When I was in the telegraph office, something happened. Let me tell you.

One night Yavuz and Midilli left, I got the code. I took the code about the passage to Colonel Talat he began to cry. He commanded:

-Tonight everywhere will remain in dark. The ships will be sailing through the outer seas. No light will be shed. Send this message to both sides.

In Seddulbahir there was Captain Kadir. I told him,

- I will inform you, the ships’ launch, and you will inform their return.

That night, in the dark, the ships sailed out of the strait. There was no light. I have learnt later that they have bombed the British headquarters on the Island of Imbros. On their way home, Midilli has hit a torpedo and sunk and Yavuz has been seriously damaged.

When Yavuz was passing Helles, Kadir Bey telephoned. He was crying. He said, “there is something wrong with the ship.”

Some compartments of Yavuz had leaked. We all went to shore, to see its coming. It was sailing very slowly. Near Soganlidere, an enemy plane fired on Yavuz. Yavuz replied with its anti-aeroplane guns. The batteries on Kilitbahir also began to fire the aeroplanes. They left.

Yavuz was damaged on its left part. I was anchored on Nara Cove. It stayed there for few days. Enemy aeroplanes frequently fired on Yavuz. I saw twenty of them. Later Yavuz sailed to Istanbul.

They sent me to War Academy, in Istanbul. I spent seven months in the headquarters. Meanwhile, our army was defeated in Arabia. The armistice was signed. I have returned home. There were British in Canakkale.

I left high school from the second grade. I intended to enter the School of Agriculture in Bursa. I could not. I was a candidate officer in Kilitbahir. I was trained in Istanbul as a candidate officer. I have given lessons as well.

After a year, which I have spent at home, I was conscripted again in Canakkale Fortified Area Gendarme Post. Our commander was Major Ali Riza.

I have commanded the patrols chasing bandits. The War of Anatolia has just begun in those days. I have closely seen cruelty of the Greeks.

On this duty, I once went to Saricali village. Captain Niyazi, First Lieutenant Husamettin, Lieutenant Suphi and their forces were there to catch the bandits.

That night just after the ezan, the Greeks blockaded the village. All my friends were in the tavern. I told them not to go but they did not listen. They have gone. A friend named Yusuf was with me. Our host had a son; he was seven or eight years old. Yusuf sent him to tavern. He came back and said, “the infidels are picking the gendarmes’ guns. I said Yusuf; “ride the horses”. We were in house just outside the village... We mounted on our horses; Yusuf was following me. The Greek soldiers were around the village. As we rode the horses with noise, they ran away. They thought that we were attacking on them.

While they were running with panic, we have gone out of the village. We went to Cinarli village’s patrol and informed Sergeant Cafer about the situation. Then I went to the post and informed the commander of the battalion. Our commander was Ali Riza Bey; he distributed al the soldiers to the villages around. Later, Ali Riza Bey negotiated with the British commander and taken back the guns that the Greeks seized.