1931c September 10H Gazette - Major Roland...

INDIA 1873-84 .

X ROYAL HUSSARS

GAZETTE

VOL. XI. No. 2.

SEPTEMBER, 1931.

CONTENTS

Page.Editorial

. . .

42Reflections

43Baltistan

45Alfie's Essays. "Bomber " & "Tam" . . . 47Short Bursts from the Machine Gun Squadron 50

51525354

10th (P .W.O .) Royal Hussars Association.

Nineteenth Annual Report

58Sergeants ' Mess Notes

. . .

60A Letter from a Friend

60

Luck . . .

61

PageObituary

. . .

63Straight from the Forge

. . .

. . .

64Mutiny Memoirs . . .

65Concerning "C " Squadron

67Things we want to know

68Dulikhet

69Sports News

. . .

71List of Subscribers

74People we all Know

75

Band Notes

. . .

. . .

76The Development of Automatic Weapons

77Activities of "A" Squadron

. . .'

79Regimental Gazette

80Acknowledgements

82

Flutters from "H . Q ." Wing . . .

. ..

Horse Breeding

. ..

A Soldier's CatechismOld Comrades Dinner

. . .

EDITORIAL.

TH E Monsoon, of which we had almostdespaired of, has at last visited Meerut.Rain such as we have had some days

has been an experience . The rain hastilled the ponds to overflowing and hasmade it possible to swim the Squadronshorses, in preparation for our swim acrossthe Ganges Canal, during Squadron train-ing. This diversion appears to be popularboth with men and horses .

The institution of the Mounted SportsCompetitions, every Thursday, is welcomed.This should do much to improve thestandard in the Regimental Mounted Sportsnext year .

,.

a

The Cricket season is drawing to a close.The Regiment must be congratulated onhaving both H. Q ., Wing & " C " Squadronin the final of the Strettell Small Units Cup." C" Squadron won after a total collapseof H. Q , Wing in the second innings.Major . Gairdner returned just in time toplay, but S . S. M . Rushbridge, who had

43

THE X ROYAL HUSSARS GAZETTE

taken 5 wickets with the last five balls of anover against a Black Watch team in theSemi final, was away .

playing together, represented the Regimentin the Golf-Regimental, in which they werebeaten in the final.

Major Gairdner, whom we must congra-tulate on his promotion, has just returnedfrom England with Mr . Rothwell . Fromthem we have been able to get some firsthand news.

Their account of the depression and lackof confidence, amplifies what we have readin the papers.

We must also congratulate Capt . Milleron his promotion.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival ofCol . Norrie and we are prepared to givehim and Mrs . Norrie a great welcome.

It is appalling to think that as many asfifteen officers have joined the Regimentsince he was our Brigade Major in Aldershotonly four years ago.

Many officers during this last three monthshave been taking their leave, shooting andfishing . They have done well.

Wingfield and MainwarIng brought backsix ibex and two sharpin from Baltistan,-Boord and Charrington have been successfulwith the bear in Kashmir . The former hasmade a name for himself throughout India,as a great bear shot ! Roddick caught overone hundred trout at Kulu, one of whichwas the record for that place.

Carver in Kashmir has also caught his fairshare . Miller is still in Astor trying to shootMakhor, and Dawnay has gone to Baltistanafter ibex, we hope their shoots will besuccessful.

Duveen has had a disappointing leave,shooting North of Mussoorie. He hadbad weather, and sport was bad and hehas unfortunately returned with a recur-rence of the poisoning, with which he wassick before.

Major Hutchison and Capt . Harvey atJulmarg have been successful at golf and

We heartily congratulate Lieut .-ColonelGreenwood on his recent promotion tofull Colonel, and to Major Richardson onhis promotion to Lieut .-Colonel, and wishthem every success in their new spheresof life.

We were sorry to read in the papers aboutPrince Henry's operation and were relievedwhen we received his telegram saying thathe was going on well.

Mr. Wingfield, who has been away mostof the summer at Poona, on a SignallingCourse, returned to Meerut with a "Special".Such a thing has not been recorded in theRegiment for years.

Capt . Dawnay at Pachmarhi, on a SmallArms Course, obtained a Distinguished ".We congratulate them both.

The many Welshmen in the Regimentwill be interested to know that a famousTenth Hussar Colonel and compatriot oftheirs', Major General John Vanghan, C .B .,C .M.G., D.S.O ., who commanded theRegiment in Rawalpindi from 1906 to 1910is now President of the Wales Area of theBritish Legion.

He was in command of the guard ofhonour which received His Royal Highnessthe Prince of Wales at the Royal Welshshow at Llanelly on 22nd July, 1931.

This guard of honour was on duty in theshow grounds.

We always endeavour to keep ourselvesfree from politics, but the terrible calamitythat has just befallen us has forced us toutter piteous cries of exclamation.

Our parliamentary representative in theHouses of Parliament was immediatelyinstructed to vigorously protest against thisinhuman cutting down of our pay, hutunfortunately the poor fellow could not


44

make himself heard and we shall have tosuffer the loss of our hard earned cash.

We can only sympathise with our readersand recommend that they follow the advicesuggested by the following letter whichcame into our possession recently :

Dear Q.M.S.,

In view of the forthcoming measures ofour enlightened Government as regardsfinancial stringency, to which I do not wishto surrender myself, and having in mind the

prospect of doing a bit of haymaking inEngland next year, I desire, in order tohave sufficient lucre to provide myself witha suit of corduroys and a pair of leggings, toaccumulate credits by way of short pay, i .e .,Rs . 10/0/0 per week.

Will you kindly fix, and oblige yourhumble,

Swede.

REFLECTIONS.

At eventide ere close of day,How good to watch the children play,The sight brings back the happy hours,We spent in childhood ' s sheltered bowers.Recalls to mind the times we had,When we were known as lass or lad.

The home made bat and rubber ball,The stumps chalked out upon the wall,The kit provider took first knock,His innings measured by the clock,A broken window gave a thrill,Poor father doubtless paid the bill .

What simple joys sufficed us then,When we were boys or little men,And all things have a rosy hue,Ere life 's stern task was our 's to do,From dawn to dusk no cares could mar,The joys life held with net and jar.

Oh time, could we thy cour se but stay,Or make thee linger on the way,We'd thus our youthful clays prolong,Days full of merriment and song,But child or youth to age must hie,For time relentless passes by .


BALTISTAN

Early in the year we had decided tospend our leave in Baltistan after theelusive ibex.

So in the middle of July we arrived atSunajar and introduced ourselves to BahabShah, for it was he who had made all ourarrangements . We found everything ready,and that evening set off down the Jelum forBundipur.

During the evening, we unravelled theproblem of our staff, none of whom, withone exception, could speak a word ofEnglish. Habiba and Ahdoo the shikaris,compared favourahly with Scotch gillies,both in appearance and capabilities! Ofour cooks, we soon found that one did thework and the other the talking, but as heinvariably spoke in three languages at thesame time, he was unsuccessful in makingus understand . Of the coolies "Sultana''proved to be a great character, and fromhis appearance, was at once christened"Browner-off-Benty " , but it proved anin appropriate name.

From Bundipur our long march began.Almost at once, we had to climb up to12,000 feet through the pine woods andthen chopped down into a valley, up whichwe were to walk for three days. This bit ofcountry was a mixture of Scotland and

Switzerland and the wild flowers remindedone of Spring in England.

At Burzil the easy going came to an end,if easy it can be called, for our feet werealready badly blistered . Burzil Passcaused us considerable difficulty owing tothe late snows. The night we spent justbelow the snowline in rain and hail, it wasa great contrast to Meerut in July . Onceover the Pass the Plains of Deosai stretchedahead of us . This is a high tableland,covered with grass and not a scrap of shelterfrom the bitter winds . All around werethe snow capped peaks of the Himalayas.After three clays march across these plains,we again climbed to 17,000 feet . Thismarch- was rather monotonous as we saw nolife except mosquitoes and marmots, thelatter being a small animal which sits on itshind legs and makes a noise like a police-man ' s whistle!

From the top of this Pass, which was thehighest we reached, the view in all direc-tions was magnificent . Then we droppedinto a narrow gorge full of clog roses, clowninto the Shardu in the Valley of the Indus.

At Shardu we had a clay's rest and in theevening we watched a most primitive polomatch which appeared to have rules of itsown, and in which at least twentyfivepeople were competing on ponies not morethan thirteen hands .

We had to . cross the river once on rafts,made of sticks and blown up goats skin, arery unsafe boat to cross this fast flowingviver. And then again by a rope bridge,which was a test of head.

Where the river emerged from seeminglyendless glacier, we separated, to shoot ondifferent grounds.

Wingfield went up the glacier, a day'smarch and having phenomenal luck on the:next day, shot three good ibex out of oneherd. They measured 49 ", 45 ", 42" .However whilst this was going on, Main-waring had almost equal luck, getting histhree in four days, these measured 48 " and47 ", and 40", one having an amazingspread of 30" . We then both spent afruitless day after Sharpoo on the lowerslopes and by good fortune met at the pointwhere we had separated only a weekbefore.

Now that we had got our ibex so quickly,we made a new place for the rest of ourleave. We decided to look for Sharpinnear the village of Shigan and if time wasleft, try for a black bear in, Bundipur.

Having reached Shigan, local informationsaid that they were all in one herd . Wetherefore decided to go, in one party andshoot together . Rather a poor idea, butour luck held good.

Late in the evening of our first day, wefound this herd . After a tricky stalk, wegot to what we thought was thirty yards,but turned out to be fifteen . The herdbolted, and only one of us got off anunaimed shot . However after a suicidaltramp down the mountains, we each gotone at long range . These . measured 29 'and 28". \Ve were relieved at the way wehad done.

The return journey was made easier bymost of the snow having disappeared 'off 'thepasses and the rivers being muchloweralso, our condition now was a good dealbetter.

The only event of interest on the waywas the meeting of the winter supplies forthe Kashmir Army in the outstations ofGilgit and Skandoo . These were beingcarried on some two thousand ponies, whichmade an impressive sight .

.

(Continued on page 49)

Here we changed our transport fromponies to coolies . We were sorry to saygoodbye to our thirteen little tatts who had.done such wonders-over the snow and rockson to the Devai passes.

On the morrow we set off early to crossthe Indus . This was done in an enormousbarge which held about forty of us, ourbaggage and two ponies . It was towedhalf a mile up stream and then launchedinto the deep.

At this point, a prayer for our safecrossing was sent up by the crew and ourcoolies and having spun round once, wehit the far bank half a mile down stream.

Our path now lay up the Shigan Valley,the river Shigan being a tributary of theIndus. The Valley was narrow with highsnow capped mountains on either side, thetrue home of the ibex.

There is a chain of tiny villages amidst afew acres of cultivation, and apricot treesthroughout its length .


-t4

47


ALFIE'S ESSAYS.

I have been accused of all sorts of direthings by the publication of these essays andas I am not very broad in the shouldersI am going to ask for help to bear theburden.

There are no doubt a great many of ourreaders who see and hear humorous thingsabout various popular (or unpopular) people

" BOMBER"

in the Regiment and I should be verypleased to receive anything that may helpto make these satires more readable.

I do not want this to interfere with" Things we want to know " but there aremany humorous incidents in our lives thathelp to make life worth living and makeenjoyable reading .

" TAM "

Cecil George Wells . Squadron SergeantMajor of " C " Squadron, known to some ofus as " Billy " but more generally known as" Bomber ".

Now this name has rather a vague mean-ing. Can it mean " Bombardier " thequalifying name of a certain Wells of fight-ing fame ? I think not . I have never seen" Billy " box anything except perhaps apair of overalls.

Was he a bomber during the War? I don'tknow. I have been unable to trace any

One cold and frosty morning in themiddle of January 1892 there came into theworld a smiling cherubic baby, born intothe Goatcher family then resident inBrighton, Sussex.

After many serious talks he was given thehomely name of George, but now isgenerally known as " TAM ".

I have endeavoured to find the origin ofthis name of " Tam ", but although I haveapplied to the Registrar of Companies atSomerset House, the local parson, the Chief


48

mention of this in the official war history inthe British Museum.

That only leaves one other meaning andI will leave my readers to decide uponthat.

He was born at that famous city Wadlamon the Wush I beg your pardon, I meanWoking, in the year 1894.

Now Mrs . What's your name he can't beforty yet, so do be careful what you say inthe future.

After he had broken numerous slates andpencils, and had scrawled his name in vari-ous exercise books he said a fond farewellto his schoolmaster and picked up a body-brush and curry comb.

Yes, my dear, he became a groom . Ofwhat I don't know . The Officer in chargeof Records is so discreet in these matters.

After studying certain colourful recruit-ing posters he decided that the Army wasthe place for him. He wanted to wield asword as well as a curry comb, so in Sep-tember 1913 Billy " startled his mightyhome town by joining the 18th. Queen

Mary's Own Hussars.

Wasn ' t he proud of himself . I shouldsay he was. In fact when I saw him threeweeks later he wouldn't speak to me. Ididn ' t know him of course but even if I did,how could he speak to a " tin eye "?

I saw him later at Tidworth but therewere certain gentlemen by the names of` Posh

Lawrence, ' Micky

Horrigan,` Paddy Packfield, Roberts, and Myers,who kept us so busy we really didn't havetime to continue our " tin eye " business.Then that hit of a struggle descended on usin 1914. I don 't know what happened to" Billy " then, but I guess he found his wayover the water to have a look at the merryold Hun and if possible pop a few roundsinto him.

In October 1919 the War Office or someother such place, decided to send him tothe Tenth. Of course we wrote to ourmembers of Parliament to stop it, but whatcould they do ? His death warrant hadbeen signed and in the interests of thepublic nothing could be done . So hecame.

In 1923 he became such a nuisance tothe members of the Corporals Mess that

Constable, the Insurance Agent and Mr.Ridgaway I cannot solve the mystery.Perhaps some of my readers can help.

Now Tam is a true Sussex man and if youdon't believe me ask him to say " surely "and you will " trulie " find it is so.

Soon this rotund youngster was trundlinghis hoop along the village streets and hisfond parents realising the difficulty in choos-ing a career for him, put him to a trade ofhis liking, that of wheelwright.

Now according to the laws of ethics (orsome other ics) one would naturally expectthat he would join the Army Service Corpsand continue taking spokes out of peopleswheels, but instead of that we find himenlisting on another cold and frosty morningat the beginning of January 1911, in thatdashing Cavalry regiment, the 3rd, DragoonGuards.

