Lieut.-Col. (Qr.-Mr.) W. H. DRUCE, D.C.Mmajorpillinger.com/wp-content/uploads/journals/1931...

Lieut .-Col . (Qr.-Mr.) W. H. DRUCE, D.C.M .

X ROYAL HUSSARS

VOL. XI. No. 1 .

JUNE, 1931.

CONTENTS

PAGELIEUT .-COL . (QR.-MR .) W . H . DRUCE,

D .C .M .

1EDITORIAL

. .

. .

. .

. .

3LIEUT .-COL . V . J . GREENWOOD, M .C.

4SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY

5

ST . GEORGE ' S MEMORIAL CHURCH,YPRES

. .

5POLO NOTES . .

7ALFIE ' S ESSAYS

. .

9ACTIVITIES OF " A" SQUADRON

11THE FURTHER ESCAPADES OF G-AAZJ

(ZJAY)

. .

. .

. .

12ANNIVERSARY OF 13TH MAY 1931 . .

14BAND NOTES . .

. .

. .

15ANENT THE OLD COMRADES

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16

PAGESPORTS NOTES

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. .

. .

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17

HORSE BREEDING IN INDIA

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19CONCERNING " C" SQUADRON

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22

A HUNT AND A HIRELING

. .

23SERGEANTS ' MESS NOTES

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25

A DAY OF WORK

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. .

27FLUTTERS FROM H . Q . WING

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31A DETACHMENT OF XTH ROYAL HUSSARS

IN NORTH WALES . .

33

RACING NOTES

33PIGSTICKING NOTES . .

34

SHORT BURSTS FROM THE MACHINE GUNSQUADRON . .

36

LADY ' S CHAT . .

38REGIMENTAL GAZETTE

39

LIEUT.-COL. (Qr.-Mr.)

No. 3453 . William Huble Druce joinedthe Army at Colchester in November26th, 1894.

He was sent to Ballincollig in CountyCork where the Regiment was stationedand was posted to " C " Squadron . Atthat time Colonel Manners Wood was theCommanding Officer and the presentLord Hampden was Adjutant . While hewas still a recruit, the Regiment movedto Newbridge near the Curragh and it wasthere that he was dismissed the square.

In the same squad with Druce wereColonel S . L. Barry and Colonel C . W. H .

W. H. DRUCE, D .C.M.

Crichton. It was usual at that time formen to be trained in the use of the Lance,though of course lances were not carried.The Martini Carbine was the firearm inuse. He also remembers when Blacksheepskins were carried over the saddlein Review and Marching order, and sabretaches were worn by N . C. Os. OnNovember 27th, 1896, Druce wasappointed Lance-Corporal and exactly2 years later on November 26th, 1898, hebecame full Corporal.

Early in June 1897 the Regiment leftIreland and went to North Horns Camp,

2

THE X ROYAL HUSSARS GAZETTE

Aldershot, and from there they marchedto Hounslow Heath to take part in thecelebrations in London of QueenVictoria's Diamond Jubilee. On June23rd they returned to Aldershot and onJuly 1st, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,afterwards King Edward VII, came toAldershot and took command of theRegiment for a week . It was under HisRoyal Highness 's command that theRegiment marched past the Queen atHer Majesty's review of Laffans Plain.On all these .historic occasions Druce wason parade.

On September 1897 the Regiment leftNorth Horns Camp for Canterbury andwas stationed there till September 1899,when they returned to Aldershot andwent into the West Cavalry Barracks.It was destined to be a very short stayhowever, for the South African Warstarted and the Regiment was ordered toproceed there.

On November 4th and 5th they sailedfrom Liverpool in two ships . Druce wentin the Columbia on November 5th withH .Q. and " C " Squadrons and 3 troopsof " B " Squadron . The other ship wasthe ill-fated Ismore which waswrecked near Capetown, fortunatelywithout loss of life.

Druce had not been long in SouthAfrica before he was awarded the D .C.M.on January 22nd, 1900. He was then aSergeant in " Oofus " Carrs troop . HisSquadron was sent on a detached dutyunder Lord George Scott . With themwas " D " Squadron of the Inniskillingsunder Major Allenby . They weresurprised at dawn and it was the futureField Marshal, Lord Allenby, w h orecommended Druce for his good workthat day.

He took part in all the engagements ofthe Regiment until he was wounded andcontracted enteric fever in 1900 . Hewas then invalided home. He did notrejoin the Regiment again until 1903when it was at Mhow in India,commanded by our present Colonel, LordByng. Amongst other things whilst inEngland he had been to Hythe . In 1906

he was made S .Q .M .S . of " D " Squadron,then commanded by Sir John Milbanke,V.C ., and in 1910 he became S .S.M . of thesame Squadron. In 1911 he was presentwith the Regiment at the Delhi Durbar—another historic occasion.

In 1912 the Regiment moved to SouthAfrica and on June 4th, 1913, whilestationed at Potchefstroom he was madeLieut and Quartermaster . Throughoutthe Great War he served with theRegiment and through the troubles inIreland afterwards.

This year he reached the age limit andto the regret of everyone he left us forhome on March 26th . But before he lefthe had again been promoted and it wasto Lieut .-Colonel Druce that we saidgood-bye.

A truer friend no man ever had orRegiment a stauncher supporter . Faith-fully he has always lived up to that proudmotto Ich dien (I serve) . In manylands, at peace and at war, he has servedhis Regiment, his King and his Country.

The writer of this little memoir canremember countless incidents when,regardless of his own fatigue, he insistedon seeing to the welfare of the Regimentor even of individuals.

Always last into camp with the trans-port after a tiring march, as soon as hewas in, there were the rations to be drawnand issued and it was a job to get him tocome and have a meal or attend to himselfat all.

He has seen many changes in theRegiment and many have come and gonesince he joined the "Shiners " one Novem-ber day in Ireland, close on 37 years ago.The very appearance of the Regimenthas altered, for gone is the blue and thegorgeous full dress, giving place to theutilitarian khaki of the present time.

After his long service given to theRegiment, it is our earnest hope that" Drucie " may be rewarded by some com-fortable work at home (for he says he couldnot be happy without a job) which willgive him time to rest and enjoy himself.

He has a son now serving in theRegiment to carry on the good name .


3

EDITORIAL.

OUR readers will be very pleased tohear that our Colonel-in-Chief,His Majesty the King, has

practically recovered from his recentillness and is once again able to getabout.

It is also gratifying to hear that ourColonel, Viscount Byng, is better and hasresumed his work at Scotland Yard . Ourreaders will remember that a few monthsago he was taken ill and had to give up hiswork, but as he improved he went to theSouth of France convalescent and he hasnow returned looking hale and hearty.

*

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Many of our readers who served in theGreat War will no doubt be pleased tohear that General Sir Hubert Gough,leader of the Fifth Army, who wasblamed for the retreat of that army infront of the Germans in March 1918, hasat last broken his silence and writtenan account of this retirement.

" The troops of the Fifth Army behavedthroughout in the most magnificentmanner and the stories that were veryrife then, were falsehoods.

By far the greatest weight of theattack fell upon the men of the FifthArmy, and yet armies on their flank fellback farther and faster than theydid, thus adding enormously to theirdifficulties ."

The story of the retreat has neverbefore been published, but it is n o wpublished as an article in the YpresTimes.

We are delighted to have Prince Henryrestored to the establishment of theRegiment . He is at present secondedand is Staff Captain to the 2nd CavalryBrigade at Tidworth . We understandthat he is living with the 11th Hussars.

The Regimental and Old ComradesAssociation dinners have just been held .

Unfortunately no account of them has asyet been received .

* * *

We can but deplore the loss of ColonelGreenwood. To both himself and theRegiment his departure, after nearlytwenty years ' continual service with it,has caused a great break. We wishColonel and Mrs . Greenwood the verybest of luck in the future.

* * *

We must offer our hearty congratula-tions to Mr. Mason on his commissionand his appointment to Quartermaster.

* * *

The King's Birthday was celebrated inMeerut by a combined parade of the wholegarrison. The Regiment, after the RoyalSalute had been fired and everyone hadgiven three cheers for His Majesty,marched past Brigadier C . B . DashwoodStrettell, in column of squadrons.

* * *

The Madsen Machine Gun was triedout by the Regiment recently . This gunin its present form was new to all of usexcept Major Turnham. Gun teams hadfirst to be trained and then extensive testswere carried out. At the conclusion ofthese tests Major Turnham compiled areport . Quite recently the CommandingOfficer received a letter from H. E. theCommander-in-Chief, offering his appre-ciation for the hard work of all concernedand congratulating the Regiment on thesuccess of the trials .

* * *

The first tiger has been accounted forby Duveen during a week-end leave fromhis course at Pachmarhi . From what hetells us he is lucky to be still alive . Hisstory is almost incredible . It is aswell that he is a Marksman . Quite un-expectedly the tiger appeared from behinda rock. At the time the magazine of hisrifle was jammed and it was loaded withone round only . It would have taken aconsiderable time to take another roundfrom his pocket and reload . Luckily thiswas unnecessary as he shot the tigerdead with the first round .

4


Charrington was also successful whilehe was in the C . P. He shot quite a goodpanther . We trust that he will gainmore confidence in himself as a big gameshot or else he may loose some valuabletrophies !

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A few weeks ago those who had been outpigsticking came back with great storiesnot only of having accounted for six boarbut also two panther . When they toldtheir story it was evident that these werenot killed in accordance with pastrecords . However most of those whowere out seem to agree that the historyof similar incidents have become slightlyexaggerated by time, and I have no doubtthat this story will depart slightly fromthe truth before it is handed down toposterity .

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The cricket season is now in full swing.The aspect of our cricket this year haschanged considerably. Last year all ourefforts were concentrated on the Regi-mental Team, which by winning theCommand and Frank Cook Cups in Egyptmore than justified the sacrifices thatwere made for it by the rest of theRegiment . Here there is no scope forUnit matches and so we have devotedour two grounds to an inter-troop leagueduring the early part of the season.This means that nearly every one in theRegiment gets at least one game a week.With this amount of cricket going on thegear is being used up very fast Thereare grave doubts whether the presentsports subscription is going to be sufficient.However there is no doubt that men aregetting full value for their money.

*

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We must congratulate " C " Squadronon their success at boxing this year. It issome while since they held the Brockle-hurst Trophy. Last year in Abbassiathey could only produce a poor team.This year the old spirit has revived and asin all other spheres they put up asplendid show .

LIEUT .-COL. V. J. GREEN-

WOOD, M.C.

On April 23rd the Colonel and Mrs.Greenwood left Meerut on leave. OnJuly 6th the Colonel vacates command ofthe Regiment . During these four yearsa vast amount of ground has been coveredand many changes have taken place.

Taking over from the late BrigadierMalise Graham at Aldershot the Colonel'sfirst Regimental move was to Hounslow,then for a year preparations were madefor our foreign tour.

In October 1928 in the " City of Mar-seilles " we went to Egypt, where for twoyears we were taught desert warfare anddesert nomenclature.

Then the next stage to India, wherethe " wads " become " wallahs " and

tibbin " becomes " bhoosa ."

No less than sixteen officers and threehundred men have left the Regiment,but throughout those manifold changes,there was always one sure constant—theColonel himself . The new arrivals, there-fore, were handed on all the old tradi-tions, so that while men may come andmen may go the spirit of the Regimentgoes on for ever, and that this is so is verylargely the work of the Colonel.

For more than twenty years he hadnever left the Regiment—from the dayhe joined to the day we all saw him inthe train, as it steamed out of MeerutStation, he has always been on itsstrength.

No wonder then that he was imbuedthrough and through with Tenth loyalties,Tenth traditions, and Tenth esprit-de--corps.

We may be thankful that an influencesuch as this will not die out with thedeparture of the Colonel, but will liveon, without visible symbol perhaps butwoven into the stuff of the rest of ourlives.(The biography of Colonel Greenwood was published

in the Regimental Gazette for December 1928 .)


5

SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY

By Lieut .-Colonel V . J . GREENWOOD, M .C .,

Commanding, 10th Royal Hussars.

MEERUT, 22nd April 1931.

On vacating command of the Regiment,I find it impossible to properly conveyto all ranks what I should wish to say.

Having been born whilst my fatherwas still serving in the Regiment some 43years ago, and after having spent over 21years of my own life continuously with theRegiment, it is a bitter wrench to leave it.

I am honoured in numbering amongstmy friends, hundreds of Officers, N.C.O.'sand men who have served with me.

In thanking all of you now servingfor your loyalty and hard work, whichindeed has made my own work so easy,I cannot wish you better than that yourlife in the 10th Hussars may be as happyas my own has been.

V . J . GREENWOOD, Lieut .-Colonel,

Commanding, 10th Royal Hussars (P .W .O .) .

ST. GEORGE'S MEMORIAL

CHURCH, YPRES.

The Church was opened and dedicatedin March 1929 and is built of the brickscommonly used in the neighbourhood,with a red-tiled roof.

Entering the Church one is immediatelyattracted by the splendid bust of the lateLord French, the first Earl of Ypres.

This was designed by Mr . " Jo "Davidson and was in the Royal Academyin 1927.

Amongst other beautiful and note-worthy fittings are the windows em-blazoned with Regimental Crests, theAltar Rails, the Font and the RegimentalMemorial Tablets.

Our Regimental Memorial Tablet is in theChancel and in a book kept in the Church,the names of 10 Officers and 87 otherranks who lost their lives in the YpresSalient during the last war, are recorded.

St . George's Memorial Church, Ypres .

G


LIST OF TEN OFFICERS AND EIGHTY-SEVEN OTHER RANKS OF THE TENTH ROYAL

HUSSARS KILLED, DIED OF WOUNDS, OR MISSING IN THE YPRES SALIENT, 1914-1918.

Capt . the Hon . A . Annesley.2/Lieut. R . F. Drake.Capt . C . H . Peto.Lt .-Col . E . R . A . Shearman, D .S .O.Lieut . C . R . Turnor.

Major the Hon . W. G . Cadogan, M .V .O.Major the Hon . C . B . O . Mitford.Capt . Sir Frank Rose, Bart.Capt. G . C . Stewart.Capt . M . A . deTuyll.

2830 Pte . Adams, G . 8423 Pte . Armstrong, J .2291 Pte . Battye, A . 386 Cpl . Bayston, A.2956 L/Cpl . Beckwith, W . 808 Pte . Bell, O.2726 Pte . Bell, T. 5298 Pte . Biddle, H.5894 Pte . Bloomer, A. 8672 Pte . Buckley, G.5035 Pte . Buckley, H . 7191 Pte . Burgess, W.7987 Pte . Carratt, C . 6952 Pte . Chadwick, W.5453 Cpl . Chamberlain, T . 3472 Pte . Chatten, C.

14479 Pte . Cobb, A. 1542 Pte . Cole, P.5119 Pte . Cooper, J . 4364 Sgt . Curl, F.5610 Sgt . Dicks, J . 11297 Pte . Devereux, W.6499 Pte . Devlin, P . 8200 Pte . Draper, W.

