Malgaç Raid

Malgaç Raid
Part of theGreco-Turkish War (1919–22)
Yörük Ali Efe (sitting centered) with his friends (19 June 1919)
Date 15/16 June 1919 Location 1-2 kilometre east ofSultanhisar Result Turkish victory Bridge and its guard station destroyed. Capture of some Greek weapons and ammunition
Belligerents
Greece	Kuva-yi Milliye
Commanders and leaders
CaptainYorgiyes	Yörük Ali Efe Kıllıoğlu Hüseyin Efe CaptainAhmet Bey Asaf Necmi
Strength
20 at the bridge Reinforcements: 1battalion	60 men
Casualties and losses
20+ killed	1 wounded

TheMalgaç Raid,was a raid conducted byYörük Ali Efeand his men on 16 June 1919. The target of the raid was the Malgaç railway bridge, which was used by the Greeks to transport military equipment toNazilliand beyond. It was one of the first organizedcivil resistanceattacks against the invading Greek forces in westernAnatolia.

Prelude

The bridge was part of theIzmir-Aydınrailway, which was the first railway built in theOttoman Empire.The Malgaçbridgewas located betweenSultanhisarandAtça,built above the Malgaçstream.

Yörük Ali Efe

Raid

The bridge was guarded by 20 heavily armed Greek soldiers, supported withmachine guns.In the night of 15–16 June, theTurksadvanced fromDonduranand crossed theBüyük Menderes Riverwithraftsat 02:00 am. During the crossing they were divided into two groups, each group contained 30 men. When they finally reached the Malgaç bridge, they surrounded it by advancing in the cornfields. Simultaneously, some of the men climbed on thetelephone polesand cut off the phone lines to prevent the calling ofGreekreinforcements. They attacked the bridge from three sides, surprising the Greek guards and killing all of them. The bridge was destroyed by placing dynamite at the bridgepiers.Woken up by the explosion and loud gunfire, Greek soldiers from the nearby headquarter tried to reach for help but they were hold off. After inflicting some casualties on the reinforcements, the Turkish forces retreated. The attack lasted several hours and the Greek troops had suffered over 20 killed and the Turks had only one wounded.

Result

The Turks had captured some weapons and ammunition. As a result of the destruction of the bridge and the railway, the invading Greek forces could not use the railway to transport equipment on theAydın-Nazilliroute for a considerable time.

Sources

• YORUK ALI EFE AND MALGAC SURPRISE ATTACKSultanhisar Municipality
• Çine Kuvayı Milliye Müzesi,Yaşar Aksoy, 06.07.2008(Article about the Malgaç Raid)
• Malgaç Baskını'nın 93. Yıldönümü (93rd anniversary of the Malgaç Raid)haberler.com