Enver Pasha, Turkish Minister of War
Enver PaschaTürkischer KriegsministerTurkish Minister of WarNicola Perscheid, BerlinReverse:Wohlfahrts-Kartedes "Reichsverband zur Unterstützung deutscher Veteranen E.V." und Kriegsteilnehmer des Heeres und der MarineMindestertrag 3 Pfg.Welfare card of the "Reich Association of German Support for Veterans Inc." and veterans of the Army and NavyMinimum yield 3 pfennig
"The Etra Aleppo and Damascus in the summer of 1918 contain in the weekly reports the invariable remark: no coal. . . .The procurement of wood for the railroad in Syria and Palestine became more and more difficult, because during the past few years the supplies anywhere near the railroad had been used up, . . .In consequence of the insufficiency of the food, the desertions to the rear became exceedingly numerous in August. . . .In the 19th Division in the coast sector, which on account of much malaria had been exchanged in August for the 7th Division in the western hills, the infantry patrols frequently returned with bleeding feet and without accomplishing anything, because with their miserable foot gear they could not march on the stony slopes . . .From August 19th to 20 a stronger British attack took place after extensive preparation by artillery, in the dune terrain of the coast . ."
Excerpts from German General Liman von Sanders chapter 'The Month of August 1918' in his memoir. He was then on the Syria/Palestine front which was, despite the withdrawal of thousands of British Empire troops to fight on the Western Front, collapsing with shortages of coal, wood, food, supplies, and men. Sanders tried in vain to get the attention of the incompetent Turkish War Minister Ismail Enver to turn from his adventures against Russia and Persia on the Caucasus front, to which Enver had shipped six Turkish divisions, over 30,000 men, to expand an empire threatened in Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia.
Five Years in Turkey by Liman von Sanders, pp. 258, 259, 260, publisher: The Battery Press with War and Peace Books, publication date: 1928 (originally)
1918-08-19, 1918, August, Syria, Palestine, coal, fuel, wood, food, food shortage, desertion, Ismail Enver
