Battle of Ain Zara

Battle of Ain Zara

Part of: Italo-Turkish War

Postcard in memory of the fallen officer Giovanni Pastorelli

date	December 4, 1911
place	Oasis Ain Zara , near Tripoli Coordinates: 32 ° 48 ′ 48 ″  N , 13 ° 16 ′ 11 ″  E
output	Italian victory

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of Italy	Ottoman Empire
Commander
Guglielmo Pecori Giraldi	Nesat Bey
Troop strength
12,000	4,000-8,000
losses
17 dead, 171 wounded	more than 150 dead, more than 50 injured

The Battle of Ain Zara took place during the Italo-Turkish War on December 4, 1911 between Italian and Ottoman forces at the Ain Zara oasis near Tripoli ( Tripolitania , now Libya ), where the Ottomans had established a fortified position .

background

In October 1911, after the outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War, Italian troops landed on the Libyan coast and took the city of Tripoli. The largely independent Vilayet Tripolitania was under Ottoman suzerainty. In order to conquer the interior of Tripolitania, the Italian army had to take the oasis of Ain Zara, around 8 km south of Tripoli. Here, with the help of Arab forces, the troops of the Ottoman Empire had built a fortress with 4,000 to 8,000 soldiers under the command of Nesat Bey and protected by eight 87-millimeter guns. The position was one of the most important Ottoman positions in the region and from here numerous attacks by the Ottomans against Italian positions were started.

course

On December 4, 1911, 12,000 Italian soldiers set out in three columns for Ain Zara. The right column, led by General Guglielmo Pecori Giraldi , was provided by the 1st Brigade, which was supported by General Felice De Chaurand's 93rd Regiment of the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division . The central column was led by General Clemente Lequio and consisted of soldiers from the battalions of the Granatieri di Sardegna , the Alpini and the 11th Bersaglieri regiment. The left column, led by Colonel Amari and tasked with protecting the road to Suq al-Jumʿa , consisted of two battalions from the 52nd Infantry Regiment of the 6th Brigade. The operation was supported by the Italian naval artillery. The regiment led by General de Chaurand launched a diversionary attack.

Lequio's troops carried out a front attack with 149/23 mm guns and 210 mm howitzers under fire from the Ottoman artillery , while Giraldi's brigade attempted a flank maneuver. The Ottoman forces launched counter-attacks, but they were repulsed. After 3 p.m., the Ottoman troops withdrew from the oasis to the south after an impending encirclement by Giraldi's troops and left their entire artillery behind. Giraldi occupied the positions at Ain Zara, while Amari's column, whose attacks had not been successful, was recalled. During the following day, Italian infantry and cavalry searched the surrounding areas, pursued the Ottoman-Arab forces and seized some caravans, raided four camps and captured weapons, ammunition, tents, supplies and cattle.

Italian victims were Colonel Giovanni Pastorelli of the 40th Infantry Regiment, who was posthumously awarded the gold medal for military valor , and 16 soldiers. Eight officers and 163 soldiers were also injured. The Ottoman losses were estimated at more than 50 dead, including two officers and over 50 wounded; more than 100 dead were among the Arab victims.

consequences

After conquering the oasis, Italian troops strengthened the position and built a new railway line connecting Ain Zara with Tripoli.

In January 1912, the Ottoman forces attempted a counterattack with around 4,000 soldiers (500 regular Ottoman and 3,500 Arab soldiers) to retake Ain Zara. The Italian command, however, had learned of this plan and reinforced the defense of Ain Zara to three infantry regiments, the 2nd Grenadier Battalion, the Alpini Battalion "Mondovi" and some artillery batteries. After some skirmishes on January 27, the Ottoman forces launched their attack on January 28. The Turkish and Arab forces attempted to encircle and capture the Italian positions, but were driven away by artillery and machine gun fire. At 10 a.m. the attack was canceled and the Ottoman forces withdrew. Three Italian soldiers were killed and 15 wounded, the number of Ottoman casualties is unknown. The Ottoman forces tried again and again to recapture the oasis, but failed and were pushed back on February 5, 1912. Ain Zara remained in Italian hands for the remainder of the war.

When the 33rd Bersaglieri Battalion dug a few trenches in the area, a Roman mosaic was discovered that was believed to belong to the ancient Roman city of Oea . The mosaic was carefully removed and sent to Italy.

literature

• Charles Stephenson: A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911–1912 . Tattered Flag Press, Ticehurst 2014

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bruce Vandervort: Verso la quarta sponda. La guerra italiana per la Libia (1911-1912) . Stato maggiore dell'esercito, Ufficio storico, Rome 2012, p. 305
2. ^ Charles Stephenson: A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911–1912 , pp. 75 f., 109 ff.
3. ^ Charles Stephenson: A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911–1912 , p. 112
4. ^ Cronaca e storia del Corpo dei Bersaglieri , Daniele Piazza Editore, 1986, p. 176
5. ^ Italian Ministry of War-Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore: Campagna di Libia . Volume 1/1, pp. 188-199
6. ↑ Charles Stephenson: A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911–1912 , pp. 112–119
7. ^ Pastorelli, Giovanni , President of the Republic of Italy, accessed April 30, 2019
8. ^ William Henry Beehler: The History of the Italian-Turkish War: September 29, 1911, to October 18, 1912 . United States Naval Institute, Annapolis 1913, p. 52 f. ( Digitized version )
9. ^ Roberto Paribeni: Il Mosaico di 'Ain Zara . In: Bollettino d'Arte , No. 2 (February 1912), Volume 6, pp. 75-77 ( digitized as PDF )