Pte . Faithful . 1296 L/C . Fennell, C.1353 Pte . Fetrol, W . 3205 Pte . Fewster, W.5469 Pte . Fletcher, F. 17992 Pte . Francis, F.958 Pte . Gomersall, E . 5214 Sgt . Gilmore, G.

4563 L/Cpl . Guyver, G . 5238 Cpl . Haddington, S.5147 Pte . Hall, A . 1304 Pte. Henwood, W.1544 Pte . Hepburn, C . 7738 Pte . Hillard, W.4891 Pte . Hoile, S . 5544 L/C . Hollister, L.

78 Tpr . Holmes, P . 4310 Pte. Hope, C.3610 Cpl . Joel, E . 5601 L/C . Johnson, H .

IN MEMORY OF10 OFFICERS AND 87 OTHER RANKS

10m ROYAL HUSSARSWHO GAVE THEIR LIVES

IN THE YPRES SALIENT -1914 + 1918X R H THEIR NAMES ARE RECORDED IN A BOOK PLACED IN THIS CHURCH

3941 Staff Sgt . Keats, M.28439 Pte . Kimmins, W.

5413 Sgt . Lurcott, E.5210 Pte . McFarlane, A.3607 L/Cpl . Mason, T.5171 L/Cpl . Meads, C.5587 Pte . Morris, R.

18 Cpl . Nepean, H.5561 Sad . Cpl . Pollikett, E.2957 L/Cpl . Prowse, G.

926 Pte . Ridgeway, P.Pte . Rowntree, W.

5369 L/Cpl . Scales, H.9349 Pte . Sheppard, H.7998 L/Cpl . Smith, F.7671 Pte . Sole, T.4897 Sgt . Strudwick, H.

28313 Pte . Tattersall, R.7127 L/Cpl . Treasure, W.4899 Pte . Walker, A.1378 L/Cpl . Waugh, J .

4524 Sgt . Keeley, A.3351 R .S .M. King, E . J.1110 Pte . Mcbryde, A.2975 Pte . Mackenzie, R.

14789 L/Cpl . Masters, A.6467 Pte . Morris, E.1924 L/Cpl . Murray, A.7730 L/Cpl . Pattle, L.622 Sgt. Porter, F.62 Pte . Reeves, E.

1358 Pte . Rose, W.6333 Pte . Sage, S.7972 Pte . Senior, B.9060 Pte . Smeaton, J.

17 Pte . Smith, H.Pte . Starkey, T.

889 Pte . Sykes, B.7713 Pte . Tonks, H.5087 L/Cpl . Twining, W.4899 Pte . Wallis, W.

11295 Pte . Worboys, C.


7

POLO NOTES.

The Regiment took part in the lastimportant Tournament of the season,the Duke of Connaught 's Cup at Delhi,this was open to teams of 16 handicapand under . The following team played :

Handicap.0 Mainwaring . . 1.2 Dawnay . . 2.4 Gairdner . . 3.2 Richardson . . back .

8

We drew a bye in the first round andmet the 2nd Lancers in the 2nd round,they had already beaten the DeccanHorse very easily. Getting 21 goalsstart we won by 41 to 1 after quite a fastgame . Our next opponents were Skin-ner's Horse a well mounted 13 goal side.Their No . 1 an Indian scored a brilliantgoal in the first chukker, the same playerhitting through again from a melee infront of goal . The second chukker wasvery fast, both sides having shots at goalwithout result . The 3rd chukker openedwith Skinner's scoring another goal, thiswas quickly followed by Gairdner scoring

with a very fine shot, we continuedto press until the end of the chukker,the score standing at 31—3 in our favour.A dangerous foul against Skinner's startedthe final chukker and Gairdner scoredfrom the free hit, we continued to havethe best of the game, and won 4 1/2—3.

In the final we met Jodhpur, a teamof fine strikers and very well mounted.It was a very hot afternoon and our poniesseemed to feel the strain in the lastchukker and were unable to keep pacewith our opponents . In the final chukkerwe started with a lead of 7—4 and theequalising goal was hit by the Maharajahof Jaipur three seconds before the trumpetsounded. The Jodhpur team was asfollows : —

Handicap.

0

Rao Raja Abhey Singh . . 1.5

Maharajah of Jaipur

. . 2.7

Colonel Thakur PrithiSingh 3.

4

Maharajah of Jodhpur . . back.

16

From the throw in Jodhpur attackedbut we cleared and carried the ball downto their goal . The Maharajah of Jaipurthen scored with a long shot which wasquickly followed by a fine goal fromPrithi Singh.

The second chukker commenced withfast up and down play Mainwaring even-tually scoring a good goal from a hit upby Gairdner, score 5— 2 in our favour.

We started the 3rd chukker with deter-mined attacks and Gairdner scored, thesame player quickly adding another asthe result of a brilliant individual effort.Prithi Singh then broke away and scoredand this was followed by a goal fromJaipur, score 7—4 in our favour. Aftersome even play Prithi Singh and Jaipurscored and just before the trumpetsounded the Maharajah of Jodhpurscored the equalising goal.

After the goals had been widenedJodhpur attacked and the Maharajahof Jaipur scored the winning goal.

8


The Inter-Regimental and SubalternsTournaments were played simultaneouslyat Meerut, they were so arranged thatRegiments who had teams in bothtournaments did not have to play twodays running. Thanks to some reallygood rains the grounds were in very goodorder and certainly no one could complainabout their being hard like they werelast year.

In the Inter-Regimental we drew the7th Light Cavalry a 15 Handicap teamwho were runners up in the Indian CavalryTournament this year, the followingteam represented the Regiment :

Handicap.2

Harvey

. . 1.2

Dawnay

. . 2.4

Gairdner . .

. . 3.2

Richardson

. . back.

After a good galloping game we won5-3 .

Our next opponents were the CentralIndia Horse last year 's winners and thisyear's winners of the Prince of Wales'Cup at Delhi, their team included Georgeand Williams both of whom have playedagainst America.

The C. I . H . team were as follows :—

Handicap.

5 Captain R . Cox . . . . 1.7 Captain R . George . . 2.9 Major A. H . Williams . . 3.6 Captain A .

E . G .

Alex-ander back .

1st Chukker.—Soon after the throwin Alexander scored . On changingends Richardson missed narrowly butDawnay scored from a good hit up byGairdner.

2nd Chukker .—Play was very even andquite fast, each side scoring a goal.

The Xth Royal Hussars Polo Team.


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3rd Chukker .—The C. I . H . appearedmuch better mounted and scored threetimes, Gairdner worked hard and scoreda well deserved goal.

4th Chukker .—Play was very even andneither side scored.

5th Chukker .—Williams hit a goal earlyon, but after that we were pressing andwere unlucky.

6th Chukker .—They get two goals andwe got one making a final score of 8-4.

The Subalterns team was composedas follows :

1. Mainwaring . 3 . Dawnay.2. Wingfield .

4 . Archer Shee.

They played the P . A . V . O . in the firstround. For the first five chukkers thegame was very even indeed. The score atthe beginning of the sixth chukker was3-3, then our ponies could not hold theirown and the game finished up 5-3 . TheP .A.V .O. were the eventual winners of theCup. In our first year we were hard putto it to produce two sets of ponies so thatno pony need play two days running.

The following team went to Roorkee tocompete in the annual tournament heldthere :

1. Parbury.2. Jones.3. Gairdner.4. Dawnay.

Gairdner and Dawnay had been playingin the final of the Duke of Connaughtstwo days before and therefore were badlymounted.

In the first round the Regiment drewSappers and Miners " B " and gave them 4goals on handicap and won 7-4 of whichJones shot four.

In the final we played the Black Watchto whom we conceded three goals,although we drew level in the third andfourth chuckers we were never able togain the lead and the final score was 8-6.

In the last Tournament for the CountryLife Salts Cup played at Meerut, theRegimental team drew a bye in the firstround, beat the 2nd Lancers in the semi-final and the Black Watch (+5) by 7—6in the final .

RESUME OF POLO MATCHES.

Radha Mahar Tournament.—Won,beating Scinde Horse in final.

Delhi Low Handicap .—" A " teambeaten in 1st round.

" B " team beaten in 2nd round.Inter-Regimental—1st round, beat 7th

Cavalry.Semi-final, beaten by C .I .H . (Winners).Subalterns .—1st round beaten by

P .A.V .O. (Winners).Duke of Connaught's Cup .—Beaten by

Jodhpur in final (after extra time).Roorkee .—Beaten in final by Black

Watch.Meerut Summer .—Won, beating Black

Watch in final.

ALFIE'S ESSAYS.

" GEORDIE . "

I believe his correct name is " Edgar "but whether he was christened with thathigh faluting name or any other hasnothing to do with this epistle.

He is the culprit who by his constantallusions has prompted me to attempta series of essays—the blood is on hisown head.

He is " Geordie " to us and " Geordie"he will always be.

This name rather reminds one of theTyneside and it is amply borne out bythe remarkable stories he tells us.

Stories of the harrowing days he spentdown the pit . Days of working in thighboots and bathing drawers ; knee deepin bl—(I mean mud) and-water ; poniespulling hundreds of tubs of coal . dashingpassed him at the gallop, beaten unmerci-fully by urchins like himself, wieldinghuge pit props.

Ponies down pits ???? What a goodone !!!

I doubt if he was ever down a pitbecause by ordinary calculation of ageshe would be too young. You see he sayshe is only twenty-six now and he has beenin the Army say twelve years, so I thinkhe read about the pit when he went toschool with a slate on his back .

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Well anyway we have got to where hehas joined the Army . How he managedto get into the Tenth Hussars nobodyknows, but it has been said that theRecruiting Officer let him stand on a stoolwhen they tested his height.

I cannot remember his early militarycareer, but I expect he was cheeky tothe Corporals, a nuisance to the Sergeantsand goodness knows what to the SergeantMajors . Nevertheless by fair means orfoul he installed himself in the Sergeants'Mess.

He was a member of the RegimentalFootball Team once.

No, he wasn't centreforward, he wasgoalkeeper, and a jolly good goalkeepertoo. It was a sight for sore eyes to seehim between the sticks . You should seehim when a penalty was being takenagainst him. Arms and legs outstretched,dancing up and down, making hideousfaces at the spot kicker.

Sometimes it worked but not always,and poor wee " Geordie " had to takethe ball out of the net.

It is sad to relate but one day ourgallant footballer stubbed his toe on athistle and his career was ended . Nomore. did we see his ` massive form 'defending our goal, and now his dazzlingsaves are forgotten in the limbo of thepast.

The next we hear of him is as assistantsignalling sergeant to the famous signaller" Tubby."

Some say " Geordie" was the best—what in I don't know, but it is reportedthat " Tubby " didn't agree, anywayour Tynesider came off second best and hewas pitched head first into the machinegun department.

Oh ! what a crash ! Just imagine afterplaying about with delicate mechanismlike buzzers, electric bells, fancy lights,and other things and then to have tocarry those horrible heavy machine guns.

" I shall die of heart failure " said" Geordie, " but manfully plucking upcourage he struggled on with " Gunstops, No. 1 out, No. 2 in, your move,snap, twist stick," or some other such

jargon only known and understood bygunners.

Ah ! you say what about the All RanksDances ? Well what about them ? Weknew he put up the pretty lamps, especiallythe red ones . He was always fond of redlamps.

At last there arrived a day when" Tubby " left us and it behove theRegiment to find a successor . Was ita difficult task ? Did we have to applyto the War Office, the Dhobi or theWafd ? Oh ! no, not when " Geordie "was there with crossed flags sewn on allhis jackets, caps, coats, collars and ties,ready to take up the flags, buzzers, elec-tric bells and lamps (red or otherwise),knife, fork, spoon, etc ., where " Tubby "had dropped them.

So now we find him bravely strugglingunder his topee (it is the largest in theArmy, size XOX, takes ten men to make,and two packing cases to convey) endeav-ouring to instil into men of various shapes,sizes, kinds, sorts and manners, thatsignalling is not just ack, emma, don, kay.

So we will leave him with his facewreathed in smiles showing his nice whiteteeth (but they are false).

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Reader beware—it may be your turn next.A. S.

We have in the Regiment a certainN . C. O. who gained the name of " Ber-seem King " by his dexterity in drawingand issuing the forage and green fodderfor the horses, but we are sure that hewould require to draw upon all hisdexterity to issue the following yearlysupplies to the inmates of the RegentPark Zoo :

168 tons of hay ; 53 tons of herring andwhiting ; 2,178 pints of shrimps ; 269 tonsof horse flesh ; 283 tons of goat flesh ;224,813 bananas ; 10 tons of apples ; 3tons of grapes ; 20,000 oranges ; and5 tons of monkey nuts.

I have no doubt he would revel inworking out the " forage account ."


11

ACTIVITIES OF " A "

SQUADRON.

We concluded our notes in the lastissue of the Gazette with preparationsfor the Boxing . This Tournament tookplace in April, and was one of the brightand interesting sporting events much look-ed forward to by all.

The Squadron was defeated by " C "Squadron, to whom we offer our congratu-lations, but although we have only tem-porarily loaned the Brocklehurst Trophy to

C," we hope to regain it next year.We must congratulate our team, whoput up a splendid and plucky displayagainst more experienced opponents.

We are now in the midst of the hotweather, and some of the Squadrons areenjoying a brief spell at the Hill Station,Dulikhet . We have heard that a certainCorporal, better known as ROMONA,has been heard yodeling in real Swissmanner, and it is rumoured that hisStaff have developed legs like billiardtables with climbing.

We have just finished the annual CadreClass for N .C.Os ., and now the SquadronRoughs are concentrating their abilitiesin an endeavour to produce Troop horsesfrom Buffaloes, which arrived from theRemount Depot with fairly good repu-

tations, up to which they have lived byfrisky rodeo demonstrations.

On the occasion of the King 's Birth-day the Command held a miniatureAldershot Review, and it was said thatour drill throughout the parade wasexceptionally good until " I " Batteryguns opened out, at which time thereappeared a distinct kink in the formationcaused by a certain amount of bumpingand boring . This was soon rectified, andthe Regiment marched past in fine style.

With regard to other Sports, we havedone very well in Swimming and haveheld two Swimming Galas with " I"Battery, R .H.A., both of which we won.The results were :

1st Gala.Two lengths Relay Free Style (3 men) :

Result L/C Fachie won.

,,

HicksTpr. Price lost.

Diving

. . Won by "I" Battery.Spoons Diving „ by "A" Squadron.Variety Race

„One length re-

lay (9 men).Plunging

. .

„ by "I" Battery.The result of the 2nd Gala was the same

with the following exceptions:Diving

. . Won by "A" Squadron.Spoon Diving .

" I" Battery.Tpr . Price won his heat.