Believe me or believe me not but hisweight at that time was 8st . 101bs. I darenot tell you his weights now because acertain confrere of his has challenged him toa rotundity contest and I must not divulgeany weights until the contest is over.

Now it is often said that a rolling stonegathers no moss and it is certainly true inthe case of Tam.

In January 1912 we find him flitting tothe 6th Dragoon Guards, then strugglinghis way through a terrific fight he had withthe Germans, dur ing which time he gainedthe Military Medal for bravery in the field,we find him taking up his abode at theReading War Hospital on 8th April 1918,having stopped a " packet " in his leftforearm.

In August 1919 we find him flitting again,this time to the 6th Reserve Regiment ofDragoons, a few days later to the 6thCavalry Depot, then to the 6th DragoonGuards and three years later to the 1stRoyal Dragoons.

He had scarcely time to draw his pay inthe Royals before he was posted to theTenth.

He came to us as a Squadron Quarter-master Sergeant and he sure is a typicalone.

At Newbridge in 1922 he joined theAncient Order of Married Men and livedhappily ever after .

49


they presented him with three stripes andshooed him away.

It just goes to show that a rolling stonedoes gather a stitch in time.

He then took a holiday at Weedon andcame back . looking lit and well and full ofdemi-voltes ' , ` go large ' , shoulder out and

other such enlightening words.

. Whether he got a touch of the sun or notI do not know, but he suddenly blossomedforth as a member of the Suicide Club theShow Jumpers.

Yes by begging, borrowing or stealing acouple of horses he began to show us thatsome horses can jump without leaving theirriders behind.

Some of his best displays were with ahorse called Mousey ' and I have no doubtthat if he had ` Mousey' out here the com-petitors at the Delhi Horse Show wouldhave to look to their laurels.

In October 1928 by his splendid displayof tact and organisation in guiding and con-trolling " H. Q ." Wing on that memorablevoyage on the S . S . " City of Marseilles "he was allowed to throw his stripes awayand adorn himself with " Crowns, large,G. M ., 2 ".

His clubs are the S . M . 10 H, 32 North,and. 25 South, and sport :—tennis, darts,shove halfpenny, and " Scissors " .

It was whilst we were in Abbassia that hebegan asking various pipe smoking veteransmysterious questions about brands oftobacco, but it was not until volumes ofsmoke were seen pouring from HeadquarterSquadron 's office one day that the reasonfor these enquiries was elucidated . Theclerk was found gasping for breath on thegrass outside but after a short course of the

Dryman's Method " he quickly came toand smoked the rest of the tobacco whichTam had clumped in the wastepaper basket.

After careful consideration by the MedicalAuthorities, the Regimental Munshi andRamghanditut, it was decided that theprickly heat of Meerut would he too muchfor Tam's graceful figure and he must there-fore find a cooler spot, so he was banishedto the hills of Dulikhet.

Whilst his challenger has been swelteringhere on the plains Tam has been tottinguprupees annas and pice as Pay Sergeant atthe Hill Depot.

He got so used to the " ups and downs "of the Khuds that we were not surprisedwhen we heard that he had taken up thenoble sport of hiking. Soon he will be backamongst us and I have no doubt that he willkeep us entertained for hours with his nerveshattering experiences on Mount Kamet.

His other sports are motorcycling, chickenfarming, and tending the bar at All RanksDances.

His clubs are Queen of Clubs, DirtyDick 's and .the Strand Corner House.

(Continued from page46)

Five days were left for the bear, or ratherlive nights, as the moon was full and the planwas to shoot them in the crops at night.

Wingfield was lucky again and got an oldshe-bear on the first night after abouttwenty minutes wait . She was very heavyand fat and measured about seven feetjust after skinning.

There was then extremely little daylightleft and we were still about three hoursfrom Camp. But after several qualms and .

many nerve-racking slides in the dark, wereached it at about 9-0 p .in.

After this the luck changed and neitherof us increased the bag, although we wereout every night.

Thus six weeks of very pleasant leaveended .


50

SHORT BURSTS FROM THE

MACHINE GUN SQUADRON.

September in Meerut! As the Summerwore on it appeared doubtful whether itwould be possible to produce even theshortest of bursts without the typewritergiving out for want of oil and water, or theman behind it dying of heat exhaustion.On the contrary, the present week of theaforesaid month finds us enjoying the mostpleasant of weather after the rains, andafter suffering from the inconveniencescaused by prickly heat, boils and sleeplessnights etc. the change is greatly apprecia-ted. We feel quite sorry for our friends athome h wing only had one fine week-end inabout twenty-four. India has its compens-ations after all, although we are afraid ifthis statement was put to the vote, it wouldnot be carried.

Work and sport have proceeded withouta break during the hot weather, proving thetale told us so often by the old Indianwallahs of "no work after 9-0 a .m. duringthe Summer " the greatest myth ever.Individual and Section Training has justbeen completed and we are now commenc-ing Troop Training . On the 19th Octoberwe proceed to Firozpur for seven claysSquadron Camp returning to Meerut on the25th . The outing should prove a pleasantchange and will give our younger elementthat necessary experience which will proveof great value at the Brigade Camp takingplace from the 26th November to the 19thDecember . If the Clerk of the weathersees fit to provide us with the same brandas that which we had in October of lastyear the weeks camp should prove verypleasant.

Sport throughout the Summer has beenas varied as the weather permitted.

Cricket and tennis have been well patroni-sed and the Regimental Mounted Sportsheld on Thursday morning became quitea popular item. In the realm of cricket wehave not distinguished ourselves. In theRegiment the Troop Competition has beencompleted, but none of our troops finishedin the top flight . Our performance incricket outside showed us to no betteradvantage . In the Brigade Inter Squadronetc. Tournament we succumbed to " HQ"Wing the Black Watch, in the second roundafter a most remarkable game. Battingfirst, the Squadron were dismissed for agrand total of 14 . Excitement was greatwhen the Black Watch wickets commencedto fall even quicker than ours had clone, andthey were 8 wickets down for 2 runs whena couple of loose balls presented them withanother 10. This was but a flash in thepan and very shortly afterwards they wereall out for 17, that being a sufficient totalhowever for them to enter the third round.We heartily congratulate "C" Squadron onwinning a 10th Hussars final, in which theydefeated our `" HQ" Wing.

We were unfortunate in losing the servicesof 2-Lt . C.G. Parbury who went home a fewdays before the Black Watch match . Hewill be greatly missed in the SquadronCricket Tournament which takes place nextmonth . All ranks wish him every successin whatever sphere he may seek his fortuneand hope to welcome him back in the regi-ment at no great distant date.

During the past qurter we have welcomedSgt. Davis and L-Cpl . Jones to the Squad-ron from "A" and hope their stay with uswill be a happy one. The former willprove a welcome addition to our MountedSports department, which before long pro-mises to be quite formidable . On the lasttwo Thursday mounted sports meetings ourofficers team has won the Section Peggingand were followed last Thursday by anotherof our sections which ran a good second.

Sgt . Diamond, after taking the weight offhis fuzee spring for five years, has departedto recuperate in the commisariat line,having been promoted to the exalted rankof Cook Sergeant . We wish him the verybest and hope he will not be overcome bythe sweet smiles (not available on "Bully"days) of the married ladies.

(Continued on page 52)

51


The signal Troop are at present atDulikhet and they are not expected toreturn to Meerut until they have classifiedfor the next year, so instead of being fluttersfrom H .Q. Wing, it will only be notes fromthe Administrative Troop with a littlestolen from the Band.

The Admin finished the Troop League bytying with "C" 2 and "A" 4 for the firstplace . The needle match between theSignal Troop and the Admin was won easilyby the Admin, but they went on and lost to"A" 4, which also lost them the League.

The Wing did rather well in the Dash-wood-Strettel Small Unit Cup, after reachingthe final we were beaten by " C" Squadron.The wing were without the services ofS. S . M . Rusbridge, the five balls five wicketsman, and though we admit that "C "

Squadron fully merited their win, we arefully confident that had Mick been playingthere would have been a different ending.We congratulate " C " Squadron on theirsuccess.

The Thursday morning Mounted Sportsprovided the Admin with another opport-unity of shewing the remainder of theRegiment, what good practice cycle ridingand pen pushing is for mounted sports . ForAugust-September period the Admin gainedsecond place in the Troops of the Regimentwith 30 points . This was mainly due to theQuartermaster ' s staff, Cpl Brindle, TprBettison, and the Wing storeman, TprTrembling, and not to a certain Sergeant,as some people think, who has just learnedto ride a motor cycle . He has not yet per-suaded it to take him round the Dummy,and All Arms Courses, we are all eagerlyawaiting the time when he conies intoaction on it.

The Monsoon was late this year, but whenit did break the monsoon pond was soonfilled up . The Regiment took advantage ofthis to swim their horses, and the expertswimmers of the Band and Admin assistedthe horses of the Wing to cross the pond,some say that the horses assisted the expertswimmers, and we are inclined to believethem.

Nevertheless it was safely accomplished,and no one was the worse for it, unlike oneSquadron who nearly had two men drowned.

We were given some water proof coats totest during the monsoon weather, somewere and some were not water-proof . Oneunfortunate individual of our aquaintancehad one of those that were not water-proof,and as it was always raining when he wentout when he returned he appeared to havebeen bathing with all his clothes on.Needless to say he has not got a very highopinion of that make of coat, but we hearthat the others were quite satisfactory.

The S. S . M . came out of Hospital andthings started to move, he had one look atthe Wing Office surroundings, and forthwithordered that a gat-den was to be made . Westarted to make the garden and nearlychanged our minds to build a house. Thecontractor who built these Barracks musthave been an expensive builder, for he hasburied as many bricks, as lie has used tobuild the walls, but we believe with a little

(Continued on next page)

1

FLUTTERS FROM H . Q. WING.


52

HORSEBREEDING.

A suitable type of Indian bred remount for British Cavalry.

Chestnut gelding, foaled 1927, height 15hands inches, shank 7 inches . Bred atthe Renala Stud, Punjab, India.

Sire Juniso T . B. English by Junior .

Dam by Lovewood. T. B. English bySt. Amant.

Grand dam by an Arab named " Galopin ".Great grand dam by de Lacy T. B . English.Original dam.—Pure Indian.

(Continued from page 51)

perseverance and a hundred Mali's we shallsoon have a garden outside the office.

We congratulate Cpl Bridge on hispromotion to full rank, and we welcomeunder the shelter of the Wing, Sgts, Brad-ford, Diamond, and Allen and L/CpI Eno,and extend our deepest sympathy to thosewho have left the aforementioned shelterfor the cold, cruel world of a duty Squadronno longer can they say . "I cannot bethere, my boss won 't let me wear pants andputties . ' ,

\Ve were also pleased to receive into thefold, L/Cpl Hall, of the Hampshire Regi-ment, who transferred to the Shiners" onthe first of September, may his stay with usbe a long and agreeable one .

(Continued from page 50)

The powers that we are consistant in theirendeavours to discover something lighterthan the 28 lbs . Vickers we at present takeoff the pack and double 50 or 100 yds with.

Great would be the rejoicing in the campif, as is most likely, this weight was reducedby half . What with the Madsen and nowthe Vickers Berthier light automatics, theold Vickers seems to be reaching the eve ofa useful life.

Very little news has been received from.old gunners. Tpr. Slinn, late M. G.Storeman, having settled in Northamptonon completion of his vocational trainingcourse, writes to say he was sucessful inobtaining employment after two clays atat home, but after a month was turned clownowing to not being allowed to join theunion. We all wish him the best of luckand prosperity in civilian life.

We should be very pleased to hear fromany old gunners who would care to write .

53


A SOLDIER'S CATECHISM.

What is your name ?

A soldier.

Who gave you that name ?

The Recruiting Sergeant, when I receivedthe King 's Shilling, whereby I was madea recruit of Bayonets, Bullets and Death.

What did the Recruiting Sergeant promisethen, for you ?

He did vow and promise three things —First, that I should renounce all ideas ofLiberty and all such nonsense ; Secondlythat I should be well harnessed with drill,and Thirdly that I should stand up to beshot at whenever called upon to do so ;and I heartily hope our Colonel will nevercall me into so perilous a condition.

Rehearse the Articles of thy belief :

I believe in the Colonel most Almighty,Maker of Sergeants and Corporals, and inHis Deputy, the Major, who is an Officerby Commandment and Commission, androse in turn of promotion, suffered thehardships of the Field service, marchingand fighting. He descended into trials,after the wars, he rose again. He ascendedinto ease, and seated on the right hand ofthe Colonel ; from whence he'll come tosuperintend the good from the bad. Ibelieve in the Adjutant ; the punishmentof the Guard Room, stopping of Grog ; theflogging with the cat and the certainty ofthese things everlasting.

How many Commandments are there ?

Ten.

What are they ?

The same which the Colonel spake in theStanding Orders — Saying — I am thyColonel and Commanding Officer, whoCommands thee in the Field and in Quarters.

I . Thou shalt have no other Colonel,but me.

2. Thou shalt not make to thyself anySergeants or Corporals that is in anyEuropean Regiment above, or in any SepoyRegiment below . Neither shalt thou salutethem for I thy Colonel am a jealous Coloneland visit the iniquities of my men unto thethird and fourth with stripes, and promotethose who obey me and keep my StandingOrders .

3. Thou shalt not take the name of thyColonel in Vain, for I will not call him agood man who shalt do so.

4. Remember thou shalt attend churchparade ; six days thou shalt have the drilland field clays, but on the seventh day thoushalt have no drill ; thou nor thy firelock,nor thy pouch, nor thy pouch belt norammunition, nor any of thy appointmentsfor sufficient for these things, and I like torest on that day, wherefore I order churchparade, and attend it.

5. Honour thy Colonel and thy Major ;that thy comforts may belong in the Regi-ment you belong to.

6. Thou shalt not get drunk on duty.

7. Thou shalt not be absent from Drill.

8. Thou shalt not sell thy kit.

9. Thou shalt not come on parade dirty.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy Pay Ser-geants coat, nor his place, nor his pay, norhis sword, nor his perquisites, nor his wife,authority nor anything that is his.

What do you chiefly learn by these Com-mandments ?

I learn two things ; my duty towards myColonel and my duty towards my paysergeants.

