Although the capabilities of the Turkish Air Force were far behind those of the Allied forces due to the lack of aircrafts and equipment, Turkish pilots have contributed remarkably to the efforts of the land forces at various fronts.

Gallipoli

The first aerial operation during the Gallipoli campaign was Lieutenant Fazıl Bey’s reconnaissance flight over the islands of Tenedos and Limnos on 5 September 1914. Flying for 70 minutes on his Nieuport Hydravion seaplane, Fazıl Bey discovered that British warships were patrolling outside the Dardanelles and controlling the vessels entering and leaving the straits. Others followed this initial reconnaissance flight and since one single seaplane was not enough for this task, another Nieuport Hydravion was brought from Istanbul to Çanakkale by Captain Savmi Bey.

As of March 1915, there were three aircrafts in Gallipoli, manned by German and Turkish pilots. These were brought together to form the Turkish 1st Air Squadron, under the command of the German Lieutenant Ludwig Preussner. On 1 March 1915, Lieutenant Cemal Bey dropped bombs on the British battleship Majestic, causing substantial damage.

On the night of 17/18 March 1915, a few hours before the Allied fleet attempted –without success- to force Dardanelles, German pilots Captain Erich Serno and Captain Schneider were flying towards Tenedos and they spotted a remarkable concentration of British and French battleships and transportation vessels. They returned to Çanakkale and informed the Turkish commanders there about the situation. This reconnaissance proved to be extremely useful for the success of the Turkish defense the next day. Reconnaissance missions continued during 18 March. German Lieutenant Frank Seydler and Captain Hüseyin Bey flew the second wave spotting 13 warships near Mudros.

Until the Allied landings of 25 April, the Turkish  1st Aircraft Squadron continued to fly above the entrance of the Dardanelles and the island of Limnos. These were not only for reconnaissance, they also dropped bombs on Allied ships. Meanwhile the Allies were also forming up their air power and fearing of losing the air superiority, the Turks attacked the Allied air base on Tenedos. This attempt was unsuccessful and the same day the British retaliated by bombing the Turkish air base in Çanakkale. Since the Turkish aircrafts were carefully camouflaged, the bombing did not cause any damage.

The first air battle at Gallipoli took place on 2 May. As they were flying a reconnaissance mission, Captain Erich Serno and Captain Hüseyin Sedat encountered an Allied aircraft. They fired their pistols and prevented the enemy plane from approaching the Turkish lines.

Over the following months, Turkish aircrafts continued successfully with their operations, bombing Allied lines and ships, doing reconnaissance and dropping leaflets on Allied troops for psychological warfare. Meanwhile, the Allies were also escalating their air operations. 13 British aircrafts attacked Turkish artillery positions, strategic targets at Arıburnu and Seddülbahir and Turkish airbases during May and June.

In July, the Turkish 1st Aircraft Squadron was deployed under the command of the Fifth Army, but on 5 July, an air raid on the airbase in Çanakkale destroyed three Turkish aircrafts, hence forcing the squadron to halt its operations temporarily. The Turks were in dire need for new aircrafts and after long discussions Germany agreed to provide 20 of them. They were stored in Hungary and from there they were supposed to fly to Istanbul – a flight of 6 hours- without trespassing Bulgarian territory. Some of the planes crashed on the way and some were confiscated; at the end of the day 11 planes reached Istanbul.  This number was to increase when Bulgaria joined the war on the side of the Central Powers.

Despite the reinforcement both in terms of aircrafts and personnel, air superiority at Gallipoli remained with the Allies. Still, Turkish aircrafts used every opportunity to identify enemy artillery positions and to attack them with bombs and aircraft arrows. Another duty of the Turkish 1st Aircraft Squadron was to prevent enemy aircrafts from communicating information related to Turkish positions to Allied artillery and to eliminate fixed balloons.

In September 1915, a new Turkish air base was established in Tekirdağ, halfway between Istanbul and Çanakkale, hence providing greater maneuver space for Turkish aircrafts. Following the arrival of new aircrafts from Germany in November 1915, Turkish pilots began to fly reconnaissance flights over a larger zone covering Alexandroupoli and Saros Bay. It was during one of those flights, when the Turks shot down an Allied aircraft for the first time. On 30 November, flying in their AK I Albatros, Lieutenant Ali Rıza Bey and his observer Lieutenant Orhan Bey encountered and shot a French plane, which went down in flames with a pierced fuel tank, crashing between İntepe and Cape Helles.

As the Gallipoli campaign ended and the Allies were evacuating the peninsula, the Turkish 1st Aircraft Squadron had only a handful planes left intact. Still, reconnaissance activities continued. On 25 December, three Turkish planes bombed the island of Imbros and spotted an increase in the number of transport vessels; the Allies were indeed leaving.

