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THE FIFE AND FORFAR YEOMANRY

[Illustration: OFFICERS AT FAKENHAM, 1915. _Back Row (left to right). _--Lt. Smith, Lt. Rigg, Lt. Hutchison, Lt. Herdman. Lt. Gray, Lt. Stewart, Lt. Marshall, Lt. Lindsay, Lt. Robertson, Capt. Osborne, Lt. Don, Lt. Cummins, Capt. Mitchell, Capt. Ogilvie. Capt. Tuke, Major De Prée, Major Gilmour, Lt. -Col. Mitchell, Capt. Lindsay, Major Younger, Major Nairn. Lt. Nairn, Lt. Andrew, Lt. Sir W. Campbell, Lt. Inglis. _Frontispiece_]

THE FIFE ANDFORFAR YEOMANRY

AND 14TH (F. & F. YEO. ) BATTN. R. H. 

1914-1919

BY MAJOR D. D. OGILVIE

WITH A PREFACE BYMAJOR-GENERAL E. S. GIRDWOOD, C. B. , C. M. G. Lately G. O. C. 74th (Yeomanry) Division

ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

LONDONJOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET1921

_All rights reserved_

FOREWORD

Major Ogilvie has done me the honour of asking me to write a shortpreface to a work which to me is of peculiar interest. 

To write a preface--and especially a short one--is a somewhatdifficult task, but my intense pride in, and admiration for, the partplayed by the Battalion with which the gallant author was so long andhonourably associated must be my excuse for undertaking to do my best. 

From his stout record as a soldier the author's qualifications towrite this history are undoubted. His readers will be able to followfrom start to glorious finish of the Great War the fortunes of thatgallant little band of Fife and Forfar Yeomen who ultimately becamethe 14th (Fife and Forfar Yeomanry) Battalion The Royal Highlanders. 

There was little of moment in the operations of the EgyptianExpeditionary Force in which this unit did not take part. In diverstheatres of war they answered the call of Empire--from Gallipoli toJerusalem, from Jerusalem to France--ever upholding the honour oftheir King and Country and the best traditions of the British Army. 

No matter what by-path of the Great War they trod they bore themselveswith the undaunted spirit of their forefathers. 

The experiences of the Battalion were so full of interest as to seemwell worth placing on record--quite apart from the military importanceof the operations in which they were concerned. 

The ordinary reader must consider the conditions under which the workof this unit was carried out--often under a burning sun and again inbitter cold, mud and torrential rain--conditions which might wellappal the stoutest heart, but here I note that the gallant author, asI expected, makes light of the many hardships and vicissitudes that heand his comrades were called upon to endure. 

Again, when we consider how these heroes first entered the lists ascavalry, were then called upon to serve as dismounted cavalry, andfinally as infantrymen, it surely speaks highly for that "will to win"that they had not long before the cessation of hostilities died of abroken heart!

Many a time during the two years that I had the honour to command the74th (Yeomanry) Division both in Palestine and France, I noted--notwithout a feeling of intense pride--the cheery "never-say-die" spiritwhich pervaded all ranks of this splendid Battalion. 

No matter what task was set them--no matter what the difficulties andprivations to be encountered--all was overcome by that unfalteringdetermination and unswerving loyalty which carried them triumphantwherever the fates called them. 

In conclusion of these few poor remarks of mine, let me congratulatethe author on his story. If others read it with the same interest andenjoyment with which it has filled me, I can only think that theauthor's labours have not been in vain. 

Further, may these remarks go forth, not only as a token to my oldfriends of the 14th Battalion The Royal Highlanders, of theadmiration, affection, and gratitude of their old Commander, but tothe whole of Scotland as a tribute to the memory of those good andgallant comrades of the "Broken Spur" whom we left behind in foreignlands. 

 ERIC S. GIRDWOOD, _(late) Major-General, Commanding 74th (Yeomanry) Division. _

 PORTSMOUTH, _20th August 1921_. 

INTRODUCTION

This short history, written by request, was started shortly after theRegiment was disbanded. For the delay in publishing it, I must pleadthe great mass of inaccuracies which had to be corrected and verified, entailing a considerable amount of correspondence and consequent lapseof time. It has been compiled from Official Diaries and Forms, andfrom a Diary kept by Lieut. -Colonel J. Younger, D. S. O. , without whoseassistance it would never have been completed. 

It will, however, recall to the reader's mind the strenuous andeventful days we spent together in a regiment of whose history we areall so justly proud, and whose career now as a Yeomanry Regiment isended, and it will recall the gallant fellows with whom we served andmany a gallant deed. 

To the glorious memory of those whose graves lie in a foreign land, Ihumbly dedicate this book. 

 D. DOUGLAS OGILVIE. 

 _April 1920. _

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

 I. AT HOME--1914-1915 1

 II. ABROAD--1915 9

 III. EGYPT--1916 30

 LIST OF OFFICERS 40

 IV. EGYPT AND PALESTINE--1917 41

 V. PALESTINE--1918 107

 VI. FRANCE--1918 119

 VII. SOME PERSONALITIES 143

VIII. THE PREDECESSORS OF THE FIFE AND FORFAR YEOMANRY 159

 HONOURS AND AWARDS 165

 LIST OF CASUALTIES 168

 INDEX 204

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 _Face Page_

Officers at Fakenham, 1915 _Frontispiece_

N. C. O. 's at Fakenham, 1915 2

H. M. The King, with Brigadier-General Lord Lovat and Major-General Bruce Hamilton 4

The Regiment in Column of Troops at St Ives 4

Crossing the Bridge, St Ives 6

Lieut. R. G. O. Hutchison and Machine Gun Section, 1915 6

Guard Mounting, Fakenham 8

Entraining Horses, Fakenham 8

Gebel-el-Ghenneim, Khargeh Oasis 18

The Highland Barricade, Asmak Dere, Suvla 18

Captain Tuke on "Joseph" 34

In the Village of Khargeh 34

Sentry on Water Dump "A" 36

Camel Lines at Khargeh 36

Senussi Prisoners, Dakhla 40

The Sergeants' Reel, Moascar 40

The Battalion Mascot 42

Battalion Cookhouse, El Ferdan 42

Dug-outs in the Front Line, Sheikh Abbas 54

A Reserve Wadi, Sheikh Abbas 54

A Platoon Mess, Wadi Asher 58

"C" Company Officers' Mess, Wadi Asher 58

Turkish Trench, with dead Turks, Hill 1070, Beersheba 62

Bathing, Regent's Park 62

Battalion Bivouac near Suffa 110

The Irish Road crossing the Wadi Ain Arik 110

The Battalion Football Team 140

The Fife and Forfar Imperial Yeomanry at Annsmuir 158

Detachment at H. M. The King's Visit to Edinburgh 160

Regimental Drill at Annsmuir, with Skeleton Enemy 160

Group showing Six successive Commanding Officers 164

The Cadre on arrival at Kirkcaldy 164

MAPS

Our Trenches in the Front Line at Suvla 20

Battle of Sheria 68

Operations in Palestine, 1917-1918 106

Trench System on the Somme 134

The Lys Sector 142

THE FIFE AND FORFAR YEOMANRY

CHAPTER I

AT HOME--1914-1915

August 4th, 1914, marks the end and also the beginning of two greatepochs in the history of every Territorial Unit. It marked the closeof our peace training and the beginning of thirteen months' strenuouswar training for the thirty-seven months which we were to spend onactive service abroad. 

The Fiery Cross which blazed across the entire Continent caught mostpeople unawares and unprepared--but not so our headquarters. Ourmobilization papers had already been made out and were despatchedimmediately on the outbreak of war. Each one of us was bidden toreport forthwith to his Squadron Headquarters, and while we kicked ourheels there, officers were scouring the country for horses. Soon thesecame in of every sort and shape, and in a week's time the Regiment wasconcentrated at Blairgowrie. 

The headquarters of the Regiment was at Kirkcaldy, the four SquadronsA, B, C, and D having their headquarters respectively at Cupar, Dunfermline, Dundee, and Forfar. The recruiting area comprised thecounties of Fife, Forfar, Kinross, and Clackmannan, and there was alsoa troop in Stirlingshire within a few miles of Loch Lomond. The restof the Highland Mounted Brigade, to which the Regiment belonged, waspure Highland, consisting of two regiments of Lovat's Scouts, theInverness Battery, R. H. A. , and a T. And S. Column and Field Ambulancehailing also from Inverness. On changing to War Establishment, DSquadron dropped out and was divided amongst A, B, and C, with theexception of Lieut. -Colonel King who went to Remounts, and CaptainJackson who became Staff Captain on the newly formed Brigade Staff. 

The Regiment was fortunate in having about a week at SquadronMobilization Centres before uniting at Blairgowrie, and a prettyhectic week it was for most of us. The most rapid bit of work musthave been that of D Squadron, whose men were distributed amongst theother squadrons, fully equipped, in about three days. This squadronwas also called upon to provide the various details, such as mountedpolice, who were required on mobilization to report to the HighlandTerritorial Infantry Division, the famous 51st. 

[Illustration: N. C. O. 's AT FAKENHAM, 1915. _Back Row (left to right). _--Sgts. Edmond, Petrie, Annand, M'Niven. _Second Row. _--Farr. -Sgt. Lindsay, Sgts. Inglis, Gourlay, Farr. -Sgt. Renton, Sgt. Abbie, Saddler-Sgt. Smith, Sergt. Kirk, F. Q. M. S. Allan, Sgts. Hood, Walker, Colthart, Haig, Lumsden, Thorp, Dougall, Couper, Bradfield, Craig. _Third Row. _--Sgts. Thornton, Aitken, S. Q. M. S. Craig, S. S. M. Edie, S. S. M. Ogilvie, Capt. And Adjt. M. E. Lindsay, R. S. M. R. G. Rapkin, Capt. Jackson, S. S. M. M'Laren, S. S. M. Adams, S. Q. M. S. W. Birrell, Farr. -Sgt. W. Guthrie, Sgt. J. Wilson. _FrontRow. _--Sgts. Scott, Stewart, Gair, Duff, Hair, Adams, Kidd, andHenderson. _To face page 2_]

During this first week squadrons had to arrange for their ownbilleting, forage, and rations; take over, shoe, brand, and number thehorses as they were sent up in twos and threes by the buyers; mark allarticles of equipment with the man's regimental number; fit saddlery;see that all ranks had brought with them and were in possession of theprescribed underclothing, boots, and necessaries; take on charge allarticles on the Mobilization Store Table as they arrived in odd lotsfrom Stirling; and, beyond the above duties, which were all accordingto regulation, to make unofficial arrangements to beg, borrow, orsteal clothing of sorts to cover those who had enlisted, orre-enlisted, to complete to War Establishment, and to provide fordeficiencies in the saddlery and clothing already on charge. 

The result of all the hard work was that it was practically a completeunit which came together at Blairgowrie about the 12th of August. OurMobilization Orders had been thoroughly thought out and the generaloutline made known to all ranks, so that no time was lost in getting amove on. At Blairgowrie we were billeted in a school, and would havebeen very comfortable if we had been older campaigners, in spite ofthe fact that our horses were about half a mile away, up a steep hill, in a field which looked as if it had been especially selected so thatwe might trample to pieces a heavy clover crop, and at the same timebe as far as possible from any possible watering place for thehorses. It meant also about as stiff a hill as possible up which tocart all our forage from the station below. Here our adjutant, CaptainM. E. Lindsay, who knew the whole business of regimental interioreconomy from A to Z, started to get things into proper form and to seethat orderly officers, orderly sergeants, and orderly corporalsperformed as many of their proper duties as, with their inexperience, could be fitted into the twenty-four hours. By the end of three daysorder was beginning to spring out of chaos, and the adjutant never dida better bit of work--and that is saying a great deal--than he did inhunting all and sundry during those first few days. 

A depot for recruiting was formed at Kirkcaldy and men quickly swelledour reinforcements there. After a few days at Blairgowrie, theRegiment entrained for the Brigade Concentration at Huntingdon; but asit was found there was insufficient space for a whole brigade, we weremoved to St Ives, about six miles off, where there was a splendidcommon for drilling and good billets for the men. Very strenuoustraining occupied our two months there, and the expectation of goingabroad at a moment's notice kept us up to concert pitch. An inspectionby H. M. The King of the whole Brigade on the common at Huntingdon, andanother by Sir Ian Hamilton, helped to confirm our expectations, and when we suddenly got orders one Sunday at midnight that we were tomove to an unknown destination few doubted that we were bound forBoulogne. 

[Illustration: H. M. THE KING, WITH BRIGADIER-GENERAL LORD LOVAT ANDMAJOR-GENERAL BRUCE HAMILTON. _To face page 4_]

[Illustration: THE REGIMENT IN COLUMN OF TROOPS AT ST. IVES. _To face page 4_]

What a bustle we had that Monday. We had built a fine range of stableson the Market Square, which were completed all except the harnessrooms on the Friday, and on the Saturday all the horses were moved inexcept those in the sick lines. We had just received a consignment ofabout 100 grass-fed remounts which had been handed over to squadronsto look after, but not definitely allotted. Consequently when wereceived orders to move we had horses in the Market Square, saddleryabout a mile away up the Ramsey Road, and horses in the sick lineswhich belonged to no one in particular and had never been fitted withsaddlery at all. In addition, every one had been collecting everyconceivable sort of kit "indispensable for active service, " presentsfrom kind friends and purchases from plausible haberdashers, with theresult that quite 50 per cent. Of our gear had to be left behind orsent home. To add to our confusion a draft arrived from our secondline to bring us up to War Establishment, and they had to be fittedout with horses, etc. However, we got off up to time and entrained atHuntingdon, wondering if it would be three days or a week (at most)before we were charging Uhlans. 

But our destination was only the Lincolnshire coast--Grimsby. Fortunately thirty-six hours terminated our stay there, and we trekkedoff south, eventually halting at Hogsthorpe, a village about threemiles from the coast. The two remaining regiments of the Brigade wereone in Skegness and the other half-way between us and Skegness. 

For the next few months we moved from one village to another in theneighbourhood of Skegness. "We dug miles of trenches along thecoast--we erected barbed wire entanglements for the sea to playwith--we patrolled bleak stretches of coast day and night, and in allsorts of weather--we watched patiently for spies and Zeppelins, and wewere disappointed. Nothing happened; the Germans would not come. "

Christmas was spent at Skegness, and in spite of alarms and excursionswe had an excellent regimental dinner, very largely due to thegenerosity of our friends in Scotland. The ladies of the Regimentopened subscription lists for "Comforts" for the Regiment, andeveryone who was asked not only gave but gave generously. Wherever wewent our "Comforts" followed us, whatever we asked for we got and, except on Gallipoli, we were never without our own private stock ofGrant's or Inglis' oatmeal. We owe a lot to the generosity of ourfriends in Scotland. 

[Illustration: CROSSING THE BRIDGE, ST IVES. _To face page 6_]

[Illustration: LIEUT. R. G. O. HUTCHISON AND MACHINE GUN SECTION, 1915. _To face page 6_]

From Lincolnshire we moved again south to Norfolk. King's Lynn wasfound to be unsatisfactory as a billeting area, so we trekked on toFakenham which proved to be our final resting place in England. By nowour training had so far advanced that we were not kept at it quite sohard, and we had more time for sports. We had polo, cricket, and allkinds of games, and on 3rd June mounted sports which were mostsuccessful. 

We spent the summer putting on the finishing touches, and did somevery useful bits of training, including some fairly ambitious schemesof trench digging and planning, which proved invaluable later on, andwhich was a branch of knowledge in which many Yeomanries wereconspicuously lacking. Also, by this time, a few courses ofinstruction had been started at the larger military centres, and wehad several officers and men trained at these courses in musketry andother branches who were then able to pass their information on to therest of us. We were given an army gymnastic instructor who brushed upour physical training--on which we had always been very keen--and alsostarted to put us through a thorough course of bayonet fighting. Therewas also a busy time among our machine gunners, who trained spareteams up to nearly three times our establishment, which wasinvaluable, as it enabled us to take advantage of the chance whichcame to us of going abroad with six machine guns per regiment insteadof three. As our usual role on Gallipoli was to take over with threesquadrons, whose effective strength was never more than 100 each atthe most, and generally considerably less, from four companies ofinfantry, each numbering anything from 150 to 180 strong, these extramachine guns were worth their weight in gold. 

By this time a good many were thoroughly "fed up" with so long a spellof home service, fearing that the war would be over before we got outat all. And it was not till nearly the end of August that we gotdefinite news that at last we were to receive the reward of all ourhard training and see service overseas. We were inspected andaddressed by General Sir H. Smith-Dorrien. Our horses, that had doneus so well on many a strenuous field day, that knew cavalry drillbetter than some of us, that had taken part in our famous charge withfixed bayonets on the common at St Ives, were taken from us and sent, some to our second line and some to remount depots. In return for ahorse we were each given a heavy cavalry sword, presumably to preventus being confused with mere infantry. 

On 5th September we said good-bye to our friends in Fakenham andstarted off on our journey for an unknown destination but--business. 

[Illustration: GUARD MOUNTING, FAKENHAM. _To face page 8_]

[Illustration: ENTRAINING HORSES, FAKENHAM. _To face page 8_]

CHAPTER II

ABROAD--1915

The last few days at Fakenham were busy ones, chiefly owing to thefloods of new equipment which were at last showered upon us. Twosquadrons got a complete issue of new saddlery, harness, and vehicles, which meant, in the first place, handing over the old issues torepresentatives of the second line, and in the second place, assembling all the new saddlery (which was issued in small pieces) andpacking it into sacks ready for the voyage. The rest of the saddlerywas put on board without being unpacked. Then our complement ofmachine guns was increased from two to six per regiment, which meanttaking from each squadron 1 officer and 20 men to form the newpersonnel, and replacing them in the squadrons with men from thesecond line. By this arrangement we lost also our adjutant, CaptainM. E. Lindsay, who was made Brigade Machine Gun Officer. LieutenantH. S. Sharp took Captain Lindsay's place as adjutant. All ranks werefitted with helmets (on which pugarees had to be fixed under the eyeof the few old soldiers who had been abroad and knew how to do it), and also with a complete outfit of khaki drill clothing. This lastcaused no end of trouble and annoyance both to the tailors and themen. However, it was all finished somehow, and it was a very cheeryparty which embarked on the train at Fakenham station just after dusk. The entire population turned out to see us off and wish us luck, andgave us a very hearty send-off. 

Next morning we found ourselves at Devonport, where we were to embarkon H. M. T. _Andania_ (Captain Melsom), a second-class Cunard AtlanticLiner, and set to at once to load our baggage in the holds. Speedseemed to be the main concern, the safety of the cargo being quite asecondary consideration. The Brigade arrived in some dozen or moretrains, each carrying what corresponded to a squadron, its baggage, which consisted of all sorts of heavy cases and things more or lessbreakable such as personal baggage, and saddlery in sacks, and alsomotor bicycles and vehicles. Each train was unloaded as it arrived andits contents thrown holus-bolus into one of the holds, except for thewheeled vehicles. The result was that there were layers of saddles atthe very bottom of the hold, and further layers at intervals up to thetop sandwiched between ammunition and heavy cases of all kinds. Fortunately we were never asked to unpack the saddlery. 

On Wednesday, 8th September, about 5 A. M. , we left the harbourescorted by two destroyers who took us to abreast Cape Ushant andthere left us. 

The first day or two on board was regular pandemonium and mostuncomfortable for the men. Four officers and 140 other ranks from thesecond line had joined us at Devonport and we were very overcrowded. Each man had a stuffy and inaccessible bunk and a place at a table inthe steerage saloon for meals, which had to be served in three relaysowing to the numbers on board. This meant either very perfect timekeeping or very perfect chaos, and, needless to say, for the first fewdays it was the latter. The captain also had a habit of always havinghis alarm boat drills while some relay was feeding, which did not addto the harmony. After a few days, however, things went very much moresmoothly, but at no time could it be called a comfortable voyage. Forthe officers it was very different. They were not too overcrowded andwere fed like fighting cocks. The deck accommodation was, of course, ridiculously inadequate, and muster parades, boat drill, and physicaldrill in relays was all that could be managed. We also had lectures onflies, sanitation, and how to behave when we got to Constantinople. 

We steered a very roundabout course to avoid submarines and came intothe Straits of Gibraltar from the south-west keeping well south ofthe Rock. We hugged the north coast of Africa, and passed a Greektramp who signalled to us to stop as a large enemy submarine was tenmiles east of us. As such ships had been used before as decoys forGerman submarines, we gave her a wide berth and informed Gibraltar whowere to send out a destroyer to have a look at her. We reached Maltaon 14th September, but we were too late to get into Valetta Harbour, so we anchored in St Paul's Bay for the night and got into ValettaHarbour early next morning. For most of us it was our first glimpse ofthe Near East, and no one could deny the beauty of the scene--theharbour full of craft of all sorts down to the tiny native skiff, andcrowned by the old Castle of St Angelo, the picturesque town, the palmtrees, and the motley crowd of natives swimming and diving, andhawking fruit and cigarettes from their boats. Some of us got ashoreto see the historical old town, full of memories of the Templars--StJohn's Cathedral, the Governor's Palace, the Armoury--but most had tostay on board to bargain and argue with the native vendors. We slippedout of the harbour at dusk, showing no lights, but to show we were notdownhearted, Lovat's entire pipe band started to play. But not forlong; as the captain threatened to put them all in irons, whichbrought the concert to an abrupt conclusion. 

We reached Alexandria on the morning of the 18th, and the first stageof our trip was over--to everyone's regret. We had had a lovelyvoyage, a calm sea and perfect weather, and only the most perseveringhad managed to get seasick. Those of us who had still lingering hopesof seeing horses at Alexandria were speedily disillusioned, as we wereordered promptly to unload all our saddlery and transport vehicles. This was done with just as much organisation and care as the loading. The following morning we all went a route march for a couple of hoursthrough the town. Perhaps the intention was to squash any desire wemight have had to linger on in Alexandria. All the same some bitsundoubtedly stank less than others. 

Meanwhile stacks of infantry web equipment had come aboard, andfortunately for us about forty infantry officers who were able to showus how to put it together. That kept us busy for the next few days. 

A cruiser met us in the Grecian Archipelago and conducted us safelyinto Mudros Harbour on 23rd September. It had got very much colder aswe got farther north, and the day before we made Mudros it wasabsolutely arctic, which was lucky indeed as it made us all take on tothe Peninsula much warmer clothes than we would otherwise have done. Mudros Harbour was a great sight--British and French battleships, hospital ships, transports, colliers, and all sorts of cargo shipsdown to the little native sailing boats, and the steam cutters whichtore up and down all day looking very busy. The island itself lookedvery uninviting, stony, barren, and inhospitable, and a route marchonly confirmed our opinions--the race ashore in the ship's boats, however, compensated us--and nearly drowned us. 

Our ration strength at Mudros was 32 officers and 617 other ranks, butof these 9 officers and 63 other ranks remained behind as firstreinforcements when the Regiment went on the Peninsula. Each squadronwent forward 4 officers and 136 other ranks. When we returned toMudros three months later our effective strength was 8 officers and125 other ranks. 

On 26th September the Regiment filed down the gangways of the_Andania_ on to the _Abassiyeh_ and landed that night on Gallipoli. From the _Abassiyeh_ we were transhipped into a "beetle" packed likesardines and loaded like a Christmas-tree. These lighters beingflat-bottomed could run ashore on the sand and land troops dry-shod. The gangway was very steep and slippery and the men were sooverloaded, each carrying a bundle of firewood as well as fullequipment, and a pick and a shovel, that nearly everyone, like Williamthe Conqueror, bit the dust on landing. Otherwise, we had anunmolested landing and started off for our billets in some reservetrenches about a mile and a half away. 

Here our difficulties began with daylight, as we were in full view ofthe Turkish positions and within easy range of their guns, with theresult we were not allowed to move about outside the trenches duringthe day. Water had to be fetched by hand about a mile and then had tobe boiled, and we had not, like those who had been on the Peninsula afew weeks, collected a stock of petrol and biscuit tins for storage. Later on we even got water-carts filled with water brought from Mudrosor Egypt, but not for at least six weeks, and meantime everything hadto be carried and stored in petrol tins, rum jars, and such fewbiscuit tins as were water-tight. The wells were so congested, and thewater so scarce that water-bottles were not allowed at the wells, andall we could do was to keep them in the cookhouse, ready to be filledand issued as the water was boiled. Apart from the November blizzardour first week in the reserve trenches, until we got our water supplyin working order, was the most uncomfortable of our stay. Rations werereally wonderfully plentiful and good. 

That night we were ordered forward to complete the digging of a newreserve area. Just as we were falling in to move off, a regular strafestarted in the front line only just over a mile away, but luckily itstopped just before we were to move off. It was our first experienceof being under fire, and for all we knew it might have been the sortof thing that happened every night, so we just carried on as ifnothing unusual were happening. Familiarity may breed contempt in mostcases, but bullets singing about four feet above one's head is one ofthe exceptions, and Heaven knows we had plenty of experience of"overs" on the Peninsula. They are undoubtedly a fine incentive towork however, and once on the ground the men dug like beavers--andthey _could_ dig--and by dawn at 4 A. M. We had a continuous thoughsomewhat narrow trench. The soil, for the most part, was clay, and itwas tough work digging, but once dug the trenches stood up well. 

After a day or two we began to be sent up to the front line forinstruction, 30 men per squadron at a time, the remainder diggingtrenches and going down singly to the beach for a bathe. That was theone thing for which Gallipoli was perfect. The beach was rather faraway, perhaps two miles, but we were all glad of the exercise, and thebathing was glorious--the water beautifully warm and so refreshing. 

As regards the lie of the land and our positions there--coming up fromthe beach at Suvla there were fully two miles of flat country beforeyou reached the foothills. The northern part of this plain was ashallow lake dry in summer but with a few feet of brackish water inwinter called Salt Lake, and the southern part a few feet higherstretched down to "Anzac, " where spurs running down from Sari Bahr tothe sea terminate it abruptly. Our front line, generally speaking, wasjust off the plain, a few hundred yards up the slopes of thefoothills, with any reserves there were lying in trenches on theplain. 

Imagining the whole Suvla plain and its surrounding hills to be ahorse-shoe, you might say the Turks held round three parts of theshoe, leaving us with the two heels at Caracol Dagh on the north andAnzac on the south, and a line between these two points across theplain. This plain was practically bare, but Caracol Dagh was thicklycovered with dwarf oak and scrub, and Anzac with a good undergrowth ofrhododendron, veronica, and other similar bushes. At Sulajik (thecentre of the horse-shoe), and immediately to the north of it, andalso round the villages in the Turkish lines, were numbers of finetrees, but nowhere that we could see was there anything that could becalled a wood. As regards the soil, the gullies at Anzac on the spursof Sari Bahr were quite bewildering in their heaped up confusion, partly rocky, but mainly a sort of red clay and very steep. In thecentre it was a yellower clay with patches of sand and bog, and onCaracol Dagh it was all rock and stones, so that digging wasimpossible, and all defences were built either with stones orsandbags. The view looking back to the sea from almost any part of ourline was glorious. Hospital ships and men-of-war, and generallymonitors and troop-ships in the Bay, and on the horizon the peaks ofImbros and Samothrace reflecting the glorious sunrises and sunsets ofthe Levant. 

In these surroundings we spent about a week before getting a turn inthe front line. We struck a reasonably quiet sector and fairly welldug, but there were several details in which the trenches varied fromwhat we were accustomed to read about. The first and most noticeabledifference from the point of view of the inhabitants was the entireabsence of head cover. Even after we had been on the Peninsula nearlythree months all we had collected were one or two poles, a sheet ofcorrugated iron (ear-marked as a roof for a signal station), and a fewyards of wire-netting. There was not a house or a building of coursein the country-side, and as our neighbours were as badly off as wewere, there was no scope for the enterprising. 

Our first turn only lasted four days, and we had hardly a casualtyuntil an hour or two before we were to move back into support. Thesupport trenches were very much less comfortable than the front line, and as there were lots of parties to go up at all hours of the day andnight to dig and wire in front, it took a lot of scheming to geteveryone satisfactorily fixed with water and food. We also had to sendout officers' patrols to fix the Turkish line, as we were intending tohave a dash at capturing his barrier across the Azmac Dere--a drywatercourse which ran right through both the Turkish and ourlines--and so straighten out our line. Patrolling was verydifficult--there were no landmarks to guide one, the going wasexceedingly prickly, and at that time the place was full of Turkishsnipers, who came out at dusk and lay out till morning in the brokenand shell-pitted country. We soon got the better of these sportsmenthough--our snipers out-sniped them, and our bombing officer, if hefrightened them with his catapults and other engines of offence halfas much as he frightened us, must also be given credit for a share indispersing them. 

[Illustration: GEBEL-EL-GHENNEIM, KHARGEH OASIS. _To face page 18_]

[Illustration: THE HIGHLAND BARRICADE, ASMAK DERE, SUVLA. _To face page 18_]

A squadron (Major de Pree) and the bombing squad under Mr A. C. Smith, in conjunction with a squadron of 2nd Lovat Scouts, carried out theraid on the Dere on the night of the 17th/18th October. It was acomplete success--all the Turks holding the barrier being killed bythe bombing party, and about sixty or seventy yards of new trenchbeing dug the same night. This little exploit was the subject ofcongratulations from both the Divisional and Corps Commanders, Major-General W. Peyton and Major-General Sir Julian Byng. Mr Smithgot the M. C. , and Lance-Sergeant J. Valentine and Private W. Rogerthe D. C. M. For that night's work. 

The Brigade was then due for relief, but we wanted to finish the jobof straightening the line before we went, so we stayed on to the endof the month, by which time the work was practically complete. Duringthis time we had the joy of receiving some letters and parcels, andeven a very limited supply of canteen stores. People at home hardlyrealised as yet where we were, the conditions under which we wereliving, and the time it took for parcels to arrive. One officerreceived three parcels--the first containing his keys which he hadleft on his dressing-table at home, the second, some sort ofcollapsible boot-tree, and the third, about a three years' supply ofEuxesis shaving cream. Many a good cake too had to be hurriedlyremoved and buried deep in the refuse pit. All the same, parcels werea great joy to receive, and provided many an excellent tit-bit forsupper. Many, unfortunately, went missing--especially if they had thelabels of Fortnum & Mason, John Dewar, or Johnnie Walker. We sometimeswondered if they were timid and preferred the comforts of the beach tothe hazards of the trenches. 

The canteen arrangements could hardly be called a success either. Occasionally a few supplies trickled through to us, and once anexpedition to Imbros was arranged to purchase stores at the localmarkets. Eggs, fruit, biscuits, oatmeal, chocolate, etc. , were orderedby the hundredweight, and an officer sent to make the purchases. Hereturned to tell us the expedition had fallen short of completesuccess. His share of the plunder for the Regiment had been one packetof chocolate which he had eaten. 

[Illustration: OUR TRENCHES IN THE FRONT LINE AT SUVLAEmery Walker Ltd. Sc_To face page 20_]

We had now completed our turn in the line, and were relieved by the158th Brigade, and went back to our old place in reserve which wefound very filthy. How we wished there were Dr Tukes in every regimentand battalion. He had so inculcated everyone of us--officers and menalike--with the vital necessity of cleanliness and the deplorablehabits and peregrinations of the household fly, that we sometimeswondered if we were scavengers or soldiers. Though we lay no claims toperfection--or anything like it--few trenches were cleaner than ourswere, and right to the very end of the war we never left a trench orbillet without it being cleaner and more "lime and creosol"-ated thanwhen we entered it. 

The water arrangements had also been revolutionised, and we actuallyhad cookers and water-carts in the lines, but the greatest joy of allwas to go bathing again. The weather was not nearly so hot, and theflies which had tortured us in their myriads during the hot weatherwere now nothing like so numerous, which made it possible to enjoywhat food we had. 

Rumour as to our future movements meantime was rife. Lord Kitchenerhad come and gone, and all sorts of stories came from the beach. Itwas not till 26th November that we knew definitely that evacuation hadbeen decided on, and that we had to make arrangements to get rid ofall surplus kit and all our "lame ducks. "

Meantime, we were busy improving our trenches and digging South Laneand Peyton Avenue communication trenches, and generally makingourselves more comfortable. 

On 26th November we got orders to pack all surplus stores which weredumped, along with officers' valises, ready to be taken off that nightby the Sikh muleteers. We parted with great reluctance from ourtarpaulins and cart covers which provided the only shelters we had, but that night even they would have been of little use. At fiveo'clock the downpour started, accompanied by thunder and lightning, such as you only can see in the tropics. Thunder-clap merged intothunder-clap, each one noisier than the last--sheet lightning lit upthe sky, north, south, and east at the same time--and the rain camedown in torrents. It was a wonderful and awful sight. Trenches anddug-outs were quite uninhabitable and a foot deep in water. Fortunately by this time it was dark, so we climbed out of thetrenches and prepared to spend the night on the top, where the waterwas only lying in places. Then came down the water from the hills. TheAzmac Dere came down in spate, washing away the Turkish and theHighland barricades, carrying horses, mules, and men, dead and alive, down with it. Peyton Avenue and South Lane were culs-de-sac and soonfilled, and the overflow flooded our trenches. The 2nd Lovat Scoutswere completely washed out, and had to retire and dig in down near thebeach. By this time the rain had stopped, and by next morning we sawthe water subsiding gradually. Fortunately it was a misty morning, andwe could wander about on top, though we did have one or two shrapnelbursts over us. We then discovered that our valises and stores werestill floating in the water-cart emplacement--the Sikhs having turnedtail when the storm broke. It was six weeks later when we opened ourvalises. 

We had hoped the relief would have been cancelled, but not so, and at5 P. M. We started off for the front line. The Turks evidentlyanticipated something of the sort, and their rifle fire soon forced usto take to the communication trenches. North Lane was not too bad. There was 18 inches of water, but the bottom was gravelly and thegoing not too bad. Where this trench struck the old support line wefound guides awaiting us who took us past Willow Tree Well throughthe most awful trenches-too narrow for a heavily ladened man, greasyand slippery, and full of holes which took us up to the waist inwater. Some idea of the going may be gathered from the fact that thejourney of less than two miles took upwards of five hours toaccomplish. And then our troubles weren't over. The firebays we foundcrammed with the infantry we were relieving--a helpless, hopelessmob--and it wasn't till midnight that we had the place to ourselves. 

A Squadron (Major de Pree) held from the Azmac Dere to Fort Conan, andB Squadron (Major J. Younger) from Fort Conan to the old road leadingto Anafarta, C Squadron lying in support. We could only man everysecond or third bay lightly, and our left flank was in the air--the159th Brigade on our left, being about 120 yards away. Lovats were in, and to the south of, the Dere. 