What is your duty towards your Colonel

My duty towards my Colonel is to believein him, to fear him, to obey all his ordersand all that are put in authority under him,with all my heart, to appear before him asa soldier, all the clays of my life . To salutehim and to submit to him all respectswhatever . To put my whole trust in himand to give him thanks, when he promotesme, to honour him and his Commission,and to save him as a soldier.

Pay Sergeants.

My duty towards my Pay Sergeants is toattend to his directions ; to thank him formy pay and allowances and all supplies ofclothing to boot, and give him back 5s/-in return. To sign all books and papers asrequired and to never doubt his word inanything .


54

OLD COMRADES ANNUAL

DINNER.

The Old Comrades Annual Dinner was held on2nd June this year, as usual and quite a

number of " Old Shiners" attended.

After the dinner had been safely disposedof the toasts and speeches commenced.

THE CHAIRMAN.

Old Comrades (and I include in that Mrs.Mackenzie) . There is a toast to-night thatI am going to add to this list although it isnot printed on your cards.

We are welcoming our Colonel after avery long illness, and I know that none of uswould feel our evening had been completeif we did not express our joy at having himback in this re-union gathering . (Applause).

We hope that this recovery he has madeis permanent . and that next year he will beable to take his rightful place and give theToast in the Chair . We would wish hewould devote a little more time to his ownhealth instead of the interests of otherpeople, but perhaps that would get us intohot water in high places.

We trust, in deference to his Doctor'sorders, he will receive our good wishes insilence, and make no attempt to reply to thetoast.

I am not going to make any speech aboutour Colonel, we know all about him, it is ourbusiness to know all about him, the nameof Byng will be handed down to posterityas the names of Hill, Cardigan and Robertsand all the other great soldiers that makethe history of the British Army, but to usold comrades of the 10th Hussars, there willalways he a special thrill when we recallthe fact that the great Commander of thethird Army in France is Bungo, theAdjutant of bygone years, and Lord Byngthe Colonel of the Regiment to-day andplease God for many years to come.(Loud Applause .)

Telegrams from His Majesty the King andothers were then read by the Chairman.

THE CHAIRMAN.

Now I am going to ask Mrs. Mackenzieif she will be so kind as to read the Report.

SECRETARY'S REPORT.

Your Royal Highness, Colonel Williams,Lord Byng Gentlemen,

I want to tell you that Mr . Swadling hasbeen elected Chairman of this Committee .

He has the great advantage of having beenso long in the Regiment and is known to somany old Comrades . that I think we arefortunate in having him as Chairman, I feelsure he will carry on the good work ofkeeping us all together . Mr. Scarisbrickhas kindly undertaken to be assistant Secre-tary, in the place of Mr . Miller.

I want to tell you a little about finance,as you know our officers kindly subscribeto the fund for this dinner and that is whywe can give you such a good dinner forcomparatively little . Sometimes I havebeen a little anxious as to whether I shouldbe able to make ends meet which will showyou that we have not much of a margin, butthis year our old friend Colonel Fisher-Childe has given a most wonderful donationfor the help of his old friends . £80 to theRegimental Association and £20 to ourdinner fund, which relieves my mind as tothe payment of bills and we have put a littleby which you can use some day, perhaps togive the Regiment a welcome home, thoughI am afraid I shall not be here when thatday comes . You will, I know, wish me tothank Colonel Fisher-Childe for you for hismost kind and generous gift, and moreespecially for his love and interest in you allwhich made him give it.

I regret to say that some of our old Officersare not able to be here to-night, LordDowne is kept away by business and sendshis sincere regrets, Colonel Fisher-Childeand Colonel Alexander who have neverbefore missed an Old Comrades Dinner, arenot well enough and our dear ColonelWilson is not here for the same reason . Hetells me that the and Mr . Boyd who livesnear him are going to have a private cele-bration to-night and we may •be quite surethey will think of us. They seem to havemany talks about old times and exchangestories which are sometimes passed on tome. I have had many letters from otherswho cannot be with us, many of them havealso sent donations, which is very kind, Mr.Quinn never forgets us and I always receive5/- from him. Our old friend Anthony asksme specially to send you his good wishes,he is too ill to come.

There is, I am sorry to say, a long list ofthose who will never come again . Mr.Glyn, one of our officers, Major Poole whowas so well known, and two former mem-bers of your Committee, Mr. Power who sat

55


for so many years taking the money at ourdinners, and, I think, one of the best knownof all our old comrades, Mr . Carroll . Neverwere there more devoted X R . H . thanCarroll and his wife.

Besides these, we have lost : Mr . Thomas,London ; Wall of Rochester ; Gorringeof Lewis ; S. M . Hitchens of Hockley ;Hartley, London ; Potbury, Dover ; Binge,London ; Lester of West Ham ; Hoare,

Swindon ; Jenner of Canterbury ; Waltonof Tring ; Fraser of Dundee ; Clancy ofBlackburn ; Hayter and Belding fromColchester ; Fogarty, London ; and S. M.Marshall at Nottingham, who was killed inan accident . I have sent wreaths from youto all those who let me know in time, and Ihave had many touching letters . I think itis a real consolation in many cases to therelations to know that the Old Tenth do notforget their comrades, these boxes on thetables are for this special fund so if youwould put in a few pennies it will help tokeep it going.

You all had circulars this year with thedinner notice asking if you were iii favour ofour trying to start local branches iii orderthat old comrades might keep in touch witheach other and if possible hold out a helpinghand to any who need it . I think every onethinks the idea is a good one and now thatwe have your opinion we must go into thequestion and see if something can't bedone about it.

I have had some unexpected letters thisyear from some of our war soldiers who hadI thought quite forgotten us, one man,Tuffin, of A . Squadron says he would somuch like to hear of his old comrades oncemore and seems to look back with someregret on those "jolly times" . Anotherreason for local branches, I think.

\Ve had a very bad day for our parade inHyde Park this but year, in spite of thisthere were 54 men and three officers pre-sent, I thought that a very good muster asfar as the men were concerned, so manyfrom a distance were kept away by theweather, but a very poor number ofofficers, I don't like every other regiment tohave more than we do . Perhaps they don'tquite realise how much they mean to us,some one told me this year that the successof these dinners was so largely clue to theirpresence, and I am sure it is so . May Ithank them all and specially H . R. H . for

coming to night and ask them to make aneffort about the parade.

Just one word about our RegimentalAssociation of which Mr. Smeed is theSecretary.

Our employment returns areI think extremely satisfactory consideringthe bad times through which we arepassing . 116 have applied for work duringthe year, 80 of these have been placed, 13have found work for themselves, 16 areunemployed . These 16 include 10 menwho have not yet finished their time andsome older men for whom it is increasinglydifficult to find work . I have been toldseveral times this year not perhaps by peopleof quite unbiassed opinion that no otherRegiment has such a good Association asours, this is very largely clue to Mr . Smeed'senergy and I think we should be very proudof him and grateful for all his hard work . Ishould like to thank him and .also bothCommittees, also Mr. Loader for his workon the Committee of the Combined Caval ryAssociation, Mr. Scarisbrick and Mr.Gibbons for so kindly directing the circularsfor me. Also Mr. Prattley and his bandto-night, it is very good of them to help us.

The Colonel, Officers, Non-CommissionedOfficers and Men of the Regiment, proposed byMajor G. E. Gosling M . C.

Lord Byng, Colonel Williams and OldComrades of the 10th Hussars . It is thecustom at these dinners that this Toastshould be made by some eminent 10thHussar . You only have to look along thistable and you will see there are many . Thisyear I think it is the exception that provesthat to be a rule . However, here I am.(Applause).

You no doubt have this card on yourtable on which you see my name as a mem-ber of the Committee, but I promise youthat I was not at the Meeting that selected

the speakers this year. I assure you it is mymisfortune (Laughter) . I feel as nervous inthe company as when I joined the regi-ment . Perhaps there are few in this roomwho know in what condition I was when Ijoined and no one has ever equalled it . Iwas asked to bring from England a cup thathad been left at the Mess by Cook (?) Onarriving at Bombay I lost everything. Isearched hard and found the cup and as thetrain moved I recovered my sword . \Vewent . I shortly saw a convenient hook


56

near the door to hang my clothes. Iundressed, hung my things on the hook andwent to bed . In the morning the " hook "was still there (laughter).

Now we all talk of the wonderful timewe had in the regiment . That I am quitecertain is a fact you will all allow, and Ithink I can stand up before you because Iwent through with the Regiment in one ofits hardest times in the course of its history.That was during the War, and that is theonly reason I feel I can stand up and faceyou.

I would mention that to-clay is probablythe culminating point of that . Next Sundayin the Chapel at Ypres the memorials willbe unveiled, and in that Chapel will benames on the panel, of every 10th Hussarwho lost his life in the Salient, and as youknow there were many lives lost in thatdistrict.

Well, now we have dealt with the War.The other side of soldiering is Peace andwe can only hope that the serving Regimentis carrying on . It has got a hard exampleto follow by what has been set before.

I have heard that Lord Valentia withH . M. The King was once passingHounslow barracks and remarked that hevery much liked the place, and when askedwhy, replied ` because I was hardly ever inthere' . Some astonishment was expressedand he then explained that he had a mostefficient Sergeant-Major who saw toeverything . (Laughter).

Later on you come to the person to whomI addressed my speech and I must call himGeneral Bungo. (Applause).

I have always heard that his happiestdays were in the barracks square with hisRegiment . (Applause).

With regard to our Chairman, I will betthere is no one who has served under himwho has not been told " It's neither herenor there, but it wants damn well twistinginto line." (Laughter).

Well then, you carry on with the recordthat the Regiment has got to live up to.Colonel Fisher Childe is not here . What arecord in racing . Then Colonel Kavanaghat Cricket . Then at Polo,-General Vaughan.That is what the Regiment of this clay hasto live up to . If they have keen young menthere is no reason why they should not.I am not going to take away Colonel

Greenwood's speech, but when you hearwhat he has got to say, considering thatthey have hardly found their feet in thecountry, you will be proud of what theyhave clone in the year. I am certainColonel Greenwood will tell us the rungsthe Regiment has climbed.

For the last time Colonel Greenwood I canaddress you as a serving 10th Hussar . Mostof you know that Major Norrie will shortlytake command . I know him well. Poorfellow, he married a cousin of mine (laughter)but he is a good fellow so I ask you to allrise to the toast of Colonel Greenwood ofthe serving 10th Hussars . (Applause).

" The Old Tenth " . Proposed by Lieut .-Colonel V. J. Greenwood, M . C . (Greetedwith Applause).

Lord Byng and Old Comrades of the10th Hussars, I find it rather more difficultthan usual to answer the Proposer to-night,because, although I am still serving the 10thHussars on paper, it is quite six weeks agosince I bade them good-bye.

Since we last met, we have moved toIndia, and a very different regiment landedin India from what it was last year. Noless than five officers found they could notgo on, and 150 men, amongst whom weresome key non-commissioned men . I had tostart in India with three new squadronleaders, and 100 new men . We took overa good lot of horses . One horse we had hadin the regiment when we left India before,it had a wonderful record He was youngwhen we left India but looking back on hissheet, he had done marvellously well, andwon several prizes for jumping. The 4thHussars had pensioned him off, and hewanders about the barracks doing what helikes and will continue to do this.

As you know, October in India is the drillseason, and we had to get our horses andmen right for camp . Everyone workedwith a will, and we got to camp, but horseinfluenza swept over India and we had 400down with this influenza and six died, so wegot little soldiering that winter; it was ratherdisastrous. On the other side we had betterchances . It is very different to what onefound in Cairo . There is no inter-regimentalrivalry in sports, everything is within theunit . The N. C. Os. have got to find theirown ways of amusing themselves. Weought to have won the football, but we didnot, we were beaten in extra time . - I

57


suppose the reason was had play, but I thinkthere was a certain amount of bad luck.We won the jumping, and the Blue Ribandprize of India. At Tent pegging we did verywell and beat all the native cavalry.

Polo. As no Rajahs were buying ponieswe got them at comparatively reasonableprices . We won quite a good HandicapTournament in Delhi . We did not enterfor the biggest event . We were told weput up quite . a good show consideringwe had just arrived in the country,

As regards the Kadir Cup we got into thesemi-finals, and if our men's horses had beenfit I think we might have clone better. Ithink that almost concludes what we havedone. My successor is Major Norrie, thewhole regiment knows Major Norrie (hewas Brigade Major at Aldershot) and theyare lucky to get such a good fellow, as he ison a Course, he won 't get out there untilSeptember.

It only remains for me to call upon thetwo serving members of the Royal TenthHussars to drink to the health of the OldComrades . (Applause).

Colonel The Earl of Airlie M. C.

Colonel Williams and Old Comrades, itis indeed a very great pleasure for one soyoung to be asked to reply to this Toast. Iadmit I face it with a good deal of trepida-tion and only once did a braver thing in mylife, that was when I was in charge of anarmy of Territorials ; (Laughter) they werein kilts . I did not know they wore nothingunder their kilts . I gave them the order totake off their kilts and they did (Laughter),I think that is the bravest deed of my lifeand I would not like to do it again,

This is one time in the year when weallow a good deal of sentiment . When Ileft the Regiment I did not think it possiblethat I should get into the state of not beingin the Regiment . Yet that blow came asother blows come, but every year we meetand talk of those times which we callwonderful, and the more we think of it, themore wonderful they were . Sometimes wemeet a friend, and we have forgotten hisRegiment and when he tells us we feel thatthat individual has not tasted the honey oflife being in the Tenth Hussars . It was myprivilege to be born in this Regiment, andI can say that every ideal brought into mylife was, metaphorically speaking, at the

knees of the Regiment, and from those withwhom I had the honour to serve . To me itwas Father, Mother, Sister, Life's longfriends, and I am voicing the feelings of theOld Tenth in thanking Colonel Greenwoodfor his kind words and having drunk ourhealth. As long as we can leave ourRegiment in hands like his, we have nothingto fear . (Applause).The Chairman.

Proposed by Captain The Lord WilliamScott, M. C.

Two of our speakers this evening haveapologised for having to speak ; I will giveyou the reason . Last year, I complainedthat some of our younger members hadnothing to do but listen and the time hadarrived when the younger should have thechance to speak . Mrs. Makenzie said," So many want to speak, but we give theprivilege to the older ones " (Laughter), "butwe will see what we can do about it " . Amonth ago I got a letter saving I was goingto be allowed to speak and propose theChairman's health . She referred to him asColonel Watkins ; I guessed at once whomshe meant . (Laughter) . To us Old Com-rades he is always known as Watkin, andalthough he may be called Colonel Williams,we always look upon him as Watkin . Ibelieve it is my privilege, and opportunity,to say a few things about him . (Laughter).