After the Gallipoli campaign was over, the British maintained their air bases on the islands of the Northern Aegean. Flying from these bases, they controlled the Dardanelles, monitoring activities on the railroads in Thrace and launching air raids on Istanbul. Beside these activities of the British, renewed landings could be possible at any time and therefore the Turks kept their air power in the region at full power.

The 6th Fokker Squadron, which was recently arrived from Germany, was stationed in Gallipoli to counter the operations of the British forces. During 1916, pilots of this squadron had several encounters with British planes and achieved great successes. German Captain Buddecke has alone shot down 5 enemy aircrafts. They also bombed several targets around the islands of Tenedos, Imbros, Limnos and Thassos.

In 1917, British planes continued to use the North Aegean bases to launch raids on Istanbul and Izmir. In addition to the 6th Fokker Squadron, commanded by German Lieutenant Croneiss, the 1st Squadron and a German Seaplane Squadron were also in Gallipoli, whereas the 1st Seaplane Squadron, commanded by Captain Savmi Bey, and 5th Aircraft Squadron, commanded by Lieutenant Faller first and then by Lieutenant Fannenstiel, were based in Izmir and the 15th Aircraft Squadron was based in Uzunköprü. These squadrons continued with their operations, gathering intelligence and engaging enemy aircrafts, not only the British, but also the Russians taking off from warships off the Bosphorus, and bombing specific targets. They were reinforced by the 12th Aircraft Squadron in May 1918.

Until the end of the war, Turkish aircraft squadrons based in Gallipoli, Uzunköprü, Istanbul and Izmir did an important job against enemy operations. Other than the duties mentioned above, they also supported the operations of the navy. One of the last of such operations was the bombing of Imbros and Mudros by warships Yavuz and Midilli. Although Midilli sunk and Yavuz was damaged during this raid, Turkish aircrafts played a crucial role in the operation by providing air cover and engaging both British and Greek planes.

Caucasus

The Turkish Air Force received a great blow right after the Empire entered the war. On 6 November 1914, the Russian fleet sunk three Turkish vessels off Zonguldak. Two Bleriot planes that were intended to be used at the Caucasus front went down with the ships. Their pilots Salim Bey and Fesa Bey were taken prisoner and spent the next five years in Siberia. Consequently, Turkish troops had to fight at Köprüköy and Sarıkamış without air support.

It was on 4 March 1915, when the Russians launched their first air raid against the Turks. The Third Army cabled Istanbul for aircrafts, however since existing aircrafts were already in use at Gallipoli, they were told to wait until new ones arrive from Germany. During 1915, Turks did not have the resources to respond to the air power of the Russians.

In 1916, the Turkish 7th Aircraft Squadron composed of two Gotha planes and commanded by Captain Ali Rıza Bey first and later by German Lieutenant Fünfhausen and Captain Şükrü Bey, was allocated to the Third Army.

Having occupied Erzurum, Russians were advancing through Eastern Anatolia and the Third Army was planning a counteroffensive. The Turkish 7th Aircraft Squadron, positioned at the air base in Erzincan, was appointed the task of gathering information about enemy positions around Erzurum.

On 3 July 1916, Russians launched a major general offensive along the whole front line between Trabzon and the Lake of Van. Although the air squadron provided valuable assistance to the Third Army during consequent battles, Russians managed to take Erzincan on 25 July 1916 and the Turkish 7th Aircraft Squadron had to move its headquarters to Suşehri.

For the rest of the year, Turkish pilots continued with reconnaissance flights above Russian positions. Meanwhile the Turkish 10th Aircraft Squadron was established with four aircrafts, under the command of the German Lieutenant Westfa and was allocated to the Second Army, which was also fighting on the Caucasian front. This squadron was positioned in Elazığ and immediately started with reconnaissance missions, although the aircrafts were suffering from a serious lack of spare parts and maintenance.

Since it was already responsible for a very wide area, the Turkish 7th Aircraft Squadron was not able to observe the Russian fleet in the Black Sea and the movements of Russian troops along the Black Sea coast. For this reason, the Turkish 8th Aircraft Squadron was established with two aircrafts, under the command of Captain Yakup Sami Bey. Based in Giresun, this squadron carried out reconnaissance flights around Erzincan, Tercan, Kelkit, Kemah and Refahiye, however due to an insufficient number of pilots and inadequate conditions at its air bases, it could not be as effective as it was expected.

In early 1917, the Second and Third Armies were combined under the command of Ahmet İzzet Paşa, who was preparing for a spring offensive against the Russians. The 10th Squadron executed several reconnaissance flights, especially around Erzincan, Muş, Bitlis, Malazgirt, Tutak and Başkale, gathering information about Russian positions.