Movement in the trenches to promote circulation was impossible--onewas exhausted long before one felt any life in one's limbs, and to addto our troubles snow fell during the night, and it turned bitterlycold. Next day was even more bitterly cold with snow and rain, and alot of men had to go down the line sick with trench feet andexhaustion, many of them suffering from jaundice and diarrhoea aswell. The area was again very heavily shelled with shrapnel, and wesuffered a few casualties. By night time everything was covered withsnow, but what really put the lid on was a sudden blizzard about 2A. M. With ever so many degrees of frost. Everything one had on was ofcourse soaking wet and covered with mud, and this was now frozen stiffby the frost. Most of the rifles were out of action, and even thewater in the machine guns froze. However, daylight put new heart inus, and we made good progress in improving the trenches, gettingrifles once more in working order, and generally tidying up and makingthings as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. That nightabout six or eight Turks crawled up the sunken road on our extremeleft flank and caused quite an excitement, but finding the trenchesstill manned retired hastily. Unfortunately the message that they hadretired miscarried, and headquarters stood to impatiently for about anhour. 

Gradually the weather improved and the sun came out, and we managed todrain off more and more of the water from the communication trenches. But the damage had already been done--the wet followed by the cold andintense frost brought on trench fever in an acute and terrible form. One poor fellow had died of exhaustion and 142 left the Regiment intwo days, some few never to recover and others to be maimed for life. 

In the week following the storm 7 officers, including Major Youngerand Captain Tuke, R. A. M. C. , and 221 other ranks were admitted tohospital through sickness. Owing to the washing away of the Highlandbarricade, three men, bringing water up the Azmac Dere, foolishlymissed our trenches and wandered into the Turkish lines. 

By this time our numbers were so reduced that C Squadron was broughtup from the support line and divided between A Squadron (Major dePree) and B Squadron (Captain D. D. Ogilvie). A troop of Lovats and asection of machine gunners were in support to us. Later we were allamalgamated into one squadron under Major de Pree, 8 officers and 103other ranks, the entire strength of the Regiment, includingheadquarters, being only 13 officers and 190 other ranks. 

From the beginning of December we began gradually to send off partiesof men to Mudros with surplus kit and stores. On 9th December we wererelieved by the 2nd Scottish Horse and moved back into the supporttrenches, from which we sent a party back to the front line whoreported very little firing from the Turks but that they seemed to besuffering from bad colds. Embarkation orders by Major-General W. R. Marshall were read to all ranks and we prepared to go. Three officersand 27 other ranks took over part of 1st Lovats' line and formed ourrear-guard, and at six o'clock on the evening of 19th December theRegiment paraded for the last time on Gallipoli and marched to CBeach, via Peyton Avenue and Anzac Road. The perfect weather of thelast three or four days still held; a full moon slightly obscured bymist, a calm sea and no shelling made the evacuation a completesuccess. The remains of the Regiment embarked on the _Snaefels_ andsailed for Imbros, where they were joined by Captain D. D. Ogilvie, whohad been acting M. L. O. For the evacuation and left by the lastlighter. A four-mile march to camp and a hot meal, and our troubleswere over. 

The complete success of the evacuation caused quite a stir at home. From Suvla alone 44, 000 men, 90 guns of all calibre, including oneanti-aircraft gun, 3000 mules, 400 horses, 30 donkeys, 1800 carts, and4000 to 5000 cartloads of stores had to be embarked--and only by nighttoo, as of course the beaches and bay were visible by day from theTurkish lines. To deceive the Turks, men were actually embarked bynight and disembarked by daylight to represent reinforcements, and theSikh muleteers drove furiously all day chiefly to make the dust fly. On the last night about 12, 000 men were embarked from A and C beaches, and everything had been so well managed that there was never a hitchof any kind. Needless to say each party arrived at the point where theM. L. O. Were to meet them well up to time and were conducted straighton to the "beetles. "

We were, of course, exceedingly lucky in the weather and in the lackof initiative on the part of the Turks. The Higher Command counted on50 per cent, casualties but actually, on the last night, only two menwere wounded on the way down to the beach--8 old guns, rendereduseless, were left behind at Anzac, 250 cases of Sunlight soap, a fewIndian carts minus their wheels, and one or two hospital tents wereleft as a present for "Johnnie, " and that was about all. The A. S. C. Set fire to everything they could not take away, and a fine bonfire itmade. The morning we left the wind rose, the sea became choppy, theTurks attacked in great style, bombarding the beaches very heavily, smashing the piers and nearly wiping Lala Baba off the map. 

On 23rd December we left our camp and tried to board the _PrinceAbbas_, but the storm was too strong and we had to land again. However, we got off next day, reached Mudros Harbour, and changed onto the _Scotian_ on Christmas Day. None of us will forget the kindnesswith which we were received on the _Scotian_, and the arrival of ahuge mail _and_ plum puddings completed our joy. We left on Boxing Dayand got to Alexandria on the 28th, where we at once disembarked andwent to camp at Sidi Bishr. 

Of the 32 officers and 617 other ranks who sailed from Alexandria onthe 20th September, 8 officers and 107 other ranks returned on 28thDecember--each squadron on 20th September was 6 officers and 136 otherranks strong, the composite squadron on 28th December was 4 officersand 61 other ranks. On 9th December the strength of the HighlandMounted Brigade was 39 officers and 854 other ranks--the 2nd MountedDivision only 2200 all ranks. 

In addition to the C. O. , Lieut. -Colonel A. Mitchell, we had lostthrough sickness alone two squadron leaders (Majors J. Younger andR. S. Nairn), the Adjutant (Lieutenant H. S. Sharp) and his successor(Captain G. E. B. Osborne), the Quartermaster (Lieutenant W. Ricketts), and the M. O. (Captain Tuke, R. A. M. C. ), the R. Q. M. S. And all theS. S. M. , and S. Q. M. S. , in all 18 officers and 339 other ranks. TheBrigade was commanded by Lieut. -Colonel A. Stirling of Lovat's Scouts, Lord Lovat having left through sickness; the Regiment by Major J. Gilmour. Fortunately a good many of these, after a brief stay inhospital in Egypt or at Malta, were able to rejoin us later on. 

CHAPTER III

EGYPT--1916

From a military point of view 1916 can be summed up as far as we wereconcerned in two words--nothing doing. It was certainly for us themost peaceful and uneventful year. New Year saw us resting andrefitting at Sidi Bishr--bathing in the Mediterranean and sightseeingin Alexandria. After a few days we moved to Mena Camp, under theshadow of the Pyramids, and at the end of the tram line to Cairo. Apart from the fact that we had two regiments of Lovat's Scouts on oneside, and three regiments of Scottish Horse on the other, and everyman was either playing the pipes or practising on the chanter fromearly morn to dewy eve, we had a peaceful time there for about fiveweeks, watching our numbers gradually increase as men returned fromhospital, and wondering whether we were ever to be mounted again. Thatrumour soon, however, got its quietus, as we were told we were to linkup with the South-Western Mounted Brigade (North Devon Hussars, Royal1st Devon Yeomanry, and West Somerset Yeomanry under Brig. -General R. Hoare), and form a dismounted Yeomanry Brigade of six regiments. 

On 12th February we removed up the Nile to Minia--a dusty, dirty, horrible place. Two expeditions of 2 officers and 43 other ranks and 3officers and 40 other ranks set out from there--- one to guard bridgesat Nazlet el Abid and the other to demonstrate along with Lovat'sScouts at Assiut. Minia is one of the wealthiest towns in Upper Egypt, and it was thought probable that the Senussi might attempt to raidMinia or Assiut, with a view to plundering the banks and giving astart to any disaffection among the fellahin. 

On 5th March we moved again farther south to Sohag, and a squadroncarried on to Kilo 145 on the Sherika line to take up an outpost line. Camel patrols were also sent out into the desert. We had a scheme ortwo in the desert and a fire in the M. G. Tent, at which the local firebrigade greatly distinguished itself by its masterly inactivity andfutile energy. To the strains of "Kam lêyâl, Kam iyyâm" at the far endof a leaking hosepipe, the fire eventually burned itself out. We onlyhad two fires the whole time we were in Egypt, which was verycreditable considering the inflammable nature of our "houses, " and onboth occasions our enterprising quartermaster made full use of thedistressing occurrence. 

We had two very excellent days of sports at Sohag against theAustralian Light Horse and in the Brigade, our most popular winperhaps being in the tug-of-war. Another sporting event took placehere--a racing camel, ridden by its Bedouin owner, was backed to beatany one of our officers' horses over a six-mile course, of which thefirst half lay along the canal bank, the last half over the desertwhich was pretty heavy going. After the first mile and a half thecamel was leading by some 600 yards. After three miles the camel wasleading by about 200 yards and rolling heavily, whereas "Charlie" andhis horse were cantering steadily and easily. The latter continued togain and passed the camel about the four miles, and won comfortably ata fast trot. In forcing the pace along the canal bank the Bedouinundoubtedly burst his camel. 

We received a most unpleasant welcome at Gara on the night of 13thApril. A severe sandstorm got up at night, and in the morning we hadhardly a tent standing. Gara didn't like us. When we returned there inNovember we were washed out by a cloud-burst--a thing which hadn'thappened there since the Flood. 

On the 16th of April we went to Sherika, and there we remained till15th November. We became a small detached force--the Kharga OasisDetachment under Lieut. -Colonel Angus MacNeil, 2nd L. S. Yeomanry, consisting of the Highland Mounted Brigade, a squadron of EgyptianLancers, and a company of the I. C. C. Later on three 15-pounders weresent us, a company of R. E. , a battery of Sikh Mountain Gunners, R. F. C. , at Meherique, and later at Sherika about 1000 baggage camelsand 2000 E. L. C. We also had an A. S. C. Bakery Section and our ownslaughter-house, and towards the end of our stay at Sherika anothercompany of I. C. C. Joined us. 

Our oasis which looked so green on the map, we found to be a deepdepression of about 1200 feet, cut out of the central limestoneplateau. On the north and east the drop was almost precipitous, and itwas really a wonderful engineering feat to get a railway down it atall--only accomplished by means of unusually steep gradients and sharpcurves. 

The floor of the oasis is, for the most part, just as bare anddesolate as the plateau above, but here and there are patches of greenround the Artesian wells, which were the only sources of water. Exceptfor the surroundings of the village of Khargeh itself, where there area number of splendid wells, a small shallow brackish lake, andconsiderable date and fruit groves, no watered patch in the northernhalf of the oasis is more than half a mile long and a few hundredyards wide. The usual patch round a well would include a fewdate-palms, perhaps an apricot tree, and an acre or two of Bersim, theclover of the country, and a kind of Lucerne. 

The groves of Khargeh produce great quantities of excellent dates, anda considerable trade is done with the Nile Valley in rush matting, made chiefly in the southern portion of the oasis, at Boulak andBeris. 

Points of interest were the half-buried and utterly filthy village ofKhargeh, the Persian Temple near Railhead in a very fair state ofpreservation, and the Roman Fort near Meherique. This was stillremarkably intact--a large square with bastions at the four corners, and built of mammoth bricks--about 60 feet high, with walls 12 feetbroad even at the top. 

The only notable natural feature was Gebel-el-Ghenneiem, which wasjust a portion of the original limestone plateau left standing. Itsslopes were full of various sorts of fossils--sea-urchins and thelike--so that evidently the sea had been there at one time. From itsflat top one had a wonderful panorama of the desert. 

War, with a No-Man's-Land of eighty miles and a very doubtful enemy atthe far end, is war at its very best--even though we did have onlymarmalade and nothing but marmalade. But no war is without itshorrors--these came about once a month in the shape of inspectinggenerals, who ordered us to raze our defences and build fresh andproper ones--not a bad game in sand, where you do anyhow see someresult for your labours. 

[Illustration: IN THE VILLAGE OF KHARGEH. _To face page 34_]

[Illustration: CAPTAIN TUKE ON "JOSEPH. "_To face page 34_]

Every other week a squadron would go off to either Kilo 145, at thetop of the Scarp, Meherique, the only place the engines could water, or Kharga (Railhead), and latterly to Water Dump A, to take over theoutpost there with the I. C. C. , or a troop of Gyppy Cavalry. Life therewas not quite so pleasant on account of the mosquitoes (which, thanksto Dr Tuke, we had exterminated at Sherika), and the sand hill whichformed the key to the situation at Kharga had a nasty habit of movingon and leaving our wire entanglements buried up to the neck. We owe agreat debt of gratitude to Dr Tuke and his sanitary squad for thecomfort and health of the Regiment at Sherika. At all hours of the daythe doctor and his faithful mule waged war on the mosquito and theGyppy sanitary squad indiscriminately, and with complete success. Flyand fellah, mosquito and reis--all fled at his approach, or buriedthemselves in the sand. 

After the departure of Lovat's Scouts for Alexandria, whence theyemerged as 10th Camerons, and proceeded to Salonika, the West SomersetYeomanry joined us, and on 1st August two detachments from the NorthDevon Hussars and the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry were attached to us. 

The half section of guns--old Nordenfeldts--had arrived without acrew, but a couple of officers and one or two N. C. O. 's and men whohad once been Territorial gunners took the matter in hand with greatalacrity. Mobility was their chief trouble. Camel harness wasproduced--they were taken out a couple of days before a field-firingpractice, and the targets were adjusted till the guns could hit themevery time, and really when the inspecting general arrived they gave amost creditable performance. 

We also had a mounted troop, under Lieutenant W. Gray, mounted mainlyon mules for the longer patrols, and a Light Car Patrol (LieutenantA. S. Lindsay) consisting of 2 officers, 45 other ranks, and seven Fordcars, fitted with Lewis guns, and one armoured car, which went outwith the camelry. Lieutenant M'Dougal's bombing school and the riflerange combined instruction with amusement. 

The heat during the day was very trying-as much as 120° F. Beingrecorded in the shade--but we only worked from reveille (5. 30) tobreakfast, and in the afternoon from 4. 30 to 6. Polo and an occasionaljackal hunt, cricket and football, and all kinds of foot sports keptus fit, but the most enjoyable time of all was in the swimming-baths. When we first went there, there was only a small swimming-bath builtfor the officials of the Western Oasis Corporation, which was reservedfor officers and for sergeants twice a week. However, with the help ofthe Engineers, we built a beautiful swimming-bath, 26 yards long, which was formally opened by Lieut. -Colonel A. M'Neil, O. C. Troops, ata swimming gymkhana on 6th August. 

[Illustration: SENTRY ON WATER DUMP "A. "_To face page 36_]

[Illustration: CAMEL LINES AT KHARGEH. _To face page 36_]

Although we had abundant water at Sherika and Kharga, it had to bebored for. There was a river about 400 to 600 feet below ground, andthe water came up quite warm--about 85° F. The problem was how toprovide water for the 100-mile advance across the desert to Dakhla. For this purpose the R. E. Started boring at Water Dump A, abouttwenty-five miles from Sherika, and were so far successful that, atthe finish of the Dakhla expedition, they were obtaining sufficientwater to work the bore. By that time also the light railway hadadvanced to within a few miles of Water Dump A. 

The campaign was brought to an abrupt termination through the overzealof O. C. Light Car Patrol, who patrolled right up to Senussi outpost atthe entrance to the Dakhla Oasis. At the sight of Mr Lindsay and hiscar the Senussi general fled, and when the I. C. C. , after a very finemarch, got into Dakhla, all they got were 197 miserable, underfed, diseased prisoners. Four officers and 100 other ranks from C Squadron(Captain D. D. Ogilvie), and 2 officers and 30 other ranks from theM. G. C. (Mr D. Marshall) set off on 25th October to relieve the I. C. C. It was a trying march. Cars dumped fanatis with water for the middaymeal, twelve miles on and more for the evening meal, and breakfastseven miles beyond that. The second day out was a scorcher, blazinghot and no wind, over rough stony going for the most part, and Hell'sGate wasn't reached till 7 P. M. , after a very exhausting march. Thetotal march was seventy-six miles to Tenida, and of the 136 only 7failed to finish which, considering the circumstances, was verycreditable. No sooner were we there than orders were received toreturn again. This time, however, we went in cars as far as Water DumpA, and there we commandeered a convoy of camels returning with emptyfanatis, and we finished our trek mounted. Great credit is due to theLight Car Patrol and to the Ford cars which really were wonderful. Neither sand up to the axle, nor dropping down over rocks stoppedthem--they made a road for themselves as they went along, and alwaysseemed to get there. 

That finished our 1916 campaign against the Senussi--the I. C. C. Wererelieved by a London Yeomanry Company of the I. C. C, and later on someGyppy Cavalry went out and garrisoned Dakhla Oasis. 

On 13th November the Regiment started in relays by train for Gara. There we received orders to start infantry training, as we were to beconverted into a battalion of infantry. Till then we had always donedismounted cavalry drill. We now started hammer and tongs at infantrydrill, instructed by an officer and two N. C. O. 's from a neighbouringgarrison battalion. We were all looking forward to becoming pukkainfantry, as we had long realised that in our eccentric form asdismounted yeomanry we should only be given the odd jobs. 

We had just got our camp tidy when the water-spout burst, and not onlywashed out our lines and those of the Ayrshire and LanarkshireYeomanries, but also demolished the fine earth church which theAnglican Padre had had built. 

On 1st December we arrived at Moascar, a large camp on the SweetwaterCanal near Ismailia, and there our infantry training started inearnest. We ate our Christmas dinner there, and on Boxing Day hadBrigade sports. There was very fair bathing in Lake Timsah, and we allenjoyed getting a sight of the Suez Canal, and being once more incomparative comfort and civilization. 

OFFICERS

C. O. Lieut. -Colonel J. GILMOUR

2nd in Command Major J. YOUNGER

A Squadron Major C. G DE PREE and Capt. R. W. STEWART

B Squadron Major G. E. B. OSBORNE

C Squadron Capt. D. D. OGILVIE

Adjutant Lieut. H. S. SHARP

Q. -M. Lieut. R. H. COLTHART

M. O. Capt. A. TUKE, R. A. M. C. (T. )

[Illustration: SENUSSI PRISONERS, DAKHLA. _To face page 40_]

[Illustration: THE SERGEANTS' REEL, MOASCAR. _To face page 40_]

CHAPTER IV

EGYPT AND PALESTINE--1917

New Year's Day saw the Regiment at Moascar Camp, Ismailia, and it wasthere that the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry were interred "for theduration, " giving birth at the same time to a sturdy son--the 14th(Fife and Forfar Yeomanry) Battalion, Royal Highlanders. We were allvery sorry to see the demise of the Yeomanry and to close, though onlytemporarily, the records of a Regiment which had had an honourablecareer, and of which we were all so proud. At the same time werealised that, in our capacity as dismounted yeomanry, we were notpulling our weight either as yeomanry or infantry, and no otherregiment certainly appealed to us as much as our own TerritorialInfantry Regiment, and we were proud to link our record to the longand glorious record of the Black Watch. 

We spent five weeks altogether at Moascar, working hard at theelementary forms of infantry drill and tactics, and on 8th January wemarched to our new camp El Ferdan, some ten miles along the Canal. Here we continued our training, but of a more advanced kind, brigadeschemes, tactical tours and route marches, "jerks, " bathing, andfootball kept us busy and fit. 

One day some of us went to see the Canal defences, dug the previousyear, about four miles east of the Canal. The sand was so soft, noamount of ordinary sandbagging or revetting would make it stand up, and all the trenches were made by sinking complete wooden frames intoa wide scooped out trench, and then shovelling the sand back on eitherside of the frame. The original digging had to be about 20 feet wideto allow them to sink the frames sufficiently deep in the sand. Itmust have been a colossal work, and this was only a small portion ofthe scheme, which included laying on water to the more importantdefences, and laying out lines of light railways and roads from theCanal eastwards, at intervals of seven and eight miles, the railheadsbeing linked by a lateral road. 

On 4th March we left El Ferdan and marched to Kantara, the base of alloperations up the Sinai Railway, and there entrained for El Arish tojoin the 74th (Yeomanry) Division. The journey of about ninety miles, over the very recently laid railway, was timed to take some eight ornine hours, and was uneventful and, though we travelled in opentrucks, was not too unpleasantly hot. The frequent short gradientsled to the most awful bumps and tearings at the couplings, but theystood the strain all right. 

[Illustration: THE BATTALION MASCOT. _To face page 42_]

[Illustration: BATTALION COOKHOUSE, EL FERDAN. _To face page 42_]

It was a very interesting journey to us, who knew only the WesternDesert, to note the difference between it and Sinai. To our eyes Sinaidid not appear to be a desert at all, as there were scrubby bushes ofsorts growing in nearly every hollow, various kinds of camel grass, and even a few flowers--such as poppies and one or two species oflilies. After the waste of misshaped lumps of limestone and volcaniclooking boulders, which were the only decoration of the WesternDesert, this sort of landscape seemed positively verdant. 

At El Arish we were camped some three miles from the station, and avery long three miles it seemed, as a large part of the way was overthe softest of sand and most exhausting marching, especially with aheavy pack. Here we had our first sight of hostile aeroplanes, some ofwhich came over nearly every day; it was a very pretty sight to seethem in the brilliant blue at about 12, 000 feet, with the white puffsof shrapnel bursting now on one side of them now on the other (butseldom very close). We were at once set to dig ourselves funkholes, which we were supposed to occupy on the alarm being given, but theynever once bombed us, or seemed to take any notice of us. They madeone or two bold individual attacks on the railway, between Kantara andEl Arish, but for the most part they appeared to be out purely forreconnaissance. 

At El Ferdan we had got our first infantry reinforcements--11 newofficers--and now we received a welcome addition in the shape of 1officer and 373 other ranks, which necessitated the reorganisation ofthe battalion. We also had to acclimatise the new draft who felt theheat and heavy going very exhausting, and, to begin with, had to goeasy. 

Our camp was pleasantly situated on a sandy plain, within half a mileof the sea, and dotted with scattered fig-trees just beginning to showa few leaves. The climate was perfect, but the water arrangements weremost difficult. We began to realise that it does not pay to be thelast comer when there is a shortage of anything. We were paid off withthe minimum number of fanatis (copper vessels for carrying water oncamel pack), and, instead of getting allotted to us the wells nearestour camp, we had just to take whatever wells were left. These provedto be on the other side of El Arish village, in amongst the steepestsandhills, and it was a very tough tramp for the fatigue party, whichhad to accompany the water camels and do the pumping. Our stay herewas just inside a fortnight, before the end of which we had got ournew drafts allotted to their various companies; and a very good lotthey were, though we feared they would have great difficulty instanding the heat if we were called upon to do long marches. 

On 22nd March we started on our way to our first halting place ElBurj. It was about nine miles, and we marched in the evenings, whichwas undoubtedly very wise. The going was not bad, there being awire-netting track laid over all the softest parts: it is wonderfulhow satisfactory this is to march on, and many a time did we bless theman who invented it. The only sufferers were the mule leaders. They, naturally, could not lead their mules on the netting, and it was extrahard work for them, as they had to walk in the heavy sand and maintainthe pace set by the troops who were on the good going. El Burj provedto be a most desolate spot, but it was at all events near wells; andwe were so glad to hear that we were not to march straight on nextday, that we didn't grumble much about the scenery. 

The Higher Command were a little nervous that the Turks might slipaway again as they had already done at El Arish; but the next few dayswere to show that this information was not correct, and that the Turkhad no intention of leaving the Gaza-Beersheba line so long as hecould hold on to it. 

We stopped there four days, and marching once more in the evening, wedid a comparatively short step to Sheikh Zowaid, camping about a mileshort of the station. It was pitch dark when we arrived and we had noidea what our camp was like, and it was a great surprise to find inthe morning that we were on the edge of a shallow salt lake. Thesunrise on this sheet of water, fringed on the far side with a line ofscattered palm trees, was really most exquisite. It was, however, theonly good thing about the place. Water for breakfast was late inarriving, and we were told that the half-day's supply, which thenarrived, had to fill the dixies for lunch, and also the water-bottlesfor the next march. There was not nearly enough for this, with theresult that we had to start in the blazing sun about 1 P. M. Withhardly anything in the bottles. The reason for this was, that thecamels had to go on ahead to our next stop--Rafa--about thirteen milesdistant, where it was hoped to have water drawn and ready for us onour arrival. 

This afternoon march was a gruelling experience. It was the hottestpart of the day; we had practically nothing in our water-bottles, and, to add to our trials, the wire-netting road was not laid beyond SheikhZowaid, as the ground had appeared quite firm to the divisions who hadpreceded us. Since they had passed, however, the route had been cut upby guns and transport, until it was just as soft as the softest sand, and twice as dusty. Finally, when we did get to Rafa about 7 P. M. , there was no water waiting for us, and we found we had to take up anoutpost line from the railway to the sea, a distance of about threemiles, through the worst sandhills we had encountered. It was hopelessto move before the arrival of some water, and it was about 10 P. M. Before we started to take up the line, and it was well after midnightbefore the left company had got the line extended right through to theshore. These sandhills were made of such fine sand that it wascontinuously blowing and drifting; any rifle pits dug out, say, acouple of feet, in the evening, would be completely obliterated in themorning. 

Sending out supplies, as soon as it was light, to this distantcompany, was a most difficult job. To begin with, we found thatcamels, loaded with water fanatis, could not negotiate the steep facesof sand, so we had to do our best with the Lewis gun mules, carryingthe fanatis only half full. Then there was a thick mist--the same mistwhich hampered the attack on Gaza--and we had no accurate knowledge ofwhere the company was, nor was it possible to follow the tracks of theprevious night, as they were all obliterated by the drifting sand. Luckily, some active members of the company had found the morning toocold for sitting still, and had taken a morning walk back from theline, so we came upon their fresh tracks, which led us to the rest ofthe company. 

That night we had an alarm that the Turkish cavalry was out and hadslipped round our right flank, and was likely to have a dash at ourlines of communication either at Rafa or elsewhere, so we spent thenight digging trenches which, during the next day or two, we improvedinto a sort of continuous line covering the water and railway station. 

During these few days the first attack was made on Gaza, but withoutsuccess. We heard a good many tales of hardship from lack of water, and saw some prisoners come through, but there was no greatexcitement. 

From Rafa--which is on the Palestine Boundary--we moved on 30th Marchto Khan Yunis, said to be the home of Delilah. The march was once morein the evening, and was very comfortable, except for the last mile ortwo when we got in between the high hedges of prickly pear, and had tomarch through about a foot of dust in the most stifling atmosphere. When we arrived we found that we were once more on the fringes ofcivilisation: we could buy oranges in unlimited numbers, and alsofresh eggs--not the Egyptian variety, about the size of a pigeon'segg, but real pukka hen's eggs. Water also was less scarce than it hadbeen, and we were well content with our lot. We were in BrigadeReserve, which sounded very comfortable, but which was not so "cushy"as it sounded. It meant that we had to do all the unloading ofsupplies and ammunition at the supply depot and at the station, andalso find the very large guards which were absolutely necessary, asthe native was a diligent and skilful thief. The units in the outpostline really had much less to do, though, of course, they had theirturns of night duty which we escaped. 

Here we were joined by another brigade of our new division, and feltthat at last we were about to become like other people--organised in aproper division. 

This week, with its eggs and oranges, passed like a flash, and we oncemore moved on; this time quite a short way beyond Railhead atDeir-el-Belah, where we camped quite close to our compatriots the 52ndDivision. After one night and a good bathe we took over, on 7th April, from the 54th Division a sector of trenches near Sheikh Nebhan, overlooking the hollow through which meandered the Wadi Ghuzzeh. Thiswadi--like all others in this part--is quite dry except during thestorms of winter, but water could usually be got by sinking wells inthe bed of the wadi at about ten or twelve feet down. Our cavalry byday and infantry by night held a line out beyond the wadi, coveringthe work of those who were sinking wells, making ramps for guns andtransport crossings, and laying the water-pipe line. This line was tobe carried to the cisterns of Um Gerrar, where it would come in veryuseful during the further operations for which we were preparing. Itis rather wonderful to think that this water was carried with us bypipe line all the way from the Canal, and was actually Nile waterbrought to Kantara by the Sweetwater Canal. 

The banks of the Wadi Ghuzzeh were almost everywhere precipitous, andanything from ten to twenty feet high. All these had to be ramped, andduring the period of preparation some thirty such crossings were madebetween Tel-el-Jemmi and the sea, and each unit was allotted itscrossing for the coming advance. During these days of preparation ourBattalion dug a strong line of trenches dominating the crossings ofthe Wadi Ghuzzeh, and most of the officers got the chance of areconnaissance to a distance of about three miles beyond the wadi. 

The country beyond was very much cut up with smaller wadis, which atthis time of year were a mass of wild flowers which grew mostluxuriantly, and would have been welcome in most herbaceous borders;the anchusas--to name one--were several feet high, and covered withbrilliant blue blooms, but the brightest effect was that of fields ofmauve daisies. These grew as thick as poppies in Norfolk, and werealmost as bright. One had plenty of time to look about at all theflowers, as there was practically no sign of a Turk, though, if onewent too near up to the top of the watershed, an odd sniper would letoff at one. 

As the day for the advance drew near, all the troops told off forbattle surplus were sent back to Railhead and formed into a divisionalcamp. Each battalion had to leave behind the following:--Either C. O. Or 2nd in Command, two of the four Company Commanders and two of thefour Company Sergeant-Majors, and a proportion of instructors in P. T. , Lewis gun, musketry, gas, bombing, and signalling--in all, for abattalion at full strength, 120 of all ranks, including all officersabove the number of 20. 

This was the dustiest and dirtiest week of the whole year, the onlyinterest being the scraps of gossip which kept coming in, and fromwhich we pieced together the disastrous tale of the second battle ofGaza. One could also ride up to the top of Raspberry Hill or Im Seiratand see something for oneself, but usually any movement of troops wasinvisible owing to clouds of dust. 

The fact that our main outpost line was, after this battle, advancedabout live or six miles, was used to represent this battle as aBritish victory, but, as a matter of fact, it was a victory whichfailed to gain any main Turkish position. The positions which we heldat the end of the battle, to which we had retired after being stoppedat Ali-el-Muntar and Gaza itself, had been reached in the firstinstance with very few casualties, and it was on the glacis betweenthese positions and the Turk that we suffered our main losses. Thisglacis was destitute of any cover, and was dominated by the heights ofAli-el-Muntar and the cactus hedges surrounding Gaza, and after manygallant efforts this had to be abandoned to form a No-Man's-Land of amile or a mile and a half between ourselves and the Turk. On our leftin the sandhills the progress was slower and steadier, and the linefinished up a good deal nearer the Turk than on the right; but hereagain the cactus hedges lined with machine guns proved too much forus. Our Division was not used in this battle, being in reserve, whichwas lucky for us, as those who were in the front line of the attackall got a pretty severe knock. 

On 19th April the Battalion left the outpost line on Sheikh Nebhan andmarched towards Gaza, resting during the middle of the day on a ridgewest of El Burjaliye, and moving in the afternoon on to Mansura Ridgein support. On the evening of 22nd April the Battalion moved forwardto construct and occupy trenches at El Mendur, which was on the right, or refused, flank of the line, and there the details again joined us. There we had a good defensive position, but the trenches still had tobe dug and, as luck would have it, this digging, which ought to havebeen nothing to our men fit as they were, in ordinary weather, wasturned into a very high trial indeed by a khamsin. This red-hot andparching wind, blowing off the desert, makes thirst a positive torturewhen water is limited, and it was very limited at that time. We weregetting rather less than half a gallon per man for all purposes, whichis perhaps just about the quantity used by the ordinary man forcooking and drinking in the cold weather at home; but in a khamsinwhen you are doing five or six hours' hard manual labour per diem, agallon is easily consumed. Luckily these heat waves only last aboutthree days, but it left us pretty limp. 

After a fortnight here a start was made with thinning out the line, inorder to let some of those who had been engaged in the Gaza battle geta spell in reserve. We moved a step to our left, taking over with ourBattalion the sector previously held by a brigade. Our portion of theline was taken over by the 12th (Ayr and Lanark Yeomanry) BattalionR. S. F. , and we took over the line on the left previously held by the5th and 7th Essex Regiments. Battalion H. Q. Had a very comfortablepitch at the top of the Wadi Reuben, near a junction of many trackswhich had been named Charing Cross. 

Our week here meant another spell of steady work, as we had to convertwhat had previously been a continuous line into a series of strongposts, the intervals between which were covered by machine guns. Thiswas known as the Dumb-bell Hill Sector of the Sheikh Abbas Line, beingnamed from a hill whose contours on the map were a very fair imitationof a dumb-bell. Here we were still facing to a flank, but our leftcame up to the corner where the proper front began, which meant thatwe lay enfiladed from the main front, and they used to throw over agood deal of stuff if ever they spotted any movement. 

At the beginning of May we did another move, this time on to the realfront in the Sheikh Abbas Sector. This was quite a pleasant place, aswe lived on the reverse slope of a fairly steep bank, pretty welldefiladed from all the Turk guns, and the trenches, though only inmost places a single line with quite insufficient communicationtrenches, had a long view and a good field of fire. The wire wascontinuous though not very thick, and it was quite safe to leave thetrenches during the day in charge of a few observation posts. Add tothis the fact that all, except the posts, could walk about during theday in the open quite covered from view by the steep slope mentionedabove, consequently it was trench warfare under the most pleasantpossible conditions. All the same it was a trying life owing to thedifficulty of getting a normal amount of sleep. We had to "stand to"from about 3 A. M. Till dawn, and then work till breakfast, and onto about 9. 30 A. M. By that time it was too hot to do any more, and therest of the day had to be spent in idleness. Few of us could sleepduring the day because of the heat, and the temperature seldom beganto get much cooler before 8. 30 P. M. , and sometimes later. There wasnothing doing in the way of warfare beyond continuous patrols atnight, sometimes small, sometimes up to twenty or more. The onlyoccasion during our first stay did anything in the nature of askirmish take place, and that was brought on by one of our patrolshaving a narrow escape of being cut off at dawn near a place calledTwo Tree Farm. One of the platoons in the line saw what was happeningand went out to support them, and managed to get them in all right. Avery small affair, but quite exciting for the onlookers, when there isnothing more important doing. In this part there was about a mile ofNo-Man's-Land, and the Turk was very completely wired in and wasseldom to be found outside his wire. Most of our patrols inconsequence came in without having seen a Turk at all, but it was nota comfortable job, as machine guns were firing bursts all night. 

