My own part in the Great War ended early in September 1915, and the share taken by the Indian Corps as part of the Army which attacked at and north of Loos (prior to its final departure from France) can only be told as I have gathered it from records and letters received by me; but my information is derived from the most authentic sources and may be taken as absolutely correct. I should not consider this book complete without giving in some detail an account of the last, but by no means the least, of the fights waged by the Indians in Flanders. More especially do I deem it an honour to do this, as the command had devolved, on my own recommendation, on my friend, Lieut.-General Sir Charles Anderson, K.C.B., one of the most earnest fighting soldiers.

Moreover, certain Indian battalions took part in it which had joined just prior to, or immediately after, my departure. Like every other unit of the Corps, I had known and served with them in India, and it is a source of pleasure to record, as far as I can in a bald statement of facts, the part they played in the closing scenes of the drama of the soldiers of Hindustan. I had been partly instrumental in making the preliminary preparations for this battle, and therefore am in a position to understand thoroughly what occurred.

The events as they actually took place have convinced those who knew what was being done that the task assigned to the Indian Corps was, under the circumstances, a hopeless one, unless the wind and weather were both favourable for the use of gas, of which we understood but little at that time.

I had originally selected as the objective of the Corps the very same front it finally attacked, and had laid my plans before the Army Commander. A German deserter had, however, come in and stated that his own side was preparing a gas attack on the self-same front, and I had been ordered to select another portion of the German line on which to direct our assault. Later, a heavy fire had been kept up to detect if possible whether there was any collection of gas cylinders or apparatus in the vicinity; the deserter’s report had been found to be untrue and I had been ordered to hold to my original plan again; but as the operation depended mainly on the successful use of gas, I had made certain suggestions in case of a failure of cylinders, or an ill turn of luck in wind and weather at the last moment.

Those who may read this story will at least see that my ideas were not only not groundless, but that, as I had deemed possible, the supply of gas was eventually merely a trifle of what had been planned—160 cylinders instead of the 1100 calculated—and of the 160 in the trenches only 30 could be discharged before the wind veered. The gas, moreover, had no effect on the enemy, as was proved after our first advance, whilst it very seriously hampered our own troops.

The end of a year of trench warfare, and the deterioration of Indian units as compared with our original battalions, was not the time to call on them to carry out such an attack, unless they were to be amply supported by guns, and of these I was very short. Given these and favourable conditions for the use of gas, much might have been done which the shortage of the former and handicap (as it turned out) of the latter made an impossible task. It is true that the push was only a subsidiary one, and designed to hold the enemy in its front and thus prevent him from sending assistance farther south; but distinct objectives had been assigned; and, even so, there is reason in all things, and in my opinion, as originally designed and as we were supposed to carry it out, there was not the slightest chance of our gaining our objective or retaining it if gained, whilst there was the certainty of very heavy losses amongst men who had already cheerfully made immense sacrifices for Great Britain.

I will not enter into the operations of the British Army as a whole; suffice it to say that the First Army assumed the offensive on September the 25th, and the orders for the attack of the Indian Corps, amongst others, were based on the following instructions:

The Army Corps south of the La Bassée Canal were to advance eastward to the line Pont-à-Vendin-Bauvin. The Corps north of the Canal were to engage the enemy vigorously and to prevent him from withdrawing troops for a counter-attack. Wherever the enemy gave ground he was to be followed up with the greatest energy.

The Second Division was to assault the enemy’s trenches at Givenchy and to attack Canteleux; the Third Corps to assault the enemy’s line near Bridoux with a view to eventually effecting a junction on the Aubers Ridge with the Indian Corps.

The Indian Corps was to capture the enemy’s trenches in the vicinity of the Moulin du Piètre and to take advantage of any weakening of the enemy on its front, so as to secure the high ground about Haut Pommereau and La Cliqueterie Ferme. The attack was to be made by the Meerut Division, then commanded by Major-General Jacob, promoted from Brigadier Dehra Dun Brigade. The first objective was to secure and consolidate a line of a road which ran through Mauquissart to an enemy salient. Every opportunity was to be seized of pushing farther forward to gain the high ground about La Cliqueterie Ferme.

