Battle of Kirk Kilissia

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 138, 29 October 1912, Page 5

Battle of Kirk Kilissia

A Historic Combat Terrible Death Roll Miraculous Bulgarian Victory The Albanians Threaten the Turks

Graphic details of the battle of Kirk Ivilissia show that the fortress was supposed to be impregnable, but was stormed in rain and darkness by the Bulgarians, whose corpses filled the entrenchments and ditches. The Turks are said to have lost 20,000, including 80 per cent, of their officers, and the Bulgarians losses are estimated at 16,000. The victory is regarded as little short of miraculous, and to rank with one of the most extraordinary battles ever fought in the world's history.

'The war cables state that the Bulgarians are continuing their advance on Adrianople, and are gradually clos ng a cordon round the city, strengthening their position as they advance by earthworks. They have again repulsed the Turks with heavy losses in the neighboring districts, and have captured many munitions of war. Sone of the local districts are in full revolt against the Turks, and are com ng to the assistance of the attacking army. Their victories have not been ecured without sacrifice, and in the neighborhood of Marash many Bulgarans were killed, as the result of a sanguinary encounter. To add to the horrors or war, cliolera is reported to have broken out among the Turkish troops at Anatolia. It is stated that there is a probability of the Powers intervening at an early date to stop the war, on a basis of suggested reforms. The Greeks have occupied further points of vantage, with comparatively trifling losses, compared with those inflicted on the Turks. The Turks have recaptured several positions in the vicinity of Scutari. A decisive battle is expected at any time, in the neighborhood of Constantinople, where 400,000 Turkish troops are being concentrated. The Servians are still more than holding their own, and have junctioned with the Montenegrins at Sienitza.

There are rumors of serious disaffection in the Turkish army in the neighborhood of Constantinople.

THE FIGHT AT KIRK KILISSIA. A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER. THE STORY OF THE BATTLE By Gable—Press Association —Copyright, Received 9 8, 11.20 p.m. London, October 28.

TERRIBLE BULGARIAN LOSSES. THE TURKS' DEATH ROLL. Received 28, 11.30 p.m. London, October 28. Mr. Beaumont, the Telegraph's Sofia correspondent, mentions the terrible Bulgarian losses in taking Kirk Kilissia. He adds that, according to private accounts, there were 20,000 victims.

The Daily Telegraph's Sofia correspondent reports that the armament at Kirk Kilissia consisted of six and eleven inch guns, altogether a hundred pieces. The fortress was regarded as impregnable except by mining. It was surrounded by redoubts and well entrenched. The Bulgarians were not possessed of a single siege gun, and their victory was something miraculous. General Dimitiefs, at the head of four divisions, formed an immense flying column, provided with four days' rations and an extra supply of ammunition. Assault followed assault. The Turkish gunnery failed to dislodge any of the attackers' positions. Bayonet attacks were made in the night time, the Bulgarians steadily advancing their redoubts, and they must have filled the entanglements with their corpses. They sacrificed everything to rapidity. Ladders swayed and tottered until placed in position, enabling t'liem to scale the modern forts. Hand grenades were used, and the forts being without searchlights the rain and darkness facilitated £TTe approach of the Bulgarians. An aviator in the day time perceived a Turkish division hurrying from Adrianople. Subsequently, on his report, the Turks were ambushed and decimated. They dispersed and abandoned their artillery.

Mr. Bennett 'Burleigh mentions that one estimate is 16,000 Turks killed and injured. Many Bulgars are among the Turkish prisoners. They are donning the Bulgar cap and joining the King's forces.

Constantinople, October 28. Eighty per cent.' of the officers at Kirk Kilissia were killed or wounded.

THE ATTACK ON SCUTARI. GARRISON THREATENED WITH FAMINE. Received 29, 12.45 a.m. Cettinje, October 28,

Scutari was subjected to a cross fire from the batteries to the north-west and soouth and from the Irland of Urangin in the lake, while King Nicholas was watching. The garrison is threatened with famine. •;

• General Vukovitch has captured the strongly fortified heights of Rojaz, dominating the approach to Ipek.

