İçeriğe atla

Mesudiye Village biography

Galip Ay

Three-Front Veteran (1896 Rumelia – 14 Feb 1967 Mesudiye)

Veteran of three WWI fronts (Yemen, Iraq, Afyon), seven years a British prisoner of war, and the subject of one of Mesudiye's most-told oral histories — his unrecognised return from captivity.

Born in Rumelia in 1896, Galip Ay migrated to Mesudiye with his family in 1907 at age 11. By WWI he served on the Yemen and Iraq fronts.

Captured by British forces in Iraq, he spent seven years in captivity. By the time he returned, his family had presumed him dead — his wife Müzeyyen was being courted for remarriage.

The village preserves the story of his unrecognised return: His father Mutallip travelled to Karaman to inquire at the Askerlik Şubesi. Staying at the Mustafa Usta Hanı, he sat down beside a long-haired bearded stranger — his son Galip, returned but unrecognisable. Galip recognised his father but did not reveal himself, asking the old man about his journey. Only when his father spoke of "his lost lamb" — meaning his lost son — did Galip declare himself: "Baba ben oğlun Galip" ("Father, I am your son Galip").

Galip later rejoined the Turkish War of Independence at the Afyon front, riding his own horse and cart.

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