The Old Tenth who served with him willnever forget his face ; Colonel Williams wasas much part and parcel of the Regiment asthe evening Hymn. To some of you youn-ger ones I will give a few details . Manythings I could say, (laughter) but only twothis evening—he is going to speak next.(Laughter).

First, that Colonel Williams always hasbeen a loyal friend, not only to the Regi-ment, but to every individual who hasserved with the Regiment . . (Applause).

Secondly, to you who have not servedwith him, but only heard of him as one ofthose in the dim past when officers reallywere officers . To see him sitting there now.so benign, his face wreathed in smiles, youwould not believe a harsh word could escapehis lips, but I can assure you of onecharacteristic, his power of giving areprimand I know . (Laughter) . There wereno half measures about him. When he hadfinished with you, you felt a far humblerfellow than when you first met him .


58,

As it is his turn to speak next, I will sayno more, and I would ask you to drink toone of the finest fellows the Tenth Hussarsever had . (Applause).

Response by the Chairman.

Brother Tenth Hussars ; Lord WilliamScott was once a Subaltern of mine I ratherwish he was still . (Laughter) NeverthelessI feel very highly honoured by having myhealth drunk by a community such as this.There are some who would describe thissociety as merely a sentimental attachmentto the Regiment—they would be very wideof the mark.

The Regiment taught us how to soldier,but when we left it we found it had taughtus something more important . It taught ushow to live, and any community, in these

hard times when the ship of state is difficultto steer, a community like ours, that hasbeen brought up on the principles ofdiscipline and optimism, must be a hall-marked asset to the country, and to thosewhose duty it is to govern it . (Applause).

I ought to say something about myselfnow that my health is drunk, but somehowI feel that at this hour of the evening andin these surroundings I might exaggerate.I know Major Pillinger is here and .that hismemory in unchallenged in the Regiment.and I know he would back me up in any-thing I say . (Laughter).

When I look in the ,glass to-morrowmorning, many of the wrinkles will havedisappeared . I feel twenty years younger,and I thank you from the bottom of myheart . (Applause).

10th, (P. W. O.) ROYAL HUSSARS ASSOCIATION.

NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT,From May 1st, 1930, to April 301h, 1931.

The Committee begs to submit the Nine-teenth Annual Report to Subscribers.

At a Committee Meeting, held on June1st, the Accounts were passed ; these showedan increase of income over expenditure.This was due to donations and increasedsubscriptions which were kindly given duringthe year . The Committee wish to thankall those who have so helped in this way.

Grants have been made in the usual casesof sickness, old age and inability to work,also in some cases of unemployment . Thebest means of helping those who are un-employed is first to find them work, andthen help them to pay off arrears of rent, etc .,and so give them a fresh start . We have,occasionally, men arriving in London withno money and only the clothes they standup in. Lodging and food has to be foundfor them until they can get work ; some ofthese men are poorly dressed and clothingmust be provided before they can be sent toemployers . If anyone has any old clothingwhich would be suitable for these men, weshould be very grateful if they would begood enough to send it to Mrs . Mackenzie,at 33, Pembroke Square, Kensington, W . 8.

Loans have been made to help men whowere in temporary distress, or in difficulties

in their business . Satisfactory efforts hasbeen made to repay these.

During the year there have been 116 appli-cations for employment, Permanent workhas been found for 80, 13 have found placesfor themselves, 23 were unemployed at theend of April . The Committee feel this isvery satisfactory and wish to thank all thosewho have helped to obtain work for ourmen . Owing to so much unemployment atthe present time, it is exceedingly difficult tofind work for all those who apply to us, andwe should be grateful if anyone, knowing ofvacancies, would apply to the Secretary.

The Committee would like to ask all oldOfficers to refer to the Association anyappeals for help which may , be made tothem personally. These appeals are oftenfraudulent, those who apply not havingserved in the Regiment, : and in any caseit is wiser that full investigation should bemade before help is given ..

The Old Comrades wish to thank all thosewho have so kindly subscribed to theirDinner Fund.

Balance Sheets of both - funds are addedto this report .

W. T. SMEED,

Secretary,81, SCOTT ELLIS GARDENS,

ST. JOHN' S WOOD, N.W.S .

59


10th, ROYAL HUSSARS ASSOCIATION.

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS from 1st May, 1930, to 30th April, 1931.

RECEIPTS .

£ . S . d .

L. s . d . EXPENDITURE . L .

s . d .

L .

s .

d.

Balance at Bank at last Account . . . 295 13 0 Grants 250

1 10Cash in hand at last Account

. . .

2

3 8 Loans 79

0 0297 16 8 329

1 10Subscriptions—H . M . The King . . . 5 0 0 Office Expenses

Officers

. . 176 6 0 Stationery and Printing . . . 14

0 6N .C .O .'s and Men 5 6 6 Postage 11

8 9Regiment . . . 31 11 0 Typewriter, Repairs 0 14 6

Donations 218 3 6 Travelling 2

0 6Col . R . B. Fisher Childe 80 0 0 Advertisements 2

4 4Anonymous 50 0 0 Bank Charges 1

15 2Lt .-Col . W. L . Palmer 10 0 0 Rent of Office 20 16 0Anonymous 25 0 0 Lighting and Heating 4

0 0P . Harrup 0 10 0 Telephone 10 12 6

165 10 0 Salary of Secretary 80

0 0Loans Repaid 42 15 6 147 12

3Refund of of Income Tax 24 13 6 Balance at Bank

. . . . . . 468 18 11Interest on Investments Cash in hand

. . . . . . 0 15 2£800 Funding Loan at 4% . . . 24 16 0 469 14

1£700 L . C . C . Stock at 3% . . . 16 5 4 Balance at Bank as per£950 War Loan at 5% . 44 6 0 Bank Pass Book . . . £478 19 11£939 18s . 10d . War Loan at 5% 46 19 10£886 2s 10d . War Loan at 5% 36 16 2 Less Cheques Nos . 474414-5£ 372

15s . Od .

Consolidated not presented

. . .

10 1 0.Stock at 4% . . . 11 11 2

£200 War Loan at 5% . . .°6

10 6 £468 18 11£200 Canada Stock at 4% . . . 6 4 0

197 9 0

£946 8 2

£946 8 2

Examined and found correct EVERARD BARING . 12/5/31.P. F. SEYMOUR.3/6/31.

10th, ROYAL HUSSARS OLD COMRADE'S ASSOCIATION.

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS from 1st August, 1930, to 31st July, 1931.

RECEIPTS

£. s . d .

EXPENSES.

£ . S . d.

Balance in Bank at last Account . ..Cash in hand at last Account

DonationsCol . R . B . Fisher ChildeRegimentVarious

SubscriptionsBadges SoldCollection for WreathsDinner TicketsInterest on Deposit . ..Profit on Combined Cavalry Dances

Wreath Money in hand . . .£3 10 8Wreaths

. . .

. . . 3 5 6

0 5 2

Collected

. . .

. . . 2 8 3

•47 7 1 Printing and Stationery . .. 12 15 01 12 6 Postage . . .

. . .

6 8 8

Committee Room . . .

0 18 0

Medals and Badges . . .

5 1 620 0 0 1 Wreaths

. . .

. . .

. . .

3 5 65 0 0 Expenses incurred for Combined Cavalry . . . 0 10 0

•3 7 0 Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 8 8

75 3 0 1 Waiters . . .

. . .

5 0 02 7 0 Band

. . .

. . .

2 0 02 8 3 Reporter

. . .

. . .

3 3 033 0 0 Refunded (paid in error)

. . .

2 0 01 5 6 Paid to Deposit Account

. . . 30 0 00 18 8 Balance in Bank

. . .

. . . 52 8 5Cash in hand

. . .

1 10 3

£ 192 9 0 £192 9 0

Total in hand

. . .£2 13 5


60

SERGEANTS' MESS NOTES.

Yet again, out of a coma we rise to dothe urgent bidding of the Assistant Editor,who must be a " stout fella " to be able tobe so persevering in this weather.

Since our last appearance in print life hasrun smoothly enough . but with few incidentsworthy of special note, except for twotennis-at-homes which we gave to theMasonic and A . F. I . Club respectively.

The evening with the Masonic wasmarred by a dust storm. Travelling atSchneider Trophy speed a whirling cloudof dust swept players and spectators fromoff the courts, cups and saucers off tablesand the M . C. off his rocker . Further playwas impossible and several adjourned to theswimming bath where, under the glow ofour camp lamps, some cooling took place.Also a little swimming.

Nothing disturbed us when we had theA. F . I . Club as visitors . Some good gameswere played, followed by billiards and cardsin the Mess.

With the return of families from the HillDepot on 6th October, social life in thestation will re-attain normality, and thecooling of the atmosphere will resurrect inus a new interest in all things.

A sigh of relief will go up from themarried members on the " glorious 6th ",which will be quite well understood . Keepingtwo homes throughout the summer (orthree, if you include the Mess) is no littlefinancial strain . not to mention the manyacts of loving care which have been missingsince April ! Socks requiring darning, shirtsdevoid of buttons, no matches in the cup-board and divers other deficiencies, all willbe made good.

On the subject of finance, our next issuewill find us reduced in pocket, or rather themajority of us, However, in a fairly shortspace of time it is likely that we shallhave forgotten our one time " wealth "and be fully accustomed to the new scale.Less beer is indicated.

Two new members have joined the Mess,namely L.-Sergeants Wass and Upshall,who have been duly initiated into themysteries of " Pokey Die " . We trust theywill continue to throw good ' flops ' in theMess for many years .

Training is now at its height . TroopSergeants and other gender are full of whatthey've done, what they're doing and whatthey're going to do. Some have (it isunderstood) reached a state of perfection,while others say that the position is hopelessand never have they seen etc.

The Inspecting Officer's remarks andcomments will be received with as muchinterest as would a Cup Tie result !

We look forward to the Collective Train-ing with anticipation of some good anecdotesfor the Gazette. Everyone knows whatS. Q. M. S's are like on horseback !

Overheard .—(The Regiment has recently beenpractising the entraining of horses .)

" Oh, that's nothing . Why, when (X) Squadronentrained at (Blank) in 1921, we were all in the trainand locked up wtthin four minutes, and we couldhave done better than that if the Squadron Leaderhadn't dropped his whistle ."

We passed the speaker the salt.

A LETTER FROM A FRIEND.

I had such a nice letter from a friend ofmine the other day-at least I think he must hea friend because he asks so many questionsabout me and seems so interested in whereI live and what I earn and so on.

I was rather surprised at first when Ireceived the letter but when I saw his nameand read through his long epistle I canrealise how friendly he is.

He calls himself H . M. Inspector ofTaxes and kindly asks me to reply to hisletter within twentyone days.

I think it is very kind of him to allow methree weeks in which to answer his letterbecause my friends usually grumble if I donot reply to their letters within a week.One of the first questions he asks is, haveI written to him from any other address.

Now I can say " No" to this with an easyconscience because we are not allowed towrite personal letters from the Office and Icannot afford to keep more than one privatehouse.

Then he asks how much income do I getfrom my trade, profession or vocation . Now

61


that is kind of him-I wonder if he is goingto ask the boss for a rise for me . I askedhim myself the other clay and all I got was" Get out " . He also asks me if I get anyincome from wound or disability persions.Well I did ask when I was in the Army fora disability pension as I had no back teethand could not chew the biscuits but theydid not grant me one so I suppose they aremaking soft biscuits now . Then he wantsto know whether I get any interest on bankdeposits etc.

Well I have £6-1-2 in the Post OfficeSavings Bank, I wonder what the intereston that is . I must go and see the Managerabout it.

His next question is " Income fromDominion and Foreign Securities andPossessions ".

I dont know what he means, so I am sureI hav'nt got any.

Then " Other Profits-Letting FurnishedHouse " . That was easily answered . Howcould I let a furnished house-I have onlygot one and even that is not fully furnished.We havn't got a soap rack on the bath.When I read his next question I thoughthe was asking rather-too much.

Wife's Income "-now does any manknow what his wife earns. I have oftenseen my wife wearing a new hat or dressbut I am sure I never paid for it.

He asks a group of questions then allabout partnership, ownership of land, occu-pation of land and so on : I think he oughtto-see my Landlord about that.

Then he wants to know if I pay anyground rent, but I cannot, I havn 't anyground. Do I pay interest on mortgage orloan ? . Now I wonder if Smith wants anyinterest on that ten bob I borrowed lastweek.

I then have to tell him my wife's name,but I shall have to look this up in the familybible, because I think she has a silentChristian name.

If I am a widower and have a femalerelative living with me who is employedby me?

Well I am not exactly a widower althoughmy wife doesn't come home some nights,and my Mother-in-law lives with me butshe only darns my socks and puts my slippersto warm.

Then there is a claim for relief

respectof children and step children.

I shall have to ask him for some morepaper as he has only left me space for sixnames and I have ten to write altogether.

I am glad he asks me about Life Assur-ances because I am insured in the Prudentialbut I was told by the Pearl agent the otherclay that I ought to be insured with them.Perhaps my friend will tell me.

He ends his letter by asking me if I havetold the truth and stated the correct amountof relief I think I am entitled to . Well Ithink that is rather unfriendly because I amsure he knows that I belong to the YoungMens Truth League and I do need the £100relief to buy a second-hand car I saw in thetown yesterday.

He did not say when he would answermy letter but I suppose I shall hear fromhim soon .

"LUCK".In May 1914 I set out on leave to try to

achieve the purpose of that of almost everysubaltern in India— " To shoot a tiger " . Ispent the first three weeks at the dal:bungalow at - BUNDIPUR, which ison the main road from MYSORE toOOTACAMUND and close to the MYSOREboundary.

One clay I set out about 4 a .m. to try andshoot a bison . My native tracker found afresh track of a solitary bison soon afterdawn, and going at a steady pace for somesix hours we - thought we must be prettyclose to him.

Suddenly we heard a commotionapproaching then we saw a wild clog, thenanother and the whole forest was disturbedwith a pack of some 8 or 10 wild dogshunting a cheetah or bison.

The shikari said that we might as well gohome as everything would be disturbed forthe rest of the day. I was by this timepretty well " cooked and as quite readyfor a rest : but loud were my curses on thedevilish wild clogs for spoiling my sport.

