Wilson was appointed GOC Allied Forces Gallipoli and Bosporus, and his men occupied those two straits while the Allied fleet steamed through on 12 November 1918. Wilson landed from the fleet the following day and was greeted by a guard of honour of 300 released British prisoners of war (POWs), clothed in rough civilian dress provided by the neutral Dutch ambassador in place of their prisoners' rags. Wilson spent the next two years dealing with the complexities of the occupation, arranging the handover of Turkish munitions and defences, and the repatriation not only of released Allied POWs but of some 10,000 German troops left behind in Turkey.