[Illustration: DUG-OUTS IN THE FRONT LINE. SHEIKH ABBAS. _To face page 54_]

[Illustration: A RESERVE WADI, SHEIKH ABBAS. _To face page 54_]

We had a fortnight in the line, and on 25th May came out to BrigadeReserve which was only a move of a couple of hundred yards and nothalf so comfortable; but it gave some of us the opportunity of ridingover towards the sea and having a look at our own and the Turkishlines on the sandhills. 

While we were here we marched to Deir-el-Belah to be disinfected, andlater relieved, first, the 16th (Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry) DevonshireRegiment, and then the Ayr and Lanarks, to allow them to do the same. On 13th June we took over the centre sector, the Abbas Apex Sector, ofthe Brigade line from the Devons, and remained in the line till 9thJuly when we handed over to the 4th Royal Scots, 52nd Division. Everynight we sent out a patrol of 1 N. C. O. And 10 men, either as astanding patrol on Essex Hill or to patrol the wire in front of ourarea, and an officer's patrol consisting of an officer and 20 men tocover the ground between Two Tree Farm and Old British Trenches. Thesepatrols were nearly always fired on, but we were in luck's way asregards casualties. 

We then marched back some four miles to the Dorset House area, wherewe at once got started on intensive training for open warfare, variedwith some very hurried musketry in the Wadi Ghuzzeh. Whilst here wehad a very thorough inspection by Lieut. -General Sir P. W. Chetwode, K. C. M. G. , C. B. , D. S. O. , Commanding Eastern Force, and in the way ofamusements managed to get one or two games of polo with a neighbouringbrigade. The plain on which we played was in full view of some of theTurkish positions at Gaza, and on one or two occasions play wasstopped by shells. Also, in rotation by battalions, we made bathingexpeditions to the sea at Regent's Park. It was seven miles each way, but was well worth the trouble as it was months since most of us hadbeen in the sea. 

At the beginning of August we again changed our camp, and while on themove put in a couple of days' field firing. For once in a way theground lent itself to the purpose, and we had most interesting days;but it was pretty warm work, not being confined to morning andevening. Our new camp was right in the sandhills, near the aerodromeat Deir-el-Belah, where we did intensive divisional training. This wasto have lasted three weeks, and was a very strenuous business. A fulldivisional day meant leaving camp any time after 2 A. M. And notgetting back again until after midday; it was usually interesting forthe senior ranks, but intensely boring for everyone else. Luckily wewere able to fit in bathing, concerts, and sports, which kept everyonecheery. 

After a fortnight of this we found we were at last told off for auseful job of work--digging a new line of trenches in the sandhillsfacing Gaza, between Fusilier Ridge and Jones' Post, in front of thoseon Samson's and Fusilier's Ridges, at that time held by the 54thDivision. We moved over the Wadi Ghuzzeh to Regent's Park, where wecamped right on the shore about an hour and a half's march from thescene of our labours. After the second night it was decided that thiswas too remote, and we moved up nearer our work. Here we stayed for aweek, with half of each battalion digging each night. It was atiresome job, as the sand was so soft that a very wide ditch had to bedug and then faced with sandbags. The men were very quick aboutgetting down, and after the first night they were practically workingin safety for the remaining four or five days necessary to completethe sandbag revetting. All bags used had to be double, as single oneswould not keep the sand in. 

Our first night was a pretty jumpy business. We were somewhere about500 yards from the Turk lines, and there was a bright moon, with theresult that he spotted something and gave us quite a bombardment. Forsome time there was considerable doubt whether the work should beattempted at all, but thanks largely to Lieut. -Colonel J. Gilmour, whosubsequently got a D. S. O. For his work that night, a good start wasmade at the cost of a few casualties. The rest of the week passedquietly, but we were quite glad at the end of it to be relieved by abattalion of the Norfolk Regiment of another brigade, as the marchboth ways, plus digging, was very hard work. 

[Illustration: A PLATOON MESS, WADI ASHER. _To face page 58_]

[Illustration: "C" COMPANY OFFICERS' MESS, WADI ASHER. _To face page 58_]

We did not return to the camp we had left, but to the Wadi Selke, amile or two inland from Deir-el-Belah. The distance from the sea madebathing a bit of a toil, but otherwise it was a good camp, especiallyfor the officers, whose bivouacs were in a fig grove which bore a veryheavy crop of excellent figs. We stayed here about seven weeks, thelongest spell we had in any one place, and made it into a good camp. There was a fair football ground on which we got through aninter-platoon American tournament, which kept everybody amused. Thereused to be a great turn-out when the officers' team was due toplay--they occasionally won their matches. We also had a good 200yards' range with sixteen targets, and carried out innumerableexperiments to decide upon the best methods of attack. We hadexhibitions of wire-cutting and smoke screens, bangalore torpedoes, and many days of practising co-operation with aeroplanes. Veryfrequent night marches by compass, combined with digging in, andfollowed by an attack or advance at dawn. In fact, we were put througha very practical training for the task which we were later toundertake. 

In order to minimise the chance of anything going wrong with the plansfor the concentration and attack on Beersheba, many officers weregiven the chance of making a reconnaissance as near as possible to theTurkish positions. This was done from Gamli, a place on the WadiGhuzzeh about fifteen miles inland and about eleven from us. We rodeover there the night before, and in the early morning the cavalrymoved out and pushed their line within a mile or two of the Beershebadefences. Covered by this, parties of officers rode out andfamiliarised themselves with the sector in which their unit was tooperate, and they were thus able to hand in reports upon which BrigadeStaffs could allot concentration areas and routes. 

At the moment of kicking off we were as well trained as we were everlikely to be, and, what is more important, were very fit and full ofthe offensive spirit. The concentration started on 25th October, whenwe marched some six miles to Abu Sitta. Our transport establishmenthad been very carefully thought out, and, though both animals andvehicles were undoubtedly overloaded at the start, this soon rectifieditself, as consumable stores could not be replaced. We had one camelper battalion for officers' mess, and he started out very fully laden. He was a good deal less heavily loaded towards the end of theoperations. Next day we marched on beyond the Wadi at Gamli--a verydusty and tiresome march--and were to have remained there throughoutthe next day. Word came in, however, that the Turk was attacking ouroutpost line at El Buggar, some ten miles out, and the Battalion hadto move off at a moment's notice about noon. The march through theheat of the afternoon was most trying, and on arrival it was found theenemy were occupying part of the line we were to take up. Theywithdrew, however, in the evening, and we constructed a series ofstrong posts from the Beersheba road to south of El Buggar. 

During these days of concentration the plain lying between Shellal andBeersheba had been the scene of great activities. Karm had beenselected as the position for a forward supply dump, and both light andbroad gauge railways were being pushed out towards it at top speed. The first blow of the campaign was to be launched at the defences ofBeersheba, which were facing west and extended both north and south ofthe Wadi Saba. They occupied a commanding position and werecontinuously wired. The main attack was to be pushed home south of theWadi Saba by the 74th and 60th Divisions, and at the same time theenemy's extreme left flank was to be turned by the cavalry, who wereto make a wide detour through very difficult and waterless country andattack Beersheba from the east, and, if possible, cut off the retreatof the garrison of the Beersheba area. Covering all these preparationsan outpost line was established some miles east of Karm and El Buggar, held on the left by the 53rd Division, then the 74th Division, thenthe Imperial Camel Corps, and, south of the Wadi Saba, where it wasmuch more lightly held, a mere line of cavalry observation posts. These cavalry posts were covering, and slightly in advance of, thepositions selected for battle headquarters for the 74th and 60thDivisions. 

The preliminary arrangements for the troop movements went likeclockwork, as did also the approach marches to the positions ofdeployment, and at the appointed time on 30th October, the DivisionalH. Q. Moved up the five or six miles to the battle stations selected. There was no sign of crowding or confusion--the only indication thatthere was anything unusual on, was the dust which could be seen hereand there. The moves of the infantry began just as it was gettingdusk, and long before dawn both the 60th and 74th Divisions had theirtwo brigades on the line of deployment, which stretched southwardssome three or four miles from the Wadi Saba. 

As soon as it was daylight a bombardment of the Turkish advancedposition on Hill 1070 was started, smothering the entire landscape inclouds of dust. This first attack, which was carried through by one ofthe brigades of the 60th Division, was ordered at 8. 30 A. M. Hill 1070was carried at 8. 45, and during the next hour all the remainingadvanced positions fell, and it was even reported that the enemy washere and there evacuating portions of his main line. There was nowanother interval for bombardment, whilst the gunners werewire-cutting for the attack on the main positions. During this periodof waiting, which was longer than had been expected, our infantrysuffered a good deal from shelling, much of which was in enfilade frompositions north of the Wadi, and it was with relief that they receivedthe order about 12. 15 to proceed with the main attack. In about fortyminutes all the trenches opposite the 60th Division were captured, andthe 74th completed their task only about twenty minutes later, onebrigade having had some difficulty owing to incomplete wire-cutting. The 60th had, by 2 P. M. , advanced some way beyond the capturedtrenches towards Beersheba, and the 74th crossed the Wadi Saba andcleared the trenches northward to the barrier on the Fara-Beershebaroad. 

[Illustration: TURKISH TRENCH WITH DEAD TURKS. HILL 1070, NEARBEERSHEBA. _To face page 62_]

[Illustration: BATHING, REGENT'S PARK. _To face page 62_]

Meantime the cavalry had found their detour even lengthier than hadbeen expected, with the result that they were some hours later thanthey should have been, and were held up for most of the day bytrenches at Tel-el-Saba, a mile or more east of Beersheba proper. These were, however, rushed towards evening, and Beersheba wasoccupied that night. Very few of the troops allotted for the defenceof Beersheba escaped, the whole operation being completely successful. The Engineers at first reported that the water supply and wells wereintact; but this proved to be far from the fact, and withinforty-eight hours the shortage of water was being severely felt. After this smashing success in the first stage of operations all ourtails were well up, and everyone was keen to know what was to be thenext move. 

The next day found the 60th concentrated at Beersheba; the 74th justnorth of the barrier on the Fara-Beersheba road, while an advancenorthward had been begun by the 53rd and, in the evening, by a partyof the 74th. One brigade group for the former advanced in a northerlydirection west of Ain Kohleh, and the remainder in a north-westerlydirection on Kuweilfeh. The left advance was successful, and a linewas established on the desired objective, a ridge running east andwest some five or six miles north of Beersheba. The other advance wasnot so fortunate; something went wrong with the supplies both of waterand ammunition, and strong opposition was encountered. Also, it wasimpossible country to campaign in; practically roadless, and very muchbroken up with wadis and rocky precipices, which made it mostdifficult to maintain communications, even though a mounted brigadewas thrown in to help. 

The situation up here was much the same next day. No great progresshad been made, nor were good communications established, but they hadmanaged to get through both water and ammunition. Other divisionswere, however, kept on the move. The 74th were moved up to take oversome line from the left of the 53rd, the 60th were concentrated somethree miles N. W. Of Beersheba, and one brigade of the 10th was movedto Irgeig. This was an anxious day, as the 53rd seemed to be quiteheld up at Kuweilfeh and not too well provided with supplies, andthere was considerable doubt, in view of the general scarcity ofwater, whether it would be possible to carry on the campaign, whichinvolved rolling up the Sheria and Kuwauka defences from the east. 

Our Intelligence Department had for the moment "lost" a Turkishdivision, which complicated the situation very much as, if it weresuddenly to appear on the right flank of our attack on Sheria, a mostserious situation would be created. However, on the afternoon of the5th, word was received from the 53rd Division that they had capturedprisoners from numerous different battalions, some of which were knownto belong to the missing division. This settled the question, as itwas quite clear that the 53rd were keeping them too busy at Kuweilfehfor them to be able to send any serious force to Sheria. The "lost"division it seems was one which had been sent to reinforce the forcesdefending Beersheba, but by the time it got to Sheria the Beershebadefences were taken, and it was obviously no use going there. It wasaccordingly then sent to Kuweilfeh in anticipation of an attempt byus to turn their extreme left flank. 

On the afternoon of the 5th orders were rapidly issued for the attacknext day on the Sheria defences and the Kuwauka system. 

As most of the troops destined for the Sheria attack were at this timein the outpost line, this meant a concentration and deployment bynight in an unknown country where map reading was very difficultindeed, and it was most creditable that it should have been, as itwas, successfully carried out. There were certain minor mistakes, butin the main the attack came off as planned, and by midday all the lineof the Sheria defences were in our hands. 

The spearhead of the attack was the 229th Brigade, with ourselves andthe Somersets in the front line, and it was a brilliant affair fromstart to finish. The brigades on our right and left, the 230th Brigadeand a brigade of the 60th Division, were echelonned in rear of us, andthe prompt success of our attack greatly assisted the advance of the60th and 10th Divisions on the Kuwauka system. Our Lewis gunsespecially gave great assistance, and were successful in preventingthe Turks from removing several of their guns, placed in rear of theKuwauka system. This was acknowledged by the 60th Division who, in thetrue sporting spirit, let our Division know that they did not claimthose guns as captured by them, though it was by their men that theguns were actually collected. 

The guns of the 60th and 10th Divisions served them well and cut thewire most thoroughly and, without any undue number of casualties, thepositions were finally taken about 2. 30 P. M. The 10th then took overthe line from the 60th, who advanced to the attack on the wells andrailway station at Tel-el-Sheria. Unfortunately it was by this timegetting dark, and direction was to some extent lost. The Turk put up agood fight here, and it was not until the morning that the wells andstation were in our hands. We could see their dumps blazing all nightfar to the north, and it was clear that they had made up their mindsto a general retreat. 

These first six days in November had been strenuous days for theBattalion. On 30th October the Corps Cavalry and I. C. C. Had passedthrough our lines, and we moved up to a position in Dundee Wadi. The231st Brigade then passed through and took over from us, attackingalong with 230th Brigade working in conjunction with the 60th andCavalry Divisions. On 2nd November we took over the outpost line fromthe 2/10th Middlesex Regiment (53rd Division), and on 4th November weagain advanced our line, meeting with no opposition except sniping andintermittent shell fire. At 7 P. M. On the evening of 5th November wereceived orders for the attack on the enemy's position, were relievedat 9 P. M. By a battalion of the 230th Brigade, and at 11 P. M. Movedoff to the point of deployment. 

At 3. 30 on the morning of 6th November we deployed for the attack, the230th Brigade being on our right, and the Somersets on our left. Theadvance began at five and we were badly enfiladed from the right wherethe attacking troops were being held up, and whence we continued to beenfiladed until we detached a couple of platoons, who carried theenemy's positions there by 6. 15. By 5. 55 we had taken our firstobjective and captured four guns, all limbered up and trying to getaway. We promptly attacked the ridge beyond, and having captured itproceeded to consolidate. At midday we again advanced under prettyheavy fire, but the Lewis gunners were very well handled, andsucceeded in knocking out the crew and teams of two field guns beyondthe railway, and we carried on to the position just east of therailway. 

Our casualties at the Battle of Sheria were Major G. E. B. Osborne, Lieutenants J. D. Kinniburgh and E. A. Thompson, and 47 other rankskilled, and 5 officers and 182 other ranks wounded, of whom 13subsequently died in hospital. Among the wounded was Lieut. -Colonel J. Gilmour, who was hit at the very end of the day, and to whom was dueno small part of the credit for the victory. His brilliantleadership and dash at Sheria earned him a well-won bar to his D. S. O. , and the admiration of the whole Brigade. The elan and dash of theBattalion, under his inspiring leadership, throughout the operationsgained the highest praise from all quarters. Between 5 A. M. And middaythe Battalion along with the Somersets had advanced some 10, 000 yards, in the course of which they had captured several successive all-roundpositions held by considerable garrisons, and well provided withmachine guns. In addition to 99 prisoners we had captured six fieldguns with limbers, three machine guns, and a large quantity of S. A. A. Our dead were buried in the cactus garden. 

[Illustration: BATTLE OF SHERIA_To face page 68_]

Major J. Younger who had been acting as liason-officer between the60th and 74th Divisions was sent for to take over command of theBattalion, which was in the highest of spirits in spite of all it hadcome through, full of beans, very proud of themselves and the Colonel, and more than ready for another scrap. 

We were all thoroughly glad to have had such a good introduction toinfantry work; not only had it been a success, but it had also beenwell planned. The staff work had been excellent and, above all, it hadbeen open warfare for which we thought, rightly or wrongly, that ourmounted training had prepared us. 

We had now got some news of the doings of the other corps on thecoast. We knew that they had succeeded in taking Gaza and wereadvancing north, and we saw the cavalry divisions galloping through usbrigade after brigade to take up the pursuit. The Turk was in a mostawkward position, but proved himself a first-class rear-guard fighter. 

On the night of the 7th he had only the narrow neck between thecavalry and the XXI. Corps, who were advancing up the coast, and thisneck was not more than five or six miles wide; but in spite of alldifficulties he managed to get most of his infantry and some of hisguns away. We ourselves expected to start our advance north followingon the cavalry, but it turned out that the transport was not able tomaintain two corps so far in advance of Railhead. The XXI. Corps, being already on its way north, was given the task of clearing thePlain of Philistia, and following up the Turkish retreat with theassistance of a considerable portion of our (XX. Corps) transport. Aswe were not to go on, the authorities were in no hurry to move us, andwe spent a couple of days clearing up the battlefield before returningin a couple of the dustiest and most unpleasant marches to theneighbourhood of Karm. 

Our actual destination was Goz-el-Gelieb; but when we got near thespot it was so thick with dust that we could only see about 50 yards, and as the plain was quite featureless and all alike, we justbivouacked for the night, and hoped we should find in the morning thatwe were somewhere near the right spot. 

First thing after daylight, while the dew was still able to keep downthe dust, we got our bearings and moved about three-quarters of a mileto the correct map reference. Here we were joined during the day byour "B" team or battle surplus, whom we had last seen a fortnightbefore, and a draft of 2 officers and 126 other ranks out from home. 

On 15th November Major-General E. S. Girdwood, commanding 74thDivision, at a Brigade Parade presented Military Medals, awarded forgallantry at the Battle of Sheria, when 9 men from the Battalionreceived the honour. 

After a few days in the dust of this plain, we moved back in twomarches to our old area near the coast. This time we were just southof the Wadi Ghuzzeh, on a hill which was beautifully green and fresh. All the lower ground round it had been used for camps for the bestpart of a year, but this hill had been so prominent and so fully underobservation from Ali-el-Muntar, that it could not be occupied so longas the Turks held Gaza. Here we had a great presentation of medals bythe Corps Commander (Lieut. -General Sir Philip W. Chetwode, commandingXX. Corps). Our share for Sheria was 1 D. S. O. , 4 M. C. , 5 D. C. M. , and1 more M. M. Making 10 M. M. In all, which we all agreed was a quitesatisfactory allowance. Evidently the authorities at home thought so, if one may judge from the fact that there was practically nothingobtainable for the next six months. 

We were told by the authorities that we were certain to remain sometime in the Gaza area, where we were fully occupied in salvage work, for the simple reason that the Q Branch could not feed us if we movedbeyond Railhead. Some new factor must, however, have arisen, as we hadonly stayed some five days, and most of the Battalion was out somefour or five miles away on salvage work, when suddenly orders arrivedthat we were to march that afternoon. --Starting point, the crossing ofthe Wadi Guzzeh, 4. 30 P. M. 

Before describing our march it would be as well to give some idea ofthe position of the XXI. Corps, which had been, with the assistance ofthe cavalry, pushing the Turkish forces back on to Jerusalem andJaffa. This pursuit, which met with a pretty stout resistancethroughout, had been going on for nearly a fortnight, and the Plain ofPhilistia was cleared of the Turk, whose main forces had retired onour left a little beyond Jaffa, and on our right into the precipitousJudæan Highlands defending Jerusalem. Our Railhead had only reachedDeir Sineid, a few miles north of Gaza, and about thirty-five milessouth of the battle front. The Turkish railway, which went as far asJunction Station, and from which much had been hoped, proved almostuseless owing to shortage of rolling stock, and consequently supplydepended almost entirely on motor lorry and camel from Railhead, orfrom the Wadi Sukharieh, where some supplies were being landed in surfboats. The question of supply had been most difficult, and watersupply hardly less so, even for the one corps, and it looked as if wemight come in for some scarcity when we got up nearer the front. Inthe pursuit of the portion of the Turkish Army, which was retiring onJerusalem, our cavalry had penetrated some way into the hills, andwere endeavouring to hold on until the infantry could get up torelieve them. The process of relief was going on during the few dayswe were marching up. 

Now to return to our part in the affair. Our first march was a shortone of some seven or eight miles to a bivouac a mile beyondAli-el-Muntar, the prominent height dominating Gaza at which we hadbeen looking the whole summer. We stayed here for a day, partly towait for the arrival of greatcoats, which would be so necessary in theJudæan Highlands, and to get rid of our helmets, and partly to givethe supply people a chance. Most of us spent an hour or two examiningAli-el-Muntar and its defences. It looked very much less knocked aboutthan one would have expected after the severe bombardments to which ithad been subjected, and we came to the conclusion that there had neverbeen very many troops actually holding it. The infantry had evidentlybeen in trenches well away from the hill, which appeared to have beenused entirely for observation purposes. It must have been a prettyuncomfortable corner for an F. O. O. , as the top used to appear to beblown off about three times a day. Concealment of trenches had beenmade very easy by the presence of numerous cactus hedges, and it isdoubtful whether our guns, except in the actual assault, had ever hada really satisfactory target. 

After this day of rest, 24th November, we marched just over twelvemiles to Mejdal. The weather was not too hot, and there was quite agood beaten mud road, and we should have found it a fairly easy marchif it had not been for foot troubles. We had been more than six monthswithout having ever marched on a road--it had usually been softsand--and the sudden change to the flat hard surface of the baked mudfired the men's feet at once. When we arrived in camp at Mejdal we hada foot parade, and found that there were over a hundred cases ofblisters and dressings for the medical officer and his satellites. This Mejdal was quite a considerable village, and as we marched in wemet the most dignified specimens of native we had yet seen. Mounted ondonkeys and wearing the flowing robes of the Old Testament, theyreally did remind one of the patriarchs in our stained glass windows. All the brilliant colours--purple, crimson, and orange--wererepresented, and many of them had the regulation beard. There werealso numbers of the usual class selling oranges and, oddly enough, also cigarettes. 

Next morning we were again on the road and not feeling too cheeryabout it, as we were told we were to do a 19-mile march--rather aformidable proposition when every second man already had sore feet--asit was the intention of the authorities to get us up to Jaffa in twostrenuous marches. However, during the course of the day the plan ofcampaign was changed, and we were told that we should probably have togo to the Judæan Hills instead of to the Ramleh-Jaffa Sector near thesea. This was not the best of news, as there was no doubt which wasthe more salubrious spot; but it had this compensation that it knockedsix miles off our day's march, our camp being pitched near the WadiSukharieh mentioned above, which was a convenient starting-point forthe next day whether we were ordered to Ramleh or to Junction Station. We found, to our surprise, that the feet were no worse than theprevious night; some few were getting pretty bad, but most of themlooked as if they were on the mend. 

The next day we were finally labelled Judæa, and did a most tryingmarch--only about eleven miles, but a frightfully hot day--at firstthrough various pleasant looking farm colonies, and later through amost desolate piece of country to Junction Station. On this trek wewere lucky enough to come under the eye of the Commander-in-Chief, whoat once noticed what we all very well knew--that we were carrying amuch greater load than could reasonably be expected in such a climate. We had to do it, as the necessary camels had simply not beenavailable. However, the Commander-in-Chief quickly remedied this, andfrom here onwards we had camels provided to carry our greatcoats, leaving us pack and blanket only. 

At Junction Station we had our first taste of water trouble. As wewere making our way from west to east, we were changing places with adivision of the XXI. Corps. This division had spent the previous nightat Junction Station and had drunk the wells dry, so that no water wasobtainable on our arrival. We were told we should get it by 9 P. M. , and then a later hour was mentioned; but the net result was that wegot just enough to make our breakfast tea, but not enough to fill thewater-bottles, so we started on our next stage in the very worst oftempers to find that we had hardly got out of camp before we wereinvolved in a regular block at the railway crossing which, needless tosay, was frightfully dusty. This delay proved, however, to be ablessing in disguise, as it enabled our water camels to catch us upwith a small ration of water for lunch. If we had not got this waterwe should probably not have got more than 75 per cent. Of the Brigadeto the end of the day's journey. We got into camp on a rocky slopenear Latron about dusk, and almost at once were warned to be ready tostart again at 9 P. M. To march another ten miles and take over part ofthe line in the hills. This was soon altered to starting at 3 A. M. Owing to better news from the front, and again to 8 A. M. The nextmorning as the situation calmed down. 

It was now becoming really interesting, as we expected to be in theline within twenty-four hours, and all sorts of rumours were current. Generally it was understood that we had penetrated successfully intothe hills until we were brought to a halt by the difficulties ofsupply, and that now the Turk was beginning to recover from theeffects of his long retreat and was launching counter-attacks, whichhad in some cases been fairly successful, and that he had given theXXI. Corps a couple of heavy knocks to the north-west of Jerusalem. Itwas expected that the XXI. Corps would be pulled out to thecomparative comfort of the Coastal Sector, while we--the XX. Corps--were to have the honour of attacking, and we hoped, capturingJerusalem. 

We had now been marching for six days and most of us found our feetimproving and getting accustomed to the roads, though we had lost sometwenty-five good men, who had kept going like good 'uns with reallysore feet until they had to be sent to hospital by the M. O. That isone great joy about the British Tommy, if things are really "business"he will stick almost anything. Men who had protested before and duringevery route march in training that they could not carry a pack morethan a few miles, and who literally had to be hunted home, did allthese marches up to the front without faltering, though they wereincomparably harder and though a heavier load was being carried. 

Our next march was a short one of six miles into the foothills to BeitSirra, a spot quite close to Likia, in a piece of country we were toknow very thoroughly before we were done. Here we spent an uneasynight "in readiness to move"; but it was not till next morning that wereally took to the hills, marching up a most precipitous Roman road toa spot which can only be described as Q 20, central. It was close tothe Roman road and about half-way between Likia and Kubeibe, and layon the covered side of the ridge south of that on which our line wasat that time established. 

Next day we got orders to take over a bit of the line, and towardsevening we climbed down into the Wadi Selman, and up the other side torelieve another brigade of our Division. This turned out to be apretty jumpy business, as there had been some heavy fighting on ourright during the afternoon, and the people we relieved told us that, to our right, all the ridge north of the Wadi Selman was in the handsof the Turks, and that they might be expected to advance at any timeagainst our right flank, and that they themselves, though they had notgot it definitely, understood that our line was to be withdrawn behindthe Wadi Selman. 

The sector which we were supposed to take over extended from Hill1750--where, presumably, even if we ever had had touch with our owntroops, our flank would now be right in the air--to the Wadi Zait. Adeep and precipitous wadi--the Shebab--ran from the Turkish positionsthrough the centre of our sector down to our Battalion H. Q. In theWadi Selman. We had no news of any change in the situation on ourleft, so assumed it must be all right, and one company was sent up thehill to occupy the portion of the line to the left (or west) of theWadi Shebab, getting touch with the 52nd Division on their extremeleft. This lot were lucky enough to find an enamelled wire alreadylaid from Battalion H. Q. To their Company H. Q. And, though it wasbroken in one or two places by mules during the relief, they soon gotit patched up and in communication with Battalion H. Q. A company and ahalf was sent to the right of the Wadi Shebab to move in fightingorder towards Hill 1750, making good the ridge as they proceeded. There was no chance of getting wire out here, nor had we enough lampsto establish a transmitting station, which was necessary; but by usingour own Orilux torches we managed to get through one or two briefreports of progress, and at last, about 2 A. M. , a message came throughthat they thought they were on the hill and had encountered noopposition. 

In the morning as soon as it was light, Lieut. -Colonel Younger startedout to see the right flank, and soon decided that they were not onHill 1750, which he made out to be twin knolls some half a milefurther on, and just about the same height as the hill we wereoccupying. On one of these peaks we thought we saw a few Turks, andabout midday D Company (Captain H. S. Sharp) made a detour downhalf-way to the Wadi Selman in our rear, and then advanced straight upthe cliff at these two peaks. They got to the top unopposed, but themoment they showed over the skyline they were met with a hail ofmachine-gun bullets and shrapnel, the position being completelydominated by the Turks at medium range. How it was no one couldunderstand, but the attackers only had one casualty on the top, and hewas very gallantly brought back by the officer in charge of thecompany. We stuck to one twin peak but evacuated the other, and it wasnow clear that 1750 was still farther on, and that the Turk wasoccupying it, so that, in order to have a dash at it, the first thingto do was to extend our line farther to the right and get in touchwith some of our own troops. Distances and contours were almostimpossible to appreciate from the map, and it was not realised what agreat extent of line we were being asked to hold with a battalion, andreally, faulty map reading was excusable, considering the maps we hadto work with. 

To begin with, the map was two miles to the inch, and was notcontoured--merely hachured--which is no earthly use where the peaksare crowded up within a few hundred yards of each other, so that threepeaks in line appear on the map as one ridge, though there may be dipsof 500 feet between them, and looking at it the other way, it is veryhard to believe that a place which it takes you one and a half hoursto reach walking is less than a mile on the map. We were all deceived, but by good luck on this occasion no harm was done. 

Brigade at once sent up three companies and some machine-gunners tosupport us, so we were all right in the line; but they proved to betoo many for the signal communications, which all had to come throughBattalion H. Q. , and the signallers were worked to death. All these oddcompanies and the machine-gunners had to arrange for their own supplyof ammunition, water, and rations with their own units, as they werethe only people who could supply the necessary pack animals to bringthe stuff as far as Battalion H. Q. From here the stores had to becarried by hand by fatigue parties, and these parties had to beadvised by signals whenever their stores arrived. This meantcontinuous work for the signallers, who had to keep their stationsgoing with insufficient reliefs, a thing that can only be done for avery limited time. 

We had hardly got this extended disposition complete when orders werereceived to relieve two companies of the Devons, as their battalionwas down to carry out an attack that night. Of course as luck wouldhave it, the companies were right up on the top of the hill, and theonly people available to relieve them were the companies which hadjust come down after having done a couple of days up there. However, there was nothing else for it, and they just had to go back, with thepromise that they would be relieved as soon as Brigade sent the troopsto replace them. During the afternoon the senior officers from theattacking battalion came down to reconnoitre, but it was about 4 P. M. By the time they got down, and consequently they had only time to seetheir objective from one point of view which, as it happened, was afatal misfortune, as it left them with quite a false impression ofwhat their position would be when once they got their objective. Therewas some discussion as to whether it should be a raid or aconsolidation. All those on the spot favoured a raid, but judging fromthe map it appeared a desirable position to consolidate, and this wasfinally ordered. 

Almost every division made one such mistake when first operating inthis mountainous country, and this was to prove to be ours. Theobjective was the hill and village of Beit-ur-el-Foka--the UpperBethhoron of the Bible, where the sun stood still for Joshua--whichseemed to occupy a commanding position on the old Roman road betweenBeit-ur-el-Tahta and El Jib, and was marked clearly on the map. It wasalso supposed to contain water, and to be desirable for that reason. The attack was carried out by an advance up the Wadi Zait to aposition of deployment at the foot of Foka Hill itself, whence thesummit was successfully rushed. There were few casualties and a goodhaul of prisoners--somewhere about 150. But it was to prove impossibleto remain there. The position itself was not sufficiently roomy for abattalion, and no digging was possible owing to the rocky ground. Itwas also too exposed from no less than three sides. 

Opposite, across the Wadi Imaish, which ran east and west, roughlyN. N. E. From Foka, was the dominating ridge of Zeitun, some hundreds offeet higher than Foka and under 1800 yards away; to the N. N. W. , perhaps 2000 yards off, was the crest of Khirbet Kereina, fully ashigh as Foka; and, as if these two dominating positions in front, giving first-class artillery observation, were not enough, there wasalso a hill, subsequently known as Hill A, which was just about thesame height as Foka, was held by some Turks with one or two machineguns, and fired slap into their right rear from the south-east. Thislast was only some 500 or 600 yards away, but was divided from Foka bya deep ravine, and it was found impossible to send a detachment tostorm it. It was this hill in rear that sealed the doom of thebusiness. They might have managed to stick it out in spite of therifle and artillery fire in front until the Turks got tired of it, butthe fire from the rear limited all movement and all getting up ofbombs and ammunition. Under cover of rifle fire and shrapnel the Turksstormed up again and again, climbing up the steep face of the WadiImaish where our guns could not have touched them, even if they hadhad--which they hadn't--any decent arrangements for observation. Onceup within bombing distance, the Turk had the great advantage of alarge supply of bombs, whereas we had not had time to get up more thana few which were soon exhausted. Even ammunition was not tooplentiful, as everything had to be carried up the very steep WadiZait, the top portion of which was commanded from Hill A. The best wayfor evacuating wounded proved to be down the Roman road toBeit-ur-el-Tahta, where they were handed over to the 10th Division whowere now on our left. 

To make a long story short, the O. C. Battalion had to make up his mindto quit, and he had a hard job, even with some assistance from the10th Division on Tahta Ridge, to bring away his wounded who were verynumerous. About 3 P. M. The last of them came out, having had aterrible day, only four or five officers remaining unwounded. Theystuck to it well, but it was an untenable position. The Turk contentedhimself with driving them off the Foka Heights, and did not attempt toadvance farther--if he had, it might have proved just as bad for himas Foka had been for us. 

On 4th December we were relieved by the 6th Munster Regiment and wentback to our old camp at Q 20 central, where our transport had remainedall the time. Here we rested for a couple of days. We found that ourDivision had been pulled out, in order to take part in the sweepingmovement by which it was hoped to capture Jerusalem. On the third dayafter our relief we moved out, in floods of rain, along the so-calledroad to Kubeibe, where, along with the battalion which had been inFoka and half the machine-gun company, we were to form the DivisionalReserve for the first phase of the operations. It was an awful night, and the track was so steep and slippery that the camels could not geton, and there was broken-down transport every few hundred yards alongthe track which was charitably described on the map as a road. Thesite of our bivouac was partly rocky ledges and partly slippery mud, and we spent a most uncomfortable night. The attacking troops of theDivision moved to their positions of deployment the same night, and inthe early morning successfully took the Beit Iksa trenches, which werethe first objective. The next stage--the capture of the El Burj Ridgeand Neby Samwil--was not so rapid, but all were in our hands on thefollowing day (8th December) and, on our right, the 60th Division hadmade equally good progress in face of determined opposition south ofthe Jaffa-Jerusalem road. 

