TarsusRaid

4 mixed platoons from Force D (6th Indian Division) landed in fishing boats on the coast of Turkey south of Adana.

Worcester Force

CO - Gerald "Saucy Gerry or Gerry Wooster" Worcester (Norfolk Rgt) A Platoon (Norfolk & Gurkha) - (2iC WF) "Daffy" Morgan (Norfolk Rgt) B Platoon (Sikh) - (GSO) Franco "Spooky" Craven (Intelligence corps) C Platoon (Punjabi Pashtun) - Jack Perrett (66th Punjabis) D Platoon (Dorset, Hamts & Ox/Bucks)- Rickard Haythornethwaite (Dorset Rgt) Col Sgt - Alpin "Jock or Mountain" McKindrick (Hants Rgt) Eng Cpl - Harry Laffin MO - Lt "Bones" McCoy

A Column : led by (brevet) Major Wooster with 3 platoons went overland to the railway at Tarsus. Buried guns en route and then attacked the signal junction north of Tarsus.

Destroyed the track at the junction and hi-jacked train and proceeded north to the Cicilain gate. failed to destry an ammunition train but laid charges to destroy the railway through the Gate and laid in wait for the enxt troop train. Successfully killed or captured all 200 troops and set of all charges, closing the pass for some time. Almost no casualties.

B Column : led by Lieutenant Craven with 2 sections and 3 tonnes of Amatol. Went by fishing skiff upriver to Adana where they laid charges under the railway bridge whilst Craven reconnaisenced the town. Bridge was successfully destroyed and contact with local Armenians established. Tigran Vardanian, his son Vartan and his (much admired granddaughter) Ava. Franco was explaining his mission to Tigran when the German Bridge detonated...

C Column : Led by Lieutenant Haythornethwaite headed for the main bridge over the River… The bridge was damaged but not destroyed… C Column escaped to the north...

The team head for a Hittite hill-fort in the mountains...

Major Worcester decided on an ambush plan to eliminate the Adana cavalry garrison...

Successes so far :

Berlin-Baghdada railway destroyed at several points along the Cicilian gate, 6 weeks plus to repair

Adana's German Bridge destroyed,

2 railway engines destroyed plus rolling stock

Turksih troop losses : Tarsus : 25 killed/wounded Cicilian Gate : 200 killed/wounded

More notes/updates to follow

Sources:

Adana - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana In 1915 Turkish troops rounded up all Armenians living in Adana, mostly woman and children and elderly, and marched them out into the Syrian dessert which resulted in the final mass extermination of Armenians in and around Adana and all of present day Turkey, this event is commonly known as the Armenian Genocide. Today there are no Armenians living in Adana after having lived within the area for more than three thousand years. Adana Massacre - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana_Massacre The Adana massacre occurred in Adana Province, in the Ottoman Empire, in April 1909. A religious-ethnic clash in the city of Adana amidst governmental upheaval resulted in a series of anti-Armenian pogroms throughout the district. Reports estimated that the massacres in Adana Province resulted in 15,000 to 30,000 deaths. Armenian Genocide - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide See Temporary Law of Deportation (the "Tehcir" law) On 13 September 1915, the Ottoman parliament passed the "Temporary Law of Expropriation and Confiscation", stating that all property, including land, livestock, and homes belonging to Armenians, was to be confiscated by the authorities. I'm assuming Adana post dates this law...