Detailed orders were also issued for the Lahore and Nineteenth Divisions.

In the event of the enemy showing signs of weakening, the Lahore Division was to attack and capture the Bois du Biez. Similarly, the Nineteenth Division was to be prepared to extend any success gained by the Second Division by advancing against the southern end of the Rue d’Ouvert. The Artillery bombardment was ordered to commence on September 21st, and continue day and night under instructions issued.

If the wind was favourable the attacks of the Second Division and of the Meerut Division were to be preceded by gas and smoke. The Lahore and Nineteenth Divisions were to assist with smoke barrages.

The Lahore Division was directed to put up a smoke barrage on the southern flank of the Meerut Division.

The Meerut Division was to arrange a similar barrage on its northern flank.

A mine was to be exploded under a designated enemy salient two minutes before gas was turned on.

The attack was to be preceded by a four days’ deliberate bombardment by the Meerut Divisional Artillery, reinforced by No. 4 Group, H.A.R., one Brigade R.F.A., from Lahore Division, one 3-pr. Hotchkiss gun on trailer, and an armoured train. The assault was to be supported by the above Artillery, and was to be carried out by the Garhwal Brigade on the right, with the Bareilly Brigade on the left; the Dehra Dun Brigade in Divisional reserve.

The troops were to be formed up by midnight 24th-25th September.

Garhwal Brigade.—Three assaulting battalions (3rd Gurkha Rifles on the right, Leicesters in the centre, and 8th Gurkha Rifles on the left) from Sunken Street to sixty yards north of South Moated Grange Street.

One battalion (1/3rd Londons) on the front line from Duck’s Bill to Sunken Street.

Garhwal Rifles in the Home Counties Trench.

Bareilly Brigade.—Three assaulting battalions (1/4th Black Watch on the right, 69th Punjabis in the centre, and 2nd Black Watch on the left) from sixty yards north of South Moated Grange Street to Winchester Street.

The 33rd Punjabis were in the Home Counties Trench, etc.

The 58th Rifles were in Tilleloy trench.

Dehra Dun Brigade.—In Divisional reserve.

One battalion (2nd Gurkha Rifles) south of Moated Grange Street.

The 1st Seaforths north of Moated Grange Street.

1/4th Seaforths in Rouge Croix East Post, etc.

The 9th Gurkhas in Min and Rugby Posts and in Bacquerot Street.

The 93rd Burma Infantry in Carter’s Post.

Owing to the uncertainty whether atmospheric conditions would admit of gas being used, two programmes for the assault were drawn up.

Programme “A.”—To be followed if gas and smoke were to be employed.

Programme “B.”—To be followed if gas and smoke were not to be employed.

In both programmes the first objective of all assaulting battalions was the enemy’s front and support lines.

As soon as the assault began, troops were to move up to replace those who had gone forward, the Divisional reserve going to Home Counties Trench, etc. This reserve was not to move farther forward without the orders of the Division.

Three companies 34th Pioneers and half of the 20th Company Sappers and Miners were placed at the disposal of Meerut Division for the first day of the operations.

Our wire entanglement was cleared by the assaulting Brigades during the days prior to the attack, the outer fringe being left till the night of the 24th-25th September.

Each man of the attacking Infantry carried two sandbags and two gas helmets.

The Lahore Division on the right and the Twentieth British Division on the left were to cover the flanks of our advance by fire, and after the front trenches were taken these Divisions were to send troops to hold the trenches opposite their respective fronts, and so protect our flanks in the advance beyond the German support line.

The deliberate Artillery bombardment commenced on the 21st September, and the results proved generally satisfactory. By the evening of the 24th the enemy’s wire entanglements in front of their front line were reported to have been cut, with the exceptions where this could not be done owing to trees. This bombardment was accompanied by rifle, rifle-grenade, machine-gun, and trench-mortar fire from the front line, and by indirect machine-gun fire from points in rear of the front line. This fire was kept up day and night in order to prevent the enemy effecting any repairs. There was not much retaliation on the part of the Germans during the period of bombardment, and what there was did little damage and caused few casualties.