GREEK RECRUITS. Received 29, 12.45 a.m. Athens, October 28. Three hunched volunteers from the Aegean Islands have arrived. King George was welcomed with enthusiasm, at Elassja, and has proceeded to Serflje with the Allies. The Greeks occupied the Pass of Pente Faeghadia, on the road to Janina.

The garrison consisted of forty thousand. Two hours before the crowning bayonet charge, regiments of Kurdish cavalry made a sortie towards the Bulgarian line with a view to opening the road for the infantry to protect the withdrawal. The Bulgarian cavalry caught them on the flank, leading to an inextricable sanguinary enlacement of horses and men. Tlie Kurds fled, and the Bulgarians immediately annihilated a regiment of infantry in the vicinity. The Turks were seized with panic, and fled.

DREADFUL ATROCITIES. THE HORRORS OF WAR. Received 29, 12.45 a.m. Athens, October 28,

Reuter's Sofia correspondent says that t is reported that the Turks left five iiundred dead at Kirk Ivilissia.

THE ALBANIAN DEMANDS. THREATENING THE PORTE. Received 28, 11.30 p.m. London, October 28. The Daily Telegraph's Constantinople correspondent says that the Albanians h'ave threatened the Porte that unless they are guaranteed peace and liberty they will seek Austria's help. The Turks at Kirk Kilissia, imagining that the Bulgarians intended purely defensive tactics behind the Balkans, assumed the offensive with inadequate forces. Three army corps, making a reconnaissance, were drawn into the general engagement, whence it was diffi-

THE TURKISH PRISONERS

A PITIABLE CONDITIO*-

Received 29, 12.45 a.m. Belgrade, October 28,

THE SERVIAN ARMY.

Received 29, 12.45 a.m. Belgrade, October 28.

cult to extricate the units. One impetuous division became, separated from the third corps, and suffered severely. It was obliged '■o retire, compelling the whole line to return. The Bulgarians followed up their success by a general onslaught on Kirk Kilissia.

ANOTHER TURKISH REPULSE,

MORE MASSACRES,

Nazim's headquarters are at Choln. It is reported that Kiam.l has been offered a Grand-Vizierate. The Sultan urgently desired to pioceed to the front to encourage the troops, but the Porte disbiuide-l him.

The fugitive Turkish army at Epirus, after chaining them together, massacred twenty-five young villagers, tortured the women and children, and burned and pillaged several villages. Wounded Turkish soldiers lying in the hospital stabbed the Greek Red Cross petty officers.

The Turkish prisoners at LTumanovo are in a pitiable condition Many are bootless.

A witness of the massacres describes the finding of eleven in one house with their throats cut, including a woman.

Two thousand Servian volunteers fought beside the regulars. The Servians' entry prevented the massacring of Servian notables imprisoned prior to the . fighting.

Received 29, 12.45 a.m. Belgrade, October 28 The Turks butchered the Servian peasants requisitioned as transport drivers. The Turks at Uskub ware seized with panic, and retired in disorder before the Crowr. Prince's

THE CZAR'S CONGRATULATIONS

Received 29, 12.45 a.m,

Belgrade, October 28.

THE SERVIAN ADVANCE.

Received 29, 12.45 a.m. Belgrade, October 28.

Received 20, 1 a.m. Sofia, October 28.

The Bulgarians found the KochaniIshtis road littered with discarded Turkish clothing. Torrential rain and boggy roads impeded their advance. Queen Eleonora, dressed as a Red Cross nurse, spends many hours daily in the military hospitals at Philippopolis, assisting in dressing the wounds. The corpses of Bulgarian soldiers captured by the Turks were found with their noses and ears cut off, and deep knife cuts. The Turks leave their own killed and wounded on the battle field, and they are now being treated in Bulgarian hospitals, which are overflowing with wounded Turkish officers and men.