On 8th December 3 officers and 100 other ranks went off road-making. One officer and 30 other ranks formed a military cordon roundKubeibeh, and 1 officer and 50 men proceeded to Enab to representScotland in the Guard of Honour which it was hoped would be requiredfor the entry into Jerusalem. Thirty more for A. S. C. Fatigues atKuryet-el-Enab, and another lot to fetch from Latron a lot of donkeys, which were to be added to our transport establishment. The result wasthat, when about 5 P. M. We were ordered to rejoin the Brigade in theneighbourhood of Beit Iksa, we could only muster about 200 of allranks. The Senior Company Commander was accordingly left behind tocollect what he could and follow on, and we started off with the restof the Divisional Reserve to do the six or seven miles in the dark insingle file. We could not use the road--so-called--from Kubeibe toBeit Iksa, as we could not discover whether the village was wholly inour hands, so we wandered on in pitch darkness with no path of anykind to show us the best way along the most precipitous slopes, andthe most dangerous wadis. The camels were entirely unable to follow, and even the mules were in difficulties, several of them falling overledges and down terraces. It was 1 A. M. (we started about 5 P. M. )before we reached the locality in which we had expected to find theBrigade, but we could find no trace of them, and there was nothing tobe done but send out a few scouts to look for them, and lie down andsleep until daylight. 

The situation was not improved by the fact that all ration convoyshad broken down the day before owing to the slippery tracks, and wehad only the unexpired portion (_i. E. _, breakfast) instead of twodays' ration plus the unexpired portion as we should have had, and asthe authorities no doubt thought we had. We had also no confidencethat those who were responsible for bringing up the overdue rationshad any idea where to look for us even if the weather improvedsufficiently to allow them to make use of the tracks. We understoodthat we were in for a four days' push, and it looked like being a realhungry one. This proved to be the case, as no rations reached us untilthe end of the operations; but luckily they lasted only two daysinstead of four. 

Next morning, the 9th, just before dawn, someone came rattling downthe steep slope above us, and to our joy we found it was theBrigade-Major coming to look for us, and that Brigade H. Q. Was justabove us--"just above" being 600 feet up one of the steepest slopesone could climb. However, we got up all right about 7 A. M. And managedto get a bit of our precious food disposed of before we receivedorders to move. 

Our part in the assault of Jerusalem was to march with all speed totake up a position on Tel-el-Ful, a hill some 2500 feet high, a mileor so north of the town, so as to cut off the Turks from retreating upthe Nablus road. We were, as Divisional Reserve, carrying fullpacks--not light fighting order--and it was an awful piece of countryto cross without even a track. We had first to climb down some 600feet into the Beit Iksa Wadi; then up the precipitous face of El Burjabout 1000 feet from the bottom to the top; then a couple ofcomparatively easy miles down into the Wadi Hannina, and up the otherside some 1200 feet to Tel-el-Ful. Our Battalion did not have to govery far beyond the Wadi Hannina, but we certainly thought it quitefar enough. This was to be one of our worst nights, as it rained hardand blew a gale, and we were on the exposed side of the hill; also, norations had arrived or were likely to arrive, nor was there any signof them when we started off on a further advance north the nextmorning. However, we knew that Jerusalem had fallen, which cheered usup and made us hopeful that the operations would last less than thepromised four days. 

Our advance north was an attempt to get us into line with our ownpeople on Neby Samwil, which was easily the most commanding feature ofthis part of the country. The battalion on our right had to attack upthe exposed ridge along which ran the Nablus road, while we were luckyenough to have the frontage just east of the Wadi Hannina, where ourobjective, the steep and massive feature of Bab-el-Muallek covered usfrom artillery observation. The Turk soon spotted the movement andduring our advance treated us to heavy shelling, which took aconsiderable toll from the exposed right battalion, whereas they werefiring at us without observation, and did us no damage, though themachine-gunners, who advanced along with us, lost both men and mules. The actual crest of Bab-el-Muallek was most uncomfortable, as shellswere bursting all along it; but though they searched the back of thehill most thoroughly, it was so steep that we were pretty safe so longas we lay snug. About 4 P. M. A couple of mules arrived with somerations. It did not go far, but was enough to give everyone a bite, and we were told that the rest would soon arrive. 

Just on the top of this, we were told that the 60th Division washolding the line Tel-el-Ful-Beit Hannina, and that we might, as soonas we were ready, retire through them into support in the WadiHannina. Not much time was lost in getting under way--we did not evenwait for the Lewis gun mules, which were away being watered, butman-handled the guns and heavy valises. These proved really too heavy, and the men responsible for them were very much exhausted by the timewe got into bivouac, though the distance cannot have been more thantwo or three miles. Here we found a regular haven of rest. Comparatively smooth, lying in an olive grove, and _all_ the missingrations waiting for us. We ate about one whole day's rations in oneenormous feed, and then went to sleep. We all needed it pretty badly, and even at dawn the whole camp was still sound asleep in spite of thefact that they had no covering but their greatcoats, and there washalf an inch of ice on the water-buckets. 

This proved to be the end of the Jerusalem push, and next day, 11thDecember, in glorious weather we marched back to a bivouac near BeitIksa on the slopes of the wadi leading down from Neby Samwil toKulonieh. Here we received our donkeys--forty per battalion--but theywere in miserable condition and felt the cold terribly, most of themhaving come from the semi-tropical Nile Valley. They had also had atough journey up, having had to carry loads most of the way fromRailhead, when what they required was rest and food. Here we werewithin four miles of Jerusalem, and all ranks had the chance of seeingthe city. 

During the next week or so we managed to supplement our rations withdried figs, and the most excellent native brown bread; but the supplyof the latter soon stopped, as we were forbidden to buy it, as itwould just mean that the B. E. F. Would have to supply bread to thepopulation later on if we were allowed to consume their stocks offlour. H. Q. Actually managed to secure a turkey, which was picketedout near the Quartermaster's stores to wait for Christmas. Theprogramme here was "Road Improvement, " but all the same we had a slacktime for ten days or so, when we were told what was to be the nextstunt. We were to assist in a big turning movement in which we were togo along the Zeitun Ridge, the object being the gaining of some elbowroom to the north of Jerusalem. The 60th Division were to make anadvance up the Nablus road, with which was to be combined a sweep bythe 10th Division, with our Brigade attached, on to Bireh and RamAllah from the west. The country favoured such a movement, as the mainridges ran east and west. We were to be at the same time the point ofthe echelon (the brigades being more or less echelonned from theright) and the inside of the wheel. 

Our course lay along the Zeitun Ridge to Beitania, and on our left, and slightly in rear of us, brigades of the 10th Division were tosweep clear the Kereina Ridge south of the deep Wadi Ain Arik, and theDeir Ibzia-Ain Arik-Kefr Skeyan Ridges again farther to the north. This meant that we had to get back to our old home in the Wadi Zait, at the point where it joins the Wadi Selman, advance by night to theWadi Imaish, which lay between Foka and Zeitun, and deploy there forthe main attack. This was some twelve miles from Beit Iksa, and thepreliminary reconnaissance was a hard day's work. We found that the10th Division had, since we were there, secured Foka and Hill A, fromwhich we got an excellent view of our objective--Zeitun--but we failedto find or hear of any path down to the Wadi Imaish. As nearly all thehills here about are steeply terraced, that meant we could take nomules with us to our position of deployment, as it would have beenhopeless to have them clattering about on the rocks in the dark, andwould have been certain to give the show away. We had expected to beable to do this assembly and approach in our own time, but through oursecret service a copy was obtained of a Turkish order for an attackdown the Nablus-Jerusalem road by two fresh divisions, timed for 6A. M. On 27th December. This was only secured, however, three days inadvance, and it was not till 3 P. M. On Christmas Eve that we gotorders to move at once to our position of readiness in the Wadi Zait. 

We hurriedly packed up, H. Q. Cursing their luck at not being able toenjoy their turkey in peace, and got off about 6 P. M. Just after westarted it began to rain heavily, and by 8 P. M. , when the camel convoytried to climb the hill out of the wadi, it was so slippery that theyhad to give it up. The quartermaster's hopes were then pinned on thedonkeys, who were being tried for the first time, but the mud andcold proved too much for them. They managed to get most of them as faras Kubeibe--about half way--but they were quite incapable of going anyfarther. It was an awful night; such squalls and rain that the bestmackintosh, much less greatcoat, was quite useless, and as our courselay along the Roman road we never left the exposed top of the ridge. It was not so bad while we were moving, but with a brigade in singlefile and a good many obstructions on the track, the rear of the columnsometimes had to halt for half an hour while those in front negotiatedsome specially rough or slippery place. 

Up till midnight there were fair intervals, and we kept on getting wetand then drying again; but midnight found us quite near our old campat Q 20 central, fully exposed to a gale and torrents of rain. 

The battalion in front of us had to descend the steep and slipperyside of the Wadi Selman, which was just like a mud slide, and we hadto stand at the top for more than half an hour. The length of thedescent was only about 500 yards, and in the daylight and when it wasdry fatigue parties and even camels used to get down in about tenminutes, but now, what with the rain and the passage of the unit infront of us, it had become indescribably slippery. Men were fallingdown every few yards, and the mules were not much better. It took twohours for the Battalion to cover this 500 yards. 

Wishing each other a very happy Christmas, we started on the laststage of our journey along the bottom of the wadi, which was almost ariver, to our pitch in the Wadi Zait. We sat there till dawn--sleepwas out of the question--and then started everyone on physical drillto get up some circulation. By this time we knew that the camels anddonkeys were both--in the language of the country--"mafisch" (which isthe same as "nahpoo"), and also that the wheeled transport, whichcould not come across country as we had done, was not due till theafternoon. Even then it was unlikely that they would bring any food, as their proper load was Lewis gun stuff and ammunition. One canrealise what disaster had overtaken even the best arrangements, wheneven Brigade H. Q. , with a whole staff captain to look after them, hadn't so much as a crust for breakfast. The Brigadier, however, wasas cheery as ever, and almost as soon as it was light he was up in ourlines cracking jokes with everyone he met, and asking "are wedownhearted, " to which he got the usual roar as answer. It reallynever stopped raining all day, and never again it is to be hoped willany of us spend another Christmas like it. By superhuman efforts somefew ration donkeys were persuaded along by their drivers, and arrivedthat night, but what they carried was only a small part of a ration. Our hopes were fixed on the wheeled transport, which had brought theirloads of guns and ammunition, and had gone back to Kubeibe, to whichhalf-way house our camel loads were being brought by the wheeledtransport of the rest of the Division, who were not taking such aleading part in the coming stunt. 

Next day, the 26th, was spent in reconnaissance by company officerswho had not already done one, and in pow-wows at Brigade, at whichwere decided the final details and also the scheme under which the "B"teams were to undertake the carrying forward of ammunition and bombsin rear of the advance. Each battalion left behind some half dozenofficers and about 50 men, so there was quite a fair number availablefor the work. Our spirits rose rapidly that day, partly owing to theprospect of something doing, partly because of a marked improvement inthe weather, but chiefly on account of the arrival of rations insatisfying quantities, which allowed of a huge feed before we had tostart at about 10. 30 P. M. There was a nice moon, and our march insingle file up the Wadi Zait to Foka was quite uneventful, and we gota pleasant surprise when we topped the crest and found that, by pureluck, we had struck a small footpath--the only one for miles, weafterwards discovered--which made the descent beautifully easy andcomparatively silent. With some diffidence we made for what wethought was our map reference, and found to our joy, that we wereexactly right. Our "perch, " as really it should be called, was onnumerous ledges on the face of a very steep cliff, and it was alengthy business getting the Battalion arranged with its differentcompanies respectively in their right places; but by 4 A. M. We wereall snug like gannets on the Bass Rock, and quite easy in our minds, except for the uncertainty as to whether dawn would discover the placeto be under Turkish machine-gun fire. This was pretty important, as wewere not to attack until 8 A. M. , so there was time for a veryuncomfortable two or three hours before we could start. However, dawnbroke, and all was quiet, and we were able to have our breakfastundisturbed just about the time the Turks must have been attackingdown the Nablus-Jerusalem road. 

The first attack was to be led by the Ayr and Lanarks on the right, who were to scale the salient spur running up to their objective--Kh. Mahmeh, and by the Somersets on the left, who were to advance up thespur which led in a N. E. Direction to Sh. Abu-el-Zeitun, which wastheir objective. We, in close support, and the Devons in reserve, wereto follow the left battalion. This plan was adopted to avoid having toadvance up the re-entrant which was too dangerous. 

At 8 A. M. The advance started. Our position was in close support, andthe chief difficulty was to prevent the leading lines from going toofast, and getting mixed up with the battalion in front. By 9 A. M. Theridge was taken with a nice little bunch of prisoners, and very fewcasualties to us. The face, up which we had advanced, was so steepthat the defenders could not get a really good shot at us, except incertain places; but the Somersets and ourselves had to slide to theeast side of the spur, as we were being heavily fired at by machineguns from the direction of Kh. Kereina. 

Our programme now was to turn east and sweep along the Zeitun Ridge, but this depended, to some extent, on how the 10th Division weregetting on to our left. We were intended to be in advance of them, butnot more than a mile or so or we should get it too badly from theflank. They had not expected us to get Zeitun much before 11 A. M. , sowe were ahead of time, and the brigade on our left must have been abit late, as it was some time before they were visible at all, andthen they were some three miles behind. We sat all day on the saferside of the crest, watching a stubbornly contested battle being foughton Hill 2450, which was taken and lost more than once, and in gettingshelled continually by field guns. They did not hit many, but, as badluck would have it, they got our adjutant, Captain W. D. Brown, asgame a fellow as ever walked, and he was carried off evidently verybadly hit, and died that night in the dressing-station. We were not atthe time in touch with Brigade, but the brigade-major was over on theridge with us, so we had to get out orders for the further advance. 

It was our Battalion's turn to lead, and we went for the mainobjective, the Hill of Shafa, at the extreme end of the ridge aboutone and a half miles away. The Ayrs and Lanarks were sent to seize ahill on our right, another to maintain touch with the 10th Division onour left (we were responsible as far as the W. Sunt), and the fourthin support of us. We started the advance just after dark, and all wentwell until we had almost reached the objective. One could see theother battalion in the moonlight on the crest of the lesser hill toour right, and we were ourselves about half way up Shafa, when wesuddenly bumped right into the Turk. Both sides were rather taken bysurprise, and our men at all events were thoroughly excited and firingwildly in the dark without much chance of hitting anything. There wasa natural rock face about 8 feet deep right across the face of thehill, and only about two spots where it could be climbed, and thisheld us up for some time. The Turk began to try to work round theflanks and the situation was looking rather unpleasant, especially aswe were wasting, at a great rate, ammunition which might be badlywanted next day, the Lewis guns expending thousands. 

However, shortly before midnight, the excitement calmed down a bit, and we managed to get up the rock face on to a sort of false crest, and scouts, sent out to the front, reported that the Turk had clearedright off the whole hill. Two platoons advanced and occupied thefarther crest and then we settled down to get what rest we couldthough it was too cold to sleep, and a good many spent most of thenight walking up and down to keep warm. We found next day that ourammunition had not been entirely wasted, as there were a lot of deadTurks and quantities of rifles and machine-gun equipment left behindwhen they retreated. Our casualties that night were 2 officers and 7other ranks killed, and 22 other ranks wounded, 3 of whom died ofwounds. 

In the morning we expected orders to advance, but as soon as we coulduse our glasses we found that we were far ahead of our neighbours, andwere, in fact, enfiladed from the Turkish positions on our left. Fortunately we could get into cover by going about 100 yards round thehill, but rations and supplies had to come across about 80 yards ofopen, under machine-gun fire, and it was a marvel that no one was hit. It was impossible to get out in front to see our next objective, asthe Turks had us well marked and machine guns opened on anyone whoexposed himself. We had the Brigade-Major with us, but were again outof touch with Brigade, and Lieut. -Colonel Younger was again tacklingthe dispositions for the next advance, when the Brigadier himself rodeup, very nearly getting sniped as he trotted in. After telling usexactly what he thought of us for having chosen such an exposed placefor our headquarters, he got out his orders for the assault ofBeitania. There was really no choice as to who should go first thistime, as there was no time to reshuffle units, and they just had to goover in the order in which they were at the time disposed. 

This made us right leading battalion--objective Beitania--with theAyrs and Lanarks in close support. The left leading battalion--theSomersets--were to make for Hill 500 about three-quarters of a milenorth of Beitania. The Devons were to advance in close support of theSomersets, and we were given the K. S. L. I. From the 231st Brigade toremain in reserve on Shafa, where Brigade H. Q. Also remained. The leftbattalion also had El Muntar as a further objective, so that theBrigade, when finished, would be on a line running north and south tothe Wadi Kelt. We knew we should get a warm reception going over thecrest, as there were quite a number of machine guns in the villageand they were all laid on the crest. They also put over a lot ofshells while we were preparing to start but did not do much damage. 

We got off the mark at 2 P. M. In four waves, and went at record speedto the bottom of the ravine. One could hardly have believed that mencarrying Lewis guns could have covered the ground so fast. In thiscase it was our salvation, as we not only got over before the whole ofthe machine guns had got properly going, but most of the shelling alsofell behind us. Once in the bottom we were quite safe from the machineguns, and nearly so from the artillery. As it was we reorganised forthe attack in our own time and were very soon at the edge of thevillage after a precipitous climb. Here we were held up for a shorttime by fire from a spur to our right. The leading Company Commander, Captain P. Campbell, A. & L. Y. , of the supporting battalion, agreed totake his own and another company to clear this spur. This movement wasrapidly and brilliantly carried out with the desired result, and in avery short time we were in the village and through the far side, holding the ridge to left and right, and in touch with our leftbattalion. It was not until the following morning that we began tocount the spoils, which ran to about 150 prisoners, including abattalion commander and nine machine guns. We buried about 80 Turks, and there were a good many in odd places that we didn't find at thetime. That night we took up an outpost line east of the village, andin the morning saw the 230th Brigade march across our front into Birehwithout firing a shot. So well, too, had the supply of ammunitionworked, that at the close of operations we had 50, 000 rounds inBeitania. We spent two days there clearing up the battlefield andreorganising the companies. On the second night we were told that wewere to be taken out into reserve for a long and well-earned rest. 

From St James's Park to Beitania the Battalion had been continuouslyengaged in very strenuous operations, marching, fighting, orroad-making over the roughest of country, without roads or landmarks, up precipitous hills, through boulder-strewn wadis, against anobstinate and determined foe, never sure of the next meal, tiredalmost beyond endurance and many almost bootless, in the worst ofweather, cold and wet, and only slightly less miserable than thecamels. And the result? The capture of Jerusalem and turning of theTurkish left flank; a loss of prestige and a military disaster fromwhich they never recovered. We had taken part in most difficult andarduous fighting in most difficult and arduous country; difficultbecause of the badness of the maps, which made it almost impossible tolocate one's position or maintain touch, and arduous as only thosewho know that rocky precipitous country can realise. For artillery itwas practically impossible, and though they did wonders in bringingguns up over the roughest of roadless hills, the assistance they couldrender the infantry was very slight. Nor are the transport or camelleaders likely to forget that trek, and it was greatly to MrDrysdale's credit that he managed to get them all safely to Kubeibehearly on the morning of the 8th December. The heavy rains made theRoman road almost impossible, and troops "resting" (so-called) wereturned on to road-making. The difficulty of command may be illustratedby the fact that in marching to Beit Iksa the whole Battalion wasstrung out in single file along a sheep track. 

It was very largely owing to this threat on his line of retirementthat caused the evacuation of Jerusalem which was entered by ourtroops on 9th December. On the 8th 1 officer and 50 other ranks hadgone to Enab to furnish guards for Jerusalem, and to this Battalionfell the honour of supplying the first Christian guards over the holyplaces in Jerusalem after a Moslem occupation of seven centuries. 

Beitania, which brought the operations to a close, was quite abrilliant piece of work. Our casualties were 1 officer and 8 otherranks killed, and 4 officers and 40 other ranks wounded, of whom 2subsequently died of wounds; but, as we found afterwards that Zeitunand Beitania had both been held by picked fresh troops, whose moralehad not been tried by the continuous fighting of the November retreat, that number could not be called excessive. 

To single out individuals when everyone did so well is an invidioustask, but one cannot close an account of these operations withoutmentioning the really splendid work of Lieut. -Colonel Younger, CaptainH. S. Sharp, and Captain W. D. Brown, also of Lieutenant R. A. Andrew, whose energy and determination in bringing up rations and ammunitionover the most Godforsaken country, cannot be too highly praised. 

The news of the previous night proved to be correct, and the Battalionmoved off from Beitania about 9 A. M. On New Year's Day down the WadiSunt. The Wadi Sunt was by far the most attractive wadi we had yetstruck, being steep sided, and on the south side especially clothednot only with the usual olive tree, but also with many sorts ofcreepers and wild flowers which we had not seen before. The whole siderose in terraces, and from almost every terrace, overhanging on to theone below, was a very pretty dark leaved creeper, which was at thetime in full bloom with clusters of creamy coloured flowers whichlooked as if they were made of wax, and the ledges were carpeted withvarious wild flowers, mostly cyclamen and anemone. A mile or two tookus to the junction of the Wadis Sunt and Imaish, where we were withina few hundred yards of the ledges where we had perched before takingZeitun Ridge, and there it began to rain in torrents. We continueddown the Sunt until we came to a rough path, made more or lesspossible for traffic by the 10th Division, which led up toBeit-ur-el-Tahta, in the neighbourhood of which the Brigade was tobivouac. Next day we proceeded via the Wadi Melab to Beit Sira, and soto our rest camp at Yalo. 

[Illustration: Operations in PALESTINE 1917-18_To face page_ 106]

CHAPTER V

PALESTINE--1918

From 4th January to 14th March when we went into the line at Khan AbuFelah, we were employed continuously on road-making. The greatdifficulty experienced in bringing supplies forward over the roadlessmountainous country, impassable to motors and often even to camels andmules, made road-making an absolute necessity before any furtheradvance could take place. The only metalled roads were theJerusalem-Nablus road, running north from Jerusalem, and theJerusalem-Jaffa road, running west and north-west, passing Latronabout four miles from our camp at Yalo. The rest were mere donkeytracks over cultivated unbottomed ground in the valleys, and windingup wadis, over boulders, and through trees in the uplands and hills. 

Yalo, the ancient Ajalon, a city of the tribe of Dan, was our camptill 24th February. Brigade H. Q. Were at the head of the next wadi tous, and below them the Devons and Somersets, while we occupied theother side of the ridge with the 229th Field Ambulance beyond us. TheAyrs and Lanarks were in a separate camp at Amwas. When we arrived wefound a rocky barren hill--when we left, it was almost a garden city. The only "houses" were Battalion H. Q. And the kitchens, but every twoor three had built a home for themselves out of stones and mud, roofedwith waterproof sheets, while JOCK'S LODGE, a company sergeants' mess, was quite an architectural triumph. Paths lined with stones ran in alldirections, and almost every "villa" had its little garden of wildflowers, chiefly scarlet anemones transplanted from the wadi. Below uswas the Valley of Ajalon, where Joshua defeated the kings of theAmorites and the moon was stayed, a rich fertile plain stretching tothe hills which circled it on three sides. North-east we could seenestling in the hills the two Beth Horons, and south of us lay thepicturesque capital of the tribe of Dan. 

While we were still settling down we sent 4 officers and 200 otherranks daily on road-making fatigue, but later on the entire battalionwas turned on to repair the road from Latron to Beit Sara. At the sametime Captain Andrew was busy with a large class teaching the Lewis gunto officers and men, Mr Scott's flags "spoke" from every knoll, and MrGall smartened the backward squad on the drill-ground below. We hadquite a good rifle range, and quite a fair football field, and lifewas really very pleasant. 

On 18th February Lieut. -Colonel Younger rejoined us. He had gone offto Cairo on leave where he was seized by Dr Tuke and put to bed in theCitadel. 

We had now pretty well completed our road, so on the 24th we left ourcomfortable camp and marched six miles to our new bivouac area in anolive grove just north of Beit Sira. We had to make a new road to linkup with the Ram Allah road at Tattenham Corner. It was a mostpicturesque wadi covered with olive trees, and what was more importantwith any amount of stones suitable for road-making just at hand. Onthe Latron-Beit Sira road stones were scarce and had to be man-handledin limbers or baskets often quite a distance, but here were stones ofevery size within a few yards of the road. It was a 16-foot roadbottomed with large stones, then two layers of smaller stones andblinded with gravel. Everyone went at it like a schoolboy on holiday, and we completed our road two days before scheduled time, on oneoccasion actually doing 1-1/2 yards of road per man. 

On 5th March we left our camp going by our newly completed road toTattenham Corner, into the Wadi Ain Arik, and up the Wadi Sad to ourhalting place not far from the village of Ain Arik. We were nowcampaigning again and our baggage was cut down to the bareestablishment, with one notable exception--oatmeal. We had arrangedfor a regular supply from home to start as soon as we went abroad, andthough we were often short of many things we always had our oatmeal. Our supplies had accumulated while we had been in the hills, and wenow found ourselves with about 30 cwt. For which there was no room onthe transport. This we were absolutely determined not to lose, so wesent it on ahead about ten miles and dumped it in a wadi with a coupleof men to look after it. 

Next day we continued our journey through Ain Arik, where a friendlybrass band played us past with "Bonnie Dundee" till just below the topof the pass at Kefr Skeyan, where we rested for the afternoon as wemight not cross the skyline in daylight. This resulted in a mosttedious night march, finishing in pitch darkness over very rough goingwith a bad bivouac area at the end of it. Next morning we weresurprised to find ourselves by the side of a small lake--LakeBaluah--shallow and muddy, but welcome as giving water for the animalsquite close to their lines. Road-making near Ram Allah was the orderof the day, and one company anyhow found the return journey notwithout its excitement. A Taube dived at them and opened fire at veryclose range, but fortunately their aim was distinctly bad, and it wasour nervous system only that suffered. 

[Illustration: BATTALION BIVOUAC, NEAR SUFFA. _To face page 110_]

[Illustration: THE IRISH ROAD CROSSING THE WADI AIN ARIK. _To face page 110_]

We were now only a few miles behind the line, and though ourBrigade was only to be in support for the next advance the C. O. AndCompany Commanders climbed Sheikh Abdullah, from which a good view ofthe surrounding country could be obtained. This was an easy climb, butthe view from here showed us that the next advance would be no picniceven if the country alone had to be overcome. Ridge upon ridge facedus, rising higher and higher to the horizon about six miles away whereBurj Lisaneh stood up like a sugar-loaf, while to our half-rightsteepish slopes covered with fig trees, not yet in leaf, rose up tothe heights of Tel Asur 3318 feet high. In all this country there wasbut one road which wound its way among the hills towards Nablus (theancient Shechem) and the north. There were a few miles of road up asfar as Beitin (the Bethel of the Bible), but there it stopped short, which meant that the 53rd Division on our right would have to do theiradvance without any road at all; but we had all done without roadsbefore, and no doubt we should do equally well again. However, we hadnow completed a road through from Latron to Ram Allah and the Nablusroad, so that a further advance was possible as supplies could now bebrought up. The corps had been more or less stationary across theJerusalem-Nablus road for six or seven weeks, though there had been alot of activity on the eastern flank towards Jericho. 

On 8th March B Company (Captain D. D. Ogilvie) started off to report tothe gunners near Ain Yebrud and make the track passable for theartillery as far as Selwad on the far side of Tel Asur. The track wasa dry river bed between two very thick walls most of the way, andwhere it was impassable a track had to be made across country, whichmeant cutting down trees and levelling terraces. Though there wasabout five miles of road to prepare, so well did they work at it thatthey were actually working on the road in front of the supports beforeTel Asur was finally captured, and the guns were able to move forwardthat night. 

Meanwhile the other three companies had gone up the Nablus road torepair it, as it had not only been heavily shelled by our artillerybut also blown up in a great many places by the retreating Turks. Theenemy were offering a stout resistance to our advance, and held astrong line across the road. Tel Asur was captured and lost threetimes before it finally remained in our hands, and it was not until 1P. M. That our line was sufficiently far forward for us to proceed toAin Sinia for road repair. Even then the road was being so heavilyshelled that we had to make our way by side paths and across country. We were busy road-repairing for the next day or two, and officers werereconnoitring forward to see the lie of the country which we were totake over. 

On 14th March we moved on again, halting behind the skyline for themidday meal while the C. O. And Company Commanders went on to see theline we were to take over. It had been a rough journey. The trackswere positively heart breaking. The usual pattern was 4 to 6 feet widewith stout drystone walls on either side; the "pathway" being overrough and uneven rocks with an occasional boulder, and here and therethe walls had collapsed completely, blocking the track--or else overcultivated soil which was immediately converted into a muddy morass ofuncertain depth. On such paths only single file was possible, and packmules and donkeys had to be almost carried over some of the places. But the worst was yet to come, and though we were not intended to godown into the Wadi Kolah by day as it was in full view to the Turkishartillery, the track down was so bad the C. O. Wisely preferred riskinga shell or two to certain suicide going down in the dark. A misthelped us, and we got down unmolested and had taken over the new lineby 5 P. M. The track down into the wadi was so steep and slippery fromthe rain that donkeys were actually lowered down in some places bytheir tails. 

The line we took over was a long one--about two and a halfmiles--previously held by nine companies of the 159th and 160thBrigades (53rd Division). There were three mountains with steep wadisin between, and each company was given a hill which formed an isolatedpost. Touch even between companies was very difficult to maintain atnight, and touch with the units on either flank was found impossibleand had to be abandoned. So sketchy was our line that we sometimesdiscovered in the morning a miserable Turk or Arab well inside ourlines trying to desert but finding no one to whom to surrender. When"captured" their joy was complete. Miserable, half-starved, ill-cladwretches, conscripted to fight for a nation they loathed and feared. 

D Company (Captain J. M'Nab) held the Round Hill on the right and aplatoon of A Company held the village of Khan Abu Felah. C Company(Captain I. C. Nairn) held the centre hill and B Company (Captain D. D. Ogilvie) were on the left holding a "hog's back" known as FusilierRidge, and the wadi on either side. A Company (Captain Sir W. A. A. Campbell) were in reserve at Battalion H. Q. Later A Company relieved DCompany, and D and C Companies moved a hill to their left, while Bcame into reserve. Our horses, mules, and donkeys were with us, butcamels could not negotiate the steep slopes and remained on the highground above us along with the wheeled transport. 

Our stay here was uneventful. The Turks shelled us regularly butwithout doing much damage, and we sent over one or two patrols everynight, but there was no great activity on either side. On 22nd March acompany of the Ayrs and Lanarks (Captain P. Campbell) carried out amost successful raid on the isolated hill Amurieh opposite B Company. Mr Cruickshank with 12 men from his platoon held White Hill, a smallintermediate knoll, and covered the advance, returning when the raidstarted. Fully 100 prisoners were taken, with the loss of only one ortwo wounded. At the same time we made a demonstration from Kent Hill, firing off rifle grenades and rifles, which drew a lot of fire fromthe raiding party on Amurieh. 

On 7th April the enemy attempted a bombing raid on A Company's hill, but it was a halfhearted affair, and they were easily driven off and afew casualties inflicted. 

We had two or three days of very heavy rain just after we took over, which made life very miserable for the outpost companies on the hilltops, and especially for the mule leaders who had to make the journeyup and down that perilous wadi with rations and water at least onceand sometimes twice a day, and then wade through the mud to thecompanies. The rain, however, helped them, as it gave us water closeat hand which was excellent for cooking and washing purposes. On thewhole, however, the weather was glorious, and the wild flowers were agreat joy to us all. 

After we had done a fortnight in the line we were to have beenrelieved by another battalion in the Brigade when news came throughthat the whole Division was to be relieved and march to Railhead, which was now at Ludd. This, combined with a memo, which said "Allunits XX. Corps except 74th Division will indent for shortsforthwith, " made it quite clear that we were bound for France, and soit proved. 

On 9th April we were relieved by the 2/4 R. W. F. (53rd Division), andbivouacked that night at our transport lines on the shoulder of TelAsur. Next day the Brigade marched via Beitin to Bireh and bivouackedjust west of Ram Allah. The following day we went down the Ain Arikroad to Tattenham Corner, along the road we ourselves had made to ourbivouac area, near the old Devon Camp below Suffa. 

On 12th April we made Amwas, and next day after a long and dusty marchwe reached our destination Ludd. We spent a busy day there drawingstores from Ordnance and returning things for which we had no furtheruse. H. Q. And B Company entrained that evening, and the remainder thefollowing morning, and we all got to Kantara that night, or very earlyon the morning of the 16th. 

We were at Kantara just a fortnight, during which time we weredisinfected and refitted, put through gas and exercised in field dayson the desert. We had never been allowed to draw clothing inPalestine after Yalo as we were on the waiting list for France, andwhen we arrived at Kantara we were a most disreputable lookingcrowd--clothing patched and torn, garments showing where they shouldnever be seen, and boots in some cases almost without soles at all. But when we marched out we were clad once more in new tunics, newtrousers, and new boots, and looked very smart. 

The transport left on 19th April under Mr J. Drysdale, and theBattalion followed on the 29th, reaching Alexandria early nextmorning, and embarking at once on H. M. T. _Indarra_. Brigade H. Q. Werewith us. Lieut. -Colonel Younger was O. C. Troops, and Mr R. Colthart, ship's adjutant. 

We left Alexandria on 1st May, and so bade good-bye to Egypt and theEast after a sojourn there of over two and a half years. We had allhad a great experience, at times very strenuous and unpleasant, but onthe whole interesting and not too bad. Our fighting had been almostentirely open warfare, for which as yeomanry we were well adapted, andwhich contrasted very favourably with the trench warfare on theWestern Front. But few were sorry to go. None of us anticipatedAllenby's triumphant drive to Damascus, and felt we would be "doingour bit" more effectively on the Western Front where we well knew thefinal decision rested. But what counted much more was relief atescaping another hot, dusty, thirsty summer in the East, and thechange to the civilisation and comparative comfort of France, and ofcourse most of all to the proximity of Blighty, and the prospect ofleave home. Though short local leave had not been so difficult toobtain, home leave, owing to the difficulty of transportation, hadbeen very much restricted, and the great majority had never been homesince coming out. 

We had a very good trip to Marseilles. The captain laid himself out tomake everything as comfortable as possible; the feeding was excellent, plenty of cabin accommodation for officers and N. C. O. 's, and the menwere as comfortable as they ever can be in a crowded troopship. Therewere seven ships in the convoy which was escorted by Britishdestroyers as far as Malta, and there relieved by Japanese destroyerswho took us in safely to Marseilles. There was only one piece ofexcitement on the fourth day out. A destroyer sighted a submarine, rushed ahead at great speed and dropped a couple of depth charges. Nothing more was seen of the submarine, and we proceeded on ourjourney uninterrupted. 

