Seyit Çabuk
Seyit Ali Çabuk (1889-1939), usually called Corporal Seyit (Turkish: Seyit Onbaşı) was a First World War gunner in the Ottoman Army. He is famous for having carried three shells to an artillery piece during the Allied attempt to force the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915.
Born in the village of Havran, he enlisted into the army in April 1909. After serving in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 he was transferred to the forts defending the Mediterranean entrance to the Dardanelles. Following the heavy naval bombardment of the forts guarding the Narrows on 18 March 1915, the gun he was serving in the Mecidiye fort remained operational but its shell crane had been damaged. Corporal Seyit, by himself, carried three artillery shells weighing 275 kg. to the 240/35 mm gun[1] and enabled it to continue firing on the Allied Fleet. One of the shells reputedly hit the British pre-dreadnought HMS Ocean, and the ship was later sunk by a mine laid by the minelayer Nusret. Seyit had blood gushing from his nose during his heroic act, because of the immense weight of the shells which he carried.
Following the repulse of the naval assault, Seyit was promoted to corporal and publicised as an iconic Turkish hero. After the Battle of Çanakkale, he was asked to have his picture taken with the shell which he famously carried. Corporal Seyit could not move the shell no matter how hard he tried. Afterwards Corporal Seyit uttered the famous words "If war breaks out again, I'll carry again." After that his photo was taken with a wooden shell.
He was discharged in 1918 and became a forester and later a coal-miner. He took the surname Çabuk in 1934 with the passing of the Surname Law. He died of a lung disease in 1939.
A statue of him carrying a shell was erected in 1992, just south of Kilitbahir Castle on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Medals
References
- "Corporal Seyit". The Gallipoli Campaign. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
- "Corporal Seyit's Turkish War Memorial, Gallipoli". Digger History. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
- "Kilitbahir Fort and Corporal Seyit Memorial, Kilitbahi". Visit Gallipoli. Retrieved 2007-11-05.
