131. JIBAL MOUSA: REPORT, DATED EGYPT, 28th SEPTEMBER, 1915, ON THE ARMENIAN REFUGEES RESCUED AND TRANSPORTED TO PORT SAID BY THE CRUISERS OF THE FRENCH FLEET; DRAWN UP BY MGR. THORGOM, BISHOP OF THE GREGORIAN COMMUNITY IN EGYPT.
(1.) Number of the Refugees.
Approximately accurate statistics have been made out here, which show that the refugees number 4,200, including:—
| 915 | Men |
| 1,408 | Women |
| 702 | Boys |
| 539 | Girls |
| 636 | Infants |
| 4,200 |
(2.) Origin of the Refugees.
They all come from the villages of Selefka (Kaza of Leffia, Sandjak of Antakia, Vilayet of Aleppo), including:—
| 80 | families from the village of | Makof |
| 10 | ” ” ” | Keboussia |
| 160 | ” ” ” | Kheder Bey |
| 228 | ” ” ” | Yoghanolouk |
| 220 | ” ” ” | Hadji-Habibli |
| 170 | ” ” ” | Beitias |
| 868 |
But these families do not represent the total number of families inhabiting each village, for
| 240 | families in the village of | Keboussia |
| 2 | ” ” ” | Yoghanolouk |
| 80 | ” ” ” | Hadji-Habibli |
| 10 | ” ” ” | Beitias |
| 332 |
that is, 332 families in all, remained at home and were subsequently deported by the Turkish Government.
(3.) Circumstances of the Insurrection and Exodus.
The Turkish Government, in pursuance of its policy of clearing Armenia of the Armenians, had ordered, after the fall of Van, the deportation of all Armenian families. This order reached Selefka on the 30th July;[[169]] a week’s grace was given for its execution. The villagers met together and, in spite of the advice of several of their leading members and of their priests, decided to revolt and die like brave men, rather than undergo the fate of the people of Zeitoun, Hadjin and Dört-Yöl.
These 868 families retired on to the mountain called Mousa Dagh, taking with them their cattle and supplies for several months.
Before leaving their villages, the insurgents invited the people of Kessab to join them. Kessab is separated from Selefka by a little stream, which was guarded by Turkish gendarmes. They were, therefore, unable to enter into direct communication with them, but they received a letter (we have seen this letter, and we have reason to believe that it was a fabrication of the Turkish Government’s) in which the people of Kessab, who have a special reputation for bravery, purport to advise their neighbours of Selefka to submit to the Turkish authorities.
The period of grace expired on the 8th August, but they had already withdrawn into the mountains in the first days of August. On the 8th, the first collision took place between the Armenians and 200 regular troops; it lasted six hours.
The Armenians had barely 600 fighting men, armed with 150 Martini rifles and 450 shot guns. Four fighting men directed operations, eight guarded the non-combatants, and forty picketed the paths. The non-combatants dug out shelter trenches for the people and children, or made munitions, while the women looked after the food.
On one occasion a woman was bringing up water to the firing line; her jar was riddled by an enemy bullet, upon which the woman coolly put down the jar, plugged the hole and went to get fresh water, all under the enemy’s fire. I cite this incident because I have been told that the rest took courage from the coolness of this woman to resist courageously to the end.
The insurgents had not forgotten to bring with them the sacred vessels from their churches, so that the five priests who were with them celebrated mass, and a pastor preached every evening.
On the 12th August, the second collision occurred with the Turks, who had 2,000 troops with two guns; it lasted twelve hours. On the 16th and 17th there were two violent encounters with regular troops, reinforced by Kurdish and Arab bashibazouks, 4,800 troops in all; during this encounter the Armenians captured from the enemy seven Mausers and 15,000 cartridges, as well as other munitions and equipment.
There followed an interval of twenty days; on the twenty-first, a serious battle with 7,000 soldiers, including 4,000 regulars.
From the very first days of the insurrection, the Armenians had sent down to the seashore a party of twenty people, who were relieved every 24 hours. They had with them a letter addressed to the Allied Powers, in which they prayed for help. They had hoisted a big flag—a red cross on a white ground—to attract the attention of the Allied fleet.