A Bulgarian officer's divorced wife was court-martialled for espionage and shot with two Macedonian spies, on proofs of her complicity. Fugitives from Vlahi, twenty-eight miles southward of the border, report that the Turks, before retiring, when the Bulgarians approached, massacred a hundred inhabitants. A HANDSOME DONATION. Received 29, 1 a.m. St. Petersburg, October 28. The Red Cross Society has voted £IOO,OOO for the care of the sick and wounded in the Balkans. THE EUROPEAN POWERS. ANXIOUS FOR PEACE. Received 29, 1 a.m. Paris, October 28. M. Poincare, In a speech at Nantes, referred to the unanimity of the Powers in assisting France in her efforts to maintain peace. France remained closely attached to Russia and Britain, and was firm for the maintenance of the entente necessary for European equilibrium. Therein lay the best hope of the localisation of the war, and that it should be stopped by Europe at the first convenient opportunity. Perhaps the moment of mediation is near.

A FATAL MISTAKE. TURKS ATTACK THE TURKS. Received 29, 1.25 a.m. Constantinople, October 28. The commanders of other divisions were unaware on the night of the 22nd that the first array corps' had been suddenly launched against General Demetrieff's left, between Tundja, and Kirk Kilissia. The attacked failed, and the tnen streamed back among the other Turks, who mistook them for Bulgarians. The assailing two Turkish sections fired oh each other, and the Bulgarians fired on both.

THE ADVANCE ON ADRIANOPLE.

BULGARIAN SUCCESSES. HEAVY SLAUGHTER. Sofia, October 27. Tfie Bulgarian spoil at Kirk Kilissia included seven batteries of quickfirers, with ammunition waggons, eighteen field guns, twelve howitzers, and provisions and tents.

Muklitar Pasha is fleeing. He has abandoned a portion of his private baggage. Twelve hundred soldiers at Kirk Kilissia are prisoners. General Ivanoff is steadily closing the cordon round Adrianople, and is strengthening bis positions by earthworks. There was a heavy bombardment from the north-west. A fresh sortie was made towards Amautkoej, but was repulsed, the Turks suffering heavily. The Bulgarians at Kirdjaali seized one million cartridges, and many shells and quantities of food. The Bulgarians operating in the Bregalnilza Valley had a sanguinary encounter, but captured Ivocliana, together with one hundred prisoners, a battery of field artillery, a mountain battery, and a quantity of ammunition. The population in the Djumaya district are in full revolt against the Turks, and the Bulgarian bands are being greatly strengthened by well-equipped peasants, "who have sent their cattle to Bulgaria. They also ruined their corn crops to prevent the Turks capturing them.

HEAVY BULGARIAN LOSSES.

Prisoners report that their comrades have been foodless for two days. The Turks are retiring towards Velcs.

According to private advices, the Czar congratulated King Peter on the capture of Uskub.

The Albanians are surrendering as the. Servians advance. When Prishtina was occupied, a Servian sentinel was ordered to guard the Sultan Murad's tomb. The Servians have occupied Ferizovitch, a strategic position commanding the Kotchanilc Pass. PATHETIC DETAILS. TURKISH BRUTALITIES.

HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING. Vienna, October 27. Despite a message showing a satisfactory development of the Bulgarian tactics, Bulgarian sacrifices in the vicinity of Marash and other points were heavy. Corpses littered the battlefields east and west of Adrianople. There was sanguinary fighting in the woods around, and in some instances there were hand-to-hand encounters, daggers only being used. An aeroplane containing three Russian officers was wrecked at Tfirnow. j One of the men was killed and the r" r --rarely irjurcil.

THE CHOLERA FIEND,

Berlin, October 27,

The North German Gazette says the Powers are striving to act in unity as soon as the development of war is ripe for action. GREEKS FROM AUSTRALIA. Sydney, October 28. Twenty Greeks sailed on Saturday to join their countrymen on the battlecvfield. A thousand pounds has been cabled to Athens for the war fund, and it is expected another thousand will go this week. THE GREEKS' ADVANCE. THE DEATH ROLL. Athens, October 27. The Greeks have occupied Smiraeus, Phillippiads', Lonros, Elentherokhori and Strebina. The Turks fled, abandoning ammunition and provisions. An officer and twelve men were captured. The Turkish inhabitants are everywhere fleeing before the Greeks, and many are sending their families to Egypt. The Greeks are appointing officials in all the occupied districts. Turco-Albanian bands are pillaging, massacring, and setting fire throughout Epirus. The Greek losses at Sarantoporon Pass, prior to the fighting at Serfidge, were eighteen officers and 109 men killed. Forty officers and 1037 men were wound- , ed. The Turkish losses were extremely ' heavy.