Special instructions were issued to the Dehra Dun Brigade, which was in Divisional reserve. The object aimed at was to ensure this Brigade being concentrated and ready to move quickly in any direction required.

From 6 P.M., 23rd September, when the Brigades commenced to move to their positions of assembly, the weather became wet and inclement. This made the trenches difficult, and by the evening of the 25th September a foot of water was standing in many of them.

Part of the Brigades got into position during the day of the 24th. The smoke and gas detachments were in their places by 6 P.M., and all troops were in their positions of assembly before midnight.

At 10.15 P.M. orders were received by the Meerut Division that Programme “A” was to be followed, i.e. the employment of gas and smoke.

During the night the wind was changeable, veering round from south to south-west.

About 4.40 A.M., 25th September, an enemy bomb burst in the Duck’s Bill, smashing two gas cylinders, and the officer in charge of the operations there and several of his detachment were gassed. A considerable number of men of the 1/3rd Londons, who formed the garrison of the Duck’s Bill, were also incapacitated.

The mine exploded to time, and it was ascertained later that the crater formed was 92 feet across. The charge was one ton of gun-cotton.

At 5.50 A.M. the gas should have commenced, but at that hour it was practically calm, and what wind there was made it unsafe to let it off in certain bays. In these bays the men of the detachments, on their own initiative, did not turn it on. Soon after the first cocks were turned on, a gust of wind from the south-east turned the gas into our own trenches. All gas was immediately turned off, the detachments doing this on their own initiative, but considerable quantities entered our own trenches and caused many casualties in the 2nd Black Watch on the leeward of our front.

The intensive bombardment commenced at 5.50 A.M. and was satisfactory, the field guns and the Hotchkiss gun in the front parapet participating.

The Infantry began to cross the parapet just before the assault, under cover of the smoke and of the Artillery bombardment, the Artillery lifting 100 yards and increasing their rate of fire, so as to conceal the increase of range and prevent the enemy realising that the assault was about to commence. This, combined with the smoke, had the desired effect, as the enemy was not expecting the assault at the moment it was delivered, and there was practically no hostile fire while the assaulting troops crossed the ground between the two front lines.

At 6 A.M. the assault commenced. Dense clouds of smoke, the result of the barrage on the right or south flank, travelling in a north-easterly direction made observation difficult, and caused some confusion and mistakes in direction. The Garhwal Brigade got up to the German wire, which was found to be impassable opposite the 3rd Gurkha Rifles and the right of the Leicesters. There the lanes cut by our Artillery had been filled up during the night with rolls of French wire. This stopped the assault sufficiently to give the enemy time to man his parapets and prevent these troops making good the attack. The left of the Leicesters and the 2/8th Gurkhas, however, found the wire destroyed and penetrated into the enemy’s line.

In front of the Bareilly Brigade the wire had been destroyed by our Artillery and all three battalions got into the enemy’s trenches with slight opposition. On the left, the Black Watch had to go through our own gas, which the wind had not been strong enough to disperse, and suffered more casualties. This battalion was not free from the vapour until it got into the enemy’s lines. The smoke clouds, which the calmness and dampness of the day had turned into thick fog, prevented observation and hid guiding landmarks, and considerable intermingling of units occurred after the assault. Communication also was difficult, as the lines laid in advance of our front parapet by the assaulting Infantry and the R.A. officers accompanying them were continually being cut. This was especially the case with the Infantry communications, and the earliest information was obtained from Artillery Observation officers, which proved generally reliable.

Writing as I am for the first time of a battle when I was not in command of my Corps, I am tempted to describe from reports the gallantry of units and individuals well known to me, but I will refrain, and refer the reader to that interesting book, The Indian Corps in France, wherein he will find recorded the deeds of officers and men who on this day, although unsuccessful in completing the impossible task assigned to them, added brilliant pages to their regimental records.