Cricket has just commenced with Inter-Troop matches, and prospects of Regi-mental games, which will be dealt with inthe next issue.

We also held a Joust with M . G. Squad-ron, and on the day we were successful onpoints . The usual amount of amusementwas derived from the competition, a newsport being introduced, in the form of acycle race run under dirt track rules andconditions . Two ginger competitors, onea red hot favourite, were seen to collideat the hair-pin bend, and disappear in aa cloud of dust . The winner taking allbefore him was found to have collectednumerous clots of red hair in his pedals,and arrived at the winning post with suchspeed as to compel him to continue his

12


mad career through a muttie wall, andon into the Squadron Office, in ample timeto sign for the damages to the said cycle.

Tennis has become the craze in theRegiment, and the Squadron has somevery fair players . We have started aTennis Club which is proving a greatsuccess . The efforts on the part of theTennis Club Committee is much apprecia-ted by all . The Club room affords greatcomfort in the evening, and is a favouriterendezvous in the Squadron . We wereentertained by " C " Squadron in a Tennisat home, in which the home teams weredefeated . We hope to play them on ourown courts shortly . Mr . Duveen was veryfortunate to shoot a fine tiger at Pach-mari whilst on a Musketry Course . Wehave not yet got full details from Mr.Duveen owing to him being in hospital withfever . He has just arrived back in Meerut,and we are pleased to see him well again.

We were very sorry to have to sayGoodbye to our 2nd in CommandCaptain Hignett, who left for Englandto take up a post on the Yeomanry, butwe wish him the very best of luck in thefuture . Our Colonel has also left us to goto England, and we take this opportunityto wish Col . and Mrs . Greenwood everygood fortune and success in their newsphere of life.

Since our last notes we have been joinedby 2nd Lieut . Tetley from England, andL/C Binding transferred from R . A., towhom we extend a hearty welcome . Wehave also lost some N .C.Os . and menwho were transferred to other Squadronsand we wish them all the best in theirnew Squadrons .

ALPHA II.

AN OPEN LETTERDEAR ALPHA II,

With reference to your Squadron Notesfor December, I am very sorry to hearthat you lost so many football andhockey teams on the Regiment 's departurefrom Egypt.

Were you by any chance referring toplayers or matches

Yours, etc .,READER .

THE FURTHER ESCAPADESOF G-AAZJ. (Z JAY).

On April 4th last we started ourattempt to fly from Meerut to Heston(London) using the same machine whichflew from England to Egypt and Indialast year, namely, the Moth—G—AAZJ.

This machine had already done 250hours' flying or the equivalent to 22,500miles and it was our hope that by gettingback to England in a short time we shouldnot only prolong our leave considerably,but we should also be flying the first" Moth " to do the double journey.

Unfortunately we were unsuccessful,but we may have better luck next time.

The preparations for the flight hadbeen in progress for two months and wereonly completed the day before westarted.

We left Meerut at 12-30 carrying theminimum of luggage so as to be sure thatwe should be able to take off from thesmallest aerodrome, or from a field if weshould have the misfortune to have tomake a forced landing. As one of usturns the scale at over 13 stones this wasa contingency to be seriously considered.

The first night 's stop was to be atJodhpur, and this was reached after fourhours thirty minutes in the air over theScinde Desert . It was the roughest tripwe had over the whole journey, butneither of us fortunately was actually ill.

We took off the next morning just asdawn was breaking hoping to get to Jaskbut after two hours' flying we realised thiswas impossible as owing to head windsour ground speed was reduced to aslittle as 60 miles per hour . We wereforced to come down at the emergencylanding ground at Hyderabad to refuel,which considerably delayed us.

We finally stopped that night atKarachi having flown six hours fiveminutes.

After much discussion we decided totake off in the dark the next day and tryto make Bushire by nightfall . Still luckwas not on our side.


13

The wind was still against us the nextmorning and if anything it had increasedin force, so that we didn 't land atGwader until four hours and forty-fiveminutes after leaving Karachi, whichwas forty-five minutes longer than weshould have normally taken.

We took off from Gwader and arrivedat Jask three and one-half hours later.

It now became apparent that we couldnot reach Bushire that night, and asthere is no possible place to stay atLingeh, there was nothing for it but toremain at Jask for the night . Luckmust have changed slightly in our favourfor on looking over the machine wefound that the petrol pipe was leakingbadly and it was certain that had wegone on without noticing it we shouldnever have got to either Lingeh orBushire.

The ground engineer of the ImperialAirways very kindly mended it for usand we were able to get away nextmorning at the crack of dawn determinedto risk all and get to Basra that night.

Jask to Lingeh and Lingeh to Bushireare both 3 1/2 hours' flying and on arrivalat Bushire there was only three hours ofdaylight left . We must have refuelledin record time and pushed on againstraight across the sea in order to makeBasra. The wind changed and we landedtwo hours twenty minutes later, just asdusk was falling. That was just over900 miles for the day and the machineran without a hitch the whole time.

At Basra the Royal Air Force put usup for the night and were extremely kindto us by checking over the machine.They mended a flat tyre which must havebeen punctured on landing.

Most of that evening they spent intelling us how machines were continuallybeing lost in the sandstorms and theoccupants being killed, so we left thenext morning in a not very happy frameof mind.

However, it was not sandstorms thattroubled us the next day but heavy rainand we were nearly forced to come downshort of Baghdad .

Finally we landed on the Royal AirForce aerodrome four hours after ourstart, and when we tried to taxi back tothe hangers the machine was immediatelybogged.

The police were soon at us and we hadto remove ourselves and the aeroplaneto the civil aerodrome Baghdad West.

Here we stayed two days getting avisa for our passports to take us intoTurkey and we were beginning to feelthe arm of the Turkish law closing roundus even then.

It was not until the 14th that we leftBaghdad and then only at 2 p .m. Wewere able to get to Dier-ez-zor in FrenchSyria that night after four hours forty-five minutes in the air . Both here andat Alleppo the French were exceedinglykind to us and we were very grateful fortheir hospitality.

When we arrived at Alleppo after onlytwo hours' flying we decided to stay thenight partly because the French officerswere so pressing and partly because wethought that we should be able to crossTurkey in one " go " the following day.

We left Alleppo early in the morningand climbed up to 11,000 feet to crossthe Taurus Mountains. This was thefinest part of the whole trip as we flewabove the clouds for nearly two hoursand we could just see the snow cappedpeaks as they seemed to float passed usonly fifty feet below.

Five hours later we landed to refuel atKonia in Turkey, leaving there after onlyone hour's stop.

We had been flying scarcely more thantwo hours when the engine began tomisfire due to a block in the petrol pipe.From then on we clung to the railway inorder to facilitate our transport problemif and when we were forced down . Justthen it began to rain and the visibilitygot so bad that we had to come downfrom four thousand to four hundred feetAbout fifteen minutes later the enginestopped . altogether and we only hadenough height to make a 90 degrees turnand land across wind in a small grassfield .

14


After making sure that the machineand ourselves were unhurt we began toconsider what was best to be done . Thisdid not require a large amount of thoughtas the decision was made for us by thecrowd that shortly emerged from a nearbyvillage.

We were in fact escorted back to acottage and put into a small room withno less than thirty other occupantsincluding the headman of the village.After considerable time he wrote a lettersigned and sealed it and handed it overto an escort which was to take us to thenearest station four miles away.

On our way there we were allowed tocover up the engine and cockpits of themachine and then we started on a wearyfour miles' walk over soaking fields to thestation.

To our intense joy we found an officialat the station who could speak Frenchand he explained that we were beingtaken to the police at Exclishir fifty milesdown the line. This we considered avery unsatisfactory state of affairs, soafter a certain amount of Turkish poundspaper changing hands we were allowed toproceed in the opposite direction andreached Constantinople at 8 a .m . thenext morning.

To go into the details of our interviewwith the Consul would take too long butthe result is of importance as we left bytrain at 3-30 that afternoon and reachedLondon three days later having takenten days over the whole trip, thus weachieved the first and most importantof our objectives—' London—the quickestthe best .'

(ED. NOTE.-The author of the abovehas certainly given us an interestingaccount of his flight but we are sure it is fartoo modest and leaves us guessing as to thethrilling adventures which they undoubtedlyhad .)

Sir Walter Scott used to say that bybreakfast time the bulk of his day's workwas finished.

We must have a few Sir Walters in theRegiment .

ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1 3TH

MAY 1931.

The Anniversary of the 13th May 1915was commemorated this year by a paradeof the Regiment on the square near theOrderly Room.

The Regimental War Memorial wasplaced in the centre of the East side ofthe square with the Regiment formedup on the other sides.

The Commanding Officer, Major D . C.H. Richardson, M .C., addressed theRegiment saying : " To-day being the13th of May, I am going to place thiswreath on the Regimental War Memorialin memory of 43 Officers, N . C . Os . andmen who were killed in action on the 13thMay 1915 in the second battle of Ypres . "

He then placed a wreath at the bottomof the Memorial. The " Last Post " wasthen sounded and this was followed bytwo minutes silence.

After the stirring notes of the "Reveille"had died away in the distance, theRegiment was ordered to SquadronParades and the Squadrons were marchedaway to dismiss.

SOME MORE HOWLERS.

He killed a sparrow with a pistol whichwas eating some bread crumbs.

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He was very fond of her ; he thoughtof marrying her more than once.

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For sale, one hundred year old hens.

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Wanted, new pair of football boots for ayoung terrier.

The band played the hymns as well asthe church organ .


15

BEFORE we begin to regale our readerswith news and views of the Band up inthe Hills, we must recall to memory twoimportant functions at which we werepresent . Although of the same charac-ter, they were entirely different in aspect.We refer to the farewell send-offs accordedto two Old Soldiers of the Regiment ;Col . Druce, D .C.M . and Col. Greenwood,M .C.

Col . Druce chose to depart in theevening, and in consequence the Regi-ment turned out in force to " See himoff . " We wonder if the members of theSergeants' Mess, who were pulling theColonel along in the captive landau sowell, have joined the Concert Partyyet ? Their rendering of " Old Sol-diers Never Die " was certainly full ofvolume even if not tuneful.

The other farewell, Col. Greenwood 'swas a very quiet, but neverthelesssincere affair. Choosing a very earlytrain, (0600 hrs . precisely) for his depar-ture, Col . Greenwood had a farewellafter his own heart ; quiet, subdued, but

genuine ; and when the train movedout to the strain of " Auld Lang Syne "one sort of felt that a very goodfriend and comrade had gone from ourmidst.

We have no doubt that all ranks willjoin with us in wishing them God Speed,and that their days of retirement may berestful and quiet, a fitting end to a truesoldier 's life.

Well here we are, at last up in the Hills.After being told by many from near andfar that it is " Teke (?) up the Khuds ".The journey from Meerut was verydull and boring . At Bareilly, where thechange-over took place, everything wasunloaded and re-loaded in the dark,with an occasional torchlight to guideus on our way.

The trip from Kathgodam, whichaccording to all reports was one bigthrill, was too long, over seven hoursallotted for the entertainment . Mindyou, you get quite a fair share of thrillsgoing up, but after a couple of hours youbegin to fall asleep and are suddenlyawakened by a shrieking of brakes, soonthe novelty wears off, and you cursewith true British fluency. The roadwayup the Hills is a marvellous affair.Starting from Kathgodam it is a straightclimb for about five miles, and then theroad takes on a series of zig-zag turnsand hair-pin bends up to Brewery.(Curiously enough there's no Breweryat Brewery.)

From thence it is a steep climb toBhowali and from then onwards we getthe real thrill of the journey, for insteadof going up, we come down, and darnedquickly too . Talk about nerve-ticklersat Brooklands, it 's nothing comparedto a drive from Bhowali to Garumpani,especially if your driver suffers fromHousemaids Knees or Hammer Toes.Round sharp " S " turns, hair-pin bends,now looking over the edge of a cliff withthe valley thousands of feet below, wellI don 't know what you would do, butfor myself I merely curled myself up in

16


the bottom of the Lorry and went tosleep.

We arrived at Dulikhet about 3-30 p .m.very thankful to be able to sit on some-thing that didn ' t remind one of a "

Figure-of-Eight Railway ."

Well, now we are here and settleddown, there's little or nothing to writehome about as regards Band Work ;it seems to be a matter of waiting onesturn to go into Hospital. Our BandMaster was the first to enter the Homeof Rest ; he 'had a refractory appendixwhich had to be removed. The opera-tion was quite successful and he (theBand Master, not the Appendix) is gettingon quite alright.

Sergeant Eames was next on the Roll,he also had a forced sleep, whilst theSurgeon got busy on a troublesomecartilage. He is not yet able to getabout, but by the time these notes appearwe hope he will be up and doing oncemore.

All told we have had five in Hospitalat once, but having become wise regardingthings edible we venture to think thatthere will be no more casualties.

As regards competitive sport there isvery little doing . We have had a DepotSports Meeting at which the Bandcontingent contributed considerablyto the victory attained, of which morewill be seen in an article to be publishedlater.

The Football and Hockey Grounds arefar below the usual standard, so thatdecent games cannot be expected . We'veplayed a few games of Hockey withthe Ranikhet Club, and up-to-date ourGoal average stands at Goals for 7.Goals against 8, which is not too bad.

Strange to relate, that despite all theamenities of life in a Hill Station, nodust storms, no depressing heat, etc .,there is something we miss sadly, andwe are longing to be back at Meerut,once more among the Boys .

F. C. B.

ANENT THE OLDCOMRADES.

Mr. " Tommy " Cook (3936) who joinedthe Regiment in 1897 and left at Mhowin 1906 wishes to be remembered to allwho knew him and he would like to hearfrom anyone who cares to write to him.

His address is 12, Cross Street, NorthFront, Southampton.

During the past Trooping Season liehas been head butcher on the H .T." Somerset shire."

It was on this ship that in the courseof conversation he mentioned the wreckof the " Ismore " and Captain Portman,Sir John Milbanke, Major Shearman,Captain Barclay and Major Mitford . Hewas servant to Sir John Milbanke for atime, he said.

Other names he mentioned were Moon,Jess Standen, Pawley, " Old DaddyMason ", Micky Carroll and Breverton.

He will no doubt be very grieved tohear of the death of his old friend Micky.

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We have also had a visit recently froman old Tenth Hussar, Mr . Wilfred West,from Jaipur State . I have no doubt agood many of the pre-war Tenth willremember him, and he wishes to beremembered to all old pals.

He promised to return in the very nearfuture and fill, file, scrape, or extract anyof our teeth, as he is now a very successful" tooth carpenter ."

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We also very often see Mr . Drake andMrs . Fownes who are living in or nearMeerut . We have no doubt that allthese names boring pleasant memories ofthe past to our Old Comrade readers.

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We shall always be glad to publishnews of all ex-Tenth Hussars, for there areTenth Hussars in every civilised countryin the world and we are sure they like tohear about each other .


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SPORTS NOTES.