A detachment of Greek reservists from New York were accorded an ovation.

BULGARIAN RESERVISTS. Bucharest, October 27. Thousands of Bulgarian reservists, also some Russian volunteers, have reached Bulgaria from Russia. VIOLATING THE WHITE FLAG. 500 TURKS BAYOXETTED. London, October 27. The Servian Legation announces that 500 Arnauts and Turks at Kumanovo were bayonetted for attacking a detachment sent to receive their surrender after the white flag had been hoisted. THE MAIMED AND THE HALT. London, October 27. Renter's Constantinople agent states that 1500 frontier refugees, comprising aged and decrepit men and women and children, have arrived by train at Stambotil, and are being specially housed and fed.

The Daily Telegraph's Constantinople correspondent states that Nazim Puslia. in an interview, said that Turkey was unable to snare manv mep <it Scut™—',

HOSPITALS FOR COMBATANTS,

Vienna, October 27,

The Slav associations in Bohemia are sending Montenegro a field hospital with 130 beds, fifteen medical students, and 25 nurses.

Sofia, October 27.

Professor Clairmont's Austrian ambulance section has arrived. It consists of five well-known doctors (including two military doctors) and fourteen nurses.

TURKS REGAIN GROUND. Cettinje, October 27. The Turks occupied several captured positions at Scutari during torrential raixs. THE TURKISH MOBILISATION. CONCENTRATING ON THE CAPITAL. Constantinople, October 27. The mobilisation has only been half completed. Four hundred thousand men will shortly be concentrated near Constantinople, where a decisive battle will occur. An Ottoman soldier in a molee northwards of Kirk Kilissia got mixed up with the Bulgarians, but seized a Maxim gun and carried it to his comrades after a miraculous escape from death. CLOSING ON ADRIANOPLE. THE BULGARIANS BUSY. Received 28, 3 p.m. Sofia, October 28,

The Bulgarians have captured Babraki and occupied Saljustator and Ermilie, both seven miles 1 south-west and south of Adrianople. THE SERVIAN ARMY. HOTLY PURSUING THE RETREATING TURKS.

Belgrade, October 2S.

The Crown Prince's army, during Saturday's march on Tollskub, found thirty abandoned guns. _ They are now hotly pursuing the retreating enemy.

London, October 27. The Constantinople correspondent of the Daily Telegraph states that cholera has appeared among the Turkish troops brought from Anatolia. THE PROSPECTS OF PEACE. POWERS TO INTERVENE. London, October 27. The Observer's St. Petersburg correspondent says that war will be stopped within a few weeks by united Europe, and all arrangements towards' that object are progressing. After that Europe will speak concerning reforms. Router's Constantinople correspondent tates that Hussein Hilmi's appointment as ambassador at Vienna is ascribed to the Porte's desire to secure AustriaHungary's support at the moment of the final settlement.

THE TURKISH MASSACRE. Sofia,-October 27. The Turks, before leaving Kumanovo, rf.«fsacred a number of women and children.

MOVEMENTS OF THE ALLIES,

MONTENEGRINS JUNCTION WITH SERVIANS. London, October 28. The Montenegrins have effected a junction with the Servians at Sienitza.

A REPORTED REVOLT.

IN THE TURKISH ARMY.

London, October 28.

Mr. Burleigh, war correspondent, wires that a revolt is reported in the army near Constantinople.

The Bulgarians have occupied Ishtib unopposed.

An additional 80,000 Bulgarian reservists have been summoned to thc army. Advices from Constantinople report that the turning movement by the Bulgarians towards Babreski is developing. The Porte is preparing for a winter campaign.