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Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein | |
|---|---|
 While in Ottoman military uniform as commander of theSinai and Palestine campaign, 1916 | |
| Born | 24 April 1870 |
| Died | 16 October 1948(1948-10-16) (aged 78) |
| Allegiance |  German Empire Ottoman Empire Weimar Republic |
| Branch |  Imperial German Army Ottoman Army Reichsheer |
| Service years | 1888–1929 |
| Rank |  General der Artillerie Ferik |
| Commands | Eighth Army (Ottoman Empire) |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Pour le Mérite,Iron Cross First class |
Friedrich Siegmund Georg Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein[a][b] (alsoGerman:Kreß andTurkish:KressPasha; 24 April 1870 – 16 October 1948) was a Germangeneral fromNuremberg. He was a member of the group of German officers who assisted in the direction of theOttoman Army duringWorld War I. Kress von Kressenstein was part of the military mission ofOtto Liman von Sanders to theOttoman Empire, which arrived shortly before World War I broke out. He was also the main leader for the OttomanDesert Command Force (DCF).
Kress came from apatrician family inNuremberg. His father, Georg Kress von Kressenstein (1840–1911), was a high court judge. Kress von Kressenstein joined theBavarian army as an ensign in the artillery in 1888. He was appointed as Second Lieutenant on 6 March 1890. On 1 October 1895, he joined theBavarian War Academy and graduated in September 1898. He continued his general staff education until 1914.[1] WithOtto Liman von Sanders, Kressenstein was sent to theOttoman Empire and served as the commander of the Ottoman field artillery school.[2]
Kress joinedDjemal Pasha's army in the Ottoman Province of Jerusalem as a military engineer and was later chief of staff. Djemal Pasha was given the job by the war ministerEnver Pasha of capturing or disabling theSuez Canal. This effort is called theFirst Suez Offensive, and it occurred in January 1915. Kress von Kressenstein was responsible for creating special boats for crossing the canal (pontoons) as well as organizing the crossing of theSinai desert. While the desert was crossed with little loss of life, the British were aware of their approach and their attack on the Suez came as no surprise to the defenders. The Ottoman forces were repulsed easily and after two days of fighting, they retreated. Kress von Kressenstein's special pontoons were never used.
More than a year passed when the Ottomans tried a second attack on the Suez. With Djemal Pasha directing affairs from his base inDamascus, Kress von Kressenstein led a largerOttoman army across the Sinai desert, again. This attack ran into a strong British defensive fortification at Romani, 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the canal. The Ottoman army prepared a major set-piece assault on Romani, scheduled for 3 August 1916 (see theBattle of Romani for a detailed description). The attack was beaten off and again the Ottomans retreated back to their bases in Palestine.
The British responded with an attack of their own. They captured some small Ottoman forts in the Sinai, built a railroad and water pipe across the desert and then launched an assault on the Ottoman fort at Gaza. Kress von Kressenstein was in charge of the Ottoman defences along with General Tala Bey. In theFirst Battle of Gaza (March 1917), the British were defeated, largely due to their own errors. In theSecond Battle of Gaza in April 1917, the British were defeated again, the credit for this victory largely going to Kress von Kressenstein.
The British removed their unsuccessful generals and replaced them with GeneralAllenby. The Ottomans also replaced their top leadership, bringing in the former Chief of the German General Staff,General von Falkenhayn. Kress von Kressenstein was kept on as commander of the Ottoman 8th Army defending Gaza and he was also awarded Prussia's highest order, thePour le Mérite.
In November 1917, the British under General Allenby breached the Ottoman defensive positions at theBattle of Beersheba and theThird Battle of Gaza. Kress von Kressenstein was able to withdraw his defeated troops in fairly good order to new defensive positions in the north.
In the middle of 1918, with the Ottoman-German alliance breaking down, Kress von Kressenstein was sent with asmall German force toGeorgia, that was protected by Germany after its independence. He helped to frustrate theRed Army's invasion of the Georgian region Abkhazia.
Kress von Kressenstein retired from the German army in 1929 and died in Munich in 1948.
He wrote in several articles about his experiences in the Ottoman army and the Caucasus, and published in 1938 a full book about the war in the Sinai, Jerusalem and Gaza.
At least two of his articles have been translated to English. 'The Campaign in Palestine from the Enemy's Side', published in theRoyal United Services Institute Journal, and his 1936 article about the 'war in the desert', in which he discussed also the use of poison gas in war, both in the Sinai Desert during World War I and in the Italian conquest of Ethiopia (called Abyssinia at the time). His memoirsMy Mission in Caucasus were published posthumously in 2001 inTbilisi, Georgia.
He was played byRalph Cotterill in the filmThe Lighthorsemen (1987).
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