CHAPTER VI

FRANCE--1918

On disembarking at Marseilles on 7th May we opened a new chapter inthe history of the Regiment. The contrast from the East was indeedmarked and delightful, and the long train journey passed quickly inour joy at seeing once more green fields and green trees, villages, and farms, long fair hair and fair complexions. We could hardly havehad more beautiful scenery than we had during the first day throughthe south of France. We kept to the branch lines to the west of themain Rhone Valley line, and wound in and out all day at the foot ofsteep hills crowned with old castles and picturesque villages whichlooked so peaceful that it was hard to realise that there was a waron. The second day saw us skirting Paris by Juvisy, and gave us a goodview of Versailles and the numerous airships at St Cyr. The last dayour route lay chiefly through water meadows, and by 9. 30 we hadreached our detraining station--Noyelles--whence after a hot breakfastwe marched ten miles to our destination--St Firmin near the mouth ofthe Somme. Our transport had already been here about a week, and wefound excellent quarters in the long straggling village. 

Here we spent ten days, being fitted out with gas helmets, and passedthrough gas, a form of warfare of which we had had no practicalexperience out East, and in bayonet fighting also, under experts whofound we had not very much to learn in that line. Our number of Lewisguns were doubled, and we started lots of classes of new Lewis gunnersto form the new gun crews and provide a large nucleus of trained menas reinforcements. Our transport establishment was also completedhere. We entrained at Rue early on the morning of the 21st, and madeour way via Etaples and St Pol to Ligny St Flochel, whence we had along fifteen miles march to Humbercourt. That night we had our firstexperience of night bombing. From here several senior officers wentfor a day or two's experience of trench life to a New Zealand Divisionin the Hebuterne sector north of Albert. 

On the 25th May we moved to a very much better area at GrandRullecourt where we stayed for just a month. Here there were muchbetter facilities for training, and we worked away steadily at woodfighting, fighting through crops, co-operation with tanks, and all thewhile paying special attention to the Lewis-gun personnel. We alsogave an exhibition of the attack in open warfare, for the edificationof the Canadians who were in the neighbourhood, and put in a gooddeal of musketry at the rifle ranges, and throwing and firinggrenades. We had quite a good field for football, and had aninter-platoon competition, won by No. 6 platoon, but the great eventwas the defeat of the Scots Guards by the Battalion team. The ScotsGuards were the winners of the Bull Dog Cup at the Crystal Palace, andhad only once been beaten, and to defeat them 2-0 was a greatachievement. 

The Ayr and Lanark Battalion of the R. S. F. Left us here to form a newbrigade along with the 12th (Norfolk Yeomanry) Battalion; the NorfolkRegiment from the 230th Brigade, and the 24th (Denbigh Yeomanry)Battalion; the Royal Welsh Fusiliers from the 231st Brigade. We wereall very depressed at the departure of the Ayrs and Lanarks. We hadbeen together close friends and keen rivals on the football field eversince we had been made into an infantry battalion, and though we allknew that the Brigade was sure to be reduced from four to the normalFrench establishment of three battalions, we had somehow nevercontemplated parting from our special friends, the only other Scotchbattalion in the Division. 

Spanish influenza, which was so prevalent everywhere, now began toattack us, and when we left Grand Rullecourt on 26th June, as we hadabout nine miles to march to our entraining station Ligny, 150 wereconsidered unfit to march, and had to come on by motor lorry thefollowing day. This was an excellent arrangement, as it enabled us tokeep on the men who we knew would be quite fit again in a day or two, instead of sending them to hospital, and probably to anotherbattalion. Fortunately it was a mild type, the patient beingcompletely knocked out for a day or two and then rapidly recovering, but it left us all pretty weak for a bit. We detrained at Aire, andthough we had only another four miles to go to our billets at Fontes, it was quite enough for anyone with a touch of the "'flu. " From hereparties went out every day to reconnoitre the various lines in theRobecq-St Venant sector, and to get to know the country before we weretold to take over the line. 

We left Fontes with practically all our invalids cured after afortnight's stay, and moved on to Ham en Artois, only a few milesfarther east, where we became Divisional Reserve, our Division havingtaken over a sector of the line in the Lys area. Here we carried onour company and specialist training while parties reconnoitredforward, and after twelve days in reserve we again made a short moveforward on 23rd July to La Pierriere where we became Brigade Reserve, the Brigade having the other two battalions now in the line. This wasa strenuous business, as not only had we to provide small workingparties by day and guards over about eleven bridges over the Aire-LaBassée Canal, but we had also to supply 100 men per company each nightto dig in the support line, which meant very hard work for bothcompany officers and men, and it was with relief that we saw our eightdays finished, and moved ourselves into the line. It was not that thedigging was such hard or jumpy work, but the fact that it took twohours to get there and two more to come back, which made it such atrying business. There were very few casualties, though B Company hada lucky escape. A shell landed right in the middle of them and woundedthirteen, five of whom had to go to hospital, while the other eightasked to remain on duty, fearing lest, if they went to hospital, theymight be posted to another battalion. 

On the night of 31st July/1st August, we took over the rightsub-sector of the line from the Somersets, and were lucky in having tokeep only one company in the line. This front line consisted of aseries of posts, each held by a section and built up as a breastwork, trenches being impossible. The Noc and Clarence Rivers sluggishlymeandered through our line, and even in summer the water level wasonly about nine inches below the surface. Behind these posts was asemi-continuous support line, and half a mile farther back acontinuous main line, fairly well complete as to wire and parapet, but hardly anything in the way of parados, so there was plenty of workfor everyone. D Company (Captain R. A. Andrew) held the front line withtheir H. Q. At Baquerolles Farm, A and B Companies were in support, andC back at Robecq in reserve. Battalion H. Q. Were at Carvin Farm. Frequent patrols were sent out, and the Bosche paid us a certainamount of attention both with high explosives and gas, and at nightturned on his machine guns along the routes by which rations came up, but at no time could it have been called anything but a quiet sector. 

We had been six days in the line when about four o'clock in theafternoon word came from the battalion on the left that the enemy weremassing in front. Captain Andrew at once sent out officers' patrolswho discovered no signs of the enemy, so he took his company forwardand occupied the German trenches, and by evening held a line abouthalf a mile farther forward. It was now evident that the enemyintended evacuating the salient which our gunners had made sounpleasant for him for some time past, and by nightfall our whole linewas moving forward. To D Company fell the distinction of initiatingthe advance on the whole corps' front, and then B Company passedthrough them and advanced the line to Rues des Vaches Farm. So rapidhad been our advance that a party of Germans, still under theimpression that they were behind their own lines, bumped right into asection of Mr Wood's platoon in a "grouse butt. " On being challenged, the Bosche sergeant-major called out, "Welche Kompanie ist das?"(which company is that?) which seemed to annoy one Jock who replied"Welsh Company be damned. Take that, you ----, it's the Black Watchyou're up against this time. " Their carelessness cost them fivekilled, including the sergeant-major, and twice as many wounded. 

Next day we advanced to just beyond the Quentin Road, meeting withpractically no opposition, and later A Company (Mr C. G. Duncan) passedthrough B, and advanced to the Turbeauté River. The Bosche guns werevery busy all day, and considering the number of shells they threwover us and our lack of any cover, we were lucky in having as fewcasualties as we did. We had a good deal of gas in our area and on themain road, and the following day after a short but severetrench-mortar bombardment they attacked one of our posts on theTurbeauté River which repulsed them at the point of the bayonet. Thatnight we were relieved by the 15th Battalion, the Suffolk Regiment(230th Brigade); our relief was managed quite successfully, and wewent back into support at Robecq, with garrisons in the main line ofthe Amusoires trench system. 

Only very short parade hours and daily bathes in the Lys or La BasséeCanals made this a delightful week. We were asked for no diggingparties, and the only fatigue--which the men thoroughly enjoyed--washarvesting under Mr H. Adamson's supervision. 

On 16th August we moved a few miles farther back across the Canal toLa Miquellerie where we had as good billets as we had seen in France. Up to now we had received a few kilts of the large size only, so wehad only a few of the biggest men fitted out, and drill order wasalways trousers. On getting to Miquellerie we found a huge assortmentof kilts awaiting us, and the sergeant-tailor (Sergeant Ferguson) hadtwo hectic days fitting the Battalion for the Divisional Church Paradein a field between La Miquellerie and Ham en Artois. The ArmyCommander, General Sir Wm. Birdwood, was present, and after theservice he gave us a most inspiring address, and saw us march past himin fours as we left the field. The two following days were devoted toa detailed inspection by the Corps Commander, Lieut. -General Sir R. Haking, who seemed favourably impressed and made some verycomplimentary remarks. 

On the 24th we moved up into support relieving the 25th R. W. F. TheBattalion was disposed in two halves supporting the right and leftbattalions respectively--A and C Companies at Quentin and B and DCompanies in front of Calonne with Battalion H. Q. After spendingthree quiet days here we were relieved by the 2/6th Battalion D. L. I. (59th Division), and marched back to Molinghem where our transport hadbeen all the time. B Company left that afternoon, and the rest of theBattalion entrained next day on a tactical train for the Somme. We hada very slow journey, and arrived at La Houssoye about midnight andfound our billets there. On 31st August the B Team moved to theDivisional Reception Camp at Franvillers, and about midday we gotsudden orders to proceed to near Franvillers where buses would beawaiting us. We went by bus to a farm a couple of miles west ofMaricourt, dumped our packs there and reached our destination Le Foretabout midnight, where to our joy we were run to earth by the transportwith rations and ammunition. 

Next day, 1st September, was spent in reconnaissance towardsBouchavesnes, out of which the Bosche had been pushed that morning. At7. 30 P. M. We set out for the position of deployment east ofBouchavesnes, and were met by guides who conducted us by the longestpossible route over the worst country they could find, and it was 3A. M. Before the relief of the 2/4th London Regiment was complete andour men in the assembly trenches. Zero hour was 5. 30 A. M. , at whichtime it was barely light and rather misty. The first objective was thesystem of trenches (Opera and Monastir Trenches) on the far side ofthe Canal Du Nord, the second objective the strong system of trencheshalf way up the slope, and the final objective the crest of the ridgesouth of Nurlu Village, a good four miles away. We were to advanceacross the Tortille River keeping Moislains on our left, across theCanal and then swing northeast and push on to the high ground. Thismeant squeezing through a narrow neck between Moislains and Allainesand then after we were through the neck, changing direction andextending our front to almost double. 

After the preliminary bombardment and following the creeping barragethe Brigade moved forward--the Somersets leading on the right withourselves following. The Devons were to mop up the village ofMoislains, and once clear of the village we were to come up on theleft of the Somersets and take the first objective. The barrage fell along way ahead of us and left untouched a party of the enemy holdingthe trench immediately in front of us. This delayed us but for amoment, but the Somersets were having a good deal of trouble from thedirection of Allaines which had to be dealt with and this took themand us more to our right than we should have been. The advance wasagain momentarily held up by heavy machine-gun fire on the Canal, butpushing on in most gallant style the leading companies got across allright and up the slope, driving the Bosche out of the wooden huts atthe point of the bayonet and accounting for a great many at the sametime. So far the advance had gone splendidly. The first objective hadbeen taken, and the advance begun towards the second when murderousmachine-gun fire was opened upon us from the left and left rear. Thebattalion of Londoners on our left north of Moislains had withdrawn, the village of Moislains itself was never mopped up, and the eightBosche machine-guns holding Moislains seeing this moved quickly to thesouth of the village and opened on our backs. In addition to this wewere being subjected to very heavy fire on our left flank, which wasnow completely in the air, and we could actually see their gun teamsworking the 77's on the crest of the ridge. The Bosche had paid us thecompliment of rushing up his best troops to meet our Division, andcertainly the Alpini Corps were most gallant fighters. To advanceunsupported was out of the question, and our casualties were by nowvery heavy, so there was nothing left but to withdraw to the west sideof the Canal again and reorganise the remains of the companies. Nextday we pushed forward to the trenches south of Moislains and to theSlag Heap on the canal bank, and at dusk on the evening of the 4th wewere relieved by the 19th Battalion London Regiment and marched backto rest and reorganise. 

Our casualties had been heavy--the C. O. Wounded; of the four CompanyCommanders Captain R. W. Stewart and Captain I. C. Nairn had been killedand Captain J. M'Nab and Mr C. G. Duncan wounded. Mr Darney was killedand C. S. M. Aitken died of wounds--a total of 3 officers and 38 otherranks killed and 14 officers and 157 other ranks wounded. TheBattalion got great praise for its gallant performance that day, andthough the attack was apparently unsuccessful we had advanced fartherthan the authorities had expected, and, moreover, had the pleasure ofseeing the 230th Brigade, who passed through us, make good about sixmiles without firing a shot--a peace march, which as Brig. -GeneralHoare was at pains to point out was entirely due to the offensivespirit of the 229th Brigade. 

We were given a day and a half in which to rest and reorganise andthen off again on the retreating Bosche. Just as we were leaving weheard that Mr J. C. Drysdale had been hit by a shell which landed rightat the mouth of his bivouac, at least six miles behind the line. Inhim we lost a most efficient and hard-working transport officer. Aftera night at Aizecourt and another at Longavesnes we were again in theline relieving the 25th (Montgomery and Welsh Horse Yeomanry)Battalion Welsh Regiment in the left sector of the divisional frontholding the horse-shoe line of trenches round St Emilie, withBattalion H. Q. Behind the railway embankment between Villers Fauconand St Emilie. A Company of the Somersets was attached to us to helpto hold the long length of this salient. They linked up with theDevons on our right, while on our left and considerably to our rearwas the 58th Division. We had about one and a half miles of half-dugtrench to hold with less than 400 men all told. They were probably theworst sited trenches in France, with no field of fire and notcontinuous, completely dominated by the German guns at Epehy, whocould fire down them, and by snipers who, by crawling through thethistles and broken country on our left rear (and the Alpini were boldsnipers and deadly shots), could fire right up some portions of thetrench. The salient held by the 74th Division was considerably inadvance of the line held by the Australians on our right and by theLondoners on our left, and was quite an unhealthy spot until theBosche were pushed out of Epehy. 

9th September passed fairly quietly until evening, when D Company (MrBrodie Brown) was sent to reconnoitre to the front, and if possibleestablish themselves on the ridge on the far side of the valley infront of us. They had got about three quarters of the way when theirpatrols reported at least two companies of the enemy going into thetrenches which D were to occupy and two strong patrols workingforward on either side of them. To push on was impossible, so theyreturned to the trenches they had left. Though this merely confirmedwhat we already knew--that the enemy were holding that line instrength--and though a report was sent in to this effect, because theAir Force had reported that they could see no signs of the enemy, Corps ordered us to push forward at dawn next morning and occupy thecrest of the ridge. These orders were only received at 2 A. M. , andthough Company Commanders were summoned at once A Company (Sergeant W. Collier) only received his orders at dawn--the runner having missedthe way in the dark. The company of Somersets were to attack on theright, keeping touch with the Devons, C Company (Mr I. W. Cruickshank)in the centre, B Company (Mr J. M'Lean) on the left, with D Company(Mr Brodie Brown) in reserve. A Company (Sergeant W. Collier) was tokeep in touch with the Londoners (58th Division) on the left andadvance in conjunction with them. The time for our barrage opening waspostponed, but the wire from Brigade never reached us and we advancedwithout any preliminary bombardment. C Company and the Somersetsalmost reached their objectives unobserved when they were met by veryheavy machine-gun and rifle fire. B Company on the left were unable topush on which left C Company's left flank exposed. Into this gap theenemy quickly rushed fresh troops and attacked in force with theresult that the two companies were overwhelmed by numbers and nearlysurrounded. They were ordered to retire but not more than a quartergot back. 

We consequently were forced to hold our old line as a defensive lineand get liason with the 58th Division, who also found the enemy ingreat strength and were unable to hold what they gained. We learnedafterwards that a regiment (three battalions) of the enemy wereholding the line between Ronssoy and Templeux le Guerard with ordersto fight to the last. The Battalion was now very exhausted, thetrenches were knee-deep in water, and a great number of Lewis guns andrifles were out of action with mud and water. Major D. D. Ogilvie andMr Brodie Brown were the only officers left in the line, with Mr J. W. Ormiston doing liaison between Battalion H. Q. And Captain R. H. Colthart at Battle H. Q. --telephonic communication was almostimpossible as the line was broken every five minutes. We wereconsequently very pleased when we were told we were to be relieved bythe 10th East Kent Regiment (230th Brigade), who took over from usthat night and we moved back to Longavenes. 

Here we found a draft of twelve Black Watch officers awaiting us, andthe day was spent in cleaning ourselves. Next day (12th September) wemoved back to Templeux la Fosse, with Battalion H. Q. In the oldPrisoners of War compound and the companies in trenches. Major J. M. M'Kenzie, Royal Scots, arrived to take over command of the Battalionfrom, Major D. D. Ogilvie, and Brig. -General F. S. Thackeray (H. L. I. )assumed command of the Brigade which Lieut. -Colonel C. J. H. Spence-Jones, Pembroke Yeomanry, had commanded since Brig. -General R. Hoare had been wounded. We had six restful days here and then moved upto Faustine Quarry in reserve for the attack by the Division. ACompany (Mr P. Dane) were attached to the Somersets, who had suffereda lot of casualties from gas. 

The III. Corps continued the attack on 18th September with a view tosecuring a position affording good observation on the Hindenburg line. The 1st Australian Division co-operated on our right and the 16thDivision on our left. Against us was the 38th Division (German)holding from Templeux le Guerard to Ronssoy. 

Our divisional frontage had been reduced by nearly half, each brigadehaving been responsible for about 1000 yards. The 230th (and theSomersets) were on the right, 231st (with the Devons) on the left, leaving only ourselves in reserve. Aided by a haze and a veryeffective barrage the attack was a complete success, the firstobjectives being gained by 7. 45 A. M. With very few casualties and alarge bag of prisoners. On advancing over the ridge towards the secondobjective A Company came under very heavy machine-gun fire fromRifleman Post, but our artillery soon silenced that, and we were inoccupation of Rifleman Post by one o'clock--an advance of 4500 yards. Here we consolidated, and remained till relieved by the Sussex. ACompany's casualties were 4 killed and 25 wounded, and they had anumber of prisoners and machine guns to their credit. 

[Illustration: The Divisional Boundaries for the three phases of theadvance are shown by shaded lines. The first two advances were on a1-Brigade frontage, the third on a 2-Brigade frontage with only ourBattalion in Reserve. Opposed to us were the Alpine Corps (1stBavarian Jaeger Regiment and Body Infantry Regiment), with the 6thCavalry Division on their right and the 96th and 95th ImperialRegiments of the 38th Division on their left. 

MAP SHOWING THE TRENCH SYSTEM ON THE SOMME. In addition to the principal trenches, use was made of all sunkenroads and belts of barbed wire stretched across the country. _To face page 134_Emery Walker Ltd. Sc. ]

20th September was spent in salvage work on the battlefield, and at 10P. M. We moved forward to relieve the Suffolks at Toine and PimplePosts--the first objectives in the attack. On the 22nd we relieved the25th R. W. F. In the front line, and held from Carbine Trench toBenjamin Post with A Company in support at Artaxerxes Post. The enemyshelled the position heavily both with high explosives and gas and wesuffered some casualties. 

The Division was now consolidated on the line of the second objective, and it was obvious that the Bosche were holding the high ground, particularly Quennet Copse and Quennemont Farm, very strongly, and itwas impossible for the tired and depleted Division to advance withoutfurther preparation. The line held by the enemy was our old front lineof March overlooking the Bellicourt-Le Catalet section of theHindenburg line, and they were determined to hang on to that at allcosts. The attack on the Hindenburg line was not for us. The 74thDivision was booked for the advance further north. 

On the night of the 24/25th September we were relieved by twocompanies of the 106th American Battalion; got to Faustine Quarry by 5A. M. And at 8 marched to Tincourt, where we entrained forVillers-Bretonneux. From Villers-Bretonneux we marched to Corbie(fifteen miles east of Amiens) and got into billets there. This wasthe last we were to see of the Somme, for we were destined for anotherfront. That our services on the Somme front were appreciated is shownby the following letter received by our Division from GeneralRawlinson, Commanding Fourth Army, dated 28th September:--

 "_74th Division. _--The 74th Division has taken a prominent part in the successful advance of the Fourth Army during the past month, and, much to my regret, has been ordered to another part of the British front. 

 "The work of this Division during a period of severe and continuous fighting is worthy of the best traditions of the yeoman stock of Great Britain. 

 "Brought to this country from a hot climate, where they took part in a very different method of warfare, the 74th Division has quickly adapted itself to the altered conditions, and has fought with a determination and courage which is beyond praise. 

 "In the capture of AIZECOURT, DRIENCOURT, TEMPLEUX LA FOSSE, LONGAVESNES, VILLIERS FAUCON, and TEMPLEUX LE GUERARD, the Division has made a name for itself which ranks with the best division fighting in the British Army, and I desire to offer to all ranks my warmest thanks for their gallantry and self-sacrifice. 

 "In addition to the considerable area of ground gained the Division has captured over 1700 prisoners. 

 "I greatly regret that the Division is leaving the Fourth Army, and in wishing all ranks every good fortune, I trust I may at some future time find the 74th Division once more under my command. "

We left Corbie early in the morning of the 28th for Mericourt where weentrained for Berguette, reaching our destination the followingmorning, whence we marched to our billeting area in Bourecq, justsouth of our old billeting ground at Fontes. Here we stayed till 2ndOctober when we moved by the light railway to "what was Locon. " Twodays later we were at Herlies. On the night 10/11th October the 229thBrigade took over from the 231st Brigade, and on the 14th we movedinto the line relieving the 12th Battalion S. L. I. , D Company on left, A in centre, and B on right, with C in support in Ligny Wood. On 15thOctober we occupied the railway line east of Ligny, and next day ourpatrols had pushed forward to the outskirts of Haubourdin (a suburb ofLille). On the 17th we again advanced, crossed the Haute Deule Canal, and on reaching our final objective handed over to the 16th Devonswhile we remained in support. Petit Ronchin, Ascq (on theLille-Tournai road), and Baisieux gave us billets for the followingnights. We were now in support to the Somersets, who carried on theadvance until held up outside Marquain. The 231st Brigade had beenwithdrawn, so the Division was advancing on a one-battalion frontage. 

As soon as Orcq was gained we were to pass through the Somersets andcarry on the advance. The enemy's resistance, however, was stiffening, and the Somersets were unable to push on. On the 22nd we took over theline in front of Orcq, but found it impossible to patrol much to thefront owing to the heavy machine-gun fire. The trenches opposite werewell wired in and strongly manned, and the attack by B Company on the23rd was held up within 100 yards of the objective by intensetrench-mortar and machine-gun fire and artillery barrage, and the twoplatoons were compelled to withdraw to their original line aftersuffering 32 casualties. 

Next day we were relieved by the 10th Buffs and moved back to billetsin Baisieux, where we rested for ten days and got through aninter-platoon football competition. On the evening of 1st November theenemy put over a few shells, and in going to regulate the traffic intothe cellars Captain R. H. Colthart was mortally wounded. The death ofour adjutant was a great loss to the Battalion. As Sergeant Coltharthe had gone out with the Regiment to Gallipoli, was appointedquartermaster and then adjutant, and had been with the Regiment orBattalion in every engagement in which it had taken part, beingmentioned in dispatches. Lieutenant J. W. Ormiston succeeded him asadjutant. 

Tournai was evacuated by the Germans on 9th November. The 231stBrigade promptly passed through it, and formed a bridgehead east ofthe town with the 55th Division on their right and the 57th Divisionon the left. The 230th Brigade occupied the town while we movedforward to Lamain. Next day we marched through Tournai, and had atremendous reception. The skirl of the pipes and the sight of thekilts moved the population to great enthusiasm, both vocal andosculatory, and we had a regular triumphal procession. Our destinationwas Beclers, five miles east of Tournai. 

On 11th November we were continuing our advance east, and had reachedthe main road just west of Frasnes, when at twenty minutes before 11o'clock the Brigade-Major (Captain A. J. M. Tuck, M. C. ) informed us thatan armistice had been signed which came in force at 11 o'clock. Theconsequent halt threw our time-table out of gear, and we finallystumbled in to our billeting area in the dark, covered with mud andvery weary. 

The following day our Brigade relieved the 230th Brigade in holdingthe outpost line, and we were billeted at Izieres. The inhabitantscould not do too much for us, and we were quite sorry when orders werereceived on the 17th to proceed to Moustier. We had been transferredback again into the Fifth Army. Here we rubbed up our ceremonial drilland practised guard of honour for the King's visit. This, however, fell through, and on the 7th December we marched to a point on theLeuze-Tournai road, near Barry, where His Majesty held an informalinspection. 

While at Moustier we started elementary educational training, whichwas more fully developed after we moved to Grammont on 16th December. Here our wanderings finally ceased, and demobilization commenced. Wehad a most successful and sumptuous dinner on Christmas Day, the wholeN. -E. Of France having been ransacked for geese and turkeys. On NewYear's Day Lieut. -Colonel J. M. M'Kenzie went home sick, and Major D. D. Ogilvie assumed command. Educational training in the forenoon andsports in the afternoon was the order of the day, and everyone lookedforward to demobilization and Blighty once more. 

After defeating the K. S. L. I, in the semi-final we met the M. G. C. Inthe final for the Divisional Cup on 22nd January, whom we beat 3-0. Considering we had only four of the original team left it was all themore creditable that we managed to pull it off. Major-General E. S. Girdwood, C. B. , presented a very beautiful silver cup and medals tothe winning team, and Battalion medals were also sent to all membersof the team. For the Divisional Cup our record was:--Played 6: won 5:drawn 1: goals for 25: goals against 6. Unfortunately a completerecord of the Regimental and Battalion team was not kept, but we haverecords of the last 74 matches. Of these 66 were won: 3 lost: 5 drawn:goals for 217: goals against 45. 

[Illustration: THE BATTALION FOOTBALL TEAM. _Standing_ (_left to right. _)--Sgt. Patterson, 2nd. Lt. Gourlay, Pte. Davidson, Pte. Buchanan, Pte. Thomson, Sgt. Fyall, Pte. Gair. _Sitting_--Sgt. Goodall, Lt. -Col. Ogilvie, Pte. M'Guffog, Cpl. Davis, Capt. Andrew. _In front_--Pte. Petrie, Pte. Moir. _To face page 140_]

The Divisional Cross Country Run was also won by us, and we wereselected to run in the Inter-Corps Run. One or two successful mulegymkhanas were got up, and we also tried our hand at baseball, cricket, and paper chases, both mounted and on foot. Two or threenights a week we had dances, and one or two good concert partiesentertained us. 

Each week we kept sending men off for demobilization, and about thethird week in March we sent about 100 men to the 8th Battalion theBlack Watch, and half a dozen officers to the 6th Battalion in theArmy of the Rhine. This reduced us to cadre strength. On 18th June thecadre consisting of 2 officers and 22 other ranks proceeded home viaBoulogne, and a few days later the baggage guard followed, afterhanding over all Battalion stores at Dunkirk. Of those who went out onthe _Andania_ only four remained--Lieut. -Colonel D. D. Ogilvie, Captain R. A. Andrew, M. C. , R. Q. M. S. W. J. Galbraith and Sergeant-MajorW. Nisbet. The cadre reached Kirkcaldy on 25th June, where they wereentertained by the Provost on behalf of the Corporation, and in theafternoon were all demobilized at Kinross. 

So ends the history of the 14th (Fife and Forfar Yeomanry) Battalion, the Black Watch, Royal Highlanders. 

On 6th September 1915 Lord Lovat received the following wire fromWindsor Castle:--

 "I send you and your Brigade my best wishes on your departure for Active Service. I feel sure that the great and traditional fighting reputation of Scotsmen will be more than safe with you, and that your Brigade will spare no effort in the interests of the Empire's cause to bring this war to a victorious conclusion. 

 GEORGE _R. I. _"

The purport of this short history is to show how we did our best tocarry out His Majesty's command. 

[Illustration: THE LYS SECTOR_To face page 142_]

CHAPTER VII

SOME PERSONALITIES

In writing this short history of the regiment I have carefullyabstained from all personalities. These few notes on some of our bestknown characters are only added to recall pleasant--or other--memories, and the subjects are asked to forgive the liberty taken. 

To criticise one's superiors is both impolitic and impertinent, butthere are three who cannot be omitted--two of them live in England andmay never see this book, and the third--well, he has expressed hisopinion of me quite bluntly more than once already. 

At Grammont I received a letter from a very well-known member of thefootball team thanking me for the medals, in which he said:--"Wealways liked General Girdwood for his kindly consideration for themen, and I know I am only expressing the opinion of all the boys whenI say we would not have changed him for Haig himself. " There is nodoubt that was the opinion of the whole Division about ourG. O. C. --and, fortunately, we only had the one. Whether he was talkingto the men after a good bit of work in the line, or at a formalinspection in the "back area, " one always felt how keenly interestedhe was in the men. They loved his "Beatty" cap--but not his roasts ofbeef. He always expressed his appreciation of good work, butapparently disliked the growing of oats on the spare pole of one ofthe limbers--but the transport know more about that than I do!

The G. O. C. Had certainly a brain-wave when he adopted the "BrokenSpur" as our Divisional badge. We were all very proud of our "BrokenSpur. " An Australian officer, seeing it at Faustine Quarry, asked ifit was the badge of the 74th Division. "Well, " he added, "we call you'Allenby's Harriers, ' because you are the only Division we can't keepup with. " Coming from an Australian that was "some" praise. 

I don't know which was the more popular--the G. O. C. Or "Reggie. "[1]But "Reggie" took some knowing, and though it was capital fun watchinghim strafing others--which he did "full out"--it was quite anotherthing when he turned his guns on you! He was a tremendous sportsman, and it didn't seem to matter whether he was hunting sentries orjackal--so long as he was hunting he was quite happy--while thefeelings of the sentry and the jackal were also probably similar! Hetook a tremendous pride in the Brigade--"I take off my hat every timeto the 229th"--and I fancy what pleased him far more than defeatingTurk or Bosche was our victory over the Scots Guards at GrandRoullecourt. 

If we had gone abroad within three months after mobilization nothingwould have saved "Black Mick"[2]--if within six months it was abouteven odds. At nine months all the N. C. O. 's, a good many of the men, andeven one or two subalterns might have tried to save him; while after ayear, if any one had dared to lay hands on him, he would have been rentin twain by the entire Regiment. And the reason was obvious. Realisingwhat capital material he had to deal with, Mick was determined that, whatever people might think of him, his job was to get the Regiment tothe highest state of efficiency in the shortest possible time. The pillcertainly was a bit bitter, and it was only when the effects began tobe felt that we realised what a thundering good Doctor "Mick" was. Shortly before we went out he admitted that we were as good as anycavalry regiment in the Army, but characteristically added--"but don'ttell the ----!" A very effective combination were the Colonel and Mick, and if we didn't love them much at the time we realise now how much weowe them. 

Subalterns and N. C. O. 's were to Mick as a bone to a puppy--he couldchew us as much as he liked to-day, but we were still there forsimilar treatment on the morrow! But how pleased we were when his bigblack horse played up one day and knocked his cap off!

His language was pointed and all-embracing, and our ancestry andmorals both seemed to meet with his disapproval. It is thereforeimpossible to give any anecdote about Mick. When the narrator'sopinion of Mick is added to Mick's opinion of the narrator, the storycould only be told in Russian. "Always have an answer ready, " was hisadvice, "even if it isn't the truth--like Mr Sharp's answer just now. "

Sharpie[3] and Ralph Stewart were quite the best at looking afterthemselves, and carried more gear than all the rest of us puttogether. At Syderstone Common an inquisitive general ordered thetarpaulin to be taken off the General Service wagon, and the firstthings which caught his eye were Sharpie's tennis racket and golfclubs. At Gara munitions of war had to be left behind to find room onthe truck for his patent washstand. By the time he got to PalestineJohnnie Smith really could not compete with his belongings, and had to"borrow" a donkey to carry what could not possibly be left at Cox'sGo-down--and it took eight months after the Armistice was signedbefore sufficient shipping could be collected at Alexandria to bringthat home. 

"Tukie"[4] and "Doctor" Ross[5] of course go together--I don't knowwhich had the more character. 

"What's the guid o' gaen tae oor Doctor? He wadna believe yer ill tillyer deid, and he wadna believe yer deid till yer stinkin. "Scrimshankers got little sympathy from either. "I've got awful painsin my back, Doctor, " said one man, and a knowing look passed betweenthe Doctor and Ross. "Off with your shirt then. " A good old smack onhis bare back and--"that's all right, my man. A good dose of castoroil, Corporal Ross. Medicine and duty. "

Corporal Ross was a wonderful detective. He knew the past history andcharacter of every man in the Regiment, I am sure. Though no two couldhave taken more care over you when you were really sick than Tukie andhis corporal, no two were harder on anyone they knew was shamming. Howthese two worked on Gallipoli! Finally Tukie had to give in and wasliterally pushed on board a hospital ship, but he was as bad as apatient as he was good as a doctor, and they were glad to get rid ofhim at Malta after a short time and return him to his beloved Unit. Egypt, of course, afforded great scope for Tukie's fly-exterminationcrusade, and I have already referred in the text to his extraordinarysuccess in exterminating mosquitoes at Sherika. 

In Palestine his sanitary schemes were almost universally adopted, andhis award of a Military Cross hardly represents the great improvementshe introduced into the sanitation and health of the Force. We were allvery sorry to lose Tukie, but realised that his ability was wasted asa regimental doctor, and felt he was better employed at the citadelwhere he had more opportunity of using his great surgical powers. Weonly hope he didn't drop cigarette ash into the interiors of hispatients. 

Others we lost far too soon were Ronnie Hutchison, O. C. Machine GunSection, who went to the M. G. C. His favourite word of command was"Gallop, " and his joy to jump ditches and hedges with his carts; PatRigg and David Marshall, also Machine Gunners; Willie Don, who had toleave us in Egypt owing to heart trouble. His Grace of Canterburyhimself could not have intoned words of command more melodiously thanWillie did. Charlie Herdman, our finest exponent of horsemanship. Heleft us in Egypt to go to Remounts, and there he was absolutely in hiselement, horse, camel, and donkey-coping. Spreull the Vet. , who wentto the R. A. V. C. In France. Nor is anyone likely to forget "Daddy"Ricketts, the Q. M. , if he ever tried to extract anything from hisstores, or Gervase Babington (family motto "What is thine is mine")if he happened to possess anything Gervase or his troop coveted. 

