Atatürk's Clock (Gallipoli)

ATATURK'S WATCH...

(9-10 August 1915 Alcitepe - Conkbayiri)

We have completed the cultural values of our country with a working process that excites us under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, UNESCO's "Cultural Heritage Carrier" and delivered it to the Presidency of the Turkish Republic's Çanakkale Wars and Gallipoli Historical Site. After sharing its interesting story with you, we will inform you about our working process in a short paragraph in the end.

- When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was wounded by shrapnel during the Gallipoli campaign, it is almost certain that the pocket watch in his chest saved him from death. However, the fate of that watch is unknown. While many items belonging to Atatürk are exhibited in various museums, that watch is not among them. So where is the watch now? Here is the interesting story of that watch that saved lives...

MUSTAFA Kemal Atatürk, in an interview with Ruşen Eşref (Ünaydın) in 1918, describes the events of August 9-10, 1915, at the Conkbayırı Front of the Battle of Çanakkale: "While I was watching the events taking place on the battlefield, a piece of shrapnel hit the right side of my chest. It shattered the watch in my pocket. It could not penetrate my body. When I was left alone, it left a deep blood stain. I later gave the wreckage of this watch to Liman (Von Sanders) Pasha as a souvenir of today. He gave me his own watch, bearing the family crest."

LET'S BUY IT FOR 250 THOUSAND FRANCS

There were no publicly known developments regarding the watch that saved Atatürk's life during his lifetime. However, news emerged about the fate of the watch shortly after the Great Leader's death. The Son Posta newspaper, dated January 16, 1939, reported that "A watch factory in Çanakkale wants to buy the watch that saved Atatürk's life for 250 thousand francs. The well-known watch factory in Switzerland sent a telegram to its representative in Izmir stating that it would give 1000 Swiss francs to anyone who could tell it who had the original or a photograph of the watch that saved Atatürk's life in Conkbayırı, and that it would buy the watch for 250 thousand francs." Later news reports stated that this watch company was Omega.

WAS IT STOLEN OR SOLD?

Colonel Haydar Mehmet Alganer, one of the commanders of the Çanakkale wars who also witnessed the exchange of watches between the two commanders at Conkbayırı, states that General Sanders, whom he met while serving as the Munich Consul in the early years of the Republic, kept the watch as a very valuable souvenir. Again according to Alganer’s account, after the death of German General Sanders, the Commander of the Çanakkale Front, in 1929, the Turkish government requested that the watch be taken from his wife and placed in a museum. However, Sanders’ wife responded that “the watch was stolen by thieves who entered the house after the Pasha’s death.” Yusuf Hikmet Bayur, who was the Minister of National Education in 1933-34, stated that the watch was requested from Liman Von Sanders’ family after his death, but the response they received was that the watch had been sold with other display items and that its whereabouts were unknown.

A NOTICE FROM GERMANY

ÇANAKKALE 18 Mart University History Department faculty member Dr. Mithat Atabay wrote an extensive article scientifically tracing the clock that saved Atatürk's life. Atabay came across interesting anecdotes during that study:

In February 1939, a priest named Prof. Ludwig Bairer applied to the Turkish Embassy in Berlin and said that he had read in German newspapers that a Swiss watch factory would give a reward to anyone who could tell him where the watch that saved Atatürk's life was and that he knew where the watch was. The priest said that there was a Turkish word engraved on the watch's spring cover and that it had been given to a German officer by Sanders. Hamdi Arpağ, the Turkish Ambassador in Berlin, reported the situation to Foreign Minister Şükrü Saracoğlu. Saracoğlu applied to the Prime Ministry with a letter dated March 21, 1939 and numbered 33542/108. In his letter, Saracoğlu requested an investigation into who could recognize the watch. He also asked what action would be taken if it was the watch that saved Atatürk's life. In the letter dated 27 March 1939 and numbered 1469, the Prime Ministry wrote to the Ministry of National Education, it was requested that "the examination of the situation and the considerations regarding the purchase of this watch and whether it is possible to obtain the price through your attorney if it is requested to be purchased."

According to Mithat Atabay, it is not known what the Ministry of National Education responded to. Because while the correspondence between the Ministry of National Education, the Prime Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the investigation of those who knew the watch continued, World War II broke out and the priest who made the report could not be contacted again.

* Replica watches, which are made by contributing to their design, carry a documentary mission. Every value left to future generations as a cultural heritage; will be their identities that they recognize and define themselves. We experienced the pride of combining our work with "Nacar Saat" in the important watch brands of our country and being delivered to the relevant institution with the contribution it gave.

* The lines on the cover of the new design, which refers to the watch, represent the fingerprint of the unknown soldier "Mehmetçik".