Since our last issue of the Gazette ourSports Programme has changed fromWinter pastimes to Summer, this beingbrought about by a quick change in theweather about the latter end of April.Football and Hockey were concluded, infavour of Swimming, Tennis and Cricket,the latter sports being much more suitableto climatic conditions.

Inter-Troop Cricket League, 1931.

Owing to good results being obtainedin the Inter-Troop Football League, it wasdecided to run a League at Cricket on thesame principle, and so enable all troopsto play matches each week and keepinterested throughout the Tournamentirrespective whether they are likely LeagueWinners or Wooden Spoonists.

Owing to the Band being away up at theHills the League consisted of 14 teams, "A,"" C " and " MG " each providing 4 teamswhile "HQ" were represented by TheSignal Troop and Administrative Troop.

We are the proud possessors oftwo grounds, The Oval and The HockeyGround, both to date having played quitewell . The Oval (like Kennington) is afair sized ground and derives its namefrom its shape, while the Hockey groundis converted for use for cricket, it beingrather small but fast and provides all thefacilities for Brighter Cricket as resultswill show.

Up to the present the most successfulteams are, The Sigs, Admin, "C"2

and "C"4 and "A" l and "A"4, withother teams running them very close . TheSignals to date are the only 100 per cent.team having done splendidly throughgood all-round team work with Tprs.Codrai and the Brothers Short being veryconsistent performers . " Admin " witha few Old Hands are a formidableopposition and in Tpr . Adkin have a veryuseful bowler . " C "2 another useful sidehave played some splendid games with Far.Snelling the most consistent performerwith the Bat for them to date, while goodteam work has helped them out of manya scrape . " C "4 have also a good side andcaught " Admin " napping in the darkto win a good game, and with a littlebetter team work will undoubtedly gofar in the Tournament, L/Cpl . Mordauntbeing a useful all-rounder for them . " A " 1are doing quite well todate with Tpr.Shales being the outstanding performerfor them, while " A "4 are running themclose with Tprs . Drury and Richards beingtheir mainstay . Mr. McMullen soon gotgoing and knocked up a splendid 64 out of74 for his Troop " MG "3 v . " Admin " andbut for a snorter from SSM. Rus-bridge, one wonders, how many he wouldhave made . Unfortunately for "MG"3,Polo, Duty and now Leave have claimedhis services . Mr. Parbury has also shownearly form and " MG "2 can look forwardmore confidently to brighter prospectsin the future. We regret we are unableto mention all worthy performances owingto lack of space but appended are resultsof matches todate and League Positions.

League Table.

TEAM .MATCHES .

Points . League.Position.Played . Won . Lost . Drawn.

" Signals " 7 7 0 0 14 1" Administrative " 7 6 1 0 12 2"C"2 8 6 2 0 12 2"A"1 7 5 2 0 10 3"C"4 7 5 2 0 10 3"A"4 8 5 3 0 10 3"MG"4 7 4 3 0 8 4"C"3 7 3 4 0 6 5"A"2 7 3 4 0 6 5"C"1 7 2 5 0 4 6"MG"1 7 2 5 0 4 6" MG "3 7 2 5 0 4 6"MG"2 7 0 7 0 0 7"A"3 7 0 7 0 0 7

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Results and League Table of Inter-Troop Football League.

GOALS.

Team . Played . Won . Lost . Drawn . Points . Placing.For . Against.

C " 4

. . 14 13 1 0 66 8 26 1st.MG " 1

. . 14 11 2 1 38 8 23 2nd.Admin ." . . 14 11 2 1 24 6 23 3rd.C " 2

. . 16 9 5 2 29 22 20 4th.A " 1

. . 15 7 5 3 29 18 17 5th.MG " 2

. . 14 7 4 3 24 24 17 6th.Band "

. . 14 6 6 2 21 14 14 7th.MG " 3

. . 14 5 7 2 26 23 12 8th.Sigs ."

. . 14 4 6 4 13 24 12 9th.C " 1

. . 15 5 8 2 21 33 12 10th.A " 3

. . 14 4 7 3 13 38 11 11th.MG " 4

. . 15 4 9 2 20 43 10 12th.A " 4

. . 15 4 10 1 13 31 9 13th.C" 3

. . 15 2 9 4 14 21 8 14th.A" 2

. . 14 1 11 2 7 46 4 15th .

The League was finally decided after the Band v . Administrative match, the latterteam fielding a very weak side went under to the Band 1—0 after a very interestinggame, and so dropped to 3rd place in the League Table. " C " 4 are to becongratulated on once again winning the Inter-Troop Cup, and " MG " 1 as worthyrunners up.

At various outside sports meeting our representatives have done fairly well asseen by the following results :

District Police Sports, 19th}March 1931

Open Pegging Individual

. .

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Open Relay—2nd

Black Watch Sports, 14th}Open mile.March 1931 . .

..

" I " Batty Sports, 20th March } Open Team Jumping—1st1931 . .

. .

. .

Black Watch Boxing, 23rd March 1931.

Special Contest 3 rounds.—Tpr . Allison, XR .H . v . Pte. Smith, Black Watch.Allison won by a knock out in 30 seconds .

1st Sgt. Elderfield.2nd Sgt . Cutting.Cpl . Forward.

, Hicks.Joddrell.

(. Tpr . Dowlman.

. . 1st Tpr . Cole.

Sgt . Hart.{ „ Frisby.

Osborne.

SSM . Guy.Rusbridge.Prince.

Open Pegging Team of 8—2nd

. . , Sgt . Hart.Elderfield.Taylor.Frisby.Cutting.

(Cpl . Hicks.Open Squadron Relay Team of 4

. . Sgt . Cobb.2nd " A " Squadron

} Tpr . Dowlman.Meenan.


19

Regimental Joust, 30th April 1931—Open to the Garrison.EVENTS.

(1) Open Jumping 1st Tpr . Hefford2nd Sgt . Davis.

(2) Section Pegging 1st " A " XR .H .

..2nd Royal Signals.

(3) Individual Pegging 1st SSM. Guy.2nd Sgt . Elderfield.

SWIMMING.1st The Black Watch v . XR.H.

EVENTS.

2 Length Relay . Team of 4 . .

.1 Length Variety Race . Team of 4 . .Unit Relay Team of 7

. .1 Length Relay . Team of 9 . .

12th Field Brigade, R . A . v . XR.H.

"MG" Squadron, XR .H.

SSM. Prince.Sgt . Elderfield.

Davis.

Frisby.

RESULTS.

XR .H .

Won.

EVENTS.

(I) 2 Lengths Relay . Team of 4( 2) Variety Race Team of 4(3) Spoon Diving. Team of 3(4) Unit Relay. Team of 7(5) Diving . Team of 3(6) Under Water 1 Lth . Team of 3( 7 ) 1 Length Relay. Team of 9

. .XR .H. Team selected from :—

Cpl . Wass.„ Hicks

FachieTpr . MacDonald

QuillanCoach :—R . S . M . Vokins, MM .

RESULTS.

XR .H .

Won by I length.XR .H .

Won by 2x.XR .H .

Won by 31 to 22.XR .H .

Won by 1 length.R . A .

Won.R . A.XR .H.

Won by 5x.SSM . Prince, MM.Tpr. Price.

Nowell.Wright.Farnell.

„ Fielding.

HORSE BREEDING IN INDIA.

From very ancient times until theMahrattas were subdued by the Britishin 1818 horses for cavalry were used inIndia in immense numbers . Invasionswere frequent and internecine warfarebetween the various states and princesstruggling for dominion was a chroniccondition . Cavalry was the chief arm.In 1540 Sher Shah 's army comprised150,000 horse and only 25,000 foot . Atthe battle of Panipat in 1761 the Durranihad 41,800 Cavalry and the Mahrattas55,000 . The horses were, it is true, onlyponies but so also are Arabs from whichthe Thoroughbred breed was developed,and as Major-General W . Tweedie, thegreat authority on the Arab horse, whoserved for many years in India wrote

in his book " The Arabian Horse "published in about 1890 : " A centuryago Hindustan yielded horses secondto none in stamina . "—” The breedshad been handed down unaltered throughcenturies of warfare . "—” They displaythe clean muscle, lean head, thin nostriland large dark eye of the Nejd horse . "

The British beginning their occupationfrom the low-lying coast and at a dist-ance from the breeding areas had verygreat difficulty in securing horses,especially the Bengal and Madras armies,the Bombay army being able to importArabs. This led to Stud farms beingestablished in the Bengal and MadrasPresidencies in 1794-5 . Unfortunately,the Bengal Stud was established in

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Bihar, unsuitable for two reasons . Biharis too humid and the people were nothorse breeders . Unfortunately also,wrong systems were instituted in bothPresidencies . The mares and stock werestabled and stall-fed and totally inade-quate grazing provided . Under suchconditions mares will not breed regularlyand only a small proportion of the stockdevelop satisfactorily . Thus poor resultsare obtained and the expense of stallfeeding, clothing, etc ., is excessive.

The consequence was that the Stud inthe Madars Presidency, the grassy uplandsof which are eminently suited for horsebreeding only survived from 1792 to 1810and importations from Arabia andPersia via Mangalore and later from SouthAfrica and Australia, came to be reliedupon. But Bengal was too remote fromthe Persian Gulf. The Army there stillhad much fighting to look forward to,and therefore further Studs were establish-ed—firstly in Bihar, then at Hapur (orBabugarh) in 1818, at Saharanpur in1843 and at Karnal in 1862.

Despite the wrong system of breedingand rearing employed these Studs suc-ceeded in producing some thousandremounts each year for the BritishCavalry and Artillery, and as the rejec-tions at the Stud amounted to 75 percent. there were plenty of horses left overfor Indian Cavalry and for ordinary uses.Only a comparatively small number ofhorses were imported . The stallions em-ployed were mostly Thoroughbreds andStud breds with only a sprinkling ofArabs.

It was with the assistance of the horsesbred at these Studs that the Punjab wasconquered in 1849, the Mutiny quelledin 1857-8 and Afghanisatn occupied in1880 . But the expensiveness oftheir production owing to the wrongsystem employed had come more andmore into question, with the consequencethat, instead of reforming the system, theGovernment decided in 1876 to abolishthe Studs. Within a few months a breedwhich it had taken 80 years to developwas dispersed in all directions, and the

large majority of the mares and stock werelost to the cause of horse breeding.

A subsidiary motive of Governmentin breaking up the Studs was to give thefarmers a chance of breeding therequirements of the British Cavalry andArtillery, and to enable them to breeda heavier type of horse than the lightboned mare of the countryside couldbreed, English Norfolk Trotter and Hack-ney Stallions were imported in large num-bers. The control of horse breedingwas transferred to the Civil VeterinaryDepartment . It was expected that thefarmers would keep their stock till 4 yearsof age. But they could not afford todo this, nor to keep their best fillies tobreed from. The young stock were pur-chased by dealers and taken to all parts ofIndia for sale, especially to the IndianStates which having become under Britishprotection no longer needed to breedhorses. The scheme intended to providehorses for British units proved a failureafter a trial of 27 years (1876-1903).

In consequence of this failure a RoyalHorse Breeding Commission was appoint-ed in 1900 to advise the Government . Theoutcome was : (a) the retransfer of thecontrol of horse breeding in selecteddistricts to the Army (Army RemountDepartment) ; (b) the establishment atMona and Sargodha in the Punjab oftwo Government remount depots of10,000 acres each for rearing young stockto be purchased at the youngest agepossible ; (c) the establishment of Studsfor Indian Cavalry regiments to enablethem to breed their own remounts orrear the young stock they purchased ;(d) the establishment of a horse breedingcolony by the allotment of Governmentwaste lands . about to be irrigated by theLower Jhelum Canal, to colonists onhorse breeding conditions.

The above all took shape in 1903 . In1912 it was decided to establish anotherhorse breeding colony in the Montgom-ery and Multan districts where furtherGovernment waste lands were about tobe irrigated by the Lower Bari DoabCanal, but this scheme did not take a


21

definite shape until after the conclusionof the War in 1918.

The two horse breeding colony schemestogether provided 8,000 mares . Thecolonists were given free grants or leases ofland at the rate of 40 to 50 acres per marein the first colony, and 25 acres in the secondcolony, on condition that they offeredtheir young stock to the Government atthe Government 's price . Unfortunatelyno condition was made that the colonistsshould set apart a portion of their landfor grazing paddocks . Nor were suchpaddocks provided in the designs of the

Mona and Sargodha rearing depots . Atthese only comparatively small dry pad-docks were provided although GeneralParsott in his private stud (1876-91) andthe Studs of Probyns Horse, and otherIndian Cavalry Regiments had demon-strated the value of grazing paddocks.

The combined Scheme of horse breedingcolonies and Government rearing depotshas proved somewhat disappointing.Owing to the lack of grazing, the mostnatural and economical method of raisingstock, the horses have proved expensive torear and there has been a disproportionatepercentage of failures, to which theexcessive use of Arab stallions of insuffi-ciently good quality has contributed . In1900-01 the Royal Horse Breeding Com-mission of 1900-01 had remarked uponthe poor quality of a large proportion ofthe Arab sires, and since the War therehas been further deterioration in theArabian breed.

Another factor which has detractedfrom the success of the horse breedingcolony scheme is the failure of Govern-ment to make any appeal to the spiritof the breeders . Whether they breedvery good or only moderate horses theprice they receive is much the same. Theycannot look to a possibility, as the smallbreeder in Ireland does, of securing anextra good price for a good hunter orrace horse. This has caused them to takea drab view of their obligations althoughhereditarily they are keen horse breeders.The aim of breeding troop horses has beenset too low. No margin has been allowed

for a . lack of success. For lack ofencouragement and owing to neglect,horse breeding has virtually died out inthe older areas which 200 years agoproduced the best breeds.

But despite the lack of encouragementmany good horses are bred in the newhorse breeding colonies of Shahpur andMontgomery. In the pigsticking com-petition for the Kadir Cup in 1930 fiveof the six finalists were Indian bred, anoutcome which 30 years ago (although not60 years ago) would not have been thoughtpossible . Also in the show ring, in jump-ing competitions, and on the race coursein recent years horses bred in India havebegun to hold their own against importedhorses. But the successful horses areaways the produce of Thoroughbredsires, and although some of them mayhave a strain or two of Arab blood theyhave more strains of Thoroughbred.

For breeding troop horses, and evenpolo ponies the writer believes in anoccasional strain of Arab blood, butdeprecates its excessive use . The Arabbeing of the oldest and purest breed inthe world is dominant and transmits hisfaults as well as his virtues freely. Quality,courage, power of endurance, rotundityof barrel and compactness are his virtues,but lightness and roundness of bone,faulty shoulders, short necks and quarters,and cow hocks are his failings . Com-pared to the Thoroughbred (of the rightkind) the Arab is an unimproved horse.While the Arab breed has stood still orretrogressed, his product the Thorough-bred horse has been improved by scienti-fic breeding and by racing 'tests. It istrue that a considerable proportion ofmodern thoroughbreds are weedy, butthat is because too much of the racingin England and Ireland is over shortdistances, and too many of the horsesare raced too young, also perhaps there hasrecently been too much " in-breeding " ,and not sufficient elimination of filliesowing to the boom in blood stock.