One of the greatest achievements of Turkish pilots in the Caucasian front came on 13 February 1917, when they bombed the Russian air base in Erzincan and the Russian headquarters in Yerhani. Russians were quick to retaliate, they bombed first Refahiye and then Giresun, destroying the aircraft hangar there. Russian aircrafts were taking off from two air bases in Erzincan, one base in Haydarabad (Iran) and one base in Erzurum. At the same time the Russian fleet was shelling Turkish coastal towns of Giresun, Ordu, Samsun and Ünye.

During the second half of 1917, both sides escalated their air operations. As Turks began to carry out more reconnaissance flights, Russians brought in more planes to this front in order to maintain their superiority in the air and established an efficient air defense network. Still, Turkish pilots managed to bomb the air base in Erzincan several times and inflict damage on grounded Russian planes.

Russian advance on the Caucasus front was halted by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and the Russian troops at the front line were replaced by Armenian irregular units. The Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on 3 March 1918, which stipulated that Bolshevik Russia cede Batumi, Kars and Ardahan to the Ottoman Empire.

In April 1918, the Turkish Third Army went on the offensive to recover lost territories. Fighting against Armenian militia, Turks recaptured Trabzon, Erzurum, Kars, Van and Batumi. Meanwhile, a new air command was established in Batumi to support this campaign, however it did not contribute effectively to the efforts of the land forces since the squadrons were suffering from a shortage of functioning aircrafts, logistics support and personnel. With the Treaty of Batumi signed with the Republic of Armenia in June 1918 and the Armistice of Mudros on 30 October 1918, hostilities ended in this front and the Turkish forces, including the air squadrons, began to evacuate the towns they had captured in the Caucasus and Iran.

Palestine

As the Palestine campaign started, the air squadron of the Turkish Fourth Army had 4 aircrafts, but only one of them, a Rumpler, was fully functioning. During the First Suez Offensive, Turkish troops received no air support, whereas French and British aircrafts were directing the Allied artillery fire against the Turks.

As of 1 April 1916, the German air unit (Fliegerabteilung 300), known as the “Pascha” unit, was stationed in Beersheba. Commanded by Captain Hellmuth Felmy, this unit had 14  Rumpler C.I type aircrafts and a few days after they joined the campaign, they flew above Egypt and bombed the British air base at Port Said. This operation was followed by a series of reconnaissance flights and renewed attacks on Port Said in May 1916, with the purpose of destroying British planes on the ground before they could take off.

Repositioned at El-Arish, the Fliegerabteilung 300 “Pascha” was extremely effective against the British. In addition to their raids on British airbases and troops, they were also dropping propaganda leaflets on Egyptian towns. On 18 June 1916, 11 British aircrafts raided the airbase in El-Arish. Although they managed to destroy two aircrafts, they also lost two of theirs to Turkish anti-aircraft fire.

In early August 1916, Turkish forces tried another offensive against the Suez. They ran into a well-prepared Allied force, this time at Romani. During this battle, Fliegerabteilung 300 bombed the British, shot down a British plane and caused heavy damage on British headquarters in Muhammadiyah. However, outnumbered by the British, Turks had to retreat after two days of fighting.

This attack convinced the British to push their defense of the Canal further out into the Sinai. Now it was the time for the British to advance. Fliegerabteilung 300 made reconnaissance flights above Sinai and the Red Sea, informing the Turkish Fourth Army headquarters on enemy movements. Evaluating the intelligence gathered by Pascha pilots, Turks decided to move back to Maghdaba. This city fell to the British on 23 December 1916 and Turkish troops retreated to the Gaza-Beersheba line.

In March 1917, as the British forces began to advance towards Gaza, the Fliegerabteilung 300 was monitoring their movements. Not only were these reconnaissance activities useful for the Turkish commanders on the field during the Battles of Gaza, but also the Pascha pilots inflicted serious damage on water systems used by the British, such as the Romani water facilities bombed on 4 April  and Selmana facilities bombed on 19 April.

The British were responding to the attacks of the Fliegerabteilung 300 with equal strength and soon the battle theater Palestine began to witness exchanges of air raids. For instance, on 4 May, six Pascha aircrafts bombed the British airfield at Balah, to which the British responded by dropping 20 bombs at the Turkish airfield at Ramlah on 5 May. On the next day, Balah airfield was bombed again.

The war was being lost for the Turks, who had begun to retreat. In September 1918, after the Battle of Nablus, Fliegerabteilung 302, 303 and 305 were merged and deployed under the command of Captain İlyas Bey. Operating from the airfield in Dera, this unit was effective against the Arab rebels and made life easier for the retreating Turkish troops. However, it was obvious that the British could not be stopped before they reach Dera. The aircrafts were first moved to Rayak and then to other airfields further north such as Aleppo and Hama. The airfields were in terrible shape, British aircrafts were attacking on the way and there were neither spare parts nor repair materials. At the end of the day, all the aircrafts in Turkish hands were broken and out of order. The flight personnel had nothing left to do but to go to their headquarters in Aleppo and Konya and wait for the armistice.