"Ackety-ack"[6]--otherwise Willie Campbell--had one great failing. Hecould see no farther than A Squadron or A Company, and if anyone randown "A" he foamed at the mouth. Ask him how many sergeants there werein No. 1 platoon--which won one of the inter-platoon footballcompetitions--and he was abusive for a week! "Ackety" was perhaps seenat his best playing for the officers' team. On the advice of thecrowd, "Go for the man, sir, never mind the ball, " he invariably wentfor Collier or Herd or Dommett, the adjutant of the Somersets--eachone quite two or more stone heavier than himself. He and"Aeroplane"[7] were well matched, nothing striking to look at butgrand stayers. Willie was due for leave about the first week ofJanuary 1919, but as he had spent all his money, and about £200 ofother people's, on the men's Christmas dinner, he had just to staywhere he was from want of funds to take him home. 

While at Sherika, Ross Robertson left us to join R. F. C. He was ourfirst signal officer, and when he left was second in command BSquadron. We lost in Rossie a very capable and popular officer, andhis death on his first solo over the German lines at Cambrai waskeenly felt by the entire Regiment. Morning stables were of nointerest to Rossie--all the energy he could raise was devoted toflicking the heads off the daisies in his lines, but give him adefinite job to do and no one could do it better. 

Unlike his successor, nothing could worry him--Bill Scott, on theother hand, took his telephones very seriously. Till the day he wenthome we pulled his leg about his 'phones. Ormy, [8] in particular, being lavish in advice as to what to do, and threatening to get JockClark if he (Scott) couldn't do it. 

Ormy was a great fellow. The less he knew about a subject, the moreadvice he would give and would argue the point _ad nauseam_. He wasreading Law at the time--perhaps that is why. 

Perhaps "Dinkum's"[9] best _bon mot_ was when he nicknamedM'Dougal[10] the "Gallipoli Spider, " and Mac certainly had a wonderfulknack of gathering all things into his web. Gallipoli gave himsplendid opportunity for his Autolycus-like habits, and rumour has itthat, though really ill with dysentery, he took off with him fromSuvla seventeen ground sheets and nearly as many blankets. At Sherika, rather than lose his share of the ice, he took it with his tea. 

Bombing was his strong point, and as an instructor in hand and riflegrenades he was first class. Routine he hated like poison. Mac isperhaps the only officer who was witty once--and only once--in histrench report. I don't know if H. Q. See the point of his remarks tothis day. He it was, who, having overshot the mark, and lost his wayin Palestine, was shown back to our lines by a Turkish officer!

"George Washington, " Cummins, [11] "lost his nerve, " so he said, through being mauled by a lion in South Africa. This is purelysupposition on his part, as he had no notion what nerves were. Wesometimes wondered if he even knew what pain was. He was badlyfrost-bitten on Suvla, and had to be pushed off the Peninsula--atSheria a bullet passed through his forearm and grazed his upper armand ribs. He got it tied up, and continued with the advance, and thenassisted wounded all night at the dressing-station. The C. O. Orderedhim to go to the Field Ambulance at once to have his wound seen to, but George put in four more hours before complying with the order. 

At Fakenham an officer joined us from the Wild West--a cow-puncher andlassoo expert. The obvious name for him was Arizona;[12] and Arizonahe remained. I have even heard him referred to as Captain Arizona. Anenthusiast in whatever he took up, he was in turn scout officer, transport officer, Lewis gun officer, quartermaster and companycommander. But it is as sports officer that he will be bestremembered--training the football or running teams, coaching thetug-of-war, organising cricket or baseball, or arranging mulegymkhanas or swimming matches. One of his best efforts was coachingthe tug-of-war team in the final against Lovats at Sohag. Only whenhis handkerchief was in his right hand were his instructions"genuine. "[13]--"Heave" with it in his left meant nothing, andcompletely mystified the opposing coach. Poor old Arizona! He went outwith us to Gallipoli, and was with us to the very end. Shortly aftercoming home he had an operation on his broken nose, and everythingseemed all right, but pleuritic pneumonia set in, and he died verysuddenly in a nursing home in St Andrews in February of this year. 

There is one officer about whom innumerable stories could be told--noneed to mention his name. He, it was who, looking through a periscope, well below the parapet, waved to a Turkish deserter to come in, andcould not understand how the Turk didn't see him. 

When he was mounting his horse one day it collapsed and died on thespot. 

"That's a funny thing, Sergeant Cooper; I've never known this horse dothat before. "

"Will you take my punishment or go before a court-martial?" "Youraward, Sir. "

"Well, go away, and don't do it again!"

When asked how he got on when torpedoed on the way home, all we learntfrom him was, "It was very wet. "

Then there is the oft quoted, "What are you complaining about? It'sonly another five miles, and you've cocoa for your tea!"

Mac Lindsay, [14] the stock-whip expert and jack-of-all-trades, confessed to only one ambition in life--to dress ---- in a little redjacket and fez and lead him round on a chain! The report that he madea Ford car out of bully-beef tins has, I understand, been officiallydenied. 

Just a week before the Armistice we lost Colthart, the bestquartermaster in the Army, and one of the best of fellows. He had awonderful "way with him, " and could get for us all sorts of stores, etc. , which other quartermasters were unable to get. He was with usall the time, and never missed a "show. "

Colthart once "took pity" on a stray donkey in Palestine. Governmentoats soon made a tremendous difference, and the donkey was sold atYalo for, I think, £11. Unfortunately, the previous owner met the newpurchaser with the donkey, and all explanations being unavailing, acourt of enquiry was the result, to which witnesses seemed to comefrom all over Palestine. Eventually, the donkey was returned to itsprevious owner, and all parties satisfied--except the donkey. 

Dick Wood and Harry Fraser were two of the best we got from the BlackWatch. Dick Wood looked benevolent enough behind his spectacles, butin a scrap his lust for blood was insatiable. Harry's penchant wasstalking Bosche machine gun posts. Unfortunately, he got it badly inthe neck just as success was at hand, and was away from us till aboutthe Armistice. 

He and the other Harry (Adamson) looked after the transport lines. Arizona told Harry Adamson to take his platoon forward and see if theBosche were still holding their trenches on the Lys Sector. "Hairy's"method was typical of the man. Thinking it might be a "dirty" job, "Hairy" left his platoon under cover and went on himself. Havingfailed to find any Bosche in their trenches, he got up on the parapetand waved to his platoon to come on!

Of the N. C. O. 's and men it is possible only to mention a few. 

I always associate S. M. Alec. Ogilvie with Hogsthorpe at early morningstand-to going round the lines, abusing everyone for making a noise, and himself making as much noise as all the rest of us put together. He was the life and soul of C Squadron. Heaven knows what C would havedone without him on the Peninsula. He and Edie and M'Laren, our threesquadron sergeant-majors, were a very strong trio. Edie was an exampleto all of us--however tired he might be himself he never thought ofresting till he was satisfied his men were all right. 

One man, I know, will never forget Sergeant Craig (he was madeR. Q. M. S. Just a few days before his death on Suvla). Craig found lice"doing squaderron drrrill up his legs, " and he was pegged out in anouthouse till his clothes were fumigated. 

S. M. Bradfield was another splendid fellow who lost his life--theresult of frost bite--on Gallipoli. Corporal "One 'wo" was a physicalinstructor in civil life, and no one could twist one better at "jerks"than he could. 

Then there was the one and only Jock Lumsden. Regularly once a week atmorning stables he turned the whole troop out to water, while he and"Dinkum" swept the entire garage out--a sure sign that the previousnight had been pay night. He always was a hard worker, but a perfectdemon for work the morning after the night before. A squadron leaderwas showing a man how to use a pick, cutting trenches in the sandstoneat Sherika. Up strolled Jock--hands deep in his pockets. "Here, Sergeant-major--this man hasn't the foggiest notion how to use a pick. I've just been showing him. " "I've been watching ye, sir. I'm thinkingit wad need tae be war time for you to earn ten shillings a day in thepits. "

"How many men in this bay for rum, Sergeant Lumsden?" "Four men andmyself, sir. That will be nine. " When handed his tot, he looked at thebottom of the mug, and handed it back to the orderly sergeant, "Hoots, Gorrie, dinna mak a fule o' my stamach. "

An inveterate gambler, but a great sportsman, no one could have beenmore loyal to his Company than Jock. 

When a man on manoeuvres crawls up to a ditch within twenty yards ofa very wide awake post, leaves his cap just showing above the bank, and then proceeds up the ditch so as to get within five yards of thesentry, and could only be dislodged from there by stones, one spotshim at once as a keen, hard-working fellow. Such was Private Gall, whoeventually became R. S. M. He taught us to bayonet fight with "dash, vigour, and determination, " and gave us Irish songs and recitations atour smokers. 

Another star performer was Craig of the Machine Gun Battery, with hiswhistling and patter. He eventually got a commission (and the D. S. O. )in the Grenadier Guards. 

Then there was Sergeant Renton--who, though badly frost-bitten, refused to leave the front line, and always showed his other foot tothe Doctor. He could only hobble with the help of spades as crutches. Young Roger who "saw red" in the Dere and nearly bayonetted theDoctor. Hastie Young, an "old soldier, " the regimental barber: he cutthe Brig. 's hair, until the Brig. Unfortunately ran into Hastieholiday-making in Jerusalem. 

Lowson who snored quite happily within a few yards of the Turkishmachine gunner at "Amulree"[15] and finally got lost, and "fetched upamong the 'Duffs, ' I think ye ca' them" (it is as the "Buffs" thatthey are generally known)!

S. -M. Elder, an old Black Watch man, who when asked if he were deadstoutly denied it. 

Little Batchelor, the runner, never flurried and always so polite, however nasty the Bosche might be, was nearly kidnapped by theAustralians as a mascot. 

"Honest John" M'Niven who would work twenty-four hours a day to make ACompany more comfortable. 

S. M. Hair whose wonderful pronunciation of words of command alwaysamused us. His "Stind at ---- ice" electrified everyone; unlike poorold Aitken, whose staccato and rapid "Company company 'shun'" wasnever heard by anyone! And then the footballers Savage, Herd, Collier(who commanded "hauf a Batt-al-i-on" at St Emilie); Todd, M'Guffog(who captained the team that won the Final of the Divisional Cup, witha bit of Turkish shrapnel so close to his spine that they dared notoperate); Davis with a heart like a lion and a kick like a mule;M'Lean who could head the ball about as far as he could kick it;Durham who seemed always half asleep and too lazy to worry--and manyanother first-rate footballer. 

Leitch, the biggest and strongest man we had, the end man of thetug-of-war team, one of our best Lewis gunners, who, when shot in thehand, so that he could not fire his gun, carried on bringing upammunition boxes all that day. 

Henderson, D Coy's S. M. ; Galbraith on whom descended Colthart'swonderful knack of obtaining whatever he wanted; Storrer Mosh aliasMorrison Storrar of A Squadron and A Coy. 

Mack, one of the best we got from the 10th Battalion, and they wereall good fellows; Corporal Gibb, who looked the part so well that hewas appointed Acting Q. M. S. By the Stores Officer at Kantara!

And Many More. 

Names and episodes crowd one another out--the more one writes, themore one recalls. These random jottings, however, will call up manymore to the reader's memory. Such is my hope--that, having started youin a reminiscent frame of mind you will now carry on "spinning theyarn" yourself. 

 "Here's tae oorsel's! Wha's like us! Damned few!"

[Illustration: THE FIFE AND FORFAR IMPERIAL YEOMANRY AT ANNSMUIR. _To face page 15_]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Brigadier-General R. Hoare, C. M. G. , D. S. O. 

[2] Capt. (later Lieut. -Col. ) M. E. Lindsay, D. S. O. , 7th D. G. 

[3] Capt. H. S. Sharp. 

[4] Capt. A. L. Tuke, M. C. , R. A. M. C. (T. ). 

[5] Cpl. (later Sgt. ) A. J. Ross, M. M. , R. A. M. C. , attd. F. And F. Y. And14th R. H. 

[6] Capt. (later Major) Sir W. A. A. Campbell, Bart. , M. C. 

[7] His charger. 

[8] Lieut. (A/Capt. ) J. W. Ormiston. 

[9] Pte. Henderson, B Squadron. 

[10] Lieut. (later Capt. ) A. R. M'Dougal. 

[11] Lieut. (late Capt. ) W. W. Cummins. 

[12] Lieut. (late Capt. ) R. A. Andrew, M. C. 

[13] Pronounced "_genu-eine_. "

[14] Lieut. A. S. Lindsay, M. B. E. , M. C. 

[15] Amurieh, an isolated hill held by the Turks, raided by the Ayrsand Lanarks, 22nd March 1917. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE PREDECESSORS OF THE FIFE AND FORFAR YEOMANRY

During the troublous times in France at the end of the eighteenthcentury the fear of invasion was as acute as it was during the firstyears of the European War. To meet this danger Pitt issued his famousappeal, and towards the end of 1793 the first yeomanry regiment wasraised in Suffolk. Others quickly followed, and in 1794 we find aregiment was raised in Forfar called the Forfar Yeomanry or AngusCavalry, which continued twenty-five years until disbanded in 1819. 

In Fife the first unit raised appears to have been a regiment of"Fencible Cavalry" named "The Fifeshire Light Dragoons"; like otherFencible Units throughout the country this regiment seems to have beenmore or less a Regular Unit enlisted for the period of the war and forhome service only. It was apparently the force on which the Governmentrelied for keeping a check on local unrest, and was disbanded in 1797. 

In 1798 the Fife Yeomanry Cavalry and the Stirlingshire YeomanryCavalry were raised, and later on Perthshire, Clackmannanshire, andKinross-shire all had their yeomanry regiments, which, however, seldomexceeded 150 in strength. 

In Fife, however, thanks to the inspiration and energy of Sir WilliamErskine and Mr Wemyss of Cuttlehill, it was very popular; and when theEarl of Crawford was appointed Colonel Commandant in September 1798there were already seven mounted troops. 

With change of name to the Royal Fifeshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and underthe successive command of Lieut. -Colonel Morison of Naughton (1803), Colonel J. Anstruther Thomson of Charlton (1809), and Colonel W. Wemyss (1823) the Regiment continued to flourish, receiving in1814--the year which saw the close of the war--the thanks of bothHouses of Parliament for its services. 

In 1822 the Regiment took part in the Review held by His Majesty KingGeorge IV. On Portobello sands where, according to a contemporaryaccount, "the novelty of an exhibition of this order, and the passionallowable of the ladies to see their gallant and rustic lords andlovers relinquishing the habiliments of common life and flourishing inscarlet and glory, produced an immense crowd. "

In December 1827 an Order was circulated announcing the disbandmentof many yeomanry regiments, and among those on the list was The RoyalFife. Arms were returned to store, and the Regiment actually disbandedin 1828. The Perthshire, Clackmannanshire, and Kinross-shireYeomanries were also disbanded at this time. 

[Illustration: DETACHMENT AT H. M. THE KING'S VISIT TO EDINBURGH. _To face page 160_]

[Illustration: REGIMENTAL DRILL AT ANNSMUIR WITH SKELETON ENEMY. _To face page 160_]

The troublous times of 1830 reached their height in the winter of thatyear, and many yeomanry regiments were re-established, amongst thembeing the Fifeshire Yeomanry Cavalry, commanded by General Balfour ofBalbirnie. The Regiment was again disbanded in 1838, the same fateovercoming the Stirlingshire Yeomanry. 

In 1856 the Forfar Yeomanry were re-raised, and in 1860 the FifeshireMounted Rifle Volunteers, under command of Lieut. -General The Earl ofRosslyn, Captain Anstruther Thomson, son of the officer who hadcommanded the Fife Yeomanry and Fife Fencible Cavalry half a centurybefore, Captain Whyte Melville of the 9th Lancers, Captain Oswald ofthe Grenadier Guards, son of Captain Oswald of Dunnikier of the RoyalRifles, and Captain Sir Arthur Halkett, who had carried the colours ofthe 42nd Royal Highlanders at the Battle of the Alma, were the Troopleaders. 

Though the Regiment was only officially accepted in June, they werepresent at the Royal Review in Edinburgh in September, marching pastHer Majesty The Queen in rear of the Scots Greys. 

In 1862 the Forfar Yeomanry were disbanded, and for the next fourteenyears there were no Yeomanry in Forfarshire. 

In 1870, on the application of Lieut. -Colonel Anstruther Thomson, theMounted Rifle Volunteers were turned into Light Horse, and the Corpswas called the 1st Fifeshire Volunteer Light Horse Corps, with anestablishment of 240 all ranks. 

Towards the end of 1875 a movement was made to raise a ForfarshireTroop of Light Horse, and early in 1876 a strong Troop, known as the1st Forfarshire Light Horse Volunteer Corps, was raised at Dundeeunder command of Captain P. A. W. Carnegy of Lour and attached to theFife Light Horse. 

In 1895 Lieut. -Colonel John Gilmour of Montrave succeeded to thecommand of the Regiment, and introduced the Squadron System--"A"Squadron having its headquarters at Cupar, "B" Squadron atDunfermline, and the "Forfar" Squadron at Dundee. 

In October 1899 the South African War broke out, and early in 1900 the20th Company Imperial Yeomanry was formed. Captain Chappell Hodge, late 12th Lancers, was given command, and under him were LieutenantsJ. Gilmour and J. Simpson. They embarked on 27th February for CapeTown where they were given their horses, and proceeded to join GeneralSir A. Hunter's Division for the relief of Mafeking. The "Fifes"crossing the Vaal captured the town of Christiana in theTransvaal--the first act of war on Transvaal soil. 

After the death of Captain Hodge, Captain R. Purvis took command tillwounded at Nooitgedacht, when Lieutenant J. Gilmour succeeded him. 

In May 1901 the first contingent, after having marched 2575 miles andtaken part in 85 engagements, proceeded home. 

The 20th Company Imperial Yeomanry continued to serve till the end ofthe war, receiving in all 498 officers and men from the Fife andForfar Light Horse. 

The conversion of the Light Horse into Imperial Yeomanry took place in1901, and the Regiment then became the Fife and Forfar ImperialYeomanry--in 1908, on the formation of the Territorial Force, the word"Imperial" was dropped. 

In 1901 Lieut. -Colonel Sir John Gilmour retired and was succeeded byLieut. -Colonel T. H. Erskine of Grangemuir, the present HonoraryColonel of the Regiment. 

On the outbreak of war in 1914 the Regiment was commanded byLieut. -Colonel A. Mitchell of Luscar, subsequent Commanding Officersbeing Lieut. -Colonels J. Gilmour, J. Younger, J. M. M'Kenzie, and D. D. Ogilvie. During this period the Adjutants were Captains M. E. Lindsay, H. S. Sharp, A. C. Smith, W. D. Brown, R. Colthart, and J. W. Ormiston. 

[Illustration: GROUP SHOWING SIX SUCCESSIVE COMMANDING OFFICERS. _Standing (left to right)_--Lt. Younger, Capt. Lumsden, Lt. Stewart, Capt. Haig, Col. Anstruther Thomson, Lt. Russell, Lt. Wright(Yorkshire Dragoons), Lt. Nairn, Capt. Dewar. _Sitting_--Major Osborne, Major Gilmour, Major Mitchell, MajorErskine, Lt. -Col. Sir J. Gilmour, Capt. Burgoyne (Adjutant), MajorMarshall, Major Lawson. _To face page 164_]

[Illustration: THE CADRE ON ARRIVAL AT KIRKCALDY (see page 142). _To face page 164_]

APPENDIX

HONOURS AND AWARDS

=D. S. O. =

Lieut. -Col. John Gilmour. Lieut. -Col. James Younger. 

=M. C. =

Capt. Ian Couper Nairn. Capt. Sir William A. A. Campbell, Bart. Capt. A. L. S. Tuke, R. A. M. C. (T. ). Lieut. Robert A. Andrew. 2nd Lieut. Alec C. Smith. 2nd Lieut. William Jeffrey Johnstone. 2nd Lieut. John Crawford Houston. 2nd Lieut. A. Richard Wood. D. C. M. , M. M. 2nd Lieut. T. Brodie Brown. 345626 C. S. M. John Cameron. 

=D. C. M. =

 131 S. S. M. Alexander Ogilvie. 345018 C. S. M. William Henderson. 345416 Sergt. William Collier. 345200 Sergt. William Syme. 345314 Sergt. William R. Chalmers. 1437 L/Sergt. J. Valentine. 290604 Private James Birrell. 345094 Private H. A. Dickie. 2029 Private W. Roger. 345209 Private Thomas Spence. 

=M. M. =

345674 Sergt. Alex. Park Gordon. 345375 Sergt. William Herd. 345380 Sergt. James Johnston. 345749 Cpl. J. Black. 300005 Cpl. Alexander J. Ross, R. A. M. C. 345074 L/Cpl. John J. Leitch. 345320 L/Cpl. E. Lippiatt. 345409 L/Cpl. A. Sinclair. 345116 L/Cpl. David Maxwell Telfer. 11463 Private J. Armour. 16877 Private Alex. Black. D. C. M. 345446 Private William Blair. 345259 Private A. Campbell. 26870 Private Richard Izatt. 345075 Private Douglas Rodger. 345740 Private W. T. Smith. 

=M. S. M. =

345141 R. S. M. George Call. 345166 C. S. M. John Skinner Lumsden. 345191 R. Q. M. S. William James Galbraith. 345021 C. Q. M. S. William Blyth. 345095 C. Q. M. S. John M'Niven. 

=Serbian Gold Medal=

 2025 S. S. D. H. Pringle. 

=Italian Bronze Medal=

345031 L/Cpl. Alexander Wilson. 

=Medaille Barbatie si Credinta--1st Class=

345426 Sergt. Robert Ballantyne. 

=Mention in Dispatches=

Lieut. -Col. John Gilmour. Major James Younger. Major Cecil George de Prée. Capt. Michael E. Lindsay. Capt. D. Douglas Ogilvie. Capt. Sir William A. A. Campbell, Bart. Lieut. David Colville. Lieut. Henry Adamson. 2nd Lieut. Alec C. Smith. 2nd Lieut. A. S. Lindsay. Lieut. (A/Capt. ) Robert Herd Colthart. Lieut. Robert A. Andrew. 2nd Lieut. (A/Capt. ) John W. Ormiston. 131 S. S. M. Alexander Ogilvie. 977 S. Q. M. S. J. Edmund. 345113 Sergt. Alex. Sievewright. 345185 Sergt. William Scott. 345424 Sergt. D. Low. 345943 Sergt. Duncan Campbell. 792 Sergt. Nathaniel Mack. 1860 L/Sergt. James R. Barron. 345165 L/Sergt. R. M. Hogg. 345476 Cpl. William A. Milne. 650 Cpl. Alex. J. Ross, R. A. M. C. 345245 L/Cpl. J. Brown. 345302 L/Cpl. John Clark. 345031 L/Cpl. Alexander Wilson. 345180 Private Thomas Blease. 345154 Private William Dunn. 345052 Private Frederick Paterson. 

=Certificates of Gallantry=

 1860 Cpl. James Barron. 1826 Private James Benton. 1851 Private James Salmond. 2441 Private W. Whyte. 

=Honours gained by Officers extra Regimentally employed=

Lieut. -Col. Alex. J. King, C. M. G. D. S. O. Lieut. -Col. Andrew Spreull, R. A. V. C. D. S. O. Major George Erskine Jackson. O. B. E. , M. C. Major (A/Lt. -Col. ) Ronald G. O. Hutchison. D. S. O. , M. C. Capt. Harold S. Sharp. Mention. Capt. Charles W. Herdman. Mention. Capt. Harold W. V. Temperley. O. B. E. Capt. A. S. Lindsay, M. B. E. M. C. , Croix de Guerre. Capt. David Marshall. M. C. Lieut. R. Warburton. M. C. Lieut. A. G. Brown. M. C. Lieut. W. J. Rae. M. C. 

=Honours gained by former Adjutants=

Colonel (Hon. Brig. -Gen. ) M. L. MacEwen, C. B. Legion d'Honneur. Lieut. -Col. (Hon. Brig. -Gen. ) G. R. H. Cheape, C. M. G. D. S. O. , M. C. Lieut. -Col. E. C. Jury, C. M. G. M. C. Major (Temp. Lieut. -Col. ) M. E. Lindsay. D. S. O. 

CASUALTIES

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 28. 9. 15 2635 Private Carnegie, G. Wounded. 2529 Private Dow, D. Wounded. Died 8. 10. 15 2056 Private M'Kenzie, F. W. Wounded. 30. 9. 15 1998 Private Maloney, James Wounded. 2. 10. 15 1617 Private Scott, D. Wounded. 3. 10. 15 966 Sergt. Petrie, R. Killed. 4. 10. 15 1799 Private Clark, T. Wounded. 6. 10. 15 1681 Private Gourlay, J. Wounded. 9. 10. 15 2405 Private Doig, W. S. Wounded. 11. 10. 15 2487 Private Grieve, J. Wounded. 1816 Private Robertson, J. Wounded. 12. 10. 15 2039 Private Westwater, A. C. Wounded. Died of wounds. 18. 10. 15 1541 Cpl. Maxwell, J. Killed. 1985 Private Haworth, F. Killed. 1730 Private Pattinson, J. Killed. 1437 L/Sergt. Valentine, J. Wounded. 2029 Private Roger, W. Wounded. 19. 10. 15 2069 Private Carnegie, R. Y. Wounded. 20. 10. 15 2534 Private Lumsden, T. Wounded. 2486 Private Morris, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 20. 10. 15. 21. 10. 15 2489 Private Beveridge, H. Killed. 1835 Private Macfarlane, J. Killed. 1727 Private Brown, A. Wounded. 2536 Private O'Neill, J. A. Wounded. 1826 Private Renton, J. Wounded. 24. 10. 15 1995 L/Cpl. Blease, T. Wounded. 2081 Private Young, W. K. Wounded. 26. 10. 15 1704 Private Ford, C. Killed. 2201 Private Henry, J. Wounded. 27. 10. 15 2276 Private Campbell, G. W. Wounded. 29. 10. 15 1496 Private Clark, D. Killed. 1449 Sergt. Farrell, A. Wounded. 30. 10. 15 1758 Private Baxter, J. Killed. 31. 10. 15 1971 Private Kennedy, J. Killed. 2. 11. 15 2010 Private Millar, D. Wounded. 3. 11. 15 1989 Private Rushworth, G. Died of wounds. 4. 11. 15 2075 Private Whyte, J. L. Wounded. 5. 11. 15 2535 Private Jarvis, T. Wounded. 12. 11. 15 1705 Private Cowan, R. Killed. 2nd Lieut. Herdman, C. W. Wounded. 1817 Private Fotheringham, H. Wounded. 1751 Private Harris, W. H. Wounded. 1921 Private Wilson, R. Wounded. 16. 11. 15 1621 Private Fyffe, T. W. Wounded. 2216 Private Gordon, W. Wounded. 2204 Private Pearson, W. Wounded. 26. 11. 15 1811 Private Robertson, R. W. Wounded. 28. 11. 15 2043 L/Cpl. Fairweather, T. Killed. 2048 L/Cpl. Howie, W. Killed. 1901 Private Hood, J. T. Wounded. 1735 Private Mitchell, R. R. Wounded. 2458 Private Wilson, J. M. Wounded. 2089 Private Roger, J. M. Died. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

29. 11. 15 1595 Cpl. Bowie, R. Wounded. 2412 Private Adamson, D. Wounded. 1685 Private Hamilton, T. Wounded. 1930 Private M'Kechnie, W. Wounded. 1563 Private Millar, T. Wounded. 2456 Private Potter, A. Wounded. 2455 Private Rough, J. Wounded. 29. 11. 15 2337 Private Wright, C. Wounded. 1684 S. S. Cpl. Pearson, W. Missing (prisoner). Died at Sivas, 25. 5. 16. 30. 11. 15 1886 Private M'Gregor, R. Died at Sivas, 25. 5. 16. 2083 Private Moffat, T. Died at Sivas, 25. 5. 16. 2360 Private Halley, J. Wounded. 1581 Cpl. Peter, A. Wounded. Died 5. 12. 15. 1. 12. 15 2440 Private Stewart, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 3. 12. 15. 2. 12. 15 1987 R. Q. M. S. Colclough, W. T. Wounded. 8. 12. 15 2209 Private Batchelor, A. Wounded. 10. 12. 15 2021 Private Galloway, J. Wounded. 12. 12. 15 1618 Private Paton, D. S. Wounded. 15. 12. 15 2155 Private Finlayson, P. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 12. 15. 19. 12. 15 2057 A/R. Q. M. S. Craig, J. Died of wounds. 6. 11. 15 2186 Private M'Laren, A. Died of disease. 8. 11. 15 2024 Private Cairns, R. D. Died of disease. 18. 11. 15 2129 Private Harley, A. B. Died of disease. 15. 12. 15 2059 S. S. M. Bradfield, T. Died of disease. 27. 5. 16 2026 Private Hendry, J. M. Died of disease. 27. 11. 16 2583 Tptr. Shearer, W. Died of disease. 19. 4. 17 345413 Private Robertson, R. Wounded. Mansura Ridge. 345542 Private Wilson, H. J. R. Wounded. Mansura Ridge. 14. 5. 17 345122 Private Yule, G. Wounded. 16. 5. 17 345060 Saddler Brown, J. Wounded and at duty. 25. 5. 17 345945 L/Sgt. Bannigan, P. Killed. Dumb-bell Hill. 345555 Private Floyd, J. Wounded. Dumb-bell Hill. 346003 Private Wiseman, W. Wounded. Dumb-bell Hill. 26. 5. 17 345561 Private Calder, J. Wounded and at duty. Dumb-bell Hill. 340020 Private M'Donell, D. Wounded. Dumb-bell Hill. 340016 Private Milne, J. W. Wounded and at duty. Dumb-bell Hill. 31. 5. 17 345402 Private Aitkenhead, M. Wounded and at duty. Dumb-bell Hill. 12. 6. 17 345934 Private Davidson, R. Wounded. Dumb-bell Hill. 17. 6. 17 345549 Private Keith, H. Wounded. 30. 8. 17 . .. 2nd Lieut. Crawford, W. S. Wounded. (Lanark Yeomanry) 345180 L/Cpl. Blease, T. Wounded. 345703 Private Davidson, A. Wounded and at duty. 345758 Private Edwards, J. Wounded. 345497 Private Potter, S. Wounded and at duty. 1. 11. 17 345461 L/Cpl. Harley, R. Killed. 345190 Private Lister, L. Missing (prisoner). 3. 11. 17 345073 Cpl. Dougal, J. F. Missing (prisoner). 9276 Private Bell, A. Missing (prisoner). 17468 Private Brady, J. Missing (prisoner). 4. 11. 17 . .. 2nd Lieut. Inglis, T. H. Wounded. (att. Glo'ster Yeomanry). . .. 2nd Lieut. M'Lean, J. Wounded. 345335 L/Lieut. Wyles, A. Wounded. 340021 Private Adams, W. Wounded. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 4. 11. 17 345207 Private Dow, R. Wounded. S/8885 Private Kirk, G. B. Wounded. 6. 11. 17 Major Osborne, G. E. B. Killed. Sheria. 2nd Lieut. Kinniburgh, J. D. Killed. Sheria. 2nd Lieut. Thomson, E. A. Killed. Sheria. 345172 Sergt. Spence, A. Killed. Sheria. 345951 Sergt. Sharp, J. Killed. Sheria. 345633 Cpl. Dow, J. Killed. Sheria. 345161 Cpl. Ovenstone, P. Killed. Sheria. 345264 Cpl. Rattray, J. M. Killed. Sheria. 345627 L/Cpl. Adamson, H. Killed. Sheria. 345953 L/Cpl. Baxter, R. Killed. Sheria. 13133 L/Cpl. M'Donald, G. Killed. Sheria. 345289 L/Cpl. Prain, G. Killed. Sheria. 20382 Private Anderson, J. Killed. Sheria. 2819 Private Aston, T. Killed. Sheria. 345332 Private Braid, D. Killed. Sheria. 340004 Private Combe, W. Killed. Sheria. 16294 Private Dalgleish, W. Killed. Sheria. 345545 Private Downie, H. Killed. Sheria. 345605 Private Fyfe, T. Killed. Sheria. 21841 Private Gault, J. Killed. Sheria. 345962 Private Geddes, C. Killed. Sheria. 20390 Private Hendrie, J. Killed. Sheria. 8913 Private Hoban, P. Killed. Sheria. 345301 Private Howie, G. Killed. Sheria. 6. 11. 17 8224 Private Hynd, H. Killed. Sheria. 345247 Private Johnstone, J. R. Killed. Sheria. 345609 Private Kemp, W. Killed. Sheria. 345717 Private King, L. Killed. Sheria. 345358 Private Lawrence, A. H. Killed. Sheria. 9916 Private M'Donald, D. Killed. Sheria. 340018 Private M'Millan, D. Killed. Sheria. 345679 Private Milne, J. Killed. Sheria. 345871 Private Milne, J. Killed. Sheria. 340016 Private Milne, J. W. Killed. Sheria. 16758 Private Mudie, F. Killed. Sheria. 345350 Private Muir, J. K. Killed. Sheria. 20362 Private Mutch, C. Killed. Sheria. 345115 Private Nicoll, J. Killed. Sheria. 345769 Private Notman, J. Killed. Sheria. 345394 Private Pake, J. Killed. Sheria. 16204 Private Peattie, D. Killed. Sheria. 345598 Private Ritchie, J. Killed. Sheria. 345239 Private Rodger, W. Killed. Sheria. 21819 Private Ross, D. Killed. Sheria. 345735 Private Scott, R. Killed. Sheria. 20889 Private Staff, J. Killed. Sheria. 345861 Private Stewart, A. Killed. Sheria. 345622 Private Symon, A. Killed. Sheria. 345444 Private Watson, N. Killed. Sheria. 345325 Private Wilson, D. Killed. Sheria. 19663 Private Woodward, J. Killed. Sheria. Lt. -Col. Gilmour, J. Wounded. Sheria. Captain Campbell, Bart. , Sir W. A. A. Wounded. Sheria. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 6. 11. 17 Captain Cummins, W. W. Wounded. Sheria. 2nd Lieut. M'Carrick, F. Wounded. Sheria. 2nd Lieut. Martin, J. M. Wounded. Sheria. 345426 Sergt. Ballantyne, R. Wounded. Sheria. 345128 Sergt. Ballantyne, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345416 Sergt. Collier, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345098 Sergt. Goodall, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345947 Sergt. M'Gregor, H. Wounded. Sheria. 345334 Sergt. Saunders, A. M. Died of wounds 18. 11. 17. Sheria. 345164 Sergt. Taylor, D. Died of wounds 11. 11. 17. Sheria. 345251 Cpl. Chalmers, G. C. Died of wounds 8. 11. 17. Sheria. 345097 Cpl. Farmer, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345950 Cpl. Hedley, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345138 Cpl. Hood, J. T. Wounded. Sheria. 345234 Cpl. Moir, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345341 Cpl. Patterson, T. Wounded. Sheria. 345398 Cpl. Rollo, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345196 Cpl. Stewart, G. Wounded. Sheria. 345030 Cpl. Whyte, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345223 Cpl. Wright, R. H. Wounded. Sheria. 345225 L/Cpl. Black, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345917 L/Cpl. Cairncross, H. Wounded. Sheria. 340001 L/Cpl. Dick, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345816 L/Cpl. Doig, R. Wounded. Sheria. 345054 L/Cpl. Fleming, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345174 L/Cpl. Flynn, W. Died of wounds. Sheria. 6. 11. 17 345244 L/Cpl. Hamilton, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345780 L/Cpl. Holmes, R. Wounded. Sheria. 345844 L/Cpl. Honeyman, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345074 L/Cpl. Leitch, J. J. Wounded. Sheria. 345015 L/Cpl. Lister, H. Wounded. Sheria. 345188 L/Cpl. Ogg, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345471 L/Cpl. Stephen, E. Wounded. Sheria. 18945 L/Cpl. Ward, C. Wounded. Sheria. 345395 L/Cpl. Wright, W. Wounded. Sheria. 15545 L/Cpl. Younger, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345918 Private Alexander, P. Wounded. Sheria. 15794 Private Allan, J. Wounded. Sheria. 340002 Private Angus, T. Wounded. Sheria. 345576 Private Armstrong, W. Died of wounds 29. 11. 8. Sheria. 345834 Private Bagridge, H. Wounded. Sheria. 345998 Private Barlow, W. R. Wounded. Sheria. 345579 Private Beaton, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345496 Private Birrell, H. Wounded. Sheria. 345577 Private Bisset, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345405 Private Black, G. Wounded. Sheria. 345695 Private Black, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345478 Private Blyth, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345747 Private Boyle, J. Wounded. Sheria. 346000 Private Bradshaw, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345890 Private Bremner, F. Wounded. Sheria. 345561 Private Calder, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345312 Private Calderhead, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345268 Private Campbell, G. W. Wounded. Sheria. 345635 Private Campbell, J. Wounded. Sheria. 18725 Private Cant, A. Wounded. Sheria. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

