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.

Seyit Çabuk
Corporal Seyit posing with a wooden replica of the shell. After the battle he was not able to reenact his deed for the photographer.
Nickname(s)Havranlı
Born1889
Havran, Anadolu Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now Havran, Balıkesir, Turkey)
Died1939(1939-00-00) (aged 49–50)
Allegiance Ottoman Empire
Service/branchArtillery
Years of service1909–1918
RankOnbaşı Corporal
UnitMedjidieh Coastal Battery
Battles/warsBalkan Wars
Gallipoli Campaign
Awards Gallipoli Star
MemorialsSeyit Onbaşı Memorial, Gallipoli

Personal life and military career

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 Mecidiye Coastal Battery defending the Mediterranean entrance to the Çanakkale. 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 and the other gunners in the area were injured.

Corporal Seyit, by himself, is said to have carried three artillery shells each weighing 276 kg to the 240/35 mm gun[1] and enabled it to continue firing on the Allied Fleet. He shot three rounds at the British pre-dreadnought HMS Ocean which was trying to rescue sailors of HMS Irresistible hit and disabled by a mine earlier.[2] His first two shots didn’t inflict much damage but his third shot inflicted a severe injury to HMS Ocean. The shot landed under the waterline of the ship, causing the ship to drift towards and hit one of the mines that the mine crew of Nusret had laid. HMS Ocean[3] capsized shortly after.

Following the repulse of the naval assault, Seyit was promoted to corporal and publicized 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 lift it 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 pneumonia in 1939. A statue of him carrying a shell was erected in 1992, just south of Kilitbahir Castle on the Gelibolu Peninsula.

Further reading

References
  1. "NOinD 1915 - Heavy Artillery".
  2. Burt, p. 174
  3. "Ocean Zırhlısı Batıyor". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
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