Lieutenant Ruhi told one of
his memories to famous Turkish journalist Rusen Esref Unaydın, as below:
Sir, the aeroplanes irritate the commander of our district, Lieutenant
Colonel Mahmut Bey. If he sees an aeroplane, he always orders us to fire on it. He never
lets them to fly on us. If an aeroplane comes closer, he fires all the batteries.
Yes Sir; an aeroplane has crashed. It was foggy and the ships failed to
notice its crash. The pilots threw themselves into the sea. They have begun to swim
towards their ships. As our gunners have seen the pilots, they began firing to make them
return. That moment, the ships understood that the aeroplane has fallen and they replied
to our gunfire. The plane was destroyed. In that time, we desperately needed a captive. We
needed to have information about the opposite side’s situation. The enemy was evacuating
Suvla and deploying those forces in Helles. In fact, this action was a bluff. In addition,
the battleships were forming a curve, around Helles. Lieutenant Colonel Mahmut Bey wanted
the pilots alive. At last, two pilots draw near the shore. Of course, there were mine
fields and nobody dared to enter that zone. Meanwhile, mutual gunfire was continuing.
Still we had to learn enemy’s condition. The pilots were trying to survive from the
mines and the gunfire. At this point, I have to explain the drama of that moment. Two
pilots were screaming; they were dying. Moreover, they were still expecting aid from us.
Of course, if the duty calls we had to walk on the bayonets or shells and die. At that
moment, Mahmut Bey asked, “who goes?” I pitied those English although they were our
enemies. I knew how to swim. I said, “I’ll go.”
Mahmut Bey asked:
- Where do come from?
- I am from Canakkale.
With haste, I have forgot to take or my undershirt. I jumped. Then my
friend lieutenant Kasif said, “I’ll go with you”. He was a classmate of mine. Now he
is a captive in Russia, poor boy...
We went together. The enemy was still bombarding. There were aeroplanes
flying on us.
The sea was very wavy. Any bomb has reached us. We swam.
Unfortunately, one of the pilots had drowned. He could not have
withstood anymore. We saved the other one. Commander Mahmut Bey took him to his district.
There he was interrogated in English. He was taken good care. Later, he was sent to 5th
Army Corps. While he was going, the English said, Mahmut Bey that “I always read in the
books that the Turks are brave and chivalrous. This time I’ve seen it. I never expected
such bravery. Even an English could not do it.”
