The difficulty of extracting the truth about what was going on in Crete in 1897 is illustrated by the following two articles, each describing the same event. The first was a formal report written by Rear-Admiral Harris, Senior British Naval Officer in Crete, describing a failed attempt by Cretan Christians to capture the Malaxa blockhouse. The second was a report of the same event written by an unnamed British reporter.
‘On Sunday 28th [February] the insurgents, about 200 strong, attacked the blockhouse held by the Turks on the hill near Malaxa. About 11 A.M., the attack having been renewed, the Greeks being in considerable force, the Turkish commander requested permission to open fire from the “Mukaddemi Khair,” [Mukaddeme-i Hayir] which was permitted by the Admirals, as the Greek flag had been much advanced towards the blockhouse, and a spirited attack on it was being made, in defiance of the Proclamation of the Admirals that offensive operations would not be allowed.
The “Mukaddfemi Khair” fired three shells, the first a well-directed one, which had the effect of rapidly clearing the hill-sides.
The cause of the fighting appears to have been due to a Turkish relief party having left Canea during the night to revictual the blockhouse, which had been for some eight or ten days without provisions.
Having succeeded in their object, the party commenced to return, but were observed by the insurgents, who opened heavy fire on them. They, however, succeeded in regaining the Turkish lines, leaving the insurgents making a strong attack on the blockhouse.
As an outcome of this, the villages of Chacalaria and Nerokori were destroyed by fire, but which party was responsible for the incendiarism it is impossible to find out with any degree of certainty.’[1]
Compare with:
‘Some further particulars have arrived regarding the fighting at Malaxa. The block-house there is situated above the village of Trikalaria, and the Christians have been blockading the Turkish garrison for some days, cutting them off from all supplies.
To-day a body of Turks with a detachment of Nizams, or Ottoman regular troops, left Canea with convoy to revictual the fort. The Cretan insurgents disputed the passage of the convoy and attacked the escort. Some of the Turks and Nizams were killed. Turkish frigate thereupon opened fire and threw two shells in the direction of the insurgent force. By order of the foreign war-vessels the Turkish man-of-war then ceased firing. In the end the Turkish convoy had to retire to Canea. The fighting between the besieged garrison and the Cretans, however, continues. The villages of Trikalaria and Nerokouro were set on fire by Bashi-Bazouks.’[2]
Ignoring the relatively minor matters of the number of shells fired by the Mukaddeme-i Hayir and the fact that it wasn’t a ‘frigate’ but an iron-clad battle ship, two main issues are highlighted by the differing reports. In the one from the British Admiral Harris, he makes it clear that the Mukaddeme-i Hayir opened fire with the permission of the Admirals and makes no reference to the vessel being ‘ordered’ to cease firing. The complete opposite is implied in the newspaper report. This omits the fact that the Ottoman vessel had the permission of the Powers to commence firing and suggests that it only cease when ordered to do so by the Admirals. (One can only imagine the feelings of the Captain of the Mukaddeme-i Hayir, having to obtain permission from foreign Powers to open fire in support of Ottoman troops, being attacked on what was still then de jure Ottoman territory, by forces rebelling against Ottoman rule.)
The second point to note is the attribution of blame for the burning of the two villages. Admiral Harris states that it’s impossible to correctly allocate the blame for staring the fires; the St James Gazette reporter is adamant that the fire was started by Bashi-Bazouks – Ottoman, Cretan-Muslim, irregular forces.
What is also of interest is that Harris’ account would have been read by relatively few, albeit possibly influential, people, whereas the newspaper account was widely circulated and syndicated in British newspapers of the day.
So, which one is telling the ‘truth’?
(Several weeks later the Mukaddeme-i Hayir was again in action, again bombarding the insurgents.)
[1] Parliamentary Command paper C.8429. Turkey. No. 9 (1897). Reports on the situation in Crete. Inc. 2. p.8. Rear Admiral Harris to Admiral J.O. Hopkins, 4 March 1897.
[2] St James’s Gazette – Monday 01 March 1897.
The British in Crete, 1896 to 1913. 