Cavalry regiments in India will do agreat service to the cause of Indianhorse breeding if they will take an interest

(Continued on page 23) .

22


We welcome this number of the Gazettein order to let the world know that weare again the holders of the BrocklehurstTrophy . The Boxing for this greatannual event was well up to the standardof what C. Squadron has previouslyproduced, when we held the Trophy forfive consecutive years.

Some excellent fighting was witnessedduring the matches, and the good showput up by our opponents gives creditto the coming boxers of this squadron.

The weights for this event were :

1ST NIGHT A. SQUADRON V . C . SQUADRON.

1. Bantam.—L/Cpl . Waring knockedout Tpr. Hammond of A. Sqdn. in thesecond round.

2. Feathers .—L/Cpl . Mordaunt lost toTpr. Palmer of A. Sqdn. on points, afteran excellent contest.

2nd string.—Tpr. Tipping lost onpoints to Tpr . Scrivens of A . Sqdn.

3. Lightweights .—Tpr. Lloyd knockedout Tpr. Sutherst of A. Sqdn . in thesecond round.

2nd string.—Farr . Davis beat L/ Cpl.Jones of A. Sqdn. on points.

3rd string.—Tpr. Kemster lost toTpr. Marshall of A . Sqdn. on points .

4th string.—Tpr. Gavan knockedout L/ Cpl . Cotty of A. Sqdn . inthe second round.

4.Welters.—Sergt . Allen beat Tpr.Hutchinson on points.

2nd string.—L/Cpl . Rodwell wonon a walk over.

3rd string.—L/Cpl. Swain lost toTpr. Meenan of A. Sqdn. by aknock out in the first round.

4th string.—Tpr. Davis (44) beatTpr. Mott of A. Sqdn. on points.

5. Middles .—Tpr. Ryan knocked outCpl . Sullivan of A. Sqdn . in the thirdround .

2nd string .—Sgt . Frisby knockedout Tpr . Anderson of A. Sqdn.in the third round.

This concluded the first night's fightingwith C. Sqdn. leading in points.

FINAL NIGHT C. V . M . G.

1. Bantam.—L/Cpl . Waring won on awalk over.

2. Feathers .—L /Cpl . Mordaunt knoc-ked out Tpr. Gardiner of M . G . in thefirst round.

2nd string.—Tpr . Tipping beatTpr. Thomas of M. G . on pointsafter an extra round.

3. Lightweights .—Tpr. Lloyd knockedout Tpr . Clayton of M . G . in the first round.

2nd string.—Farr . Davis beat Tpr.Kelly of M . G . on points.

3rd string.—Tpr. Kemster won ona walk over.

4th string.—Tpr. Gavan beat Tpr.Thompson of M. G. on points.

Welters .—Sergt . Allen was knockedout by Tpr. Allison of M . G. in thefirst round.

2nd string .—L/Cpl . Rodwell knoc-ked out Tpr . Lewis of M . G . inthe first round.

3rd string.—L/Cpl . Swain lost onpoints to Tpr. Slater of M. G.

4th string.—Tpr. Davis (44) beatTpr. Thompson of M . G . on points.

Middles .—Tpr. Ryan beat Tpr.Lawley of M. G. on points.

2nd string.—Tpr. MacDonald kno-cked out Tpr . Brown of M . G.in the first round.

CONCERNING " C "SQUADRON .


23

This concluded the finals and gave C.Sqdn. the Trophy with a leading score ofH points.

Apart from the boxing no other greatevents have been contested for . Ourtennis courts are running well and we areturning out a few good average players.Our fear now with regard to the courtsis the monsoon, as the courts are made ofmutty we fully expect to see them washedaway when the monsoon arrives, whichwill be very shortly now.

The Squadron gardens have producedfully up to our expectations and thevegetables have been of the best andplentiful.

We wish to conclude our notes with alittle verse concerning two well knownTroop Leaders.

Two Cavalry Officers went flying to their

homes.

To beat the Air Mail they tried

One is a leader who we know as Jones

And the other is a king we cried.

They left this country full of fight,

With England's shore in their minds

But something did not go quite right,

And they dropped in the desert lines.

The plane would not function nor wouldit float

And they prayed for a drop of rain,

The heat and the plane quite got their

goat

So they finished the journey by train.

(Continued from page 21 .)

in the pedigrees of their horses . Theeffect of strains of Thoroughbred andArab blood respectively should be noticed.It is only in this way that an informedbody of opinion can be formed in India.The riders of the horses are the bestqualified to judge.

The ancient breeds have virtuallydisappeared . The horses they producedwere too small and not sufficientlyspeedy for modern day requirements,and this also applies to the Arab now .

A HUNT AND A HIRELING.

Do you know the thrill of visiting astrange hunting country ? As one drivesto the meet and glances rather shyly toleft and right at the rolling plains ofgrass land feather stitched with blackfences one 's breakfast doesn't seem tohave quite reached its destination, one'stie is too tight and one feels dreadfullyprovincial. And nearing the Meet as thecar glides cautiously past those who areto be one's companions in the day 'ssport, one is consumed with timorousenvy for their rollicking blood horses,their easy self-assurance and their obviousgood spirits . They all look such "devilsto go " such hard bitten veterans of thechase.

The guest was conscious of all this andmore as he stepped out of the car andfollowed his host and hostess through themedley of hunting folk and loafers insearch of their horses.

" There 's Walton in that yard " saidthe host . " I do hope he's providedsomething decent . I hate putting youon a hireling but to-morrow andTuesday . " His voice trailed off as if thepromise of to-morrow and Tuesday . . .depended somewhat on how the guestacquitted himself to-day.

The little dealer advanced to greethis patrons and as his eye took in thediminutive proportions of the strangerguest, his face fell . As he led him acrossthe yard he whispered apologetically," Her Ladyship never told me . . . .sheonly spoke on the telephone . . . .Icouldn 't know that you were . . . . well . . ."

He pointed dumbly to the biggesthorse the guest had ever seen . Seventeenhands, as broad as a wine cask, up to 18stone . The guest's eyes and the dealer'smet and together they burst out laughing.

" I think he's just up to my weight . . ."

" I'm sorry Captain . I cannot changenow. All my others are out. He's afine jumper . You can go anywhere youlike on him . "

24


" A long way in a long time " reflectedthe guest as he allowed himself to behoisted skywards.

*

*

*

*

Three hundred people jammed into anarrow headed phalanx and at its apex thebroad back of " the master " like Hectoron the bridge holding the gateway. Byquite stealth and a few glozing apologiesthe stranger has worked his way into theposition of number 27 . Further he can-not get, for the crush is tightly packed.All eyes are fixed on the small squarewood, two fields in front, the cackle ofgossip has suddenly died, there is no soundexcept the creak of leather and the occa-sional squelching stamp of a horse'shoofs. One hound has spoken.

Down the wind comes the shrill wailof a perfectly rendered " Awa-a' . . . .Forrard Awa-a."

Twenty-seventh at the first gate ;fifty-seventh at the second ; eighty-seventh at the first fence . (" Yes he canjump, but even that he does slowly ")And now the guest gets a glimpse—onefleeting glimpse—of hounds, seven fieldsaway, and running like a pack of wolves.Oh yes, he can jump and he's clever too.It was only the trick of an hardy oldveteran to twist in the air at that last one,to avoid the crumbling bank of that verywide ditch . But heaven 's above ; what'sthe use of jumping when hounds aregoing as fast and as straight as this.There's not a chance of nicking in oversome big place and making up a littleleaway on a day like this . Everyone elseseems mounted on race horses . Eventhat child's pony is gaining on one atevery stride . . . .Oh hell !

*

*

*

*

Fourteen minutes and to ground—274th.

Twenty minutes and killed him—263rd.

Twenty-five minutes and killed him.Pulled up.

And then like an angel from heavenappears the little dealer . " Come on

Captain, it 's fair broken my heart tosee you jump on this one. I don' t knowmuch about him but he can gallop and ifyou kick him into them he'll lep alright.He . . ."

" Are you quite sure you don ' t mind ?"But already the guest has thrown his legover the saddle, and is sliding to theground. Throughout the morning he hasassured his anxious host and hostess" that he is quite happy—lovely jumper,you know . . . . " but . . . . a little blood onewith lop ears and a varminty little head.

And straightaway the deity who looksafter disappointed hunting folk, sent abig dog fox crawling away under thefirst whip's nose.

*

*

*

*

Comparisons are odious . That littleblood horse in shape, compared to the bigchestnut, as Gertrude Lawrence to SophieTucker, in sagacity, as Beverly Nichollsto Stanley Baldwin . He had no manners,no mouth and no experience, but hecould gallop and there was but one idea inhis head—to get to the dogs and tramplethem under his feet.

And the guest grinned as he sailedeffortlessly over those deep riding grass-lands, grinned as the timber, well andtruly cloated, shivered and clatteredbeneath him. He could see the hounds,see them swinging and rollicking away ona breast high scent . He was out of thehundreds now—in the first dozen, findinghis own way across a strange country—living in ecstasy.

They must have run in a circle (butthat matters nothing at all to a strangerto whom every new fence and field is afresh adventure) for there is the dealer'sman on the road. He is holding his hat inthe air.

" I'm having a wonderful ride . He'sjust grand-- a little topper ; shall I see itout, or would you like me to take himhome ? I'm quite satisfied . I've had awonderful time . " Quoth the guestbreathlessly to the dealer .


25

" Take him home indeed . For whyshould you take him home ? See theday out on him . He'll go for ever . I'vebeen watching you, I know.

" You are quite sure ?" but the gueston the little brown horse only throws thequestion over his shoulder as he jumpsout of the road.

He has taken a lucky turn . He isalone with hounds for the moment . Aline of willow trees at the foot of thelong slope predict that that low stragglingfence may screen some watery horror.

No time to go and . . . .look steady littleman . . . . yes, just there between thewillows . Do it your own way

*

*

*

*

" Yes quite alright thanks. I've gotplently more hats . It was bad luck tostrike it in the only place where thebrook runs right away from the fence . . . .Only blown I think . Knocked the windout of him . . . . My God ! I hope not . . ..Here let 's take his saddle off . . . . No . Notmine, a hireling . As gallant a little horseas ever I rode . He made a marvellouseffort, but . . . . Oh a vet, are you ? Welllets try to get him up . . . "

" It 's broken, Sir, he wouldn't get uponly in front like that, otherwise . Thator concussion of the spine . I did in oneof mine the same, last season . . . . "

" No, it 's no good trying again . Hecertainly cannot move his hind quarters.A pin ? yes, I'll try it . It will tell if he'sany feeling there . . . . "

" Hurrah" !" Thank God."

" Jumped up like a two year old, didn'the ? I should keep him on the move andwalk him home. Yes, I'll get on . Oh !no thanks I 'm glad to have helped . Veryglad it's no worse . Goodnight. No, no,don ' t mention it ."

*

*

*

*

" Yes, just a spot more soda please.Once I got him on the road I saw he wassound, I got on his back. He trottedhome as sound as a bell and as gay as acricket. A grand little horse indeed . "

SERGEANTS' MESS NOTES.

" Honest sweat " is hard to distinguishfrom any other form, in these days . Withthe thermometer creaking and groaningunder heavy pressure, everyone, whetherqualified for Paradise or Prison,exudes a stream of moisture only tem-porarily replaced by frequent and heftyswallows.

When the electric fans and punkahs,by some fell decree, are switched off everyevening at 5-0 p.m . for two hours, it isa sure and certain Turkish bath for any-one who is dilatory over tea.

On the 26th March we said our farewellsto Lt .-Col. and Mrs. Druce . On theSunday previous to his departure Col.Druce came to the Mess and was presentedwith a silver cigarette box—a smalltoken of our esteem.

His send-off was right worthy . Fromthe dark recesses of some local stable weexhumed an ancient tum-tum, drapedit with regimental colours, posted ourchampion coach-horn blower, Sgt . Frisby,complete with instrument of torture, onthe back axle, collected a team of stal-warts from the Mess and, preceded by theBand, hauled the contraption to theQuartermaster's bungalow.

There, with sound of the trumpet andloud crackers, the Colonel blushinglytook his seat . To our disappointment

Mrs . Druce attained such a decree ofbashfulness as to make it impossiblefor her to follow suit . Or, maybe itwas that she did not trust the vehiclenor its motive power.

Thence to the station, preceded, flankedand followed by a multitude of people,to the strains of " Old Soldiers NeverDie " and " Boys of the Old Brigade,"ably coupled by the Bandmaster.

After waiting some time at thestation, during which the final goodbyewere said and the air made hideouswith shrieks from the coach-horn, the

26


train arrived, and, midst cheers andmusic, our old friends departed.

Yet again, on the 23rd April, Coloneland Mrs . Greenwood went from us . Intheir case the hour of departure wasbefore Reveille, but this did not deterthe Regiment from turning out in largenumbers to say goodbye.

The Mess presented the Colonel witha Bridge Set prior to his departure, andin accepting it he made it easy for usto see what the Regiment means to himand how hard a break it was for him toleave it.

The Tenth, in a despondent mood,might well regard March and April, 1931,as black months, but changes, thoughthey be ever so sad, are inevitable.

Consequent upon Lt .-Col . Druce's re-tirement, R .Q.M .S. F . O . Mason was pro-moted Lieutenant and Quartermaster, apopular " casualty " indeed, and one thatcalls forth congratulations from all.

In sequence, up the ladder, came thefollowing : S .Q .M.S. Standing promotedR.Q.M .S., Sgt. Shepherd promotedS.Q .M.S., L/Sgt. Allen to full rank,and L/Sgt . Canning crossed our threshold.To all of them we can honestly say," Congratulations, and thanks for thedrink !"

Ladies are rather rare in the stationthese fiery days, although some diehardsstill remain to keep an eye on theirspouses.

Strange stories are told of certainmarried members whose families beingaway in the Hills, elected to share akhansamah in their quarters. It isunderstood that great excitement pre-vailed one morning when the cookproduced soup for breakfast . Soup !Judging by a sausage roll which wasexhibited in the Mess, someone is cer-tainly having hard times . However,as the folk concerned are still alive andwell, their " bobberjee " must have im-proved somewhat .

It is noticeable that a proportion ofthe married members quietly disappearin the direction of Dulikhet (the HillDepot) fairly frequently . In their casethe song " I wish I was single again "does not appear to apply.

The Hill Depot has quite recentlybecome a wonderful place in the eyesof the Bandmaster, for has not young(very) David Roberts made his appear-ance in the world, at that venue . Welcomeladdie and long may you reign.