The names of such officers as Colonel Brakspear, Lieutenants Bagot-Chester, Tyson, and Wood, of the 2/3rd Gurkhas, form a roll of honour not to be forgotten, and greatest of all in that fine battalion stands out Rifleman Kulbir Thapa, who on this day added the fifth and last Victoria Cross won in France by the men from Hindustan.

And what of the 8th Gurkhas who had begun the war on that bleak 30th day of October 1914 before Festubert? The old battalion had practically disappeared, but although no longer the Corps that had suffered so terribly in those early days, it was determined to leave its mark deep cut on the soil of Flanders. Colonel Morris, the C.O., already severely wounded nearly a year previously, paid with his life. Add to his the names of Lieutenant Ryall of his own battalion and of the following attached officers: Lieutenants Taylor (1st Brahmins), Inglis, and Meldrum, of the Indian Army Reserve of officers, all of whom were killed, as well as four others wounded and eight Indian officers and 460 rank and file killed, wounded, and missing, and one may well pronounce that the 8th Gurkhas indeed did their duty and found their Valhalla.

I had left France; I knew of the “mentions in despatches,” but I searched in vain for any rewards given to the British officers of this and many other Indian battalions who fought round Mauquissart on that day.

The 2nd Leicesters, as they had ever done, fought with the stubborn pride of race they had so often displayed; no need to say more. Over seventy were killed, including Captain Romilly, of whom I told at Neuve Chapelle, and Lieutenant Browne. Here, too, fell a good soldier, of that brave but merciful band the Royal Army Medical Corps, Captain Deane, attached for duty. He had already earned the Military Cross, and died as he had lived, “going about doing good.” I hope I shall not be accused of aiding our next enemy when I give them my advice, viz. “Keep out of the way of the Leicesters.”

Second Lieutenant Gedge of the 3rd Londons, one of the battalions in Brigade reserve, was killed. Another of these units, the Garhwal Rifles, had seventy casualties. The Garhwalis had established a grand reputation, but were by this time unrecognisable in their old form, and in finally passing out of this record I can say without fear of contradiction that they left a name which will be held in high esteem by all who ever knew them in France, and not least by the Germans. The last name mentioned to me after the Indians had left France was that of Lieutenant Rama Jodha Jang, who behaved right well on this day and was awarded the Military Cross.

By 6.30 A.M. our Infantry were reported to have penetrated into the enemy’s position as far as the support line all along the front attacked; the Germans were reported to be surrendering freely, and there was little hostile Infantry or Artillery fire.

Shortly after, the Twentieth British Division informed Meerut Division that the Sixtieth Brigade had been ordered to advance at once to protect the left flank of the Indian attack.

From all indications it appeared now as if we had captured the German front and support trenches along the whole of the front attacked, and that the left of the Bareilly Brigade was pushing forward towards the German second line, but subsequently it was found that the situation was actually as follows:

On the right the Garhwal Brigade was held up by wire, but the 8th Gurkhas and one company Leicesters on the left had penetrated the German position.

Of the Bareilly Brigade, the 1/4th Black Watch had gone through the enemy’s front system and had moved forward considerably beyond the line assigned to them as their first objective, and were digging themselves in opposite the enemy second line. The 69th Punjabis were pressing forward mixed up with the 58th Rifles and the 2nd Black Watch. One company, together with one from each of the 58th Rifles and 33rd Punjabis, were consolidating the position gained. The Black Watch, less two companies, which were blocking the trenches to the north, were advancing against the German second line of trenches, about the Moulin du Piètre. The 58th Rifles were pressing forward with the Black Watch and 69th Punjabis. The 33rd Punjabis were in our proper front line. The Garhwal Rifles had been delayed in their advance to our front line owing to congestion in the trenches, caused principally by the number of men suffering from the effects of our gas, and were still in their original position. Lastly, the Dehra Dun Brigade had commenced to concentrate forward.