6. 11. 17 20876 Private Chalmers, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345878 Private Chalmers, W. Wounded. Sheria. 241313 Private Clarkson, J. R. Wounded. Sheria. 340006 Private Colthart, T. Wounded. Sheria. 345678 Private Conning, J. Wounded. Sheria. 22141 Private Cooper, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345092 Private Coupar, D. L. Wounded. Sheria. 345869 Private Craig, G. Wounded. Sheria. 11824 Private Craig, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345152 Private Crichton, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345854 Private Crighton, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345591 Private Cumming, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345275 Private Denholm, C. Wounded. Sheria. 345648 Private Devlin, C. Wounded. Sheria. 43091 Private Donaldson, D. Wounded. Sheria. 18718 Private Drysdale, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345704 Private Duffin, J. Died of wounds 23. 11. 17. Sheria. 345238 Private Duncan, G. Wounded. Sheria. 345154 Private Dunn, W. Wounded. Sheria. 20381 Private Edwards, D. Died of wounds 8. 11. 17. Sheria. 21824 Private Ellison, S. Wounded. Sheria. 345567 Private Emerson, F. Wounded. Sheria. 340013 Private Ewart, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345649 Private Ferguson, H. Wounded. Sheria. 20878 Private Findlay, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345963 Private Finlayson, A. C. Wounded. Sheria. 6. 11. 17 345568 Private Forsyth, J. B. Wounded. Sheria. 345434 Private Gibb, D. Wounded. Sheria. 4570 Private Gordon, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345507 Private Grant, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345534 Private Gray, J. Wounded. Sheria. 20378 Private Gunn, A. Wounded. Sheria. 22331 Private Gunn, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345713 Private Guyan, D. Died of wounds 11. 11. 17. Sheria. 345654 Private Helmsley, P. Wounded. Sheria. 345898 Private Henderson, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345495 Private Henderson, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345282 Private Henry, T. B. Wounded. Sheria. 241311 Private Herbertson, J. Wounded. Sheria. 10507 Private Herd, D. Wounded. Sheria. 10507 Private Hirst, R. Wounded. Sheria. 345510 Private Hunter, R. Wounded. Sheria. 345763 Private King, B. Died of wounds 6. 1. 18. Sheria. 345990 Private Laing, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345926 Private Langston, H. Wounded. Sheria. 345965 Private Lawson, A. M. Wounded. Sheria. 345611 Private Linn, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345612 Private Livingstone, G. Wounded. Sheria. 345901 Private Lockhart, A. Wounded. Sheria. 3752 Private Lyall, P. Died of wounds 7. 11. 17. Sheria. 345783 Private M'Aree, H. Wounded. Sheria. 345385 Private M'Call, J. Wounded. Sheria. 20379 Private M'Carthey, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345483 Private M'Cartney, W. H. Wounded. Sheria. 345266 Private M'Donald, A. Wounded. Sheria. 340020 Private M'Donald, D. Wounded. Sheria. 

 DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 6. 11. 17 345269 Private M'Donald, F. Died of wounds 8. 11. 17. Sheria. 345975 Private M'Donald, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345354 Private M'Ewan, T. Died of wounds 8. 11. 17. Sheria. 345628 Private M'Fadden, H. Wounded. Sheria. 345822 Private M'Goldrick, F. Wounded. Sheria. 345460 Private M'Graw, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345724 Private M'Inroy, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345401 Private M'Kechnie, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345587 Private M'Laggan, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345611 Private M'Millan, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345680 Private M'Millan, J. Died of wounds 6. 11. 17. Sheria. 345967 Private M'Rae, M. Wounded. Sheria. 345971 Private Marshall, J. Wounded. Sheria. 16505 Private Martin, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345659 Private Martin, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345406 Private Mathew, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345728 Private Meekison, C. Wounded. Sheria. 345824 Private Meldrum, A. Wounded. Sheria. 20394 Private Mercer, H. Died of wounds 8. 11. 17. Sheria. 345439 Private Moir, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345260 Private Moonie, J. W. Wounded. Sheria. 345566 Private Morgan, S. Wounded. Sheria. 345658 Private Mudie, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345910 Private Murray, T. Wounded. Sheria. 345482 Private Penman, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345290 Private Pennycook, J. M. Wounded. Sheria. 6. 11. 17 16033 Private Petrie, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345597 Private Prain, S. Wounded. Sheria. 345929 Private Purvis, D. Wounded. Sheria. 345976 Private Ramsay, W. Wounded. Sheria. 345977 Private Reid, M. Wounded. Sheria. 20875 Private Reid, R. Wounded. Sheria. 345573 Private Rennie, C. Wounded. Sheria. 345982 Private Robertson, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345556 Private Robertson, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345392 Private Robertson, W. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 346010 Private Roy, A. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345575 Private Scott, A. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345486 Private Seath, J. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 18720 Private Shepherd, D. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345249 Private Simpson, A. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345995 Private Simpson, J. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345808 Private Smith, R. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345333 Private Smith, W. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 20865 Private Smith, W. A. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 340012 Private Soutar, W. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345741 Private Spence, G. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 346011 Private Stewart, C. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345585 Private Storey, C. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345068 Private Storrar, M. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345775 Private Stronner, J. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345529 Private Stuart, J. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345415 Private Thomson, H. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345862 Private Turner, G. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 19848 Private Twist, T. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 345599 Private Urquhart, J. Died of wounds 12. 11. 17. Sheria. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 6. 11. 17 345468 Private Veale, L. Wounded. Sheria. 340022 Private Walker, G. Wounded. Sheria. 345687 Private Waterson, T. Wounded. Sheria. 15462 Private Weston, A. Wounded. Sheria. 345784 Private Whyte, R. Wounded. Sheria. 345506 Private Wilson, J. Wounded. Sheria. 345317 Private Wilson, J. Wounded. Sheria. 20895 Private Williamson, T. Wounded. Sheria. 20376 Private Woodward, R. A. Wounded. Sheria. Captain Brown, W. D. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345946 Sergt. Mackie, A. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345087 L/Cpl. Reid, I. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345020 L/Cpl. Robertson, K. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345615 Private M'Leod, N. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345666 Private Petrie, M. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345075 Private Rodger, D. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345383 Private Ross, G. R. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 345317 Private Wilson, J. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 30. 11. 17 345002 C. Q. M. S Morrison, D. Wounded. Wadi Selman. 345051 Sergt. Watson, J. Wounded. Wadi Selman. 345430 L/Sergt. M'Neil, R. Wounded. Wadi Selman. 345638 Private Benson, H. Wounded. Wadi Selman. 345899 Private Higginbottom, R. Wounded. Wadi Selman. 18845 Private Huckerby, W. Wounded. Wadi Selman. 293275 Private Smith, E. J. Wounded. Wadi Selman. 13401 Private Paxton, R. Wounded and at duty. Sheria. 1. 12. 17 2nd Lieut. Greenlees, G. D. Killed. "1750. " 345352 Private Dickson, D. G. Killed. "1750. " 345857 Private Plant, H. Wounded and at duty. "1750. " 3. 12. 17 345712 Private Gray, W. Missing (prisoner). 10. 12. 17 345814 Private Connaghan, M. Wounded. 27. 12. 17 2nd Lieut. Forrest, P. T. A. Killed. Zeitun. 2nd Lieut. Armstrong, W. W. Killed. Zeitun. 21840 Private Anderson, J. Killed. Zeitun. 9388 Private Brand, J. Killed. Zeitun. 345698 Private Brookland, F. Killed. Zeitun. 21826 Private Goodfellow, J. Killed. Zeitun. 345969 Private Jack, A. Killed. Zeitun. 346009 Private Patterson, J. C. Killed. Zeitun. 345524 Private Young, P. Killed. Zeitun. Captain Brown, W. D. Died of wounds 27. 12. 17. Zeitun. 345214 Sergt. Menzies, J. B. Wounded. Zeitun. 5756 L/Sergt. Grant, D. Wounded. Zeitun. 345422 Cpl. Bisset, D. Wounded. Zeitun. 345080 L/Cpl. Mackay, R. B. Wounded. Zeitun. 345565 L/Cpl. M'Whirter, D. Wounded. Zeitun. 2491 L/Cpl. Silvester, W. Wounded. Zeitun. 21715 L/Cpl. Williams, J. P. Died of wounds 28. 12. 17. Zeitun. 345425 Private Braid, T. Died of wounds 29. 12. 17. Zeitun. 26887 Private Clunie, R. Died of wounds 28. 12. 17. Zeitun. 345647 Private Dunk, P. Wounded. Zeitun. 345838 Private Ferguson, W. Wounded. Zeitun. 7194 Private Freal, S. Died of wounds 2. 1. 18. Zeitun. 345842 Private Hickman, C. Died of wounds. Zeitun. 345384 Private Knox, R. Wounded. Zeitun. 18716 Private M'Intosh, E. Wounded. Zeitun. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

27. 12. 17 345586 Private M'Intyre, W. Died of wounds 11. 4. 18. Zeitun. 345662 Private M'Kendrick, A. Wounded. Zeitun. 345522 Private M'Pherson, M. Wounded. Zeitun. 20368 Private Paton, F. Wounded. Zeitun. 268743 Private Patterson, A. Wounded. Zeitun. 240198 Private Smith, R. M. Wounded. Zeitun. 345337 Private Tocher, A. Wounded. Zeitun. 22243 Private Van Riel, H. F. , Wounded. Zeitun. 345273 Sergt. Halley, R. Wounded and at duty. Zeitun. 28. 12. 17 Lieut. Johnstone, W. J. Killed. Beitania. 2nd Lieut. Paisley, G. W. Killed (with A. & L. Yeo. ). Beitania. 345200 Sergt. Syme, W. Killed. Beitania. 345009 L/Sergt. Oliver, R. Killed. Beitania. 345270 L/Cpl. Dickson, W. Killed. Beitania. 345751 Private Byrne, T. Killed. Beitania. 345815 Private Crighton, C. Killed. Beitania. 241316 Private M'Kinnon, A. Killed. Beitania. 345311 Private Reid, J. Killed. Beitania. 18698 Private Ross, D. Killed. Beitania. Captain Duncan, P. F. Wounded. Beitania. 2nd Lieut. Cummings, D. Wounded. Beitania. 2nd Lieut. Haggart, J. Died of wounds 3. 1. 18. Beitania. 2nd Lieut. Robson, P. L. Wounded. Beitania. 345053 Sergt. Boath, W. Wounded. Beitania. 345273 Sergt. Halley, R. Wounded. Beitania. 345165 Sergt. Hogg, R. M. Wounded. Beitania. 28. 12. 17 345404 L/Cpl. Kilpatrick, W. Died of wounds 29. 12. 17. Beitania. 18684 L/Cpl. Rankine, T. Wounded. Beitania. 345511 L/Cpl. Rodgerson, D. Wounded. Beitania. 345578 Private Beveridge, R. Wounded. Beitania. 345786 Private Blyth, G. Wounded. Beitania. 345194 Private Brady, H. Wounded. Beitania. 203197 Private Buntain, J. Wounded. Beitania. 16034 Private Christie, G. D. Wounded. Beitania. 3688 Private Cowan, A. Wounded. Beitania. 14709 Private Davidson, A. Died of wounds 30. 12. 17. Beitania. 345459 Private Davidson, H. Wounded. Beitania. 340025 Private Easson, W. Wounded. Beitania. 200549 Private Flynn, W. Wounded. Beitania. 345236 Private Henderson, W. Wounded. Beitania. 22027 Private Inglis, J. Wounded. Beitania. 345252 Private Johnstone, G. A. Wounded. Beitania. 240369 Private M'Callum, W. Wounded. Beitania. 13009 Private M'Ginley, R. Wounded. Beitania. 345613 Private M'Kay, P. Wounded. Beitania. 345927 Private M'Killop, P. Wounded. Beitania. 17064 Private Minchella, P. Wounded. Beitania. 14227 Private Mitchell, A. Wounded. Beitania. 21828 Private Morrison, G. Wounded. Beitania. 8742 Private Munro, S. Wounded. Beitania. 345682 Private Potter, L. Wounded. Beitania. 345512 Private Robertson, W. P. Wounded. Beitania. 20390 Private Roper, J. Wounded. Beitania. 18978 Private Small, A. Wounded. Beitania. 12500 Private Smith, J. Wounded. Beitania. 345984 Private Smith, W. Wounded. Beitania. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

28. 12. 17 345209 Private Spence, T. Wounded. Beitania. 21820 Private Taylor, T. Died of wounds 29. 12. 17. Beitania. 40617 Private Watterson, J. Wounded. Beitania. 345745 Private Wheeler, J. Wounded. Beitania. 345518 Private Williamson, J. A. Wounded. Beitania. 345464 Private Young, W. D. Wounded. Beitania. 345575 Private Mitchell, W. Wounded and at duty. Beitania. 345130 Private Young, H. Wounded and at duty. Beitania. 14. 4. 17 12701 L/Cpl. Drinnan, G. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Arcadian. _ 18724 Private Findlater, J. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Arcadian. _ 18703 Private Wann, R. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Arcadian. _ 18697 Private Williams, A. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Arcadian. _ 4. 5. 17 20373 Private Brown, W. J. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20880 Private Chisholm, A. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20386 Private Denholm, J. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20380 Private Houston, W. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20393 Private Jones, W. L. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20366 Private Shenken, P. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20890 Private Smith, J. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20893 Private Stewart, C. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _ 20867 Private Thompson, J. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Transylvania. _30. 12. 17 202466 L/Cpl. Stenhouse, J. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Aragon. _ 266648 Private Small, R. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Aragon. _ 292849 Private Wood, E. Drowned ex H. M. T. , _Aragon. _ 20. 3. 17 345774 Private Reid, J. Died. 14. 4. 17 345736 Private Shepherd, J. Died. 12. 11. 17 345411 Private Melville, J. Died. 4. 12. 17 345494 Private Ewing, A. Died. 10. 3. 18 20121 Private Keith, J. Wounded and at duty. 22. 3. 18 300030 Sergt. Livingstone Wounded and at duty. R. A. M. C. (attached). 26. 3. 18 345445 Private Ferguson, R. Killed. 345140 Private Carrie, A. F. Wounded. 345852 Private M'Guffog, A. Wounded. 345130 Private Young, H. Wounded. 345104 Cpl. Conacher, J. Wounded and at duty. 2. 4. 18 345550 Private Fagan, H. Wounded and at duty. 6. 4. 18 Captain Down, N. C. S. Wounded. 345021 C. Q. M. S. Blyth, D. Wounded and at duty. 345648 Private Devlin, C. Wounded and at duty. 345177 Private Ramsay, J. Wounded and at duty. 24. 7. 18 345636 Cpl. Bruce, W. Wounded. 345395 L/Cpl. Wright, W. Wounded. 22156 Private Bingham, J. Wounded. 345699 Private Rodger, A. Wounded. 345884 Private Young, J. Wounded. 345157 Sergt. Paris, J. Wounded and at duty. 9090 Cpl. Halkett, J. Wounded and at duty. 345646 Private Clark, C. Wounded and at duty. 20881 Private Florence, R. Wounded and at duty. 15200 Private Fraser, D. Wounded and at duty. 22177 Private Heddleston, J. Wounded and at duty. 345655 Private Herd, J. Wounded and at duty. 345669 Private Samson, A. Wounded and at duty. 25. 7. 18 18192 Private Findlay, W. Wounded. Died of wounds 24. 9. 18. 31. 7. 18 203396 Private Braynion, W. Wounded. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 4. 8. 18 2nd Lieut. Fraser, H. L. Wounded. 345277 Sergt. Campbell, W. Wounded. 345447 Private Allen, J. Wounded. 345559 Private Donald, J. Wounded. 345628 Private M'Fadden, H. Wounded. 203190 Private Nimmo, R. Wounded. 21837 Private Taylor, J. Wounded. 345438 Private Wilson, A. Wounded. 345237 Private Cameron, D. Wounded and at duty. 345968 Private Mann, G. Wounded and at duty. 5. 8. 18 346042 Private Morgan, G. Wounded and at duty. 20888 Private Kane, J. Wounded and at duty. 7. 8. 18 11944 Private Walker, D. Killed. 315095 Sergt. M'Niven, A. , Wounded. R. A. M. C. (attached). 11463 Private Armour, J. Wounded. 16360 Private Berry, C. Wounded. 345500 Private Hunter, J. Wounded. 345252 Private Johnston, G. A. Wounded. 345824 Private Meldrum, A. Wounded. 22031 Private Todd, M. Wounded. 8. 8. 18 20879 L/Cpl. Strachan, J. Killed. 268173 Private Aitken, J. Killed. 15200 Private Fraser, D. Killed. 22157 Private Wilson, A. Killed. 13697 Cpl. Hardinge, A. Wounded. 8. 8. 18 345530 Cpl. Mackie, C. B. Wounded. 345466 Private Brady, J. Wounded. 20881 Private Florence, R. Wounded. 345607 Private Greenhill, R. Wounded. 22162 Private Kilgour, W. Wounded. 8885 Private Kirk, G. Wounded. 345790 Private M'Coubray, J. Wounded. 266686 Private M'Rae, R. Wounded. 2592 Private Paul, J. Wounded. (attached T. M. B. ) 345472 Private Wilson, J. Wounded. 9. 8. 18 16403 Private Wilson, G. Killed. Private (attached T. M. B. ) 20677 Private Edmiston, J. Wounded. 345682 Private Potter, L. Wounded. 22183 Private Simpson, J. Wounded. 346013 Private Wilson, A. Wounded. 345575 Private Scott, A. Wounded and at duty. 345435 Private White, H. Wounded and at duty. (229th Brigade H. Q. ). 10. 8. 18 6153 Private Frizzell, R. Killed. 345318 L/Cpl. Nicol, J. Wounded. 18683 Private Connelly, J. Wounded. 345754 Private Crighton, A. Wounded. 345647 Private Dunk, P. Wounded. 5036 Private Osborne, W. Wounded. 203198 Private Stewart, A. Wounded and at duty. 13. 8. 18 345413 Private Robertson, R. Wounded and at duty. 25. 8. 18 20376 Private Woodward, R. A. Wounded. Died of wounds 27. 8. 18. 9344 Private Murray, W. Wounded and at duty. 2. 9. 18 Captain Stewart, R. W. Killed. Moislains. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 2. 9. 18 Captain Nairn, I. C. , M. C. Killed. Moislains. 2nd Lieut. Darney, C. E. Killed. Moislains. 345028 Sergt. M'Kenzie, W. Killed. Moislains. 345950 L/Sergt. Hedley, W. Killed. Moislains. 345988 L/Sergt. Walton, F. Killed. Moislains. 345390 Cpl. Keith, W. Killed. Moislains. 345105 L/Cpl. Boyd, W. Killed. Moislains. 345355 L/Cpl. Husband, W. Killed. Moislains. 345553 Private Anderson, R. Killed. Moislains. 345638 Private Benson, H. Killed. Moislains. 345577 Private Bissett, A. Killed. Moislains. 22250 Private Blair, D. Killed. Moislains. 345561 Private Calder, J. Killed. Moislains. 22141 Private Cooper, W. A. Killed. Moislains. 16513 Private Duncan, T. Killed. Moislains. 203208 Private Elder, G. Killed. Moislains. 201336 Private Ferguson, J. Killed. Moislains. 345760 Private Hamilton, R. Killed. Moislains. 22177 Private Heddleston, J. Killed. Moislains. 345842 Private Hickman, C. Killed. Moislains. 203207 Private Irwin, J. Killed. Moislains. 20121 Private Keith, J. Killed. Moislains. 201992 Private Lambie, H. Killed. Moislains. 13703 Private M'Ilwain, A. Killed. Moislains. 345587 Private M'Laggan, J. Killed. Moislains. 345726 Private M'Lean, T. Killed. Moislains. 2. 9. 18 345968 Private Mann, G. Killed. Moislains. 345149 Private Melville, L. W. Killed. Moislains. 345526 Private Millar, R. Killed. Moislains. 345260 Private Moonie, J. W. Killed. Moislains. 9344 Private Murray, W. Killed. Moislains. 203204 Private Reid, J. Killed. Moislains. 29712 Private Reid, R. Killed. Moislains. 345733 Private Rodger, J. Killed. Moislains. 20371 Private Shanks, A. Killed. Moislains. 22831 Private Smith, R. Killed. Moislains. 22180 Private Sneddon, P. Killed. Moislains. 3875 Private Thomson, J. Killed. Moislains. 345866 Private Wilkie, A. Killed. Moislains. Lt. -Col. Younger, J. Wounded. Moislains. Captain M'Nab, J. B. Wounded. Moislains. Lieut. Duncan, C. G. Wounded. Moislains. 2nd Lieut. Clydesdale, R. A. Wounded. Moislains. 2nd Lieut. Laing, J. E. Wounded. Moislains. 2nd Lieut. Grant, J. W. Wounded. Moislains. 2nd Lieut. Dawes, J. W. Wounded. Moislains. 2nd Lieut. Van Millingen, Wounded. Moislains. D. F. 2nd Lieut. Craigen, J. W. W. Wounded. Moislains. 2nd Lieut. Dickie, J. A. Wounded. Moislains. 345001 C. S. M. Aitken, A. Wounded. Died of wounds 2. 9. 18. 345136 Sergt. Andrews, A. Wounded. Moislains. 345097 Sergt. Farmer, D. Wounded. Moislains. 6069 Sergt. Green, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345887 Sergt. M'Donald, J. Wounded. Moislains. 3796 Sergt. M'Laren, P. Wounded. Died of wounds 3. 9. 18. 5306 Sergt. Meiklejohn, T. Wounded. Moislains. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 2. 9. 18 345941 Sergt. Mickel, H. W. Wounded. Moislains. 345886 Sergt. Spence, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 7. 9. 18. 9090 L/Sergt. Halkett, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345920 Cpl. Airth, C. Wounded. Moislains. 3056 Cpl. Blues, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345811 Cpl. Brown, A. Wounded. Moislains. 22194 Cpl. Cattanach, T. J. Wounded. Moislains. 345242 Cpl. Cheape, J. Wounded. Moislains. 18847 Cpl. Douglas, S. Wounded. Died of wounds 5. 9. 18. 345721 Cpl. Marnock, W. Wounded. Moislains. 5357 Cpl. M'Dougal, T. Wounded. Moislains. 22188 Cpl. Price, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345580 L/Cpl. Deans, S. Wounded. Moislains. 345094 L/Cpl. Dickie, H. Wounded. Died of wounds 4. 9. 18. (D. C. M. ) 14721 L/Cpl. Duncan, F. Wounded. Moislains. 11279 L/Cpl. Eddie, R. Wounded. Moislains. 345342 L/Cpl. Greig, W. T. Wounded. Moislains. 345993 L/Cpl. Hall, T. D. Wounded. Moislains. 20864 L/Cpl. Jessiman, W. Wounded. Moislains. 202135 L/Cpl. M'Intyre, D. Wounded. Moislains. 265246 L/Cpl. Manuel, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345969 L/Cpl. Milton, M. Wounded. Moislains. 345670 L/Cpl. Smith, P. Wounded. Moislains. 203198 L/Cpl. Stewart, A. Wounded. Moislains. 345525 L/Cpl. Wilson, F. Wounded. Moislains. 22192 Private Alexander, G. Wounded. Moislains. 2. 9. 18 345167 Private Alexander, R. Wounded. Moislains. 41422 Private Allan, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345889 Private Anderson, A. Wounded. Moislains. 345639 Private Anderson, D. Wounded. Moislains. 16495 Private Belford, J. B. Wounded. Moislains. 346023 Private Bibb, H. Wounded. Moislains. 22164 Private Blackwood, G. T. Wounded. Moislains. 345371 Private Blyth, W. Wounded. Moislains. 290402 Private Brown, D. Wounded. Moislains. 345955 Private Buchan, M. Wounded. Moislains. 203197 Private Buntain, J. Wounded. Moislains. 241199 Private Burgess, A. Wounded. Moislains. 345257 Private Burnett, H. Wounded. Moislains. 20750 Private Burns, G. Wounded. Moislains. 345891 Private Cameron, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345268 Private Campbell, G. W. Wounded. Moislains. 267932 Private Campbell, T. W. Wounded. Moislains. 40460 Private Carmichael, D. Wounded. Moislains. 345940 Private Cassells, W. Wounded. Moislains. 20876 Private Chalmers, J. Wounded. Moislains. 241313 Private Clarkson, J. R. Wounded. Moislains. 290777 Private Colville, H. Wounded. Moislains. 41439 Private Cooney, B. Wounded. Moislains. 345310 Private Cran, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345703 Private Davidson, A. Wounded. Moislains. 20882 Private Donnett, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345207 Private Dow, R. Wounded. Moislains. 202972 Private Dunipace, W. Wounded. Died of wounds 6. 9. 18. 14723 Private Eadie, F. Wounded. Moislains. 345101 Private Edwards, G. R. Wounded. Moislains. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 2. 9. 18 345593 Private Ewing, A. Wounded. Moislains. 345550 Private Fagan, H. Wounded. Moislains. 345215 Private Fairley, D. Wounded. Moislains. 345759 Private Fleming, W. Wounded. Moislains. 346007 Private Flockhart, D. Wounded. Moislains. 345789 Private Gardiner, R. Wounded. Moislains. 345961 Private Gillan, J. Wounded. Moislains. 241346 Private Gow, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345267 Private Greig, J. G. Wounded. Moislains. 345651 Private Hagan, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345569 Private Haines, L. Wounded. Moislains. 346040 Private Hanlon, G. Wounded. Moislains. 345653 Private Hay, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345655 Private Herd, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345143 Private Hirst, S. Wounded. Moislains. 345844 Private Honeyman, J. Wounded. Moislains. 9620 Private Hunter, W. Wounded. Moislains. 290189 Private Hutchison, W. Wounded. Moislains. 5308 Private Inglis, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345845 Private Jamieson, D. Wounded. Moislains. 20888 Private Kane, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345657 Private Lang, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345720 Private Lightfoot, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345271 Private M'Askill, A. Wounded. Moislains. 265722 Private M'Callum, C. Wounded. Moislains. 268529 Private M'Diarmid, D. Wounded. Moislains. 2. 9. 18 345975 Private M'Donald, J. Wounded. Moislains. 340008 Private M'Donald, T. Wounded. Moislains. 22182 Private M'Dowell, G. Wounded. Moislains. 22324 Private M'Kay, F. Wounded. Moislains. 346028 Private M'Kenzie, A. Wounded. Moislains. 22187 Private M'Kenzie, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345552 Private M'Kenna, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345661 Private M'Millan, J. Wounded. Moislains. 22204 Private Marchant, J. Wounded. Moislains. 22198 Private Mearns, J. Wounded. Moislains. 266895 Private Merrylees, A. Wounded. Moislains. 340011 Private Milne, J. S. Wounded. Moislains. 345660 Private Mitchell, D. J. Wounded. Moislains. 22142 Private Mitchell, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345554 Private Montgomery, J. Wounded. Moislains. 346008 Private Morris, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345910 Private Murray, T. Wounded. Moislains. 43455 Private Ness, T. Wounded. Moislains. 345119 Private Niven, R. Wounded. Died of wounds 6. 9. 18. 340027 Private Norrie, A. Wounded. Moislains. 43301 Private Ogilvie, D. Wounded. Moislains. 345276 Private Page, D. Wounded. Moislains. 345619 Private Petrie, J. Wounded. Moislains. 16698 Private Philip, A. Wounded. Moislains. 345682 Private Potter, L. Wounded. Moislains. 41524 Private Rait, T. Wounded. Moislains. 345321 Private Ramsay, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345278 Private Reid, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345977 Private Reid, M. D. Wounded. Moislains. 20873 Private Richardson, T. Wounded. Moislains. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 2. 9. 18 345457 Private Robertson, A. G. Wounded. Moislains. 22178 Private Rutherford, J. Wounded. Moislains. 21831 Private Rutherford, P. Wounded. Moislains. 240382 Private Scott, A. Wounded. Moislains. 2901 Private Scott, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345685 Private Simpson, T. Wounded. Moislains. 345807 Private Smart, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 4. 10. 18. 345412 Private Smeaton, W. Wounded. Moislains. 18102 Private Smith, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 2. 9. 18. 346043 Private Smith, W. Wounded. Moislains. 345209 Private Spence, T. Wounded. Moislains. 22230 Private Stewart, G. C. Wounded. Moislains. 21843 Private Stewart, H. Wounded. Moislains. 345931 Private Stewart, J. Wounded. Moislains. 22159 Private Sturrock, D. K. Wounded. Moislains. 22155 Private Summers, G. Wounded. Moislains. 17654 Private Tallent, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345147 Private Thomson, G. Wounded. Moislains. 203426 Private Tod, D. Wounded. Moislains. 267695 Private Turnbull, J. Wounded. Moislains. 21832 Private Twaddle, J. Wounded. Moislains. 19848 Private Twist, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345743 Private Walkenshaw, A. Wounded. Moislains. 17817 Private Walker, J. Wounded. Moislains. 20325 Private Watson, R. Wounded. Moislains. 345745 Private Wheeler, J. Wounded. Moislains. 2. 9. 18 345389 Private Whitehead, J. Wounded. Moislains. 340024 Private Whyte, J. Wounded. Moislains. 20392 Private Williams, E. Wounded. Moislains. 346022 Private Williams, H. Wounded. Moislains. 20363 Private Wilson, J. Wounded. Moislains. 345146 Private Wilson, R. Wounded. Moislains. 6949 Private Wilson, W. Wounded. Moislains. 15883 Private Yacamini, R. Wounded. Moislains. 22331 Private Gunn, G. Wounded and missing. 2nd Lieut. M'Lean, J. Wounded and at duty. 2nd Lieut. Brodie Brown, T. Wounded and at duty. 2nd Lieut. Cruickshank, I. W. Wounded and at duty. 345943 Sergt. Campbell, D. Wounded and at duty. 345660 Private Boylan, J. Wounded and at duty. 345870 Private Horne, W. Wounded and at duty. 20389 Private Kearsey, A. G. Wounded and at duty. 21855 Private Livingstone, A. Wounded and at duty. 3. 9. 18 Lieut. Drysdale, J. C. Wounded. 9. 9. 18 21839 Private Robb, J. Wounded and at duty. St Emilie. 10. 9. 18 345125 Cpl. Ritchie, J. W. Killed. St Emilie. 15546 Private Davidson, J. Killed. St Emilie. 345959 Private Dawson, J. Killed. St Emilie. 22147 Private Donaldson, T. Killed. St Emilie. 340017 Private Ford, J. Killed. St Emilie. 345253 Private Geekie, J. A. P. Killed. St Emilie. 20365 Private Halliday, D. Killed. St Emilie. 345659 Private Martin, W. Killed. St Emilie. 203406 Private Munro, W. Killed. St Emilie. 43045 Private Nairn, J. Killed. St Emilie. 340007 Private O'Key, J. Killed. St Emilie. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 10. 9. 18 345978 Private Rennie, H. Killed. St Emilie. 346033 Private Slater, J. Killed. St Emilie. 20361 Private Smith, R. Killed. St Emilie. 15545 Private Younger, C. Killed. St Emilie. 345092 L/Cpl. Coupar, D. L. Missing, presumed killed. St Emilie. 41665 Private M'Connachie, W. Missing, presumed killed. St Emilie. 21830 Private Perston, W. Missing, presumed killed. St Emilie. 345313 Private Ramsay, J. W. Missing, presumed killed. St Emilie. 2nd Lieut. M'Lean, J. Wounded. St Emilie. 2nd Lieut. Cruickshank, I. W. Wounded. St Emilie. 345946 Sergt. Mackie, A. Wounded. St Emilie. 345054 Cpl. Fleming, A. Wounded. St Emilie. 345684 Cpl. Smart, A. Wounded. St Emilie. 345376 L/Cpl. Cooper, A. Wounded. St Emilie. 345869 L/Cpl. Craig, J. Wounded. St Emilie. 345391 Private Bett, J. Wounded. St Emilie. 345258 Private Boath, L. Wounded. St Emilie. 310082 Private Brebner, C. Died of wounds 10. 9. 18. St Emilie. 345957 Private Cameron, W. Wounded. St Emilie. 18316 Private Dorward, W. Wounded. St Emilie. 345309 Private Henderson, J. Wounded. St Emilie. 345610 Private Laing, T. Wounded. St Emilie. 18799 Private Lowson, D. Died of wounds 11. 9. 18. St Emilie. 345034 Private Peter, D. S. Wounded. St Emilie. 345556 Private Robertson, J. Wounded. St Emilie. 20367 Private Robin, D. Wounded. St Emilie. 10. 9. 18 20390 Private Roper, J. Died of wounds 11. 9. 18. St Emilie. 17741 Private Sharp, W. Wounded. St Emilie. 350163 Private Thomson, C. Wounded. St Emilie. 21676 Private Wallace, J. Wounded. St Emilie. 345114 Private Wilson, A. Wounded. St Emilie. 345672 Private Wylie, H. Wounded. St Emilie. 22190 Private Young, W. Wounded. St Emilie. 345947 Sergt. M'Gregor, H. Prisoner of war. 345106 Sergt. M'Lellan, J. R. Prisoner of war. 345637 Cpl. Davidson, D. Prisoner of war. 345231 Private Annand, A. A. Prisoner of war. 345934 Private Davidson, R. Prisoner of war. 20136 Private Gray, D. Prisoner of war. 345103 Private Greig, J. R. Prisoner of war. 340005 Private Henderson, J. F. Prisoner of war. 345927 Private M'Killop, D. Prisoner of war. Wounded. 16473 Private Nisbet, R. Prisoner of war. Wounded. 30372 Private Sharp, M. Prisoner of war. Wounded. 22206 Private Wilson, W. A. Prisoner of war. Wounded. 345153 Private Henderson, J. Wounded and at duty. St Emilie. 18. 9. 18 200328 Private Bonnar, G. Killed. 345266 Private M'Donald, A. Killed. 18460 Private M'Lean, J. Killed. 2nd Lieut. Stuart, H. C. Wounded. 345400 L/Cpl. Henderson, A. Wounded. 345428 Private Beal, J. Wounded. 345917 Private Cairncross, H. Wounded. 345312 Private Calderhead, J. Wounded. 24486 Private Campbell, D. Wounded. 345591 Private Cummings, J. Wounded. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 18. 9. 18 22915 Private Gordon, C. Wounded. 23586 Private Greenwood, J. Wounded. 41264 Private Ireland, P. Wounded. 2439 Private Kelly, T. Wounded. 40294 Private M'Donald, A. Wounded. 345791 Private M'Hardy, A. Wounded. 20486 Private M'Kenzie, R. Wounded. 345184 Private Maloney, J. Died of wounds 29. 9. 18. 41060 Private Mann, R. Wounded. 345971 Private Marshall, J. Wounded. 345690 Private Meldrum, F. Wounded. 345046 Private Nicoll, R. Wounded. 345163 Private Ramage, J. Wounded. 345474 Private Smart, A. Wounded. 345501 Private Soutar, W. Wounded. 345068 Private Storrar, M. Wounded. 6630 Private Strachan, D. Wounded. 14374 Private Walker, J. Wounded. 20. 9. 18 22158 Private Grant, R. Wounded. 21. 9. 18 18725 Private Cant, A. Killed. 22151 Private Cubbon, E. Killed. 340025 Private Easson, W. Killed. 346049 Private Forbes, J. A. Killed. 25324 Private Morrison, D. L. Killed. 346034 Cpl. Thom, J. Wounded. 14766 Private Bain, A. Wounded. 21. 9. 18 345967 Private M'Crae, M. Wounded. 22191 Private Penman, J. Wounded. 25317 Private Philp, A. Wounded. 345364 Private Summers, R. Wounded. 345102 Private M'Dougal, G. Wounded and at duty. 22. 9. 18 345220 Private Lessells, W. Killed. 2nd Lieut. Innes, D. M'L. Wounded. Died of wounds 7. 10. 18. 7206 C. Q. M. S. Elder, J. Wounded. 18322 Cpl. Smith, R. Wounded. 15110 L/Cpl. Livingstone, E. Wounded. 202414 L/Cpl. Rader, J. Wounded. 2929 Private Birrell, D. Wounded. 18699 Private Condie, M. Wounded. 213313 Private Cooper, J. Wounded. 345818 Private Etchels, T. Wounded. 345607 Private Finnigan, R. Wounded. 20754 Private Grierson, W. Wounded. 240503 Private Hunter, A. S. Wounded. 25317 Private Philip, A. Wounded. 7536 Private Pringle, J. Wounded. 25326 Private Rankine, W. Wounded. 25448 Private Reid, E. Wounded. 25316 Private Ritchie, J. Wounded. 25365 Private Robertson, J. Wounded. 25348 Private Strachan, T. Wounded. 345783 Private M'Aree, A. Wounded and at duty. 23. 9. 18 25217 Private Smart, J. Killed. 25451 Private Allan, R. Wounded. 25452 Private Gilchrist, J. Wounded. 25344 Private Inglis, R. V. Wounded. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