R.S .M . Vokins has deserted us andour heated atmosphere for the coolhills, dales and lakes of Kashmir. Thoughnot near as good as the Yorkshire moors,we have heard that he thinks it veryEnglish--y in character . We express ourenvy.

Anent a certain photograph thatappeared in the last number of theGazette, showing a proud owner in hisgarden (?), someone has asked thatthe title should be published, and afterdebating the matter it was decided, inMess, that " Wormald Scrubs " woulddo very nicely . A sly joke but one thatwill prejudice our chances of beingpresented with a bunch of flowersor a few tomatoes from the gardenin question.

In the throes of a pre-monsonial tem-perament, and in undisputed possessionof several square yards of prickly heat,we will depart hence . By the timeSeptember arrives and the next numberis due perhaps- our brains will havecooled down sufficiently to enableus to write a more presentablearticle.

" The Adroit man profits by every-thing, neglects nothing . "

Napoleon.

We know somebody like that in thisRegiment .

THE X ROYAL HUSSARS GAZETTE .

27

A DAY OF WORK

" You are Orderly Officer to-morrow,Sir . " James '09 said that . James '09 ismy soldier servant.

I've read my orders, James, " I saidwith some dignity. James smiled . Whenhe smiles he looks more ridiculous thanever. I caught him mumbling some-thing about some-one being late forChurch Parade . I let that pass . Thenews that I was Orderly Officer came asa shock to my system . I felt that Jamescould have broken it to me in a moretactful manner . To be Orderly Officerin my Regiment is a serious matter . Italso means best boots and uncomfortableclothing.

Anyhow, I went into the Mess thatnight with a sense of impending doomand my heart in my boots . It was notuntil I had consumed my second Sherryand Bitters that my heart resumed itsnormal position.

Next morning arrives . I have dis-covered that this is a habit with mornings.What I mean to say is that the morningon which one is Orderly Officer is agruesome affair.

James romps into my room at abouthalf-past six . The fool never can do any-thing but romp . . . anyhow, in the earlymorning. In his hand he has a tin jugof water, and a rather grubby cup andsaucer. The saucer is full of tea, thecup has some wet sugar in the bottom.James likes his tea with plenty of sugar.I believe he has what is known as asweet tooth . When I have drunk thesaucer dry I feel that I can conduct alittle light conversation.

" What time is it, James ?"" Seven o'clock, sir,"

This is an old game. James alwaysadvances the hour by thirty minutesor so in the hope that he will get me onparade in time.

" What have I got to do first, James? "" Rations, sir, at seven-fifteen"

This seems to indicate that somespeed is needed in dressing, but it

is raining, so I allow myself anothertwenty minutes in bed . By this timeJames has become desperate . He tellsme it is raining. This does not have thedesired effect . At seven o 'clock Green-wich time I am still in the bed . Thedoor develops a nasty habit of bangingto and fro. This is James' last resort,and in sheer self-defence I surrender.

Then James really ' begins to hustle.I receive a nasty bang in the ear, thisis James assisting me to dress by throw-ing my braces over my shoulder whileI struggle with a bootlace.

In exactly thirteen minutes I havearrived at the Ration Stand . All is inreadiness . Under the verandah standsthe Regimental Orderly Sergeant . I amalways a bit nervous of Orderly Sergeants,they are so efficient.

This one makes a noise like a sea lion,and about twenty gentlemen in variouscoloured canvas suitings spring rigidlyto attention. (I hoped that I couldbring in " rigidly to attention "as nothing written about soldiers iscomplete without it .) After a solemnpause, the men are allowed to standeasy. During this pause I have returnedthe salute, and bidden the OrderlySergeant " Good morning ."

The Sergeants' Mess had a ` Social 'last night, this seems to have affectedthe temper of the N .C.O.

It is now seven-fifteen, the Sergeantperforms some animal imitations, themen seem to understand him. Theystand in two ranks while I cast an eagleeye over them . At least it was meantto be an eagle eye, but one of my eye-lashes has got turned in so that the eagleeye is a bit watery.

I try to copy the Regimental OrderlySergeant, and in a hoarse cackle tellnumber ten of the rear rank to standstill . I don't think he actually moved,but there is a wicked look in his eye.The Sergeant immediately places himunder arrest, this seems a pity.

The business of the day is now wellunder way, loaves of , bread and lumpsof margarine are thrown out of the Ration

28

THE X ROYAL HUSSARS GAZETTE.

Store, and borne away on " tables, 6 foot,soldiers ."

The Sergeant asks me if he can collectthe reports . To do this he salutes metwice and with some deliberation I givehim the required permission . With twomore salutes he informs me that theRations are drawn and correct, in thesame he asks me if he can dismiss theparade . I now carry out some moreof the eagle eye business and the mengyrate to their right and salute . Thisis where the born Orderly Officer is tobe found, with a shrill scream I tell theSergeant to fall them in again and honouris satisfied.

Something is pricking my conscience,I remember, and the criminal who movedin the rear rank is brought before me . Igraciously release him from arrest, point-ing out to him the awful downward pathhe is treading, while his Mother is piningbefore the blazing logs on the hearth-stone.

I have some few minutes to waitbefore I carry out my next duty . I shallinspect the Regiment's breakfasts . Thissounds simplicity itself. After manysalutes and stamping of feet, the foodis produced from the cook-house andcarried into the dining hall . The food isrissoles, very nourishing. I notice thatthe stain is telling on the Orderly Ser-geant, he is more red in the face, andI fight down a desire to enquire afterhis health.

I ascertain from the Cook Sergeanthow many men are in Mess . He tellsme there are 90 in " A " Squadron, 80in " B " Squadron and 179 in " MG"Squadron. I then question the Squad-ron Orderly Corporals as to their estima-tion of the numbers in Mess.

" A " Squadron Orderly Corporaldoes'nt know. This sort of thing is notallowed in the Army. It must be rectified,so I frown severely. With a tentativecough, the trusty Sergeant whispers thatI am addressing one of the last joinedrecruits, who has somehow got intohis wrong place . I then notice thathe has no stripes on his arms, and after a

certain amount of reshuffling, I startagain, everything is now correct.

I now proceed to watch it being eaten,the Orderly Sergeant rushes in frontand bangs the door with his stick ; thisis not for permission to enter, but tonotify the soldiery that we have arrived.They should then stop talking, but thenoise of ninety rissoles being eaten attop speed drowns the raping of the stick,and the din goes on . Every one shouts,the Orderly Sergeant shouts, the CookSergeant shouts, the Belt Major shouts,where he has come from no one knows,and the Squadron Orderly Sergeantsshout . After a decent interval duringwhich the only sound is the flopping ofrissoles into the gravy, I proceed on mytour of inspection.

At each table a man springs to attentionand with his mouth full of rissole, tea andbread announces that he is highly satis-fied with meal . Only one man complainsthat there is not enough food . On ins-pection I find that a little man on theend of the table has not got a rissole.This is easily rectified by taking one oftwo away from the complainant . Thisrissole is found by the Orderly Sergeantnesting under a slab of bread, whichhe turns back with the end of his stick.I then in rapid succession visit the otherMess Rooms.

With the din of much eating in myears I repair to the Mess for my ownbreakfast . This fortifies me . Afterbreakfast I report to the Adjutant thatI am Orderly Officer . This he knows,but he looks up from his writing toexclaim " Ah " ! Anybody can say "Ah" !but when the Adjutant says " Ah " hemeans " Ah " ! He will probably noticethat I have soup on my boots, this Iknow and I am trying to hide the fact.He does not notice it, so I feel one up onhim.

This is the time when he will informthe Orderly Officer of any nasty job hewants him to do. Nothing much to doto-day, don't forget to mount the MainGuard for him . Now comes a difficultevolution if I turn round he will notice


29

that I have soup on my boots, so I carefullyedge away to the left until I have a letterrack between him and me, I produce thesmartest of salutes, and I am a free man.

I have now some time before I amallowed to mount the Main Guard. Ifill in the time by retiring behind theWet Canteen and smoking a cigarette.The Wet Canteen has two uses : (a) tosupply beer and ginger pop to the troops,(b) hide the idle Orderly Officer fromthe eyes of those above him.

I have wasted enough time. I hitchmy belt into its correct position and walksmartly on to the barracks square . Ihave come to inspect the Main Guard.Not a soul in sight . I decide that I amtoo early, so retire to the stables . I lookat a row of horses with a more or lessappraising eye . Activity may be heardfrom the direction of the square . TheGuard, with various appurtenances in theshape of Orderly Sergeants, has arrived.While the Regimental Sergeant Majoris busy with them, I walk up and down.I feel like a sheepish tiger in a cage . TheAdjutant is watching me . I have asensation that my neck is crooked.

I see the R.S .M. approaching me, soI still the raging tiger and await results.With a crash the R .S .M. arrives.

" Gar reporro prestsur ." This shoutedat a range of two yards completely stumpsme. I can only murmur

" Thank you, Sergeant Major ."This seems to meet with some success,

as he proceeds to deliver himself further." Dismiss-the-Trumpeter-Sir ?"" Yes, please, Sergeant Major ."

The R .S .M. then turns to the Trumpet-er and in stentorian tones bids himdepart.

The first man I come to is the GuardCommander himself . He greets mewith a stony stare, and I hastily passon to the next man . There now remainfour little men . I dispose of themquickly, the first has on a puttee that isnot quite what a puttee should be . Iam not sure what is the matter with it,but the R.S.M . is an understanding man.He calls up an Orderly Sergeant and

yells " Dirty boots . " All very simpleyou see and so we proceed.

The left hand man is one of the lastjoined recruits, his knees are visiblyshaking, as so many recruits' knees do ontheir first guard . He cannot be morethan seventeen and stands about 5 feet2 inches high. I pass him rapidly if Ispeak he will fall down.

I inspect their rifles and send them offto the Guard Room. I am just movingoft to a less public spot when I hear somestamping and hoarse growling . This isthe R .S.M., he wants to dismiss theOrderly Sergeants and what he calls thewaiting men.

Permission is granted and I nip behindthe Wet Canteen . There I find a soldiersmoking a cigarette . He rapidly dis-appears and I am alone once more.

In about twenty minutes I shall dismissthe old Guard . The same formula iscarried out . The Guard is allowed to bea little less clean than the last . For thisparade my only assistant is the Regi-mental Orderly Sergeant, who looksimproved in health and his stance is morefirm when at attention . Even now hisnose is red, and fades to white where itjoins his face . His cheeks are blue . Ihave a most unsoldierly desire to giggle.

I dismiss the old Guard and arrangethe morning programme with my Ser-geant . At ten-thirty we will see groceryrations drawn from Navy, Army andAir Force Institute . At eleven we willproceed on a tour of the barracks, andat twelve-thirty we will inspect the men'sdinners.

After each suggestion the OrderlySergeant says " Sir " in a respectfulmanner, I understand that he is in completeagreement with the programme mappedout for him.

At ten-thirty I find outside the grocerystore a handcart, a Cook Sergeant, myOrderly Sergeant and an underling cook.The Cook Sergeant and I go into thestore, the Cook Sergeant produces aninvoice, slaps it on the counter, andmutters " Six Kelsos " . I asked about" Kelsos " the other day ; apparently it is

30

THE X ROYAL HUSSARS GAZETTE.

a brand of salt patronised by the Army.Six oblong packets are shoved over thecounter by a youth, pasty of face . Hehas a cigarette behind his ear and a largelump of chewing gum in his mouth . Hespeaks not at all.

" Alley Slopers twelve," says the CookSergeant . Pasty-face produces six longbottles of what looks like varnish.

" Margarine twenty-six ."Pasty-face slaps a wooden box, we all

nod and look knowingly . I am told thatin that box are twenty-six pounds ofmargarine.

" Cake fifty-six " is the next commodity.This consists of several bright yellowbars about a foot long and six inchessquare at the ends . I make them weighthem . The scales register 56 pounds,they always do except when Pasty-faceputs on something of a different weight.

On the way to the Wet Canteen, weinspect the Guard . On it being dismissedto the Guard Room I conduct someconversation with the sentry.

" What are your orders, sentry ?" I will march up and down my beat

in a smart and soldierlike manner . Mybeat extends from one end of the veran-dah to the other . I will turn out theGuard to all armed parties, GeneralOfficers, and unusual occurrence ."

This is a little mixed, and after alittle prompting he tells me the timewhen he turns out the Guard.

" On what other occasion will youturn out the Guard ? " This starts himoff again.

" I will turn out the Guard at LastPost and Reville ." I check him in hisstride.

" Yes, you have said all that, to whomdo you turn out the Guard ?

" To the Field Officer of the day, andthe Orderly Officer, sir . "

"Who is the Field Officer of the day?"" You, sir," come back the reply, a

tactful sentry." Then who is the Orderly Officer ?"

" Major Billhook, sir " says the sentry.We put this right and he returns to hisbeat .

I glance at my reflection in the firstwindow, yes, under favourable condi-tions I do look like a Major.

Now for the Wet Canteen the barmanunlocks his door and greets me as usual.Two glasses are awaiting me, the OrderlySergeant looks better already. I amjust thinking about mine, when I heara gulp . Yes, he will'ave another, thankyou, sir . This is most irregular conduct.

After my exertions I return to theMess, some thing tells me I shall sleepthis afternoon, thank heaven it rainedlast night, and an outbreak of fire isunlikely. Sometimes the Adjutant pre-tends there is a fire . It is hard workfor an Orderly Officer to turn up filesof orders to find out what he has to doand to get on parade in time.

At ten o 'clock at night I attend staffparade. The Orderly Sergeant appearsmore lively . He calls the parade to atten-tion and proceeds as follows:

" Canteen, one ?"

" Closed and correct . Sergeant . "

" Canteen, two ?"

" Closed and correct, Sergeant, with theexception of one cup broken ."

" ` A ' Squadron ?"

" Present, Sergeant . "And so he proceeds down the remaining

Orderly Sergeants, and at the end hereports " Canteen closed and correct,Sir, with the exception of one cup brokenand the Regiment reported present, sir ."

The parade is dismissed and makesa dash for bed.

" Good night, sir " says the Orderly Ser-geant. One more hour and I will con-duct my last parade, I will inspect theGuard. Everybody will be awake, theyare inspected every night at 11-15 eventhe Line Guard will have extinguishedhis cigarette.

At 11-15 I arrive outside the GuardRoom. No sentry. I look for him in thewaggon shed, and am frightened out ofmy life by an " ` halt, ' oogoes there ?"

" Visiting Rounds" I whisper . Thereis a rifle within two inches of my nose.

(continued on page 34)


31

FLUTTERS FROM H.Q.

WING.

Since the last issue of the Gazette,we have had Cpl. Allison, and L/Cpl.Bridge at Poona on a Signal Instructors 'course, and according to all accountsthey did very well . At present we haveL/Cpl. Spillett attending a course, at thisrate we shall have more A . I .s than menin the Signals.

