WAR SECRET

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 December 1929, Page 11

WAR SECRET

SAVING CONSTANTINOPLE. LONDON, November 15. By dodging a Britishpatrol and laying a line of twenty mines, the captain of a little Turkish steamer, the NousTct, saved Constantinople and changed the course of the war, according to John / Buchan’s book, “Causal and Casual in History,” which has been published by the Cambridge Press. The volume includes a story of the amazement of German leaders when the British fleet failed to attack Constantinople in March, 1915. Mr. Buchan says that three mines were destroyed by sweepers. “We did not realise that they were part of a line, and did not look for more,” he says. “If the British leaders had made a different deduction, there would have been no casualties on March 18, 1915, and Admiral de Robeck must have taken the fleet into the Sea of Marmora next day.

“On March 23 the Admiral, after a talk with Sir lan Hamilon, cabled to London that he could not continue with the naval attack until the Army was ready to. co-operate. “Admiral Lord Fisher, First Lord of the Admiralty, promptly agreed, his argument being that we did not need to lose more ships when Britain was bound to win in any case, seeing that the British were the lost ten tribes of Israel.” Mr. Buchan adds: “Turkey was then at the last gasp. Her resistance at The Narrows on March 18 was the last effort of which she was capable. The Turks believed it was mathematically certain that in a day or two Constantinople would be in British hands. “Members of the Government had their papers packed, and were about to leave for the uplands of Asia Minor. “German diplomats then at Constantinople described to me the complete despaii’ of the Turks. Their German advisers, when they heard that the British fleet had given up the attack, could not believe their ears. Then it seemed the most insane renunciation of certain victory.”