Arabia

After the Arab Revolt broke out in 1916, the Turkish garrison in Medina cabled Istanbul and asked for an air squadron to be used against the rebels. Three aircrafts from the 3rd Air Squadron was put at its disposal and dispatched to Medina. However, the bad news was that the pilots had only recently finished their training in Germany and lacked experience.

Soon after the aircrafts’ and pilots’ arrival in Medina, there has been a series of accidents. The Fourth Army, which was in charge of the efforts against the Arab rebels, wrongly concluded from these accidents that the aircrafts in hand were not suitable for flying at hot temperatures. Consequently, new aircrafts were asked for from Istanbul and until their arrival, the Fliegerabteilung 300 in Palestine was asked to come for help.

Although the Turkish High Command agreed for the demands made by the Fourth Army, there were still some suspicions about the (dis)ability of the aircrafts to fly in hot temperatures. Pilot Lieutenant Fazıl Bey was appointed as the new commander of the 3rd Air Squadron and he was sent to Medina in September 1916 to test the aircrafts. Having done this, he reported that the aircrafts already stationed in Medina could fly at that weather without any problems and the previous accidents had resulted from the pilots’ lack of experience rather than technical shortcomings.

After Fazıl Bey took charge, the aircrafts began to effectively contribute to the Turkish troops’ efforts against Arab rebels. During 1917, the 3rd Aircraft Squadron under the command of Fazıl Bey undertook several successful reconnaissance flights and air raids against Arab positions from its base in Maan.

In late 1917, as the area to defend had expanded and British aircrafts had begun to support the Arab rebels, the 3rd Aircraft Squadron asked the Turkish High Command for the disposal of a fresh German air squadron to be sent to Hejaz. However, this demand was rejected on the grounds that the Germans were already short of aircrafts, particularly in the Western front, and therefore it was not possible to ask them for aircrafts to be allocated for Arabia. For the remainder of the war, the 3rd Aircraft Squadron continued to fly missions, however since there were not enough aircrafts, its support for the efforts on the land could only be of a limited influence.

Mesopotamia

As the campaign in Mesopotamia started, the British were receiving substantial air support, whereas the Turks had no aircrafts at all. However soon it was realized that it was possible to use the captured British aircrafts for reconnaissance missions and three pilots, Captain Fettah Bey, Lieutenant Fazıl Bey and Lieutenant Mehmet Ali Bey began to fly above British positions during the siege of Kut.

In December 1915, the 2nd Aircraft Squadron, consisting of 9 aircrafts and 11 personnel under the command of the German Captain Franz von Aulock, was deployed to Baghdad, where it would be under the command of the Turkish XVIII Corps, and new airfields were installed, first at Aziziye and then at Kut.

1916 was a successful year for the Turks at the Mesopotamian front. During the year, the British were pushed back to the south and Turkish aircrafts played an important role in these operations, both through reconnaissance flights and air raids. The Turkish aircrafts were technically superior to the British and therefore the Turks had a clear superiority in air. Meanwhile, the 2nd Aircraft Squadron was also supporting the Turkish efforts in Iran against the Russians. As of May 1916, the aircrafts in this theater were organized as the 12th Aircraft Squadron and given to the command of the Turkish XIII Corps. This squadron flew several successful missions against the Russian forces.

In early 1917, the tide was turning against the Turks in Mesopotamia. The British were now on the offensive with their reinforced troops on the ground. Meanwhile, the Turks’ air forces were also exhausted. After several missions without replacements the 2nd Aircraft Squadron had only 4 planes left, whereas the 12th Aircraft Squadron had none at all.

Despite the fact that there were only a few aircrafts left, the 2nd Aircraft Squadron continued to fly reconnaissance missions above British positions. One of them took place on 3 April, when the commander of the squadron, German Captain Schutz, flew around Belt and Simige, where he also engaged a British aircraft and forced it to land. Schutz shot two other British aircrafts, on 15 and 28 April.

Reinforcements came in May, which not only strengthened the 2nd Squadron, but also revived the 12th, which was left without aircrafts. For the rest of the year, both squadrons have been efficient, supporting the land forces troops trough reconnaissance flights, bombing ground targets and shooting down British planes. When the year ended, the 2nd Squadron had 8 aircrafts and was stationed to the west of El-Ashiq and the 12th Squadron was stationed at Kifri. These two squadrons were eventually merged as of May 1918.

Reconnaissance flights continued during the first half of the 1918, but the situation was irreversible. The British forces, supported by British crafts, were forcefully pushing the Turks to the north and there was nothing much left for the few Turkish aircrafts to do.

Major source for this section: Turkish Chief of Staff, 1969. Birinci Dünya Harbinde Türk Hava Harekatı (Official History).