A drink, a sandwich and a short rest andthen we set off on a two hours trampthrough the magnificent bamboo forest backto the bangalow .


62

The bamboo in the forest arewonderfulgreat big clumps 40-50 ft . in circumferencestretch up their feathery fonds to the sky.Underneath, the ground is covered withtheir tine leaves which form a thick softcarpet.

No sooner had I sat down to my latelunch at 3 p.m , when my bearer told methat a coolie had come in to say that a tigerhad killed a cow on the main road a houror two ago.

I said rubbish, you are a budmash anddeserve to be beaten, tigers don't kill on themain road in the middle of the day ".

He persisted in his story, so, after lunch Igot out the car and motored some 3 to 4 milesalong the main road . There, sure enough,in the ditch was lying a cow with its necktwisted into a queer shape and without anydoubt it was dead . Approaching carefully,so as not to disturb the ground around, wecould see quite clearly the track of a bigtiger.

The story was that two men had beendriving some hundred cows and bullocksalong the main road through the forest tomarket . Suddenly they had heard a com-motion in the front of the herd. Theyrushed to the front and found themselvessuddenly confronted by a tiger which wasdragging one of their cows into the ditch.Whether the tiger or the men were themore frightened I did not discovered . Any-how the men yelled at the top of their voicesand the tiger dropped the cow and boltedinto the forest.

Obviously the tiger was an old one, whowas very hungry or he would not have killedin this fashion. The chances were that hewould return that night,

On the other side of the road were somefine big trees, so leaving my shikari tosupervise the building of the machan, Imotored back to the bungalow for tea.After tea, taking my 465 double barrel rifle,also some cushions and a rug to makemyself comfortable, I motored down theroad Leaving the car 100 yards up theroad from the machan, I clambered upinto it and made myself as comfortable aspossible . It was a fine evening and therewere lots of birds to watch as theygradually settled themselves down for theevening, at sunset .

A car hummed down the road in front ofme and two men carrying wood passedbelow my perch, little suspecting my pre-sence. Gradually all was still and only thebats fluttered about in the moonlight.

The moon was about 10 days old and litup the road and the ditch, all was in theshadow of the overhanging bamboos.

I could just distinguish the cow lying halfin the low ditch and tried in vain to seeanything beyond.

About 8 o ' clock I thought I could see thecow moving . Then I could see two eyesand shadowy form just over the cow andthe cow was again moving slightly . Asteady aim at a shadowy form and bang.The flash of flame iii the moonlight seemedvery bright and I could see nothing for asecond, only I could hear a roar from theditch.

Again a roar and another. A secondshot and all was still . My first shot hadbroken the tiger ' s back.

A shout to my boy and the shikari andthey came to hel p me clown from the tree.My boy was greatly excited, as on hearingthe tiger roar, he confessed that he thoughtthe tiger must have jumped into the treeafter me.

I brought the car down and as it had alarge platform at the back of the two seater,the tiger was lifted on to it and gaily wemotored home to dinner.

Next morning, before we skinned him wemeasured him and found he was ten feetfive inches long.

In the middle of this operation, arrivedMajor \V who was on his way outto try to shoot a tiger.

For years and years he had tried to getone and had never succeeded, whereas Ihad got one on my first shoot.

Just beginners luck !

6 3


OBITUARY.

No. 402470 Tpr . R. Robson " MachineGun " Squadron, joined the Scots Greysat the end of 1928 and a year later wastransferred to the 4th Hussars.

In 1930 when the Tenth relieved the4th Hussars here, he was transferredwith some more of his comrades to us.

The heat of this Summer seemed to tryhim severely andit was thoughtadvisable to sendhim to hospital sothat endeavourscould be made tocombat the depres-sion which seemedto he settling uponhim.

The effort

ofthe nurses

andthe doctors wereunsuccessful andon 4th July he diedof melancholia.

The

followingday he was buriedwith

militaryhonours in

theMeerut Cemetery.

We be g tooffer our

deepestsympathy to his parents and relatives.

We learn with deep regret of thedeath of Lieut .-Col . William EustaceSt. John, D.S .O., late B.S.A , Police,whose death occurred recently at Bath,England.

Lieut .-Colonel St . John joined the 10thHussars in 1889, serving with that

Regiment until 1896, when he joined theB. S . A. Police as R . S . M.

He was appointed to commissionedrank in January, 1899, and promotion tocaptain followed in 1901, when he wasappointed adjutant.

Lieut .-Colonel St . John served in the1896 Rebellion and later in the South

African War, beingawarded theRhodesian 1 8 9 6medal and theKing ' s and Queen ' sSouth Africanmedals with threeclasps.

In November,1914, he resignedfrom the B . S . A.Police with therank of major, andproceeded overseason active service.

During the GreatWar he comnandedthe Bucks Hussars(Yeomanry), beingawarded the D .S .O.and Legion ofHonour for hisservices.

Colonel Hoe lLlewellyn, Chief Constable of Wiltshire(at one time a brother-Officer of Lt .-Col.St . John in the B. S . A. P.), representedthe Commissioner at the funeral, andkindly laid a wreath on the grave onbehalf of the Corps.

(Republished with the kind Permission

of " The Outpost ")

Confirmed on next page.)


64

At the age of 76, still active and alert hedecided to retire . The firm kindly settleda pension upon him and his wife in rewardfor their long and faithful services andMr. and Mrs. Boyd went to Hythe toenjoy several years of well earned rest.

During the Great War 1914-18 althoughwell over 60 years of age he ably dis-charged his duties as a Special Constablein the Metropolis.

He never missed a reunion of his oldRegiment or any parade of Old Tenthuntil the age of 76.

During the many years Boyd wasemployed in London he was a most ardentworker for the Regimental Association andDance Committee. His enthusiasm forhis old Regiment knew no bounds, nothingwas too much trouble . To him there wasno regiment like it and to help in any wayor do a kindly act for any past or presentTenth Hussar was his creed . ` Once aTenth always a Tenth was his motto.

To Mrs . Boyd we extend our heartfeltsympathy in her great loss.

Hackney Factory and for many years

We deeply regret to announce thedeath of Mr. Charles Boyd who died athis residence at Hythe last July at theage of 82.

No. 1287 Bandsman Charles Boydenlisted on the 13th January 1871 andserved with the Regiment for 14 years.

This period covered the AfghanCampaign of 1879 and the EgyptianCampaign of 1884 both of which involvedconsiderable hardship for everyone whotook part in those operations.

Boyd was one of these hardy foemen,possessed of a spirit which nothing coulddamp and he would always come upsmiling after the greatest privations.

After discharge this great old soldierwas no less daunted in the battle ofcivilian life . After many vicissitudes heobtained the situation of catering managerto the firm of W . J . Bush and Co. at their

most ably assisted by his wife he servedthem well and faithfully.

STRAIGHT FROM THE FORGE.

Have I been in India long, Sir ?

Well eleven long years and more,

Have ever I bagged any Tiger ?

Why yes, Sir, well over a score,

Did ever they give me much trouble ?

Well I can only recollect one,

I had to kill him with my jack knife,

As the bearer had mislaid my gun.

Have ever I pegged With a lance, Sir ?

'Gainst natives alleged to be hot,

Why yes, Sir, I once ran at Delhi,

And easily beat the whole lot.

They 'd buried my peg in the ground, Sir,

There was nothing at all to be seen,

So I had to locate it by map, Sir,

Which I did, and then drew it out clean.

Was ever I on the Frontier, Sir ?

You've asked me one now . oh ye God's,

I suppose you'll be meaning the Khyber,

Why I held it against fearful odds .

They could only come one at a time, Sir,

And my hammer was all that I had,

But I blocked up that pass with their corpses,

For a staff man that was'nt too bad.

Have I managed to pick up the language?

Rather funny you asking me that,

For to me it comes second nature,

To what they call " Bolo the Bat ",

I believe that I give of my best, Sir,

Should a horse tread on one of my feet,

In language that ' s fearful and fluent,

No student of " Urdu " could beat.

Did ever I soldier at home, Sir ?

Oh yes I ' d a spell at the " Shot ",

But I 'm lost Sir without my old topee,

Give me a country that 's hot,

Where a thirst is'nt easily slacked, Sir,

Where a man looks askance at a gill,

Oh yes we've a bar in the mess, Sir,

Thank ' s very much Sir, I will.*

.* . .

65


AN EXTRACT FROM"MUTINY MEMOIRS ".

BY

A . R. D . MACKENZIE, C B.

(Continued from Page 162, Vol . X . N o . 4 .)

" Oh God, Sir! " he exclaimed. " thetroopers are coming to cut us up ; " " Let usthen stick to-gether," I said, "two arebetter than one ." For a moment hehesitated . Then, looking back, the sight ofa small cloud of dust approaching rapidlyfrom the distance, overcame his resolution,and he rushed through the gate into thegrounds of my bungalow, and scaled thewall between them and those of the nexthouse. Instantly a small mob of budmashes,prominent among whom I recognised myown nightwatchman, attacked him . Thechowkidar thrust at him with a s pear as hewas crossing the top of the wall, and cutopen his lips. To my joy he fired onebarrel of the gun he was carrying, and shotthe brute dead . He then dropped on theground on the other side of the wall anddisappeared from view . Later on will befound his subsequent adventures . for Irejoice to say he escaped with his life.

At this moment, an infantry sepoy, armedwith a sword, made a sudden swoop withit at my head . I had not drown my sword,and had only time to dig spur in to my horse ' sflank, forcing him almost on to my enemy.This spoilt his aim, and his tulwar fortunatelymissed, only cutting my shoulder cord.By this time I had pulled my weapon out ofthe scabbard, but the sepoy declined furthersword-play and promptly climbed the wallout of reach . As I turned from him andlooked down the road to the Lines, it wasfull of Cavalry Troopers galloping towardsme. I shouted to them to halt, winch theydid, and surrounded me, and I found myselfwarding off as well as I could a fierce on-slaught from many blades . A few momentswould have sealed my fate, when, provident-ially, the late Lieut . Craigie emerged fromhis gate a little further down the road andcame straight to my help . This diversionsaved me. The troopers scattered passedme and made off towards the EuropeanLines.

It was only too clear that a Mutiny, andthat of a most serious kind, was in full

swing . Our duty was plain, though hard tocarry out, for at this moment Craigie ' s wifeand my sister were in his carriage on theirway to church in the European Lines, andour natural impulse was to gallop after them.But they had started some little timepreviously and we hoped that they hadalready reached their destination and weresafely amongst British troops . Militarydiscipline sometimes tries a soldier Ito theutmost, and now we felt that wife and sistermust be left in the hand of God, and thatour place was among the Mutineers on theparade ground. Thither we vent as fast asour horses could carry us, and foundourselves in a scene of the utmost uproar.Most of the men were already mounted andwere careering wildly about, firing carbinesand pistols in the air, others hurriedlysaddling their horses and joining theircomrades in hot haste.

Nearly every British Officer of theregiment came to the ground and used everyeffort of entreaty, even menace, to restoreorder, but utterly without effect . To theircredit be it said that the men did not attackus, but warned us to be off, shouting thatthe Company's Raj was over for ever, andsome even seemed to hesitate about joiningthe very noisy mutineers, and Craigie,observing this, was led to hope that theymight be won over to our side.

He was an excellent linguist and had greatinfluence among them, and he eventuallymanaged to get some forty or fifty troopersto listen to him and keep apart in a group.Suddenly a rumour reached us that theJail was being attacked and the prisonersreleased. Calling to the late Melville Clarkeand myself to follow him . Craigie persuadedthis group of men to follow on, and awaywe went to the jail . The roads were fullof excited natives who actually roared appro-bation as we rode through them, evidentlynot distinguishing the uniforms of theBritish Officers in the dusk, and taking thewhole party to be a band of Mutineers . Wethree Officers led, and as we drew near theJail our pace increased from a smart trot toa gallop . Already the mob and the sepoyshad begun their destructive work. Thetelegraph lines had been cut, and a slackwire which I did not see, as it swung acrossthe road, caught me full in the chest andbowled me into the dust . I well rememberlooking up at the shining hoofs of the whole


66

band of followers as they rode over myprostrate form. Fortunately I was not hurt,and was able to find my horse and remount.

As I overtook Craigie and Clarke I washorror-stricken to see a palanquin gharrybeing dragged slowly by its driverless horse,while beside it rode a trooper of the 3rdCavalry repeatedly plunging his sword intothe body of the already dead occupant, anunfortunate European lady . In a momentCraigie had dealt him a swinging cut acrossthe back of the neck and Clarke had runhim through the body. The wretch felldead. the first sepoy victim in Meerut to fallunder the sword of the avenger of blood.The fate of their comrade greatly enragedour followers, and shouts of "Maro! Maro! "began to be heard, and we thought the endwas approaching . However, we were notattacked, and soon after reached the Jail, tofind that we were too late . The prisonerswere e already swarming out of it and theirshackles were being knocked off by black-smiths before our eyes, and the Jail-guard ofNative infantry answered our questions byfiring at us, fortunately without hitting anyof us.

There was nothing to be done but rideback to the Cantonment . No sooner hadwe turned our horse's heads than the fullhorror of what was taking place burst uponus. The whole Cantonments seemed onemass of flames . If before we rode fast, nowwe flew, for the most urgent fears for thesafety of those dear to us tortured us almostto madness. As we tore along Craigieallowed me to leave him to go in search ofhis wife and my sister . I lifted my swordand shouted for volunteers to come withme, and some dozen of the troopers followedme. Every house we passed was in flames,my own among them, and my heart sankwithin me. Graigie's house alone was notburning when we reached it, a large build-ing in very extensive grounds, surroundedby a mud wall . Here I found Mrs . Graigie,and my sister, who had never reached thechurch. Their coachman had turned backin terror of the mob. As they passed thebazaar a soldier of the 6th Dragoon Guardshad rushed out of a byelane . pursued by ayelling mob. The ladies, at the risk of theirlives, had stopped the carriage and takenhim in, and driven off at top speed, followeda short distance away by the bloodthirstywretches, who were however, outdistanced .

I now ordered the men to mount andpatrol the grounds, while I took the ladiesinto the house, and loaded all the guns withball . One of them I took and placed againstthe wall . Long after, in quiet England mysister told me that both she and Mrs.Craigie understood the sacred use to which,in a last resort, this gun was devoted, andthe knowledge comforted and strengthenedthem.

