Aydın Province in the Aegean region of western Turkey, east of the city of Aydın, on the road to Denizli. Etymology Nazilli is a Turkish name that has somehow evolved from the former (also Turkish) name of P ...

, the Greek army was concerned about resistance movements raising in the area. The raid against the Malgaç bridge a few days ago was a good example for their feeling of unease.

Prelude

Turkish

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Kadri Bey of the

Muğla Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the District of Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of 660 m and lies at a dista ...

volunteer

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...

had been observing Greek troops in the area for several days. He determined their movements,

barrack Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

s and guard replacement times. After precise surveillance, he concluded that the best target for a raid was the Erbeyli train station. The Erbeyli train station was located 1-2 kilometers away from the Erbeyli village. Therefore, the villagers were far away from gunfires.Asaf Gökbel: ''Millî mücadele de Aydin'', Çoşkun matbaasi, 1964, page 204. The train station was guarded by 20 Greek soldiers equipped with

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s situated in a small hangar next to the station.

Raid

One

Evzone The Evzones or Evzonoi ( el, Εύζωνες, Εύζωνοι, ) were several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army. Today, they are the members of the Presidential Guard ( el, Προεδρική Φρουρά , transl ...

company was sent to the Erbeyli village one night before the attack. The Turkish forces, unaware about this circumstance, attacked the train station in the night of 20–21 June 1919. At the beginning, the attacked looked like a success but with the Greek reinforcements arriving from the Erbeyli village the situation got worse. 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 ...

guards of the station fired with their

s from the top floor of the

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

. The clash lasted about three hours. Caught in the fire from two sides and having lost their machine gunner, Kadri Bey decided to retreat under the veil of darkness before the sun would rise. He divided the remaining men into two groups. The first group retreated to the mountainous area in the north, crossing the

Büyük Menderes River The Büyük Menderes River (historically the Maeander or Meander, from Ancient Greek: Μαίανδρος, ''Maíandros''; tr, Büyük Menderes Irmağı), is a river in southwestern Turkey. It rises in west central Turkey near Dinar before fl ...

with the small ship named Osmanbükü and finally arriving in the village of Çakmar. The second group retreated to the

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

in the south.

Result

The attack had cost the Turks 7 killed and 12 wounded. The Greeks had suffered 30-80 killed and 40 wounded. The Greek troops angered about the attack and their casualties, brought their casualties to Aydın and showed them to the local Turkish population. Later they abducted 72 Turkish civilians from Erbeyli,

Germencik Germencik is a town and a district of Aydın Province in the Aegean region of Turkey. Geography Germencik is located in the middle of the fertile Büyük Menderes (Meander) plain, inland from the Aegean coastal town of Kuşadası, on the Aydı ...

and İncirliova and executed them by shooting as a warning for future raids.

References

Sources

''History of Erbeyli''
Erbeyli village official website
''BATI ANADOLU’DA KUVAYI MİLLİYENİN OLUŞUMU (1919–1920)''
Oğuz Gülcan, Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılap Tarihi Enstitüsü, 2007, page 253-254 (Ankara University Open Archive System). {{Turkish War of Independence Erbeyli History of Aydın Province 1919 in the Ottoman Empire 1919 in Greece Conflicts in 1919 Erbeyli June 1919 events Battles in 1919