Bataille de Gallipoli en 1915 les deux tetes de pont alliees

Bigalı Mehmet Çavuş (1878–3 February 1964), (literally Sergeant Mehmet of Biga) was an Ottoman Army sergeant, who fought during the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I. He is remembered as a hero, and is considered to be the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

of the common name "

Mehmetçik ''Mehmetçik'' ()(, "little" denoting diminutive endearment rather than actual age) is a term generally used to affectionately refer to soldiers of the Turkish Army. It is similar to the colloquialisms ''Tommy Atkins'', ''Doughboy'', and '' Di ...

" used for a Turkish soldier.

Early life

He was born in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, Bulgaria in 1878. During the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

(which saw Russians taking Plovdiv on 16 January 1878), Mehmet's family emigrated to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, and settled in Bahçeli village of

Biga, Çanakkale Biga is a city in Çanakkale Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is located on the Biga River, northeast from Çanakkale city centre. It is the seat of Biga District.Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He participated in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

Battle

Sgt. Mehmet took part in the Gallipoli Campaign (1915–1916), stationed at the beach in front of the

Sedd el Bahr Sedd el Bahr (, , meaning "Walls of the Sea") is a village in the Eceabat District, Çanakkale Province, Turkey. It is located at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. The village lies east of the cape, on the shore of the Dardanelle ...

Fort () and artillery batteries on the

Gallipoli Peninsula The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

. He fought against the landing of the Allied army. At 14:45 local time on March 4, 1915, a fleet consisting of five

dreadnought The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...

s and seven

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s of the

Allies of World War I The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...

bombarded Seddülbahir. They landed sixty troops in three boats at Seddülbahir from a battleship under the shield of machine gun fire to capture the Ottoman fortifications in order to secure the passage of their naval forces through the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...

. Although the artillery batteries in Seddülbahir were evacuated by the Ottomans, a

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

led by Bigalı Mehmet Çavuş was deployed to the Seddülbahir Fort. The formation was part of the 10th

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

, 3rd

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

, 27th

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of the 9th Division commanded by

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Halil Sami Bey Halil Sami Bey (1866 – 1925) was an Ottoman Army colonel, who served in the First World War. He successfully managed to fend off British and French forces during the Landing at Cape Helles. Career Halil Sami was in charge of the Otto ...

, who was responsible for the defense of the area. The 30 Ottoman soldiers were armed by rifle and

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

only. During the three-hour-long fierce battle, the Ottomans continuously changed their positions in the fort, giving an impression of being stronger in numbers than they actually were. No more Allied troop landing took place due to this tactic. During the battle, Sgt. Mehmet's rifle barrel broke into pieces, so he threw his broken rifle at the enemy, and instead started to attack them with stones. This attack caused Sgt. Mehmet to be wounded in the head and on the right chest. When his comrades saw Sgt. Mehmet fighting with stones, they broke cover and began to fire openly. Finally, the invading Allied troops retreated to their battleships following a

bayonet charge A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

launched by the Turks. As the Ottoman reserve force came to the scene in the evening, there were 6 dead, 13 wounded among the Ottoman soldiers, and only 12 left were capable to keep up with any fight.

Aftermath

Lieutenant colonel

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic 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 Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

, commander of the 19th Division at Haraptepe, sent a report to

Cevat Pasha Cevat is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Cevat Rıfat Atilhan (1892–1967), Turkish career officer, antisemitic writer, initiator of the 1934 Thrace pogroms *Cevat Çobanlı Cevat Çobanlı (14 September 1870Mesut Aydı ...

, commander of the Dardanelles fortifications, and asked him to award Sgt. Mehmet with a medal. Vice Commander-in-chief

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

visited Sgt. Mehmet at the military hospital in Çanakkale, and decorated him with the Ottoman War Medal. Sgt. Mehmet served sixteen years in the army. Later, he lived a modest life in Bahçeli village of

Biga Biga may refer to: Places * Biga, Çanakkale, a town and district of Çanakkale Province in Turkey * Sanjak of Biga, an Ottoman province * Biga Çayı, a river in Çanakkale Province * Biga Peninsula, a peninsula in Turkey, in the northwest part ...

Çanakkale Province Çanakkale Province () is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Its area is 9,817 km2, and its population is 559,383 (2022). Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province ...

; refusing financial assistance as he had fought for his country and not for money. He died at age 86 on 3 February 1964, and was buried next to his wife's grave in his village.

Legacy

A similar war medal is on display in the "Bigalı Mehmet Çavuş Arts Gallery". It is considered that the common name "

" (literally "Little Mehmet") for an Ottoman or a Turkish soldier was coined after him. In 2017, his burial site was transformed into a monumental grave, and a war gallery was established next to it. Some high-ranked military officers and local politicians have visited his grave to pay their respects. He is remembered as a hero.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmet Cavus, Bigali 1878 births Military personnel from Plovdiv People from Biga, Çanakkale Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ottoman military personnel of World War I People of the Gallipoli campaign 1964 deaths