Turkey Revised WW1 Turkish Rank Structure

[jj08]

Edited November 29, 2008 by jj08

[demir]

I have been revising the WW1 Turkish Rank Structure, and have identified a mistake with the english references, namely the Extract from HANDBOOK OF THE TURKISH ARMY, 1916 - Battery Press - ISBN# 0898392497. 8th Provisional edition, originally prepared in Cairo by T.E.Lawrence, and Philip Graves, which people in English speaking countries would be relying on has several errors in this version. Mainly, a Colonel has three stars, a Lt. COL. Two stars, and a Major ? one star. The Turkish military, as it still does currently, has an intermediary rank between Captain and Major called a Commandant, who at the time could have either wore a CAPT. Shoulder board with three stars, or a Major's shoulder board with no stars. See Osmanli askeri teskilat ve kiyafetleri (1876-1908).

This is the table used in the HANDBOOK OF THE TURKISH ARMY, 1916. And bellow this is is revised rank table with the commandant included:

Hello,

Do you have a booklet named " Ottoman Military Organization and Uniforms 1876-1908" (Osmanli Askeri Teskilat ve Kiyafetleri 1876-1908) published in 1986 by the Military Museum in Istanbul.

Best wishes

Demir ERMAN

[demir]

Hi Demir, I do have a copy of this book, as well as the Dunya Savasi'nda Turk Askeri Kiyafetleri 1914-1918, by Tunca Orses, Necmettin Ozcelik, 2007, Istanbul. Both have been very helpful in reviewing the 1909 to 1918 (1923) period. As well, I have been relating back to the Modern Turkish defence forces because the ranks do not apear to have changed. And this has been useful in identifying the mistakes made in the English histories for Turkish uniforms. It apears that the English sorces such as - Turkish Army Handbook seem to have wrongly assumed that Turkish military organisation and ranks followed English or German lines which was not correct. Best regards JJ

Thank you

Demir