Through the windows there flashedgleams of light from the blazing houses onall sides . The hiss and crackle of the flames,the roars of the mob and the constant sharpreports of firearms made a confused roar ofsounds which might well have overpoweredthe nerve of the ladies, but I learned duringthat awful night the quiet heroism of whichour countrywomen are capable in the hourof need .

(To be concluded)

Men seek what is good, seek it only andalways, and seek it by every art and method.

The good man finds his duty always athand.

Individuality is essentially self-determin-ing, and self-determination is truesovereignty.

Commands give way to ideals, obediencebecomes aspiration, the outward lawbecomes an inner desire and its observancehappiness.

Truths not known by anyone vanish ;virtues not in operation die.

WORRY.

The habit of worry is largely a physicalinfirmity ; it is an evidence of lack of har-mony in the mental system. The well-poised soul, the self-centred man, neverwobbles or hesitates . The infinite balancewheel preserves him from all shocks, andall accident and uncertainty . Enough vitalenergy has been wasted in useless worry torun all the affairs of the world .

67


CONCERNING "C"SQUADRON.

Now that we have successfully negotiatedthe best, (or is it the worst ?) part of theMonsoon, season and incidentally tested afew waterproofs, we endeavour to awakefrom our " lethargy " and set ourselves thetask of composing these notes.

Since the last issue there have been fewfields for " C " Squadron to conquer . Wehad no really outstanding success in theInter-troop Cricket Competition, but we, atleast, had the satisfaction of seeing one ofour troops reach the semi-final of thatevent, and it is generally considered that" C " 2, lost to worthy opponents when theywere knocked out by our old friends, TheBand.

Following close upon the climax of theTroop Cricket came the opening rounds ofthe Strettell Cup Small Units CricketCompetition . We were fortunate enoughto draw a bye in the first round, and enteredthe second round to meet the 3rd IndianDivision Signals.

They opened the batting, and weredismissed for 44. Our turn to grasp thewillow took place some evenings later, andwe were carried into the semi-final byscoring 46 with 4 wickets still to fall.

In the semi-final we had a more anxioustime against " I " Battery (Bull's Troop)

R. H . A. " C " Squadron batted first and ourlast wicket fell with the score at 93 . TheGunners then faced our bowlers . Their firstlive wickets fell cheaply, and our hearts heathigh, as evidenced by the cries of delightfrom our " fans " squatting on the greens-ward outside the boundry . The score atthis period, read 25 for 5 . The sixth wicketstand added a few more to the total, andafter that some very nice cricketwaswitnessed-one man hitting the runs and hispartner playing safe . In this manner thescore crept up to 88, and the anxiety of "C"Squadron can be estimated from the deepsilence which hung like a pall over thegrounds . It was at this juncture that LCpl.Mordaunt brought off a spectacular "caughtand bowled ", thus disposing of the lastwicket, and undoubtedly saving thesituation.

Having qualified to enter the final, wefound that the opposing finalists were noneother than " HQ " Wing of our ownregiment. This fact added to the interest inthe match, and lent to it something of theaspect of a " Local Derby ". It speaks veryhighly for the high standard of cricketwithin the regiment, for two of its teamsto win their way to the final in a competitionopen to the whole brigade.

The day of the final came around wewended our way to the Wheeler Club SportsGround, and speculation as to the resultwas rife . " HQ " Wing batted first, andthanks to the bowling of Tpr. Poulter, the" Telegraph " only registered 79 with thefall of their last wicket . This concluded thefirst day ' s play.

The following day we again arrived at theWheeler Club Ground to face the howlingof Messrs . Forward & Adkins of " HQ".Our opening pair were Major Gairdner,(whose timely return from leave was muchappreciated by the " fans ") . and Tpr.Clarkson, both played splendid cricket, anddid much to tire the bowling. Each of ourbatsmen was on his mettle, and we werefinally accounted for with the comfortabletotal of 128 runs to our credit, of whichSergt . Frisby contributed the highest score-21

Play was resumed on the following morn-ing, and those of us who could not attendthe match were inclined to scepticism whentold the result, for " C " Squadron haddisposed of the Wing, for the absurdly low


68

total of 29 . Thus, we had the pleasure ofreceiving the cup and medals from BrigadierC. B. Dashwood-Strettell.

We take this opportunity of congratulat-ing " HQ " Wing on their fine show . Theirteam was considerably weakened by theabsence of at least four of their best men,including Capt . Dawnay and SSM . Rush-bridge.

Each succeeding Hill Party has itsowntales to tell of the " Khuds ", and those whohave not had the pleasure, like Thomas, ofseeing for themselves, will now be left untilnext year . The main feature of the Hills,and upon which the Hillmen are emphatic,is one 's immunity from the ravages of" Prickly Heat " whilst in that locality.After this year ' s experience of " PricklyHeat", the hardy Plainsmen will lookforward to their spellof immunity, next year.

A diversion from the daily routine wasexperienced the other day when, mountedand clad in bathing kit, the Squadronmarched upon the Monsoon Pond for thepurpose of swimming the horses . Bothhorses and men took to the water like theproverbial duck, and with the exception ofone or two minor mishaps, everyone enjoyedit immensely.

Of recent weeks, Thursday has beenmarked by the sounds of activity emanatingfrom the direction of the thirty yardsrifle range, for on this day of each week, theCommanding Officer has organised a seriesof rifle competitions, with a view toimproving the shooting within the regiment.It is a splendid idea, and the prizes attractquite a number of men to compete in theirrespective classes . C " Squadron hasregistered quite a few successes in thesecompetitions, and we hope for more in thenear future .

Another feature of a Thursday, is theMounted Sports also organised by the Com-manding Officer . Jumping, All Arms,Assault Course, Dummy thrusting, and tentpegging, not to mention a number of VarietyRaces, all tend to attract the would-be"Rough" . Some amusing incidents occurredon the first day of these events when quitea number of men entered for the individualtent-pegging .

If they were not successful" peggers ", they certainly succeededin keeping the crowd hack for their moresuccessful comrades . However, they have

mastered quite a few intricacies of the gamenow, and " C " Squadron has figured severaltimes on the " Winners " list.

The heavy rains in the present monsoonhave had quite a good effect upon our gar-den, and one can view, to full advantage" The magic of the Mali's hand " whenstrolling passed our stables.

By the time the next issue is due we shallhave passed through most of the trainingseason, and will doubtless have moreadventures to recount.

THINGS WE WANTTO KNOW. -

Who was the N . C. O. who thought that" ladies fingers " were something to holdinstead of to eat ?

Where does prickly heat go in the wintertime ?

Should a man tell his wife how manyScissors " coupons he has got ?

Why certain members of the Sergeants'Mess were not chosen for the Davis CupTennis Team ?

Are they competent judges of tennis netsand the height they should be ?

Where do moustaches come from in thesummer-time ?

Who is the N . C. O. with the skin of agin ?

Is an electric comb a good hair restorer ?

Did those certain two W. Os. render theirverbal certificates to the doctor ?

Has the District Manager arrived at the" M . G. " Squadron yet ?


DULIKHET

Situated about 100 miles NORTH ofBARIELLY on the top of the foothills'known as the KUMAUN HILLS at aheight of 6,000 feet above sea level is thisdelightful Hill Depot, Dulikhet, to whicha large proportion of the men of theRegiment and the families are sent duringthe hot season.

The first party left MEERUT early inMay and the journey proved a very tryingone for the families. Entraining at Meerutat the early hour of 6 a .m . they reachedthe Junction HARPUR, only 16 miles awayat 8-40 a .m , here they remained in theheat of a very hot day till 12-40p.m

The next move was to MORADABADwhere they again had a wait of 6 hours,the party eventually arrived at BARIELLYat-10-30 p.m . (140 miles in 16 hours) therethey spent the greater part of the nightunder miserable conditions, only those whohave travelled in India know how thoroughlycheerless a station can

be at night,

especially for a mother with 3 or 4 tiredand irritable children.

The next morning saw them at the footof the hills and the last stage of the journeywas completed in motor vehicles, chieflyambulances.

Great relief was felt on quitting thetrain and the sight of the pine forests alsothe impressive hills ahead gave new life tothe party.

The climb, however, proved a littledisconcerting, for many fell victims to roadsickness owing to the constant swervinground hairpin bends and great was therelief when BOWALI, a pleastant littlevillage half way up, was reached . Here ameal was provided and the now wearytravellers were able to stretch their legs.

Dulikhet was reached about 4 o'clockand after a refreshing cup of tea thevarious families were conducted to theirquarters while the Band and MachineGunners soon settled into their temporaryhome on the highest point of the Camp.

"THE KHUDS"


70

Many were busy exploring the camp onthe following day . The morning wasbeautifully clear and a splendid view wasobtained of the perpetual snows of theHimalayas, NUNDA DAVI (25,640') thehighest point in the British Empire wasclearly visible also TRISUL (23,360 ' ) andmany other less important features, all over20,000 feet . The now famous KAMETwhich is 90 miles from RANIKHET asthe "crows fly" can also be seen on avery clear day.

The astounding fact is that these giantsstand out so clear that they appear only10 miles away and great was the surprisewhen it was discovered from the map thatthey were all in the vicinity of 70 milesand to reach them on foot would probablymean a trek of more than double thatdistance.

The children soon explored the K H U Dside in the vicinity of the quarters but didnot venture too far, as rumours of apanther in the vicinity were rife .

In the course of a few days everyonewas enjoying the pine scented air and thediscomforts of the journey were forgottenin the cool and novel surroundings.

Much apprehension was felt by manyparticularly the heads of families for thewelfare of the troops and children, but sofar the detachment has kept remarkably well.Mr . Roberts was hurried off to hospital andoperated on for appendicitis . We are glad tosay that it was entirely successful and at- thedate of writing he is looking remarkably fitand putting on flesh . O. M . Sgts . Goatcherand Malins will have to look to their laurelssoon for the heavy weight championship ofthe mess.

Mrs. Roberts took the opportunity ofpresenting her husband with a son while hewas still in hospital . The new arrival wasallotted the name of BETTY but this had tobe cancelled and the patriotic names ofDAVID EDWARD substituted. By thesounds one occasionally hears, there is

71 THE X ROYAL HUSSARS GAZETTE

every liklihood of another famous Welshtenor appearing in the future.

Sergt . Eames has been in hospital for aminor operation to his knee and a few ofthe families have had a little " tummy"trouble, which is very prevalent here,otherwise the N.C. Os. and men have keptremarkably well and have benefited bytheir stay.

The Officers have been less fortunate,Capt. Boord has been in the Doctors

hands several times and Major Turnham, his

wife and daughter were placed in hospitalwith suspected dysentry, their stay was ashort one and they have now recovered.

Early in June a Club for the Marriedfamilies was opened, with tennis courts anda childrens playground also facilities forindoor games and tournaments . This clubshould prove a source of amusement andhelp to make the stay at Dulikhet apleasantone.

SPORTS NEWS.

The Strettell Cup Cricket Competition (Season 1931 .)

THE DRAW

1st Round .

2nd Round. Semi-Final .

Final.

Byes .

. . . 23rd Batty . R .A .

45-0" I " Batty . 88

" I " Bath- . R .H .A .

120-0C' Sqdn . X, R . H.

C " Sqdn . X . R .H .

46-5C " X. R . H . 93

3rd I Divn . Sigls. 44-0

" HQ " Black Watch 17-0

)}

)

". . . '` MG " Sqdn.X . R .H . 14-0

'` HO Black Watch 14

6th Batty . R.A .,

53-9)

"HQ" Wing X . R . H.6th Batty . R .A .

42-01" A " Sqdn . X . N .H .

45

"HQ" X, R . H . 14-6" HQ " Wing . . X, R.H . 120

1 '" HQ" X, N .H .

47-2" Coy, Black . W .

75)

The above tournament was open to allSquadron, Battery, Company and Small Unitteams in the Meerut District and althoughonly 10 teams entered, the tournamentpro-vided same very interesting games as well asthrills . As you will note in the draw, theRegiment being pretty strong at cricket didexceptionally well and as was anticipatedprovided both teams to contest the Final.The trophy which was kindly put up by ourBrigadier, Brigadier-General Dashwood.Strettell now occupies a prominent positionin the Sergeants Mess, and quite a lot ofspeculating as to who will have their namesengraved an it is rife. C " Squadronnaturally say they will in fact ask SergeantFrisby about it, but " HQ '' think otherwise

and so the conversation ebbs and flows. Atany rate a good game is anticipated . " CSquadron who was drawn in the top half ofthe competition had an easy game in the2nd round V 3rd Indian Divisional Signalsheating them with 5 wickets to spare . In theSemi-final they proved themselves worthyrepresentatives by beating " I " Battery.R. H. A. by 5 runs, after a very thrillinggame the latter team being a strong combi-nation and were a strong fancied team forthe Trophy outside the Regiment.

" HO " Wing were not so fortunate asC " and had to play the tournament right

through, being drawn against " B" Com-pany. The Black Watch in the 1st round.This match to date was certainly " HQ ' s "


72

har dest, and after a very good and keengame which took 3 nights to finish managedto win with a little to spare.

In the second round we were opposed tothe Gunners of 6th Field Battery R . A. whohad previously disposed of our '` A "Squadron, after a very thrilling game.

This game proved rather easy for theWing, who ran out winners by 8 wickets,this result putting them into the semi-final.

Our opponents " HQ " Company, TheBlack Watch who had previously beaten our" MG" Squadron in a sensational game by3 runs were next entertained. On losingthe toss, The Wing were put in to bat andplayed out time by compiling a useful scoreof 146. practically all subscribing towards it.The Jocks batting on quite a good wicket, onthe second days play were very feeble andwere all soon skittled out in pretty shorttime for the meagre total of 14 runs L . Cpl.Forward and SSM. Rusbridge, bowlingunchanged, the latter taking 5 wickets, (allhowled) in 5 consecutive balls and wasunfortunate with a double Hat Trick thesixth victim being run out.

10th Royal Hussars Inter Troop CricketTournament (K. 0 .)

The above Tournament was played offafter the 1st Half of the Troop League wascompleted, the Band being substituted forThe Signals who left for duty at Dulikhetat the latter end of July.

The draw was seeded in order to avoidthe best teams clashing in the early roundsand as expected the four teams seeded, TheBand, " C " 2, " A " 4 and " Admin " wonthrough to the Semi-Final .