The Allied fleet was blockading the Turkish Mediterranean ports, and a French flotilla was on duty there. The armoured cruiser Guichen saw the flag, and the commander, Captain Joseph Brisson, put out a boat. A brave old Armenian threw himself into the water, and clambered on board the cruiser. The commander, moved by the heroism of this old man and by the details which he communicated to him, sent a wireless message to the commander of the cruiser Jeanne d’Arc, at Port Said. The Jeanne d’Arc arrived within 24 hours. The same day, the Guichen bombarded the neighbourhood of the church at Keboussia, which the Turks were attacking in order to massacre the Armenians who had taken refuge in the building. Meanwhile, a further wireless message from the Admiral on board the Jeanne d’Arc brought the armoured cruiser Desaix to the spot within another 24 hours, with an Armenian dragoman on board. The Jeanne d’Arc went off to Cyprus, and despatched three other armoured cruisers from there. The united squadron began to bombard the Turkish positions, to enable the 4,200 Armenians to come down to the water’s edge, where they were embarked on board the cruisers. The embarkation took a day and a half.
The fighting had begun on the 8th August and ended on the 10th September. The Armenians had 20 killed and 16 wounded; the enemy had about 300 killed and more than 600 wounded.
We had already learnt these facts while the insurgents were still on their voyage, but we did not know where it was intended to land them. Cyprus, Algeria and Tunis were all suggested; then we heard that the French and British Governments were in consultation on the subject. On the 14th September they arrived at Port Said. Sir Henry MacMahon, the High Commissioner, and General Maxwell gave immediate attention to the refugees. His Majesty the Sultan of Egypt sent a donation of £250.
The French Fleet entertained the refugees three days, and since then the British Government has taken charge of them. The first to be embarked on board the four cruisers were the old men, the women and the children; the fighting men remained two days longer on land. They asked for munitions to keep up the struggle, but the Admiral, acting on instructions received from his Government, refused their request, and so they arrived in Egypt two days later.
(4.) The Situation of the Refugees at Port Said.
They are installed in the Lazaretto, consisting of five or six stone buildings, and in 500 tents pitched round it. Everything has been organised by the military authorities. The tents are pitched in ranks divided into groups; each tent has its tent-commander, with a pennant and a number, and each group of tents has its group-commander, with a flag.
They have built them a large kitchen, conduits and baths. Two of the stone buildings are being used for office work, and the rest have been turned into hospitals.
The general state of health is good; there are about 80 sick, including the wounded.
The refugees have all the looks of a fighting race. They speak a dialect, but they are all orthodox members of the Armenian Church, except for an inconsiderable number of Catholics and Protestants.
At present the Government does not allow them to go outside the zone assigned to them.
The distribution of rations is punctually and methodically carried out.
(5.) Maintenance of the Refugees.
The Government has undertaken their maintenance, and it is believed that this arrangement will continue.
(a) Hospital.—Kept up by the Armenian Red Cross of Cairo. The Government, however, has also provided a head doctor and three assistants, two of them women. The Red Cross has contributed £120 for medical stores.
(b) Clothes.—The Armenian Red Cross of Cairo and Alexandria has made itself responsible for them.
(c) Education.—There are 1,000 children. The Government has placed a large tent at their disposal for use as a school. The General Armenian Union of Benevolence has undertaken the expense of their education.
(d) Workshops.—To give the refugees employment, work has been found for those who know how to make combs, wooden spoons, etc. The men will have money advanced to them as capital, and the women wool to knit stockings and socks, to give them an opportunity of setting to work and earning a living.
The approach of winter causes some anxiety, but we hope that the Government and the Armenian community in Egypt will take the necessary steps for securing them against the cold.
[169]. The dates given in this report do not tally with those in Mr. Andreasian’s narrative, except that both accounts put the arrival of the refugees at Port Said on the 14th September. Mr. Andreasian puts the intervention of the Guichen on Sunday, the 12th September; but as he also states that the voyage took two days, while the present report makes the embarkation take a day and a half, the date given here for the appearance of the Guichen upon the scene, namely, the 10th September, is probably correct. On the other hand, Mr. Andreasian speaks from first-hand knowledge when he places the official summons to deportation on the 13th July (instead of the 30th July), the first fighting on the 21st July (instead of the 8th August) and the total length of the siege at 53 days; so that his statements on these points are likely to be more accurate.—Editor.