The enemy’s guns were active at this hour, and there was much intermixture of units, loss of direction, and confusion.

The consolidation of the captured trenches was not sufficiently considered, in the anxiety of all ranks to take advantage of the weakness of the opposition where we had penetrated the position. The Bareilly Brigade had passed over its first objective, and the flanks were dangerously exposed, especially as the attack of the Garhwal Brigade on its right had been held up. The natural anxiety to press our advantage led the 58th Rifles to advance on its own initiative, but I will later on more fully refer to this incident.

By 8 A.M. the Divisional Commander had learned that the Garhwal Brigade had been unable to enter the enemy’s front trenches, and the following was the situation:

In this Brigade there was no correct information of the 3rd Gurkhas. The Leicesters were held up by wire, but one company had penetrated the German line and half of the 8th Gurkhas were in the German trenches. The other half had lost direction and were intermingled with the right of the Bareilly Brigade.

The Bareilly Brigade was making rapid progress. The 69th Punjabis and 4th Black Watch had taken the German first-line and support trenches. On the left of the attack the 2nd Black Watch had passed all the advanced trenches and were moving on the Moulin du Piètre. In support of this battalion the 58th Rifles were also moving forward. In fact, the entire Brigade had advanced so rapidly that their position was not fully realised. Unfortunately, the captured support line was not consolidated, owing to the companies detailed for this work having joined in the general advance and left the work uncompleted. Except in officers, however, the casualties so far had not been heavy.

Shortly after this hour it was reported that the enemy was massing in front of the Black Watch, and our guns were immediately turned on to the Moulin du Piètre. At the same time two companies of the 33rd Punjabis were moved forward to support the 69th Punjabis, and six machine-guns were sent to support the Black Watch and 58th Rifles in the mine salient.

At 8.15 A.M. this same day, 25th September, the Dehra Dun Brigade was ordered to move up one battalion in close support of the Garhwal Brigade. This battalion was to remain under the orders of the Dehra Dun Brigade.

About 9 A.M. the Corps Commander directed the Dehra Dun Brigade to be pushed through the gap made in the German line and attack towards the high ground between Haut Pommereau and La Cliqueterie Ferme. Half an hour later five field batteries from rearward positions commenced to move forward to the east of the Rue du Bacquerot, and at the same time the Bareilly Brigade confirmed the report that the Black Watch and the 58th Rifles had captured portions of the German second line but that the enemy still held the Moulin du Piètre. Casualties were reported as slight, and the O.C. 58th Rifles was of opinion that the Haut Pommereau Ridge could be won if fresh units were pushed through.

By 9 A.M. the Pioneers had commenced work on communication trenches under considerable machine-gun and rifle fire. Before this work had to be discontinued about 100 yards of fire trench had been completed. The party at work on No. 2 trench also suffered considerably from hostile fire and hand-grenades, but it had completed about 130 yards of traversed trench before it had to retire. No work was possible on two other communication trenches; whilst the party on No. 4 trench continued work till 1.15 P.M. under constant fire.

The Garhwal Rifles could not carry out the fresh attack as planned for them, as they were unable to get forward out of the communication trenches, which had become very congested in their neighbourhood.

The general situation of the Bareilly Brigade remained as before. The few officers left were endeavouring to reorganise the units and to guard their flanks. On the right flank the 4th Black Watch were being echeloned back towards the left of the Garhwal Brigade in order to protect the right flank of the Bareilly Brigade.

Major Wauchope, commanding the 2nd Black Watch, made over to the 12th Rifle Brigade of the 60th British Brigade on our left the trenches which the two companies of the Black Watch had been consolidating, and arranged for the party to extend along a ditch to join up with the 58th Rifles. The remainder of the Bareilly Brigade gradually collected in the German second line, where there seem to have been great congestion and heavy losses, owing to the dense target offered to the enemy. It is impossible to establish the hour at which these various actions took place, as most of the officers responsible for them were killed or wounded.