The first Semi-Final proved rather easyfor the " Band " V " C " 2 who won withplenty to spare . The second Semi-Finalbetween " A " 4 V " Admin " was won bythe latter after a match of thrills and so

Admin " avenged their defeat of the InterTroop League match.

The Final was entirely a " HQ " affair the" Band " proving worthy substitutes for the" Signals " . The game proved quite a drawand entertained the majority of the Regi-ment to three nights interesting cricket.The Band on winning the toss elected to batfirst which was a decided advantage, andafter a completed innings each held a leadof ten runs. The second evening saw thegame veer round in favour of " Admin " the" Band after an evening in the field battedfor 20 minutes in which time they lost 3valuable wickets for 11 runs this being theclose of play scores for the second day. Thethird evening caught the Band napping andunable to check a disastrous start weredismissed for the poor total of 24 runs,

Admin " fielding in a meritorious manner.`' Admin " required 35 runs to win, this theygot with the loss of 3 wickets, and so wonthe match by 7 wickets . This terminated avery enjoyable and evenly contested gameand at the same time enabled " HQ " Wingto select their team ready for the MeerutDistrict Small Unit Cricket Tournament.In conclusion a word of thanks is given to" A " & C " for providing the Umpires forthe above Final who helped the game to gooff without a hitch . Owing to the Hillparty being away and the Leave seasonbeing in full swing the above tournamentdoes not count for the Inter Troop CricketTrophy, for which we hope to competeabout the end of October 1931 together withthe Inter Squadron.

THE

Winners:—" Admin ".

Lieut . Archer-Shee.SSM . Rusbridge.

S/Sgt . Clifton.Sgt . Sharples.W . O. O'Toole.LCpl . Warner.Tpr . Snow.

James.Adkins .

Hornby. Bettinson.

New .

FINALIST TEAMS .

Runners U/ :—The " Band ".Sgt . McNeill.Cpl . Burns.LCpl, Forwar d.

March.Bdsm . Hutchings.

Hutchins.Heath.Scriven.Martin.Marks.Allen.Wells .

73


10th Royal Hussars Inter Troop Cricket League.

The above tournament concluded afterthe break of the Monsoon and throughoutproved a very attractive and evenly contestedtournament . Three teams finished at thehead of the League with 22 points each," HQ " taking the chief honours with " C "and " A " very close behind while " MG " onthe whole proved disappointing, the latterwe hope will do better in the CavalryBrigade Small Unit Tournament with Lieut.McMullen once again back in their ranks." Admin" played very well throughout thetournament, and are placed top by virtue ofwins over both " Sigs " and " C " 2 . TheSigs take second place by beating " C " 2." A " 4 are a team to be particularlycongratulated on beating practically all theconsidered best teams, while " C " 4 camealong splendidly after a poor start likewise

A „ 1.

The Small Unit Cavalry Brigade K . O.Tournament is due to start on August 20th

and our chances of one of our Squadronswinning it are quite rosy, but of course asour opponents are all unknown in thecricketing line we will leave it as it is andawait results.

All four of our Squadrons are able tofield quite strong teams. The followingplayed consistently for their respectiveTroops, " Admin " Tpr. Adkins, SergeantSharples, SSgt . Clifton and SSM. Rusbridge," Signals " Tprs . The brothers Short, Codrai,Andrews and Sergeant Wilson, the latterproved a keen Skipper ; while " C " 2 led bySergeant Cordy was ably backed up by, Far.Snelling, Cpl . Mottram and Tpr . Poulter.

We regret owing to lack of space to beunable to mention all our budding Hobbsand Larwoods but we have them in themaking Special mention should he madeof L.-Cpl. Mordaunt and Tpr. Drury forbeing the only two century makers in theHalf League Tournament.

10th Royal Hussars August Bank Holiday Games Tournament.

MOUNTED EVENTS.

" 2 Rings & a Peg". Total Entr ies Cpls . Tprs Only, 67.

Result .

1st

Far . Read

. . .

. . . " MG " Sqdn.

2nd

L . C . Rodwell . . .

" C "

„3rd

Tpr. Hammond

. . .

. . . „ A

4th

„

Smith

. . .

. . . " MG "

" Inter Sqdn. Section Tent pegging ".

Result .

1st

" HQ " Wing . . .

Team, SSM . Prince, MM.

2nd

" A" Sqdn .

. . .~

., Rusbridge .

HQ.

3rd

" C ,'

. . .

Sgt. Elderfield

4th

"MG" „

„

Bradford

5th

Officers.

EVENT No. 3 .

Miniature Range Shoot Grouping .

Entries : 66.

Prize Winner

Cpl . Burns " Band ".

EVENT NO . 4 . . . .

Inter Troop Swimming Relay.

Result

1st '

" A " 3Team

. . . (LCpI . Fachie, Tpr . Price, Bumstead andFar . Holland,)

(SSM . Prince, Sgt . Elderfield, Far . Richards,Tpr . Fielding.

Distance 8 Lengths of the Bath . Won by 1 a Length.

EVENT No . 5 .

Inter Squadrons Tennis Friendly.

Result :

"HQ" Beat "MG" by 7 Sets to 5.

Owing to Inter Tr oop Cricket Matches being played teams were not at full strength.

EVENT No . 6 . AND FINALE. " Band " concert on the Square from 8 p,m . to 9 pm.

EVENT No . 1.

EVENT NO . 2 .

Wing

2nd

" Admin " Team


74

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERSVOLUME XI.

OFFICERS AND EX-OFFICERS.

Capt . H . R . H ., The Duke of Gloucester.The Viscount Byng of Vimy.Col . C . H . Alexander.Major The Earl of Airlie, M.C.

„

E . P. Awdry, M .c.

Brig.-Gen . Hon . E. Baring, c .v .o ., C .B .E.

„

„

E. W . D . Baird, C .B .E.

W. S. Baird, Esq.Capt . Cameron Barclay.Cpl . S . L . Barry, c M .G., c .B .E ., D .S .O.

Major Sir William Bass, Bt.„ The Lord Bellew.„ T. Bouch.

W, J . Brisley, Esq.Capt . H . C . Brocklehurst.W, S. Burdett, Esq.R. S . Chaplin . Esq.The Lord Chesham, M .c.

Lt .-Col . C. W. H . Crichton, D .S .O.

Col . A . H . Farquarson of Invercauld.Major E . A. Fielden, M .c.

Col . R. B Fisher Childe, C .B.

Major G . E . Gosling, M.C.Lt .-Col V. J . Greenwood, m.c.Capt . C . S . Greenwood.Lt .-Col . I . D. Guthrie, M .C.

D. C. Haldeman, Es .qLt .-Col, A . H . C . Kearsey, D.S.O ., O .B .E .,Major W, P. Littlewood.A. E. Lowther, Esq.Mrs . M. E . Mackenzie.The Lord Nunburnholme.Lt .-Col . W. L. Palmer . M.C.Major E . W. E. Palmes, M .c.

The Hon . J . D. T. Pepys.Major R . Pillinger.Major S . C. Deed.Capt . S . A. Ralli.Lt .-Col . R. P. Sandeman.Lt .-Col . The Lord George Scott.Capt . The Lord W. W. M. D. Scott, m.c.

Brig.-Gen. A. G. Seymour, D.S.O., M .V .O.

The Lord Southampton, M .F .H.

Col . R. D. Spottiswoode.Brig.-Gen. The Earl of Shaftesbury,

K .P ., K .C .V .O ., C .B .E.R. H. C. Thomas, Esq.Major-Gen. J . Vaughan, c .B„ c .m .G.

Lt.-Col . A. W. Waite.Capt . J . S . M . Wardell, M. B .E.

Lt.-Col . F. H . C. D. Whitmore,C .M .G„ D .S .O.

Lt.-Col . R. H . F. W. Wilson, D .S .O.Capt . C. B. Wilson.Lt .-Col . E. H . W. Williams, D .S .O.Major C . H. Potter.Donald Cross, Esq.Lt .-Gen. Sir Charles Kavanagh.Brig.-Gen . The Viscount Hampden.Lt .-Col . W. O . Gibbs.Major C. T. O'Callaghan:Major W. Guy Horne.Sir Basil Brooke, Bart, O.B.E., M.C ., M .P.Capt . Philip Donner.Francis C. Drake, Esq.Mrs . M . G. Church.Mrs . A . Pilling.Col . Manners Wood.Lt .-Col . Sir Matthew R . H . Wilson,

D .S .O.

LIST OF OTHER RANKS.

Mr. F. Aldred.„ J. W. D. Turner.

C. Boyd.„ P. W . Cates.

T. Hunt.H . J . Adams.W. Rawson.C. Foster.Lewis Haigh.J . C. RoustobyJ . Russell.H. Baker.W. Nisbett.A . B. Tomsett.A. Geering.Sage.H . W. King.A . L. Penn.F. Mason.W. T. Smeed.1. Rogers.C. F. Shepherd.M . Goatcher.S. Bentley.

S . C . 'T . Moorhouse, Esq.Mr. Burdett .

PEOPLE WE ALL KNOW.


76

BAND NOTES.

Our stay in the Hills was brought to avery abrupt end, and we were very sorry toleave, not because of the heat on the Plains,but because of a strong friendship formed

with the Band of the 3rd Hussars.

We engaged the Band of the 3rd ingames of Hockey, Football, Darts, Quoits,and Billiards . Although the 3rd trouncedus at Hockey, at Football we held ourown, at Darts, although they brought theirown board with them, they could'nt find awinning vein, and we romped home easywinners . At Quoits we held them at aserious disadvantage, having had a lot ofpractice, and we won easily against aninexperienced team . At Billiards we had areally stiff encounter, and it was only untilthe last ball of the last game which decidedwhether we drew or lost . To see BdsnMarks pot the black and draw level was asight for sore eyes.

To wind up these sporting encounters weheld a Whist Drive and Social in our BandRoom . The room was tastefully decorated,Sgt . McNeill appointed himself as barman,and Sgt Eames was M.C. for the WhistDrive. Two Q.Ms, S .Q.M.S. Woolley (ofthe 3rd) and S .Q.M.S. Goatcher (of our own)were invited (in case we wanted a big ' tin'to square up after) and curiously enoughthey both carted off the first prize, Woolleythe Ladies, and Goatcher the Gents .

A half hour interval and then we commencedthe concert . Sir Douglas Scott of the 3rdHussars, and Capt Miller graced theproceedings with their presence, and Capt.Miller was called upon to present thePrizes for the Whist Drive.

Of course, as is usual at these sort offunctions, speeches were made by bothBandmasters ; its really remarkable how wella Bandmaster can talk at times and weenjoyed their pithy comments on thing ' s ingeneral and Bandsmen in particular, andthen the company settled down to anenjoyable evening . Nearly everyone wascalled upon to do something or other. BothBandmasters, after singing in turn, viedwith each other in getting the men to joinin with the Sea-Shanties, and it was quitegood to hear these famous old tunes godown with such a swing.

The writer of these notes was calledupon to sing and he chose a song he thoughtwould be popular, but instead of the usualchorus associated with that song, thecompany sang a ditty that soundedsomething like, 'Sit down', Yum, Yum.' Sit down ' , Yum, Yum. They may not bethe correct words but evidently the companydid not like me or my song a little bit : soI 'er' sat down of course.

Although the tunes were numerous andhumorous, one special mention must hemade of T .M. Stebbings of the 3rd. Hewas the real comedian of the whole showand it was due to his efforts entirely thatthings were kept going.

The committee deserve great praise forthe really hard work they put in in gettingand keeping everything up to the mark forit is no fun supplying thirsty souls withneedful refreshment when there's somethingdoing on the other side of the curtain.

When a vote of thanks was proposed tothose workers the response was deafening.The proceedings closed with the singing of'Auld Lang Syne', and we hope that weshall join up with the Band of the 3rdHussars again next year.

We arrived back on the Plains and werewelcomed back with open arms by theSignal Troop who were to take over ourHuts at Dulikhet and in exchange we wereto take over their Horses, not a bad bargainfor the Signal Troop anyway.

(Continued on /'age 78)

77


"THE DEVELOPMENT OFAUTOMATIC WEAPONS"

BY

MAJOR A. S. TURNHAM.

The subject of automatic weapons is verymuch to the fore at present, particularly inthis country, where a demonstrator fromCopenhagen has been trying to persuade the"powers that be" that the latest MadsenGun is capable of replacing the Vickers andLewis Guns and performing the role allottedto each of these weapons with equal facility.I have seen the gun and fired it and I mustsay there is much to be said in its favour.

Where ever you find the "fighting spirit "evinced, whether in the small school boy,(who makes a pile of snowballs and hidesbehind the wall, waiting for his o pponent) ;in the ancient warriers who built heaps ofstones for a similiar purpose, as at Syracuse ;with the bow and arrow (Crecy was won bythe accuracy and rapidity of the Britisharchers) or in modern war, you will find thedesire "to produce a heavier and moreaccurate volume of fire than the enemy". Itis this which is chiefly responsible for thedevelopment of automatic weapons.

Since the advent-of firearms, we can traceits development. Even in the days of themuzzle-loader, a certain famous ItalianGeneral formed his musketeers up in fiveranks, the front rank fired, counter-marchedand became the fifth rank, sponged . out,went through the various movements ofputting in their powder, ramming in thenext ball and fixing the cap, while thesecond rank took one pace forward andfired. By this means he was able toproduce a heavier volume

As long ago as the fifteenth century anItalian invented a gun called theRibaldiquin, or organ gun, a number ofbarrels which revolved round an axis, eachbeing fired as it came opposite the firingmechanism, operated by a handle at the side.

The first real advance towards rapiditywas the introduction in 1805 of breechloading and later, in 1882, the solid drawncartridge case.

During this period several machine gunswere introduced.

In 1862 Gatling produced a gun similar tothe Ribaldiquin . This gun was used in the

British Service . It was very heavy andfired from an enormous mounting weighingseveral hundredweights . In consequenceit could only be used in fixed places, chieflyin the Navy. One frequently reads of navalexploits, in the Persian Gulf and up river in"80 ' s " , where the Gatling played aprominent part.

Another gun introduced into the Servicein 1885 was the Nordenfeldt . This hadfour barrels side by side, was fed by a boxmagazine which was placed on top, a leverwithdrew the four bolts and allowed fourcartridges to drop down opposite theirrespective barrels and as the lever waspushed forward the gun was fired. Ifpushed forward slowly, it fired each shotseparately, if quickly the four were firedpractically as a volley.