We have held a Doubles Tennis Tourna-ment, which was a great success . TheCommittee persuaded the members of theSergeants ' Mess in the Wing to compete,and they very sportingly turned up toshow us their stuff . They did not haveit all their own way, and one or twoof their stars were soon knocked outof the competition. The best matchwas between R .S .M. Vokins and Tpr.Andrews versus Sergeant Wilson andL/Cpl. Warner, Sergeant Wilson and

L/Cpl . Warner winning by the last strokeof the match, some people say thatSergeant Wilson headed the ball overbut the Umpire gave them the point andthe match. These two went on to winthe money.

Everyone is looking forward to thenext Tournament and the Committee arehoping to promote another as successfulas the previous one, and we might per-suade the Officers to have a go next time.

Although we were unlucky at footballlast season, the Wing finished as runners-up in the Squadron League, and theAdministrative Troop as runners-up inthe Troop League . We are fully confidenthowever that we shall do well in Cricketthis season.

The Signals have yet to lose their firstmatch in the Troop League, and theyare pulling them off with wickets in hand.The Administrative have only lost onematch so far in the competition, but asS .S .M. Rusbridge is only experimentingwith the team, with a view to the TroopCup later, we cannot grumble on thatresult . The Band are away up in theHills so they are collecting no laurelsdown here, but we are pleased to hearthat they are doing credit to the Wingin the Athletic line at Dulikhet.

The Wing is beginning to get a swim-ming team together and as nearly all ourswimmers are in the Regimental secondteam, and a few are in the first teamwe have high hopes of showing the remain-der of the Regiment how swimmingshould be carried out at the next Swim-ming Gala.

The Annual Rifle course has been firedonce again after the usual Preliminary" Bobbing Joe " and it reflects great crediton the Wing that out of 76 exercised 3owere returned as Marksmen . L/Sgt.McIntyre had the best score, namely,109, and the S .S .M . was a good secondwith 103—he is still talking about it . Itgoes without saying that the Wing is thebest shooting Squadron, at present, but" MG" Squadron have yet to fire.

The Warrant Officers and Sergeantsthen started playing about with

32


Revolvers, Webley, • 45 and after a fewdays trying a few " Al Capone " stunts,at which the F.Q.M.S . and the Cook Ser-geant excelled they proceeded to qualify,and this they did in real good style, threeof them obtaining 48 out of a possible50, and the Wing averaged 38 .81.

Even then the S .S .M. was heard to saythat he thought that if the clericaldepartment with one or two exceptionsshould be allowed to fire their revolvercourse with a " Flit spray " or a Water-man "Ideal", they would do more damage.We should like to add that since thisthe F.Q.M .S . has shot several horses at 2inches range and has not missed one.

Lt . R . D. King obtained a short leaveso he and Lt . Jones decided to hop overto England in Lt . King's Moth.During their flight to England manywere the rumours flying around . Weheard at least six times that they hadcrashed and that the machine had beensmashed up. The latest news however isthat they are arriving in Delhi on the 13thJune and that has considerably relievedour feelings as to their safety . We oftenwished we owned an aeroplane then wemight do a bit of flipping about theworld . (Don ' t get mixed up with the word" Flapping ", when we say flipping wemean flipping, dear reader .)

We have had five more embyro signal-lers, including Tpr . Andrews, an oldsignaller. We hope that their stay inthe Wing will be an enjoyable one, butwe wish they would desist from wavinga flag under our noses when we walkanywhere near them.

We are waiting expectantly for thosewonderful much talked of Monsoons,and no doubt by the time that thisappears in print we shall have experiencedour first . One hears wonderful talesof waking up and having to cut the grassto get out of the bungalow doors, and it'seven rumoured that sometimes conditionsare so bad that the men have to remainin their bungalows all day . and are notallowed to go and make much oftheir horses .

J . A . A . CAM .

THINGS WE WANT TO

KNOW.

Who was the N .C .O. who went round

the stables in Jodhpurs and ended up in

a monsoon drain ?* * * *

Who was the trooper who went sick

with blackheads and did the doctor ask

him if he thought he was a beauty

specialist ?* * *

How are the wounded progressing after

the " Attack " ?

(Regimental Orders No . 66, para 3 .)* * * *

Who were the Sergeants who shot a

pet cat in mistake for a jackal ?

Did they have the skin cured ?

* * * *

Who is the Farrier who scratches lad es'

legs ?

* * * *

Did the officers of " C " Squadron get

signed ?

(The delay has been caused by absence

of officers for signature .)

* * * *

Who were the officers who went on

shooting leave and next day wired for

their tail coats ?* * * *

Who is the unmarried subaltern who

rides about barracks on a lady's bicycle ?* * * *

Who was the Troop Sergeant who put

on his troop detail ?

" Troop to arms, Boot, and AIR ins-

pection, and did he feel windy on

parade ? "


33

A DETACHMENT OF XTH

ROYAL HUSSARS IN

NORTH WALES.

In 1890 the Regiment was quarteredat York. In the neighbourhood of Den-bigh in North Wales in the same yearthere was considerable difficulty incollecting the tithe rents, and riots in theoutlying districts were the result . Adetachment of the Xth was sent toDenbigh to quell the riots and to assistMr. Stevens to collect the taxes.

The detachment was billeted at thevarious hotels and on Sunday, the dayafter its arrival, it paraded on the squareat the top of the hill to attend DivineService at St . Mary's Church . This waswitnessed by large crowds of interestedspectators.

Early on Monday morning Mr . Stevensand the Xth set off to Llanefydd District.The presence of the Xth quietened thecrowd and Mr. Stevens was able toproceed with his duty without inter-ference . When they visited a farm called" Nant," a spot notorious in this districtin this connection, they found the placebarricaded and Mr . Stevens in an attemptto enter was struck on the hand by awoman known as " The Queen of Llane-fydd" . After much resistance the farmwas entered and a stack of hay was dis-trained upon.

After a shot while the detachmentmoved to Llanefairtalhairan to offerassistance there . Very bad weather isreported to have set in and the campwas washed away. It returned to Den-bigh where it is recorded that " the Anti-Tithe party were highly delighted at thecollapse of the camp and the unmistakablesigns of the wretched state of affairswhich has prevailed ."

After further excursions into theneighbouring districts the detachmentwas ordered back to York . Perhapssome " Old Xth " will remember thisincident .

RACING NOTES.

After our last issue the racing waspractically over.

There were two more meetings, oneat Rawalpindi and one at Peshawar.

Although a long way off Mr. Kingdecided to go there with his horse "Marau-der" . " Marauder" has taken a longtime to acclimatize and was not reallyfit .

He carried top weight in a mile and aquarter flat race and was nowhere, atRawalpindi.

At Peshawar he again carried topweight in a mile flat race and was nowhere.

He then ran 4th in a mile and a quarterover hurdles.

While he was up there Mr. King rode" Galtee Princess" in a 3 . miles steeple-chase and was 3rd.

When properly fit " Marauder" shoulddo well out here and we hope next yearto be recording his victories in thesenotes.

From England we heard the news that" Desert Chief", owned by Major Davy,had beaten " Easter Hero ", the favouritefor the National . A glowing and movingdescription of the race followed from hisenthusiastic owner, after reading which

34

THE X ROYAL HUSSARS . GAZETTE

it was quite possible to imagine oneselfat Lingfield Park.

It was a very fine performance on thepart of Major Davy 's horse.

Unfortunately Major Davy had brokenhis collar bone schooling a week beforeand was unable to ride him, and thisaccident also kept him out of the saddleat the Grant Military Meeting where, ifhe had been riding him himself, I feelsure he would have won the Grand Mili-tary Gold Cup. As it was, " DesertChief", carrying top weight, was second.

The Gymkhana racing is now in fullswing at Meerut.

Capt . Harvey and Dawnay 's " Erin-holme" has run once but was not fit.

Mr. King's " Dolla" won the firsttime out at the last meeting but theowner could not draw the weight, sowas disqualified. At the same meetingCapt . Harvey rode a winner, winningunexpectedly by a neck.

The arrival of Col . Norrie and MajorDavy this autumn should enliven thesenotes considerably.

(Continued from page 30 .)

" Advance, and be recognised . " I gin-gerly take four paces backwards and fallover a waggon pole.

" Ho, drunk are you," bellows thisawful man . This is the last straw.

" No, you damn idiot, 'I'm visitingrounds."

This seems to penetrate the man'sbrain, for he brings his rifle to hisshoulder and salutes. I return the salutefrom my position among the waggonsand rise with dignity to my feet.

Eventually the Guard is turned out,my inspection to say the least is cursory.I bid the Guard Commander " Goodnight " and head for the Mess.

From between the buildings comesan apparition. Round its neck is apair of putties, in one hand is brownbottle, and in the other is a large cane.He is proclaiming to the world that heis capable of carrying out an evolutionknown as the ` Break away .'

" Good night, Sergeant ."And so to bed .

J .A.A.C.A.M.

PIGSTICKING NOTES.

The rains will soon be here so that the" Pigsticking " season at Meerut isdrawing to a close . On the whole it hasnot been a good season . The failure forsome years past of the Monsoon, hasbrought with it distress on the villagerand a scarcity of Pig all over India . Inthis respect the country hunted by theMeerut Tent Club has not been as unluckyas some.

All the Pigsticking at Meerut takesplace in the Ganges Kadir, the strip oflow-lying country liable to flooding,through which the River Ganges runs.This at its nearest point is about 25 milesfrom Meerut, so that meets are ofseveral days duration to make the longmarch for the horses worth while, and soa camp is nearly always run.

These meets of 3 or 4 days make itvery difficult for the Polo players of theRegiment, who only manage to snatchodd days . With the end of serious polo ourpolo players were able to get out regularlyand have been hunting with considerablesuccess.

The following spears have been outfrom the Regiment :—Major Turnham,Captains Gairdner, Carver, Hignett, Har-vey, Boord, Roddick and Dawney andMessrs . Miller, Archer Shee, Macmullen,Mainwaring, Jones, Rothwell, Malet,Tetley and Kaye.

This year was the 60th Kadir CupMeeting and was held as usual at SherpurSujmanna . It was agreed by mostpeople to have been one of the most suc-cessful in recent years.

The Stewards of the R .C.T.C. havevery generously presented the MeerutTent Club with a large Silver Chal-lenge Cup, so that now the Cup existsin fact as well as in name . This Cup isengraved with the names of all previouswinners and it is gratifying to think thattwo 10th Hussars names are recordedthereon.

Captains Carver and Harvey andMessrs . Miller, Macmullen, and Wing-field competed this year . The Duke of


35

Connaught 's Polo Tournament in whichthe Regiment was in the final preventedothers from doing so . No one in theRegiment survived a heat on their 1stnomination but after lunch on the firstday the luck changed.

The 16th heat which was composed asunder

1. Mr . D .D . C . Tullock . . " Beaver"2. Hon. A. Grenfell . . " Dolorma"

3. Mr. M. N. E . Mac-

mullen

. . " St . George."4. Lieut .-Gen . Sir A. E.

Wardrop

. .

" Artist "

was slipped on a smallish pig . A reallyfast hunt ensued and all spears wereon in turn . Mr. Macmullen eventuallyclaimed first spear.

In the 20th heat-

1. Capt . C . B. Harvey .." Bullet Head "

2. Capt . G. H. B. Wood . . " Walleye "

3. Captain J . St . A . Avery..Benmore "

Captain Harvey was the first to spearafter a jinking hunt in light grass.

In the 2nd Round the 5th heat wascomposed as follows :

Capt . C . B. Harvey . ." Bullet Head "Major S . W. Marriott . ." Harlequin "Mr. E. S. Lindsey . . "Roman Punch "Capt . Warden

. . " Dorset Duck "

After being on the line for nearly threehours, the heat was slipped on a boarrunning in front of two smaller ones.There was some misunderstanding aswhen the small pig jinked to the righttwo of the heat turned too and bumpedinto the rest . This heat was called off andslipped later on to a good-sized boar whichbroke across the Maidan. There wasagain confusion and after Lindsay hadfallen the pig was lost . Finally theygot away on a small pig . This was a

jinking hunt, and after Lindsay hadmissed his spear, Harvey was successful.

Macmullen on St . George was in thenext heat in which Captain J . ScottCockburn got first spear.

Captain Harvey was our last survivorand he was in the semi-final heat madeup of

Capt . J. Scott Cockburn . " Prawn "

Capt . C . N . O. Sawers . . "Benjamin "

Captain C. B . Harvey . . . "Bullet Head"This heat was slipped on a fair-sized boar.Scott Cockburn made the running, Sawersgot in on a jink and just missed his spear,then Harvey also just failed to spearand on the next jink Scott Cockburn wassuccessful.

This left Scott Cockburn and Richardsin the final, Richards won the heat andthus added his third Kadir Cup victory.

Wingfield ran his horse " Jonathan "in the Light Weight Race for the Hog-hunters Cup and was going well when hefell, he remounted and finished the coursealthough he was unplaced.

S. S . M . Willis and Sgt . Cordy were incamp during the week, they worked theflags on the flag elephant . Farrier Sgt.Lewsley was present in his usual capa-city.

As the 2nd Lancers are leaving MeerutCaptain Bomford has resigned as Hon.Secretary and his place has been takenby Miller.

Time itself with all its happeningsis but a trickling stream flowing froma lake forever calm and full, but it bearswithin it the secret of its source. Foreveryone of its events carries the pastwithin it—it is an effect ; and it containsthe future, for it is a cause . There isan eternity in every ` Now .'

36


SHORT BURSTS FROM THE

MACHINE GUN SQUADRON.

The first item of note during the lastquarter was the arrival of Major Hutchi-son and a draft of O . Rs . from the 7thHussars and 5th Inniskilling DragoonGuards. The draft was only a smallone of 25, and to the 10 who were postedto the M . G . Squadron we extend a heartywelcome and hope their stay with uswill be a happy one. Major Hutchisonwas also posted to the Squadron in anti-cipation of Major Turnham taking overthe " reins " of P. R. I . on his returnfrom the hills . The former has muchexperience of Machine Gunnery, havingbeen in the M . G . Section of the 7thHussars prior to the War. This experi-ence proved of great value on the AnnualCourse this year, Major Hutchison arriv-ing just before we commenced our longrange practices.

Owing to the increased personnel ofthe squadron in India, the annual coursetook much longer to fire than in previousyears, three weeks being spent on thelong range alone and then two rangeswere used for the greater part of the time.The course was concluded on the 17th April,by which time King Sol was beginningto make himself felt, so all ranks were verythankful when the last shot was fired.The conditions in India were much moredifficult than those in Egypt , on somedays here the observation was practicallynil . However the majority shot well,particularly the first year men, whoreturned more marksmen with less num-bers exercised than their mere seasonedbrethren .

At the beginning of May the first partyleft for a sojourn amongst the pine treesand hills of Dulikhet . This party con-sisted of Sgts . Osborne and Setchell and23 first year men who went to completetheir training in an atmosphere uninter-rupted by body brushes, combs andwisps, etc . They return to Meerut onthe 25th June, and will be relieved by asmaller party from the squadron consist-ing of those who are deemed to be deserv-ing of a well earned rest.