 24. 9. 18 S/22207 Private Coutts, A. G. Killed. S/22027 Private Inglis, J. Killed. 2nd Lieut. Fell, F. J. Wounded. 24050 Private Appleby, H. Wounded. 293071 Private Boath, W. Wounded. 16545 Private Craik, A. Wounded. 22148 Private Henderson, D. Wounded. 203189 Private M'Donald, J. R. Wounded. Died of wounds 25. 9. 18. 17064 Private Minchella, P. Wounded. 25402 Private Wallace, D. Wounded. 15. 10. 18 2nd Lieut. Stevenson, E. J. Wounded. 345958 Private Christison, G. Wounded. 345925 Private Guthrie, J. Wounded. 6007 Private Laird, W. Wounded. 16. 10. 18 345662 Private M'Kendrick, A. Killed. 345979 Private Ross, T. Killed. Lieut. Ewart, R. H. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 2nd Lieut. Wood, A. R. , D. C. M. , M. M. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 345018 C. S. M. Henderson, W. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 293071 L/Cpl. Boath, W. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 345403 Private Gilmour, A. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 345323 Private Goodall, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 13428 Private Ross, A. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 21686 Private Sharp, A. Wounded. Died of wounds 16. 10. 18. 25377 Private Barclay, L. Wounded and at duty. 345456 Private Mitchell, D. Wounded and at duty. 16. 10. 18 5116 Private Skinner, E. Wounded and at duty. 21. 10. 18 19537 Private Haggart, J. Killed. 7817 L/Cpl. Anderson, W. Wounded. 202903 Private Adams, C. Wounded. 17894 Private Bruce, D. Wounded. 21184 Private Laird, J. Wounded. 21152 Private Lally, D. Wounded. 268963 Private M'Gee, A. B. Wounded. 21100 Private Penny, E. Wounded. 315708 Private Simpson, T. Wounded. 22. 10. 18 345055 Sergt. Bayne, A. Wounded. Died of wounds 22. 10. 18. 345321 Private Ramsay, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 22. 10. 18. 23. 10. 18 2nd Lieut. Cumming, F. K. Killed. 26870 L/Cpl. Izatt, R. , M. M. Killed. 25462 Private Barber, J. Killed. 9729 Private Bartie, T. Killed. 15814 Private Campbell, J. Killed. 12506 Private Cockburn, T. Killed. 6158 Private Sowerby, E. Killed. 25347 Private Walker, T. Killed. 25378 Private Webb, A. Killed. 2nd Lieut. Robertson, R. Wounded. 345943 Sergt. Campbell, D. Wounded. 345490 L/Cpl. Crawford, D. Wounded. 25376 L/Cpl. Patterson, R. Wounded. 6006 L/Cpl. Spence, W. Wounded. 14539 Private Anderson, D. Wounded. Died of wounds 26. 10. 18. 6145 Private Black, P. Wounded. Died of wounds 26. 10. 18. 25199 Private Conway, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 26. 10. 18. 25719 Private Davidson, R. Wounded. Died of wounds 26. 10. 18. 

DATE. REGT. RANK. NAME. REMARKS. NO. 

23. 10. 18 345818 Private Etchels, T. Wounded. 5950 Private Kemp, A. Wounded. 5255 Private M'Dougall, A. Wounded. 6176 Private M'Ilroy, B. Wounded. 25346 Private M'Kay, H. Wounded. 203311 Private M'Lean, D. Wounded. 16171 Private Reekie, J. Wounded. 25656 Private Rough, D. Wounded. 14611 Private Russell, A. Wounded. 267921 Private Scott, W. Wounded. 25368 Private Stevenson, G. Wounded. 43388 Private Swift, J. Wounded. Died of wounds 24. 10. 18. 2nd Lieut. Mathewson, J. S. Wounded and at duty. 345074 Sergt. Leitch, J. J. Wounded and at duty. 20377 L/Cpl. Sinclair, J. Wounded and at duty. 340030 Private M'Donell, D. Wounded and at duty. 345982 Private Robertson, A. Wounded and at duty. 290566 Private Watson, R. B. Wounded and at duty. 1. 11. 18 Captain Colthart, R. H. Wounded. Died of wounds 2. 11. 18. 345298 Cpl. Matthew, R. Wounded. 14770 Private Craig, D. Wounded. 345770 Private Nicol, A. Wounded. 345211 Private O'Malley, J. Wounded and at duty. 14. 4. 18 345305 Private Morrison, G. Died of disease. 4. 1. 18 345881 Private Melville, C. Died of disease. 1. 2. 18 265831 Private Walker, H. Died of disease. 

TOTAL CASUALTIES. 

OFFICERS. 

Killed 12Died of wounds 9Wounded 32Wounded and remaining at duty 5 --- 58

N. C. Os. And MEN. 

Killed 188Died of wounds 46Missing 5Died of disease 15Drowned 16Wounded 568Wounded and remaining at duty 52Prisoners of war 20 --- 910

 Grand Total 968

INDEX

_Abassiyeh_, the, 14

Abbas Apex Sector, 56

Abu-el-Zeitun, attack on, 97

Abu Sitta, 60

Adamson, Lieut. H. , 126, 154

Aeroplanes, 43

African War, the South, 162

Ain Arik, 109; Ridge, 92

Ain Kohleh, 64

Ain Sinai, 112

Ain Yebrud, 112

Aire, 122, 123

Aitken, C. S. M. A. , death, 130, 157

Aizecourt, 130

Ajalon, 107, 108; Valley of, 108

Alexandria, 13, 28, 30, 117

Ali-el-Muntar, 51, 52, 71, 73

Allaines, attack on, 128

Allenby, General, advance on Damascus, 117

Alma, battle of the, 161

Alpini Corps, 129

American Battalion, the 106th, 136

Amiens, 136

Amurieh, raid on, 115, 157

Amwas, 108, 116

Anafarta, 24

_Andania_, H. M. T. , 10, 14, 142

Andrew, Capt. R. A. , tribute to, 105; instructions to his men, 108; at Baquerolles Farm, 124; return to Kirkcaldy, 142; called "Arizona, " 151; death, 152

Anzac, 17

Armistice, signed, 139

Artaxerxes Post, 135

Ascq, 137

Assiut, 31

Australian Division, the 1st, 134; at Sohag, 32

Ayr and Lanark Yeomanry, 53, 56; attack on Mahmeh, 97; advance on Beitania, 101; at Amwas, 108; raid on Amurieh, 115; new brigade, 121

Azmac Dere, 19, 23, 24; raid on, 19

Bab-el-Muallek, 90

Babington, Lieut. G. , 148

Baisieux, 137, 138

Balfour, General, of Balbirnie, commanding the Fifeshire YeomanryCavalry, 161

Baluah, Lake, 110

Baquerolles Farm, 124

Batchelor, Private, 157

Beclers, 139

Beersheba, attack on, 61-63

Beit Iksa, 89, 91; capture of, 86

Beit Sira, 78, 106, 109

Beit-ur-el-Foka, attack on, 83

Beit-ur-el-Tahta, 83, 85, 106

Beitania, 92; advance on, 101-103

Beitin, 111

Benjamin Post, 135

Berguette, 137

Beris, 34

Bethel, 111

Bethhoron, the Upper, 83

Birdwood, General Sir W. , inspection by, 126

Bireh, 92, 103, 116

Black Watch, 6th and 8th Battns. , 141

Blairgowrie, 1-4

Bouchavesnes, 127

Boulak, 34

Boulogne, 141

Bourecq, 137

Bradfield, Sergeant-Major, 155

Brigade, the 159th, 113; the 160th, 113; the 229th, 66, 130, 137; the 230th, 66, 67, 121, 130, 139; at the battle of Sheria, 68; the 231st, 67, 121, 137, 139

"Broken Spur" badge, 144

Brown, Lieut. T. Brodie, 131, 132, 133; M. C. Conferred, 165

Brown, Capt. W. D. , adjutant, 148; killed, 98; tribute to, 105

Buffs, the 10th, 138

Burj Lisaneh, 111

Byng, Major-Gen. Sir Julian, 19

Calonne, 127

Camel, a racing, 32

Camerons, the 10th, 35

Campbell, Capt. P. , 102; raid on Amurieh, 115

Campbell, Capt. Sir W. A. A. , 114, 149

Canal du Nord, advance on, 128

Cape Town, 147

Caracol Dagh, 17

Carbine Trench, 135

Carnegy, Capt. P. A. W. , commanding the Forfarshire Light HorseVolunteer Corps, 146

Carvin Farm, 124

Casualties, list of, 168-203

Chetwode, Lieut. -Gen. Sir P. W. , commanding Eastern Force, inspects theFife and Forfar Yeomanry, 56; presents medals, 71

Christiana, capture of, 147

Clackmannan, 2

Clarence River, 123

Clark, Lieut. -Col. J. , 150

Cloud-burst, at Gara, 32, 39

Collier, Sergeant W. , 149, 157; attack on the Germans, 132

Colthart, Capt. R. H. , adjutant, 117, 133; Quartermaster, 40, 153; killed, 138

Cooper, Sergeant, 152

Corbie, 136

Corps III. Attack on the Germans, 134

Corps XX. , 70

Corps XXI. , 70; pursues the Turkish forces, 72; at Junction Station, 76

Corps Cavalry, 67

Craig, Sergeant J. , 155

Craig, Lieut. D. , D. S. O. , conferred, 156

Crawford, Earl of, Colonel Commandant of the Fife Yeomanry Cavalry, 160

Cruickshank, Lieut. I. W. , 115; attack on the Germans, 132

Cummins, Capt. W. W. ("George Washington, ") 151

Cupar, 2

Daisies, mauve, 50

Dakhla, 37

Damascus, 117

Dane, Lieut. P. , 134

Darney, Lieut. C. E. , killed, 130

Davis, L. -Cpl. J. 157

Deir-el-Belah, 49, 56, 57, 59

Deir Ibzia Ridge, 92

Deir Sineid, 73

Demobilization of the British Army, 140-142

Denbigh Yeomanry, the 24th Battalion, 121

Devonport, 10

Devonshire Regiment, the 16th (Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry), 56; at Beitania, 101; Yalo, 107; attack on Moislains, 128

Division, the 10th, 66, 67, 85; advance on Bireh, 92; capture Foka, 93; the 52nd, 49, 79; the 53rd, 61, 65, 116; the 54th, 49, 57; the 55th, 139; the 57th, 139; the 58th, 131, 132; the 59th, 127; the 60th, attack on Beersheba, 62-64; on Tel-el-Sheria, 67; advance on the Nablus road, 92; the 74th, 131, 136; attack on Beersheba, 62-64

Don, Lieut. W. G. , 148

Drysdale, Lieut. J. C. , 117; tribute to, 104; wounded, 130

Dumb-bell Hill Sector, 54

Duncan, Lieut. C. G. , advance on the Turbeauté River, 125; wounded, 130

Dundee, 2

Dundee Wadi, 67

Dunfermline, 2

Dunkirk, 141

Durham, Private, 158

East Kent Regiment, the 10th, 133

Edie, Sergeant-Major, 154

Edinburgh, Royal Review in, 162

Egyptian Lancers, at Sherika, 33

El Arish, 42-45

El Buggar, 61; attack on, 60

El Burj, 45; capture of, 86, 89

El Burjaliye, 52

El Ferdan, 41, 42

El Jib, 83

El Mendur, 52

El Muntar, 101

Elder, Sergeant-Major, 157

Enab, 86, 104

Epehy, 131

Erskine, Lieut. -Col. T. H. , of Grangemuir, 163

Erskine, Sir William, 160

Essex Regiments, the 5th and 7th, 53

Etaples, 120

Fakenham, 7-10

Fanatis, or copper vessels, 44

Faustine Quarry, 134

Fencible Cavalry, 159

Ferguson, Sergeant, 126

Field Ambulance, the 229th, at Yalo, 107

Fife, 2

Fife and Forfar Imperial Yeomanry, 163

Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, at Blairgowrie, 1-4; St Ives, 4; training, 4, 7, 38, 41, 56, 59, 120, 140; inspections, 4, 8, 56, 126, 140; at Skegness, 6; Fakenham, 7-10; sports, 7, 32, 36, 59, 140; voyage to Gallipoli, 10-14; in the trenches, 15-26; journey to Sidi Bishr, 28; casualties, 29, 68, 100, 104, 130; at Mena Camp, 30; Minia, 31; Sohag, 31; Gara, 32, 38; Sherika, 32-38; Moascar, 39, 41; the 14th Battalion, Royal Highlanders, 41; in camp at El Ferdan, 41; journey to El Arish, 42; reinforcements, 44; at El Burj, 45; Sheikh Zowaid, 45; march to Rafa, 46-48; at Khan Yunis, 48; Sheikh Nebhan, 49; El Mendur, 52; in the Sheikh Abbas Sector, 54, 56; field firing, 57; at Deir-el-Belah, 57; attack on Beersheba, 59-64; battle of Sheria, 68; at Goz-el-Gelieb, 70; presentation of medals, 71; march to Mejdal, 74; foot parade, 74; march to Junction Station, 76; at Latron, 77; march to Beit Sira, 78; at Wadi Selman, 79; camp at Q 20 central, 85; advance on Jerusalem, 86-91; march along the Zeitun Ridge, 92-95; at Wadi Zait, 95; capture Zeitun Ridge, 98; advance on the Hill of Shafa, 99; on Beitania, 101-103; camp at Yalo, 106; making roads, 107, 109; march to Kantara, 116; voyage to Marseilles, 117-119; at St Firmin, 119; Grand Rullecourt, 120; epidemic of Spanish influenza, 121; march to La Pierriere, 122; bombarded by the Germans, 125; fitted with kilts, 126; at Le Foret, 127; advance on the Canal du Nord, 128; attack on the Germans, 132-135; at Corbie, 136; tribute to, 136; advance to Orcq, 137; reception at Tournai, 139; at Moustier, 140; demobilised, 140-142; at Kirkcaldy, 142; predecessors, 159-164; Commanding Officers, 164

Fife Yeomanry Cavalry, 159

Fifeshire Light Dragoons, 159

Fifeshire Mounted Rifle Volunteers, 161; review at Edinburgh, 162

Fifeshire Volunteer Light Horse Corps, the 1st, 162

Foka Hill, 83, 84, 92; capture of, 93

Fontes, 122, 137

Football, games of, 121, 138, 140

Forfar, 2

Forfar Yeomanry or Angus Cavalry, 159; re-raised, 161; disbanded, 162

Forfarshire Light Horse Volunteer Corps, the 1st, 162

Fort Conan, 24

Franvillers, 127

Fraser, Lieut. H. L. , 154

Frasnes, 139

Fusilier Ridge, 57, 114

Galbraith, R. Q. M. S. W. J. , 158; at Kirkcaldy, 142

Gall, R. S. M. , 156

Gallipoli, 14-27; thunderstorm at, 22

Gamli, 60

Gara, 38; sandstorm, 32; cloud-burst, 32, 39

Gaza, attacks on, 48, 51; capture of, 70

Gebel-el-Ghenneiem, 34

George IV. , King, reviews the Royal Fifeshire Yeomanry Cavalry, 160

George V. , King, inspects the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 4, 140; wire to Lord Lovat, 142

German Army, attack on, 132-136; evacuate Tournai, 139; trenches, occupied, 124

Gibb, Corporal, 158

Gibraltar, Straits of, 12

Gilmour, Lieut. -Colonel J. , 164; commanding the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 29, 48, 148; D. S. O. Conferred, 58, 165; wounded at the battle of Sheria, 68; bar to his D. S. O. , 69; commanding the 20th Company Imperial Yeomanry, 163

Gilmour, Lieut. -Col. Sir John, commanding the Forfarshire Light HorseVolunteer Corps, 162; retires, 163

Girdwood, Major-General E. S. , commanding the 74th Division, 71; presents medals, 71; prizes, 141; tribute to, 143

Goz-el-Gelieb, 70

Grammont, 140

Grand Rullecourt, 120, 121

Gray, Lieut. W. , 36

Grimsby, 6

Gyppy Cavalry, 35; garrison Dakhla Oasis, 38

Hair, Sergt. -Major J. , 157

Haking, Lieut. -General Sir R. , Corps Commander, inspection by, 126

Halkett, Capt. , Sir Arthur, 161

Ham en Artois, 122, 126

Hamilton, Sir Ian, inspects the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 4

Haubourdin, 137

Haute Deule Canal, 137

Hell's Gate, 38

Henderson, Private ("Dinkum") 150, 155

Henderson, Sergt. -Major, 158

Herd, Sergeant William, 157

Herdman, Lieut. C. W. , 148

Herlies, 137

Highland Mounted Brigade, 2; strength, 29; at Sherika, 32

Highland Territorial Division, the 51st, 2

Hill A, 84, 85; capture of, 93

Hill 1070, capture of, 62; 1750, 79; attack on, 80; 2450, battle on, 98

Hindenburg line, 135

Hoare, Brig. -General R. , 31, 130; wounded, 134, 144

Hodge, Capt. Chappell, commanding the 20th Company Imperial Yeomanry, 162; death, 163

Hogsthorpe, 6

Honours and Awards, 165-67

Humbercourt, 120

Hunter, General Sir A. , 163

Huntingdon, 4, 5

Hutchison, Capt. R. G. , 148

I. C. C. The, 67; at Sherika, 33; relieved, 38

Im Seirat, 51

Imbros, peaks of, 18

Imperial Camel Corps, 61

Imperial Yeomanry, the 20th Company, 162

_Indarra_, H. M. T. , 117

Inverness Battery, 2

Irgeig, 65

Ismailia, 39, 41

Izieres, 140

Jackson, Capt. G. E. , Staff Captain, 2

Jaffa, 72

Jericho, 111

Jerusalem, advance on, 87-91; fall of, 89; entry into, 104

Jones' Post, 57

Judæa, 76

Judæan Hills, 73, 75

Junction Station, 73, 76

Juvisy, 119

Kantara, 42, 43, 50, 116

Karm, 61, 70

Kereina Ridge, 92

Kefr Skeyan, 92, 110

Kent Hill, 115

Khamsin wind, 53

Khan Abu Felah, 107, 114

Khan Yunis, 48

Kharga, 33, 34, 35; Oasis Detachment, at Sherika, 32

Khirbet Kereina, 84

Kilo, 31, 35

King, Lieut. -Colonel A. J. , 2

Kinniburgh, Lieut. J. D. , killed at the battle of Sheria, 68

Kinross, 2, 142

Kirkcaldy, 2, 142; depot for recruiting, 4

Kitchener, Lord, 22

Kubeibe, 78, 86, 94, 96

Kulonieh, 91

Kuryet-el-Enab, 87

Kuwauka system, attack on, 66

Kuweilfeh, 64, 65

La Bassée Canal, 123, 126

La Houssoye, 127

La Pierriere, 122

Lala Baba, 28

Lamain, 139

Latron, 77

Le Foret, 127

Leitch, Sergeant, J. J. , 158

Levant, the, 18

Light Car Patrol, 36, 38

Ligny, 122; Wood, 137

Ligny St Flochel, 120

Likia, 78

Lindsay, Lieut. A. S. , commanding the Light Car Patrol, 36, 153

Lindsay, Captain M. E. , 9, 145, 146

Loch Lomond, 2

Locon, 137

London Regiment, 127, 129; Yeomanry Company, 38

Longavesnes, 130, 133

Lovat, Lord, illness, 29; wire from King George V. , 142

Lovat's Scouts, 2, 19, 23, 30; at Salonika, 35

Lowson, Private David, 157

Ludd, 116

Lumsden, C. S. M. J. , 155

Lys, the, 126

Mack, Sergeant Nathaniel, 158

MacNeil, Lieut. -Colonel Angus, commanding the Kharga Oasis Detachment, 32; opens the swimming-bath at Sherika, 37

Mafeking, relief of, 163

Mahmeh, attack on, 97

Malta, 12, 118

Mansura Ridge, 52

Maricourt, 127

Marquain, 138

Marseilles, 118, 119

Marshall, Lieut. D. , march to Tenida, 37, 148

Marshall, Major-General W. R. , 26

M'Dougal, Lieut. A. R. , bombing school, 36; the "Gallipoli Spider, " 150

Meherique, 35; Roman Fort at, 34

Mejdal, 74

Melsom, Captain, of the _Andania_, 10

Melville, Captain Whyte, 145

Mena Camp, 30

Mericourt, 137

M'Guffog, A. , 157

Middlesex Regiment, 67

Minia, 31

Miquellerie, 126

Mitchell, Lieut. -Colonel A. , commanding the Fife and ForfarYeomanry, 29, 163; illness, 29

M'Kenzie, Lieut. -Colonel J. M. , 134; illness, 140; commanding the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 164

M'Laren, Sergt. -Major, 154

M'Lean, Lieut. J. , 132, 157

M'Nab, Captain J. , holds the Round Hill, 114 wounded, 130

M'Niven, C. Q. M. S. J. , 157

Moislains, attack on, 128

Molinghem, 127

Montgomery and Welsh Horse Yeomanry, the 25th, 130

Morison, Lieut. -Colonel, commanding the Royal Fifeshire YeomanryCavalry, 160

Mosquitoes, war on, 35, 147

Moustier, 140

Mudros Harbour, 13, 28

Nablus, 111; attack on, 92, 97

Nairn, Captain I. C. , 114; killed, 130

Nairn, Major R. S. , illness, 29

Nazlet el Abid, 31

Neby Samwil, 89, 91; capture of, 86

Nile, the, 31; Valley, 34, 91

Nisbet, Sergt. -Major W. , at Kirkcaldy, 142

Noc River, 123

Nooitgedacht, 163

Norfolk, 7

Norfolk Regiment, 58, 121

North Devon Hussars, 30; at Sherika, 35

North Lane Trench, 23

Noyelles, 119

Nurlu Village, 128

Ogilvie, Major D. D. , 112, 114, 133; commanding B Squadron, 26; acting M. L. O. , 27; march to Tenida, 37; commanding C Squadron, 40; and the Battalion 140, 164; return to Kirkcaldy, 142

Ogilvie, Sergeant-Major Alec, 154

Orcq, 138

Orilux torches, 80

Ormiston, Capt. J. W. , 133; adjutant, 150, 164

Osborne, Major G. E. B. , adjutant, illness, 29; commanding B Squadron, 40; killed at the battle of Sheria, 68

Oswald, Captain, 161

Paris, 119

Petit Ronchin, 137

Peyton Avenue Trench, 22, 23, 27

Peyton, Major-General W. , 19

Philistia, Plain of, 70, 72

Pimple Post, 135

Pitt, Rt Hon. W. , appeal for soldiers, 159

Portobello, review at, 160

Pree, Major C. G. De, 19, 24, 26, 40

_Prince Abbas_, the, 28

Purvis, Capt. R. , commanding the 20th Company Imperial Yeomanry, 163; wounded, 163

Q 20 Central, camp at, 78, 85, 94

Quennemont Farm, 135

Quennet Copse, 135

Quentin Road, 125

Rafa, 46-48

Railhead, 35; Persian Temple, 34

Ram Allah, 92, 109, 116

Raspberry Hill, 51

Rawlinson, General, commanding Fourth Army, tribute to the 74thDivision, 136

Regent's Park, 57, 58

Renton, Sergeant, 156

Rhone Valley, 119

Ricketts, Lieut. W. , Quartermaster, 29, 148

Rifleman Post, 135

Rigg, Lieut. P. J. H. , 148

Road-making, 107, 109

Robecq, 122, 124, 125

Robertson, Capt. J. R. , death, 149

Roger, Private W. , D. C. M. Conferred, 20, 156, 165

Ronssoy, 133

Ross, Corporal, 147

Rosslyn, Lieut. -Gen. The Earl of, commanding the Fifeshire MountedRifle Volunteers, 145

Round Hill, 114

Royal Devon Yeomanry, 30; at Sherika, 35

Royal Fifeshire Yeomanry Cavalry, 160; review, 160; disbanded, 161; re-established, 161

Royal Highlanders, the 14th Battalion, 41; _see_ Fife

Royal Scots, the 4th, 56

Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 121

Rue, 120

Rues des Vaches Farm, 124

St Angelo, Castle of, 12

St Cyr, airships at, 119

St Emilie, 131

St Firmin, 119

St Ives, 4

St James' Park, 103

St Paul's Bay, 12

St Pol, 120

St Venant Sector, 122

Salonika, 35

Salt Lake, 17

Samothrace, 18

Samson's Ridge, 57

Sandstorm at Gara, 32

Sari Bahr, 17

Savage, Private P. , 157

Scotian, the, 28

Scots Guards, defeated at football, 121

Scott, Lieut. W. , 150

Scottish Horse, 26, 30

Selwad, 112

Senussi, the, 31; flight, 37

Shafa, Hill of, 99

Sharp, Capt. H. S. , adjutant, 9, 40, 146; illness, 29; at Wadi Selman, 80; tribute to, 105

Shechem, 111

Sheikh Abbas Sector, 54

Sheikh Abdullah, 111

Sheikh Nebhan, 49, 52

Sheikh Zowaid, 45

Shellal, 61

Sheria, 65; attack on, 66-68; casualties, 68

Sherika, 32; swimming-bath, 36

Sidi Bishr, 28, 30

Sikh Mountain Gunners, at Sherika, 33

Simpson, Lieut. J. , 162

Sinai Railway, 42

Skegness, 6

Smith, Capt. A. C. , 19; M. C. Conferred, 19; adjutant, 164

Smith-Dorrien, Gen. Sir H. , inspects the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, 8

_Snaefels_, the, 27

Sohag, 31

Somersets, the, attack on Abu-el-Zeitun, 97; advance on Beitania, 101; at Yalo, 107; attack on Allaines, 128; on the Germans, 132; advance on Marquain, 138

Somme, the, 120, 127

South Lane Trench, 22, 23

South-Western Mounted Brigade, 30

Spanish influenza, epidemic of, 121

Spence-Jones, Lieut. -Colonel C. J. H. , 134

Spreull, Capt. (later Lieut. -Col. ) A. , 148

Squadron System, introduction, 162

Stewart, Capt. R. W. , 40, 146; killed, 130

Stirling, Lieut. -Col. A. , 29

Stirlingshire, 2

Stirlingshire Yeomanry Cavalry, 160

Storrar, Private Morrison, 158

Submarine, sunk, 118

Suez Canal, 39

Suffa, 116

Suffolk Regiment, the 15th Battalion, 125

Sulajik, 17

Suvla, 16, 27

Sweetwater Canal, 39, 50

Swimming-bath, at Sherika, 36

Syderstone Common, 146

Tahta Ridge, 85

Tattenham Corner, 109, 116

Tel Asur, 111, 116; capture of, 112

Tel-el-Ful, 88, 89

Tel-el-Jemmi, 50

Tel-el-Saba, 63

Tel-el-Sheria, 67

Templeux la Fosse, 134

Templeux le Guerard, 133

Tenida, 38

Thackeray, Brig. -General F. S. , 134

Thompson, Lieut. E. A. , killed at the battle of Sheria, 68

Thomson, Captain Anstruther, 161

Thomson, Col. J. Anstruther, commanding the Royal Fifeshire YeomanryCavalry, 160

Thunderstorm at Gallipoli, 22

Timsah, Lake, 39

Todd, L. /Corpl. J. , 157

Toine Post, 135

Tortille River, 128

Tournai, evacuated by the Germans, 139

Trench fever, 25

Trenches, digging, 16, 22, 52

Tuck, Capt. A. J. M. , 139

Tuke, Capt. A. , 21, 40, 147; illness, 26, 29; war on mosquitoes, 35, 147; awarded a Military Cross, 148, 165

Turbeauté River, 125

Turkish Army, snipers, 19; attack on El Buggar, 60; retreat, 70, 72; counter-attacks, 77, 84; flight from Shafa, 100

Two Tree Farm, 55, 56

Um Gerrar, 49

Ushant, Cape, 11

Vaal, the, 147

Valentine, Lance-Sergeant J. , D. C. M. Conferred, 20, 165

Valetta Harbour, 12

Versailles, 119

Victoria, Queen, review in Edinburgh, 162

Villers-Bretonneux, 136

Villers Faucon, 131

Wadi Ain Arik, 92, 109

Wadi Ghuzzeh, 49, 50, 58, 60, 71, 72

Wadi Hannina, 89, 90

Wadi Imaish, 84, 92, 106

Wadi Kelt, 101

Wadi Kolah, 113

Wadi Melab, 106

Wadi Reuben, 53

Wadi Saba, 61, 62, 63

Wadi Sad, 109

Wadi Selke, 59

Wadi Selman, 79, 92, 94

Wadi Shebab, 79, 80

Wadi Sukharieh, 73, 75

Wadi Sunt, 105

Wadi Zait, 79, 83, 85, 92, 93, 95

Water Dump A, 35, 37, 38

Wemyss, Colonel W. , commanding the Royal Fifeshire Yeomanry Cavalry, 160

Wemyss, W. , of Cuttlehill, 144; commanding the Battalion, 69, 164; tribute to, 105; at Cairo, 109

West Somerset Yeomanry, 30; at Sherika, 35

White Hill, 115

Willow Tree Well, 24

Wood, Capt. A. R. Dick, 125, 154

Yalo, camp at, 106

Yeomanry Regiment, the first, 159

Young, Private Hastie, 156

Younger, Lieut. -Colonel J. , vii. , 117; commanding B Squadron, 24; illness, 26, 29; second in command, 40;

Wemyss, W. , of Cuttlehill, 144; commanding the Battalion, 69, 164; tribute to, 105; at Cairo, 109

Zeitun Ridge, 84, 92; capture of, 98

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