This gun . which was mounted on a guncarriage, was issued for trial to the 10thRoyal Hussars in 1887, who at that timewere stationed at Hounslow.

The Colonel at the time was the Princeof Wales, later King Edward VII, andwhilst on a visit to him the Kaiser saw thegun . He was so fascinated with it that heordered one from the works, for his Guards,and obtained permission for a sergeant ofthe Tenth to go to Potsdam as instructor.

Shortly after the Nordenfeldt wasinvented, a gun with five barrels, called theGardner was brought out . The designclosely resembled the Nordenfeldt, but theGardner was lighter and consequently moremobile.

During the Great War, 1914-18, it wasused in Mesopotamia by some of the IndianTroops.

At an Exhibition in Vienna in 1882,Hiram Maxim (afterwards Sir Hiram Maxim)was showing certain chemical and electricalinventions when, to use his own words, anAmerican Jew, whom I had previously metin the States, said to me " , " if you want tomake a pile of money, invent somethingwhich will enable these Europeans to cuteach others throats with .greater facility ."

That made him think and from 1882 to1885. he worked in a cellar in HattonGardens and eventually produced theMaxim Gun . The Kaiser, as we know, has"Production of Fire Power " mania andwhen first he saw the Maxim, he remarked," Ah! there is the only machine gun . "

THE X ROYAL HUSSARS GAZETTE'

78

The Maxim needs no explanation to thesoldier, some of us knew it in its originalform, most of us are quite familiar with ittoday, for the " Vickers" is a modification ofthe original.

A company was formed to make the Maxim,called Vickers, Sons and Maxim . Shortlybefore the War, Sir Hiram Maxim retiredand the firm . became Vickers Limited.When the General Staff required a lightermodel Vickers produced it and called it the"Vickers " , but in principle and functioningit is exactly the same as the " Maxim" .

About this time. (they actually claim thatthe first one was produced in 1875) theAustrians produced the Schwarzlose, anautomatic machine gull.

It is interesting to note that bothinventors, although in a different manner,utilised the force of the explosion of thecartridge combined with a strong spiralspring to bring about the functioning, i e .,the unloading and ejection of the emptycase, reloading and firing of the next round.

Maxim utilised the backward thrust ofthe explosion, together with the forcing ofthe bullet through the spiral grooves of thebarrel, and allowed the barrel and workingparts inside the gun to be driven back ashort distance . This action, combined witha strong spring on the outside of the gun,brought about the functioning, so that assoon as the gun is started it will, undernormal circumstances, continue to fireautomatically till the belt of 250 rounds isfinished . This is termed recoil operation.

The Schwarzlose also utilised thebackward thrust but instead of allowing thebarrel to travel back the cartridge case isallowed to set back on the lock or bolt,driving it to the rear, while the barrelremains stationary . This is facilitated by asmall amount of oil being squirted on to thecase as it enters the chamber. This isreferred to as the energy of the spent ease.

The Maxim principle proved to be by farthe best . It was adopted by the British andused in the South African War, but like allother mechanical inventions the initialperformance was not a great success. Wedid not appreciate its characteristics, it wasused practically as an artillery weapon andabout one man in a regiment or battalion,(usually the Musketry Instructor) knew alittle about the functioning of it . There are

many examples on record of the gun beingdays out of action owing to a stoppage . TheJapanese, shrewd as they are, were notslow to recognise the possibilities of theMaxim and during the Russo-Japanese Warmany thousands of Maxims, manufacturedby ourselves and Germany were used.

Germany, too, realised the value ofmachine guns and 1914 found them preparedwith an enormous number of them,organised in machine gun units.

In 1912, Vickers produced their lightmachine gun . It was approximately half theweight of the old Maxim. I well rememberduring that year, instructing the MachineGun Officers and sergeants of the First andSecond Cavalry Brigades, who were thefirst troops to be armed with it.

This very briefly is the development upto the Great War.

.(To he Continued)

(Continued from page 76 .)

We are now beginning to look quitehorseyfied . Our' Band Sergeant instead ofgoing about his duties humming piecesfrom the classics can now be heardmumbling to himself about ` spavins ' girthgalls, etc, he even shaved his upper lip onenight because we were short of a wisp onStable Parade.

Still, it is rather difficult to combine twojobs at once after all's said and done so \veshan't he sorry when the Signal Troopreturn from the Hills.

Our form at cricket this year has been aswell as could be expected ; our team has apronounced tail which failed to wag onmore than one occasion.

We managed to get into the final of theFriendly Inter-Troop Tournament beatingM.G.-4, ` A ' -1, and ` C'-2 on our way to thewinning post but Admin-Troop found out

our weakness and we went down by sevenwickets . Better luck next time.

79


THE ACTIVITIES OF "A"

SQUADRON.

Our first summer in India is almost overand we are sure our readers will be with usin offering thanks to the weather controllerfor turning off the heat tap, and therebyassisting our prickly heat to depart.

The Summer seems to have been to mostof us a succession of suggested remedies tostop that irritated skin so peculiar in India.

Everything from carbolic soap to bluemutty has been tried with varying successand we have no doubt that the experience

gained will assist many to overcome thecomplaint next year.

Training, as far as weather conditionswould allow, has proceeded along the usuallines and we are now in the midst of TroopTraining with everyone looking forward tothe winter programme to enable them toget further afield than the Maidan whichhas been the scene of our activities duringthe summer months.

Sport too has only been possible duringthe cooler parts of the day and consequentlyvery little of note has taken place.

The bright spots have been the Thursdaymorning events run weekly and consistingfor the most part of Inter Troop competi-tions with a sprinkling of individual eventsfor the senior ranks.

Before proceeding to enumerate thevarious successes of the Troops in theSquadron we would like to say that therehas been great keenness all round shown inthe events and particularly in the TentPegging where the officers have been wellto the fore and no doubt we shall see theresults in the entries for Delhi Show, someof our officers are pretty useful at the peggame and Master Hog will have to get amove on when the Hunt Club re-commencesits activities.

Here are a few successes of the Squadronand it will be seen that they have quiteheld their own.

1ST WEEK

Inter Troop Dummy Thrusting winners . . . "A"3Individual Tent Pegging Class A 1st Sgt. Davis.

„

B 2nd Cpl . Fachie.Section

2ND WEEK Inter Troop Assualt Course 2ndSquadron Team,

4th " A" 3.Individual Jumping

Class A 1st Sgt . Davis.B

3RD WEEK Inter Troop Handy Hunter

1st1st

Tpr . Ball.

Bending Race 1st Tpr . Jobe.Individual Tent Pegging 1st Sgt . Davis.Section

,4TH WEEK

Inter Troop Jumping

1st2nd

Squadron Team.

V . C . Race 2nd3rd

Tpr . Ball.,

Meenan.

5TH WEEK

Inter Troop All Arms 1st " A"4.Two Rings and a Peg

6TH WEEK

Inter Troop Dummy Thrusting

1st2nd

Sgt . Davis.

3rd " A " 3.Alarm Race 2nd 2nd Tpr . Palmer .

The special prizes for the best Troop in each month both came to the Squadron " A " 3 and " A " 4.winning one each.

A special meeting was held on August

Tennis Match in which we beat " C " by

Bank-Holiday and among the events was an

six sets to one so taking all things into

Inter Troop Swimming Relay which 3rd

account the old Squadron has done very

Troop won easily and an Inter-Squadron

well.


80

Most of our officers have now returnedfrom summer leave and are looking betterfor the change. Lieut . Wingfield has goneoff to Saugor to be taught how to rough em,we must take this opportunity of congratu-lating him on his splendid show at theSignalling School, obtaining a distinguishedat Poona is no mean feat . How about adouble Mr. Wingfield.

It is with deep regret we say good-bye toSergt . Davis who has been transferred to" MG " Squadron. One of our outstandingperformers in mounted sports and alwayswilling to turn out for anything going, youhave our best wishes Jerry.

L/Cpl . Jones has also gone to " MG "another good sportsman and soldier, wewell remember his great display in this yearsBrocklehurst, Good luck, Jones.

We welcome to the fold an old favouritein Sgt . Sharples who has been transferredfrom " HQ " and trust he will soon settledown in " A ".

Before closing down we would like tomention that we hear on good authoritythere will be No point-to-point this yearand although its tough on the Squadronfarrier whom the touts report having hadsome rousing gallops lately on the Maidanwe would like to point out for his benefitthat there are still a few vacancies on theActivity Ride and we will mention his namewith pleasure.

* *

* *

****

SKIRMISHING.

Some very useful maxims laid down longago but which are very useful and worthremembering.

Sight your rifle always carefully.

Keep your eyes open and your mouthshut, but your

Information must be trustworthy.

Repeat all signals and etc . quietly.

Musketry—remember all you have beentaught in lire discipline.

Invariably take advantage of all cover.

See without being seen.

Hoax your enemy.

Explore every copse, hollow and building.

Remember that on you, your own life,your comrades, and the good nameof your regiment depend .

REGIMENTAL GAZETTE.

London Gazette.

The following extracts from the LondonGazette are republished.

2/Lieutenant Mervyn Hesseltine Taylorfrom the Supplementary Reserve of Officers16/5th Lancers, to be 2nd Lieutenant 20thJune 1931.

Lieut .-Colonel V . J . Greenwood, o .c., oncompletion of his period of service in com-mand is placed on the half pay list, 6th July1931 .

Major C. W. M. Norrie, D.S.O., M .c ., fromthe 11th Hussars to be Lieut .-Colonel 6thJuly 1931.

Major D . C. H . Richardson, M.c ., to beLieut.-Colonel on half pay list, 6th July1931.

Lieut . C. D. Miller to be Captain 6th July1931 .

COURSES OF INSTRUCTION.

The undermentioned N. C. O. attendedthe 4th N. C. O's . Cavalry Course at theSmall Arms School, Pachmarhi Wing from16th May 1931 to 20th June 1931 andQualified .

545612 LSgt . Wass, C.

The undermentioned N . C. O. attendedthe Combined Course at the School ofEducation, Belgaum, from 24th April, 1931to the 3rd July, 1931, and obtained a PassClass 11 .

529910 Cpl . Hall, G. W.

The undermentioned men attended aCourse in Butchery Duties held at theSupply Depot, Meerut from 1st May 1931to 31st July 1931 and Passed :

402598 Tpr . Morgan, J.

402410 „ Lucas. T.

402222 „ Derrick, C.

402413 „ Putman, S.

The undermentioned men attended aCourse in Victualling Duties at Meerutfrom 1st May 1931 to 31st July 1931 andPassed :

546926 Tpr . Riley, T.

401000 „ Rodger, W.

81


CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION.

The undermentioned N. C. O. and Boywere awarded the 1st Class Certificate ofEducation at an examination held in March,1 931 :

546461 Cpl. Shirley, H.549875 Boy Garmeson, S.

MEDALS.

TRANSFERS.

The undermentioned man was transferredfrom the 9th Q . M . Lancers on 20th June,

1931 :

549028 Tpr . Robinson, F. & postedto ` MG ' Sqdn.

The undermentioned man was transferredfrom the 1st Battn . The Hampshire Regi-ment in the rank of Trooper with effectfrom 1st September 1931 :

The undermentioned Warrant Officer wasawarded the Silver Medal for Long Serviceand Good Conduct, Army Orders for April1931 .

7542871 L/Cpl . Hall, F. & posted to389674 R . S. M ., G. L. Vokins, M. M .

` HQ' Wing.

PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.

The following Promotions and Appointments have been made from the dates stated :

546942 L/Cpl . James . T543213 L/Cpl . Bridge, E.546818 L/Cpl . Rodwell, w.

6083212 L/Cpl . Fairminer,

543206 L/Cpl . West . A.546536 L/CpI . Quinn, R.402270 L/Cpl . Wilson, E.546358 L/CpI . Jones . H .

. : .. .~

Promoted

Corporals

with

effectfrom

1st

March

193 .1 . to complete

.establishment.

: :

Appointed Paid L/Cpls . with effect from1st March

1931

to complete estab-lishment.

543213 Cpl .

Bridge, E.

545612 Cpl .

Wass . C .

Appointed Signalling Co-pl ., with effectfrom

1st

March

1931

to completeestablishment.

Appointed Paid L/Sgt . with effect from11th June 1931.

2751290 L/Cpl .

Fachie, P . Promoted

Corporal with effect from11th June 1931.

534258 L/Cpl. Whittingham, T. Appointed Paid L/Cpl . with effect from11th June 1931.

543262 L/Cpl . Hodson . E . Promoted Corporal

with effect from22nd July 1931.

402744 L/Cpl . Davis . W . Appointed

Paid

L/Cpl .

with

effectfrom 22nd July 1931.

546680 L/Cpl . Duffield, A . Appointed Paid L/Cpl . with effect from1st July 1931.

547715 - L/CpL Mulligan, E . Appointed Paid L/Cpl . with effect from22nd July 1931.

402297 Tpr . Davies. A . J . Appointed Unpaid L/Cpls . . with effect546951 Tpr . Smith \V . J . from 24th July 1931.

399209 Tpr . McBride, C .

. ..402337 Tpr . Dewsnap, W . . . . Appointed Unpaid L/Cpls ., with

effect402679 Tpr. Waymouth, P . from 4th August 1931.402724 Tpr . Smith, G.543225 Cpl . Upshall . R . Appointed Paid L/Sgt . with effect from

29th August 1931 .

EXTENTION OF SERVICE.

The undermentioned N . C. O. extendedhis service beyond 21 years until 17th May1933 :

315000 F/Sgt . Lewsley, W .

OBITUARY.

The Commanding Officer deeply regretsto announce the death of the undermention-ed man who died in the British MilitaryHospital Meerut on 4th July, 1931 :

402470 Tpr . Robson, R.


82

Editor :

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THE ROYAL SOLDIERS' DAUGHTERS' HOMEINSTITUTED 1855

HAMPSTEAD

INCORPORATED 1923

For the Maintenance, Clothing and Education of Daughters of Soldiers (whether Orphans or not).

Patrons :

H. M . THE KING

~

H . M . THE QUEEN.

President and Patron :

FIELD-MARSHAL. H. R. H . THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT, K .G.

Vice-President :

GENERAL . THE RT. HON. SIR NEVILLE LYTTELTON, G.C.B ., G .C .V .O.

Vice-President and Chairman :

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Secretary :

MAJOR H . S. MARSHALL, D .s .o.

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1931c September 10H Gazette - Major Roland...

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