During the quarter we have welcomedto the Squadron Capt . M . G. Roddickand 2nd-Lieut. J. W. Malet, the formerfrom the R .H.A. at home and the latterfrom Sandhurst . Capt . Roddick wasaccompanied by a no mean reputationas an over-the-sticks performer, havingdone exceptionally well in England sincehe arrived there from India some threeyears ago . We hear, also, that Mr.Malet is very useful at most of the dis-mounted sports, but unfortunately hehas been laid up with various illnessesfor the greater part of the time sincehis arrival. We wish him a speedyrecovery and return to normal health.

Mr. Miller has also had a rather severebout of jaundice, but at the time ofwriting has sufficiently recovered to pro-ceed to the hills. All ranks of theSquadron were very sorry to hear ofhis indisposition, and wish him a speedyand complete recovery. We have nodoubt that, during his compulsory reston a bed at the B .M.H. he missed verymuch the several exciting pig-stickingmeets enjoyed by most of our otherofficers.

From all accounts the last meet wasfull of thrills and will no doubt be recordedelsewhere in the Gazette.

During the last quarter, sport in theSquadron has been well patronised, andthere has been a good variety . Wewere very fortunate in having a sparepiece of ground adjoining the 3rd Troop'sbungalow. This was turned into a HockeyGround, and an Inter-Section HockeyLeague commenced. Owing to theadvent of the hot weather it was not


37

advisable to start before 5-30 p .m., but amatch was played every night, and thegames were very keenly contested. Wecongratulate No . 2 Section on winning theleague and No . 6 on being runners up . Atpresent, owing to the heat, the M . O.has barred hockey and football, butanother league will be instituted imme-diately the ban is removed.

The Squadron Tennis Club, which wasformed at the end of March, has provedquite a success, and there are now about50 members. At the time of goingto press there are three courts completed,and the fourth will be made during theensuing month. A doubles tournamentwas held last month (May), the winnersbeing L/Cpl . Quinn and Tpr . Kirkham.This month a singles sweepstake handi-cap has been completed and L/Cpl . Brad-shaw took the cash, defeating Cpl . Dalyin the final.

Regimental Troop Cricket is now goinghot and strong, two matches beingplayed each evening . However, thereare no outstanding successes to report inthis direction, and it appears most unlikelythat any one of our troops will finishat the head of the table.

A very pleasant Whit Monday wasspent jousting with " A " Squadron.Dummy thrusting, Section and IndividualTent-Pegging and a bicycle race wererun off immediately after reveille in thecool of the morning . We were fortunatein winning all four events, the last oneproved most amusing, and resembledthe Grand National Steeplechase morethan a bicycle race . The course was runfrom the Guard Room, and finished with2 laps around the Hockey Ground . Themajority of the falls were caused by thecompetitors having difficulty in negotiat-ing a sharp bend on to the track.Unfortunately for some of them, theroad menders had deposited a heapof kankar on the road side, and thosewho failed to turn either went into orover it much to the amusement of thespectators.

At 11-0 a .m. a series of events wereheld in the swimming bath, and here

" A " Squadron turned the tables andbeat us rather easily . For the eveninga tennis tournament and hockey matchwere arranged, and at the former " A "Squadron proved much superior, winningnearly every set . The Hockey match wasvery keenly contested, and we weredefeated by three goals to one, whichresult, on the play, did not flatter us.So ended a very enjoyable day, whichotherwise would have been spent in amost uninteresting manner by all.

During the past quarter several inter-nal transfers of note have taken place.S.Q.M .S . Standing, who had been ourS.Q.M .S . since the Squadron was formedin 1927, was promoted R .Q .M .S . andtransferred to " H Q " Wing. Hisplace has been taken by Sgt . Shepherdfrom " C " Squadron and we extendto him a hearty welcome on joining theSquadron . We wish them both everysuccess in their new spheres . Sgt.Donowan, who has been with us for thepast six years, has been transferred to" C " Squadron and all miss his rotundfigure tripping through the tulips tostables . In his stead we have welcomeCpls. Druce and Murkin, who have cometo learn a few of the mysteries of thecocking handle and recoiling portions.We wish them every success, andhope their stay with us will be a happyone.

Several of the Squadron have heardfrom ex-gunners, who were left behindin Egypt, and are now settled down incivilian life . L/Cpls . Marshall and Par-rett have been successful in joining theMetropolitan Police, and we wish themall the best in their new career.

Tpr. Meilton is employed at a RowtonHouse as an assistant cook and we hearTpr. Weston is working at his home inRichmond. We wish them all the bestof luck, and shall be pleased to hear from,or Of, any old gunners.

Mr. Jones, of " India tO Englandflight " fame, has joined us from " C "Squadron in time to catch these notesgoing to press ; so here's a heartywelcome, Sir .

38

THE X ROYAL HUSSARSGAZETTE

Ladies chat as such in Meerut duringthe last few months has been conspicuousby its absence . These notes are beingwritten in Meerut and all the more fortu-nate of us who have got away to thehills seem to be strangely silent abouttheir doings up there.

To be away from the plains just nowis indeed fortunate and although thoseof us who remain have kept surprisinglywell our tempers have been sorely triedby prickly heat, hot stuffy nights, sandstorms and other little annoyances whichare only met with in India.

The departure of Mrs . Greenwood wasa very sad occasion . We were all sadwhen we thought of her leaving usbut now that she has sailed for homeand we have had time to reflect werealise what a loss we have suffered.Ever since `she joined the Regiment ' shehas become endeared to all with whomshe has come in contact . She enteredwhole-heartedly into all our activities.Our troubles were made her troublesand her help was freely given wheneverit was needed .

We also lost Mrs. Druce from ourcircle during the last few months . Mrs.Druce can tell us more about the Regi-ment than anyone else except perhaps" Drucie " himself. To leave the Regi-ment 'after so many years was a great

break . We hope on their departure thatwe showed them the high esteem in whichthey were held and a small appreciationfor all that they had done for us in theRegiment .

UPON A HILL.

Upon a hill by all here known

Stood a little " Y " tree not fully

grown

But this by fame was far renowned

For by it many a range was found

Ha Ha Ha Hee Hee Hee

Little " Y " tree don 't I love thee

This little tree you'll no more see

For one dark night in Pachmarhi

Three gay young Subs went on the

spree

And spoiled the fork of the " Y "

shaped tree


The Sergeants by surprise they took

And when next day without a look

Reference point " Y " tree cried

The squad with laughter nearly died


The instructors went in mourning

black

And wept and prayed to get it back

But sad to say that from that day

The little " Y " tree has passed away



39

REGIMENTAL GAZETTE.

OFFICERS.

Lt .-Colonel and Quartermaster W . H.Druce, D .C.M., embarked per H. T." Nevasa " at Bombay on 26th March1931 for the United Kingdom, pendingretirement.

The undermentioned officers joinedthe Regiment from the United Kingdomon the dates stated :

2/Lieut . J . W. Malet, 5th April 1931.

2/Lieut . I . C. Tetley, 6th April 1931.2/Lieut . D . R . B. Kaye, 6th April 1931.

The following extracts from LondonGazettes are republished :

London Gazette, dated 3rd February1931—2nd Lieutenant A . D . R. Wing-field to be Lieutenant, 2nd February1931.

London Gazette, dated 10th February1931—Lieut. M . G . Roddick from theRoyal Artillery to be Lieutenant, 11thFebruary 1931.

Lieut . M. G . Roddick to be Captain,11th February 1931, with seniority 29thOctober 1930.

Lieut . D. Dawnay to be Captain, 21stNovember 1931.

London Gazette, dated 10th March1931—Captain H . R. H . The Duke ofGloucester, Earl of Ulster, K.G ., G.C.V.O ., Personal A. D. C . to the King,from the Half Pay List, to be Captain,3rd March 1931, with precedence nextbelow Captain C. H . Gairdner, and isseconded for service on the Staff.

London Gazette, dated 28th April 1931—Lieut.-Colonel and Quartermaster W . H.Druce, D.C .M., having attained the agelimit for retirement, retires on retired pay26th April 1931.

No . 534041 R .Q .M .S . F. O. Mason tobe Lieutenant and Quartermaster, 26thApril 1931 .

Captain M. G . Roddick joined theRegiment from the United Kingdomon 1st May 1931.

Lieut .-Colonel V. J . Greenwood, M .C .,embarked per S. S. " Mooltan " at Bombayon 25th April 1931 for the United King-dom, pending being placed on the HalfPay List.

Major D . C. H . Richardson, M .C .,embarked per S. S. " Naldeia " at Bombayon 20th June 1931 for the United King-dom, pending being placed on the HalfPay List.

PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.

The following Promotions and Appoint-ments have been made :

Promoted Corporals with effect from 1st March1931 to complete establishment :

548116 L/Cpl . Mottram, J.546461 L/Cpl . Shirley, H.294593 L/Cpl . Mourant, W.

Appointed Paid Lance-Corporals with effectfrom 1st March 1931, to complete establishment :

544450 L/Cpl . Mourdant, P.548421 L/Cpl . Cotty, M.548372 L/Cpl . Elkington, A.

Appointed Paid Lance-Corporals with effectfrom 31st March 1931 :

548228 L/Cpl . Gradwell, R.7817283 L/Cpl . March, R.

402744 Tpr. Davis, W. appointed Unpaid Lance-Corporal with effect from 31st March 1931.

Appointed Unpaid Lance-Corporals with effectfrom 14th April 1931 :

546365 Tpr . Bradshaw, J.546500 Tpr . Taylor, F.546819 Tpr . Waring, H.547952 Tpr . Eno, O.548402 Tpr . Rantell, F.402269 Tpr . Smith, T.547715 Tpr . Mulligan, E .

545009 Tpr . O'Neill, D ., appointed UnpaidLance-Corporal with effect from 23rd April 1931.

543262 L/Cpl . Hodson, E., appointed PaidLance-Corporal with effect from 29th April 1931.

402383 Tpr . Miles, T ., appointed Unpaid Lance-Corporal with effect from 29th April 1931.

1425374 Tpr . Binding, R., appointed UnpaidLance-Corporal with effect from 12th May 1931.

401722 Tpr . Muir, J ., appointed Unpaid Lance-Corporal with effect from 27th May 1931.

531517 Sqms . Standing, A ., promoted WarrantOfficer, Cl . II, and appointed R . Q . M . S. with effectfrom 26th April 1931, vice R . Q . M . S . F . O . Masonpromoted Lieut . and Qr . Mr.

40


534446 Sgt . Shepherd, B ., promoted S . Q. M. S . 400310 Tpr . Mealing, A . C. J.

with effect from 26th April 1931, vice S. Q . M . S . 548387 Tpr . Woffinden, R.

Standing, promoted W . O . Cl . II. 549848 Tpr . Cage, J.549911 Tpr . Ratcliffe, S.

544086 L/Sgt . Allen, S . H ., promoted Sergeant with 548747 Tpr . Wishart, W . D.effect from

26th April

1931, vice

Sgt . Shepherd, 403083 Tpr . Williams, S.promoted S . Q . M . S . 403367 Tpr . Cannadine, H . H . E.

546729 Cpl . Canning, O ., appointed Paid Lance- 2565663 Tpr . Jepnes, L.Sergeant with effect from 26th April 1931 to com- 403389 Tpr . Kendrick, J . S.plete establishment . 5045068 Tpr . Pegg, J . H.

546922 L/Cpl : Wallond, E ., promoted Corporalwith effect from 26th April 1931, vice L/Sgt . Allenpromoted Sergeant.

546361 L/Cpl . Marshall, A ., appointed PaidLance-Corporal with effect from 26th April 1931 tocomplete establishment.

399179 Tpr . Dearn, E ., appointed Unpaid Lance-Corporal with effect from 6th June 1931.

16 . Strength—Increase .—The undermentionedother ranks embarked at Southampton per H . T." Nevasa " on 26th February 1931, posted fromunits as stated, are taken on the strength accord-ingly with effect from that date, and posted toSquadrons as under.

Disembarked at Bombay on 19th March 1931,joined Regiment at Meerut on 21st March 1931,and taken on the ration strength with effect fromdate .

7th Q . O . HUSSARS " HQ" . WING.

544216 Tpr . Martin, J . L.

" MG" SQUADRON.

548759 Tpr . Lee, B . H.52356 Tpr . Smith, B . E.

5TH INNISKILLING DRAGOON GUARDS.

" MG" SQUADRON.

" A " SQUADRON.

37358 Tpr. Ebbutt, S.403546 Tpr. Linforth, H . E.

" C " SQUADRON .

403091 Tpr . Long, W. G.403085 Tpr . Scott, W.

2209403 L/Cpl . Lee E . H . and wife.549871 Boy Savill, G . F.

5104388 Tpr . Bailey, G . F. E.559817 Tpr . Palmer, R.508598 Tpr . Smith, E . W.403397 Tpr . Gould, R. A.402885 Tpr . Ball, A . H . W.403386 Tpr . Field, G.403082 Tpr . Stribling, L . G.399239 Tpr . Price, D .

TRANSFERS.

The undermentioned man transferred from the81st Field Battery R.A. on 10th May 1931 :

1425374 Gnr . Binding, if . L . and posted to " A"Squadron.

The undermentioned man was transferred to" C " Battery, R. H. A ., on 1st April 1931 :—

402923 Tpr . Holland, H.

COURSES OF INSTRUCTION.

The undermentioned N . C. 0's attended the 1stRegimental Signalling Instructors Qualifying Courseat the Army Signal School, Poona, from 3rd January1931 to 28th March 1931 and qualified to act asAssistant Instructors `Q'2 :

546454 Corpl . Allison, J.543213 L/Cpl . Bridge, E.

The undermentioned N . C. 0's attended the 3rdBritish Cavalry N. C. 0's Course at the SmallArms School, Pachmarhi Wing from 4th April1931 to 9th May 1931 and ' Qualified ' :

1660900 Sergt . Cobb, S . T . G.544086 Sergt . Allen, S . H.546720 L/Sgt . Canning, O.

EXTENSION OF SERVICE.

The undermentioned Warrant Officer is permit-ted to continue in service until 10th December1934 vide para . 238 King's Regulations, 1928 :

538364 S . S . M . I . F. and G. Rusbridge, A.

BIRTHS.

BRADFORD-TO the wife of No . 394426 Sjt.Bradford, A ., a daughter, Enid Violet, born at theMilitary Hospital, Tidworth, on 24th April 1931.

BOBERTS .—TO the wife No . 4178960 BandmasterM. Roberts, a son, David Edward, born at theMilitary Families Hospital, Ranikhet, on 31st May1931 .

MARRIAGE.

529664 Farr. Cpl . Tee, J . J ., was married toEvelyn May Barrett at Burnley, on 5th May 1931.(On leave to U . K .)


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