Portrait | Wyndham Deedes 1883 - 1956

Amiral Calthorpe, "Izmir'in Yunanlilar tarafindan isgali olayinin nereye varacagi hakkinda bir tahmin yazisi" yazmalarini Askeri Atase Wyndham Deedes ile Yarbay Ian Smith ve Philip Graves'ten olusan komisyondan istedi. Komisyon neticeye varmisti: "Eger yeni bir harp isteniyorsa, gidilen yol tamamiyla oraya çikar".



Front row, left to right: Col. T. E. Lawrence, Emir Abdullah, Air Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond and Sir Wyndham Deedes in Palestine 


Mavi Boncuk |

Wyndham Deedes 1883 - 1956

British colonial official in the Middle East. After serving in World War I, the British Brigadier General Sir Wyndham Henry Deedes was posted to Istanbul as a military attaché and to Cairo, then a British protectorate, as public security director. From 1920 to 1922 he served as chief secretary to British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel in Palestine, then under British mandate. Although known for his pro-Zionist sympathies, Deedes played a role in promoting the Supreme Muslim Council as an Arab counterweight to the Jewish Agency. 

During World War I, Deedes saw service in Gallipoli, where he took part in the Gallipoli Campaign. On 27 April 1915, the then Captain Deedes was appointed as a General Staff Officer (2nd Class). Deedes was promoted to Major on 14 September 1916.[11] On 1 January 1916, he was appointed Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) "for distinguished service in the field". In October 1916, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, 4th Class (with Swords) by King Peter I of Serbia. On 21 March 1917, Deedes was promoted to temporary Lieutenant Colonel upon appointment as a General Staff Officer (1st Class) in the General Staff. On 3 June 1917, Deedes was awarded the rank of Brevet Colonel "for distinguished service in the field". During the war, he was honored by the French Republic with the appointment to the Legion of Honour as a Chevalier. 

After the war he was posted to Istanbul, Turkey, as a military attaché. He was posted to Cairo, Egypt, which was at that time a British protectorate, as public security director. Here he helped to set up the Palestine Police Force.He also worked as Deedes bey with the ottoman Gendarme forces. 

From 1920 to 1922, Deedes served as chief secretary to the then British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel in Palestine. Palestine was then under British mandate following the League of Nations decision in 1920 to hand it over to British control from 1923 onwards. Although Deedes had pro-Zionist sympathies, he played a role in promoting the Supreme Muslim Council as an Arab counterweight to the Jewish Agency.[17] He retired from the British Army on 27 June 1923, with the honorary rank of Brigadier General.There is a street named after him in the Emek Refaim neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel. 

When the London Turkish House (Halkevi) was set up during World War II to help foster Anglo-Turkish relations, Deedes was its Chairman, with Lady Dorina Neave in charge of its social side.


Deedes translated three major Turkish literary works into English: two novels by Reşat Nuri Güntekin and a memoir by Mahmut Makal:

Reşat Nuri Güntekin. The Autobiography of a Turkish Girl (Çalıkuşu, 1922). London: George Allen & Unwin, 1949.

Reşat Nuri Güntekin. Afternoon Sun (Akşam Güneşi, 1926). London: Heinemann, 1951.

Mahmut Makal. A Village in Anatolia (Bizim Köy, 1950). London: Vallentine, Mitchell & Co., 1954. First Edition in English, with a frontispiece, 16 other illustrations from photographs, and a map, 8vo., pp. xviii, 190,

Bibliography
Ingrams, Doreen. Palestine Papers 1917 - 1922: Seeds of Conflict. London: J. Murray, 1972.

Porath, Yehoshua. The Emergence of the Palestinian-Arab National Movement, 1918 - 1929. London: Cass, 1974.

Wasserstein, Bernard. The British in Palestine: The MandatoryGovernment and Arab - Jewish Conflict, 1917 - 1929. Oxford, U.K., and Cambridge, MA: B. Blackwell, 1991.

Deedes Bey: A Study of Sir Wyndham Deedes, 1883-1923. by John Presland
London: Macmillan, 1942. 

Letters and diary from the pen of an Englishman closely identified with Near Eastern affairs for some 14 years, first as officer in the old Ottoman gendarmerie, then as intelligence officer with the British Army at Gallipoli, and later as an official in the Arab Bureau at Cairo and in Palestine during the early years of the Mandate.