Captain Hewett of the 41st Dogras, on the Staff of the Bareilly Brigade, was killed during the fighting. Like nearly every officer of the Indian Army who served on the Staff in France, he had won his own way by sheer merit.

But now a change came over the hitherto successful operations. After mid-day, Artillery Observation officers reported that a good many men were to be seen coming back, and being rallied in an old German trench; and by 1 P.M. all our troops had fallen back to their original line.

The enemy’s counter-attacks had developed at about 11.30 A.M. and were pressed home strongly and methodically against the front and both flanks. The front was able to hold its ground without difficulty, but on the flanks the enemy established a decided ascendancy in bombing. On our right flank the Germans outlasted our various parties with their grenade-throwing, and successively obtained the mastery of one point after another. The blocking of the trenches was ineffective after our supply of bombs was finished, and, although the men made a series of stands during the retirement, they were unable to maintain any position for long, as the Germans came bombing up from trenches on either flank.

On our left the Rifle Brigade (British Division) was unable to hold the “blocks” made by the 2nd Black Watch, as their supply of bombs also ran short very quickly.

With both flanks turned, the whole of the Bareilly Brigade had to fall back.

In the rapidity of their advance our troops had not systematically searched the enemy front-line dug-outs, and a considerable number of Germans remained in them and fired into the backs of our men, evidently singling out officers in particular, as the loss in officers was very heavy.

When it was established that the Bareilly Brigade had fallen back, the attack by the Dehra Dun Brigade, which was to have been directed against Haut Pommereau, was cancelled, and that Brigade was ordered to gain touch with the troops who were believed to be still holding out in the German trenches. Accordingly, the G.O.C. Bareilly and Dehra Dun Brigades proceeded to Winchester Road to discover whether the report was true, and to determine the best line on which the Dehra Dun Brigade should carry out its advance. One company of the 2nd Gurkhas and two companies of the Garhwal Rifles which attempted to cross to the German line were driven back by heavy fire from all parts of that line, and this showed that the German front line was held in strength, and that none of our troops were now holding any part of it.

At 4.45 P.M. the G.O.C. Indian Corps issued definite orders cancelling the attack being organised by the Dehra Dun Brigade. The fighting along our front practically ceased, and for the last time the Indian Corps had borne its share in one of the many fierce battles on the Western Front.

As I said before, I am writing this chapter from reports and letters in my possession, and hence it is not the same thing as describing events in which one has borne a part, but in many instances the records of battalions and even individuals have become almost public property, and of such I feel I may justly give some account.

The 2nd Battalion of the Black Watch was well known to me and had served under my orders as a Brigadier, Divisional and Army Commander in India and for a year during the war. I was well acquainted with the Commanding Officer, Colonel Harvey, who was now in command of the Dehra Dun Brigade. The actual Commander on this day was Major Wauchope, D.S.O., who had served with them for years, and who afterwards commanded a Brigade in Mesopotamia. Where Wauchope rules all is well, and on the 25th September he and his Highlanders well sustained the name of that famous corps before Mauquissart.

Many had been disabled at the very commencement of the attack by our own gas, but the spirit which never acknowledges difficulties permeated all ranks, and the Royal Highlanders, as they had done from Seringapatam to Waterloo, and from the Alma to Lucknow and Tel-el-Kebir, sweeping away all opposition, were almost into the Moulin du Piètre before they realised that they had not only gained their objective but were far (too far) beyond it. Not finding the necessary support to enable them to advance, the Battalion held on to its gains, but eventually had to retire. Bombed, mangled, and attacked on both flanks they moved back, but only over the bodies of their comrades did the Huns advance; only after paying a heavy toll could the enemy regain his ground, and only after desperate fighting would the Scots quit each yard of trench. It had to be done, but the name Moulin du Piètre is worthy to be added to the other twenty-eight borne on the colours which commemorate gallant deeds performed from Guadeloupe, 1759, to Paardeberg 140 years later. The losses suffered amounted to 360 killed, wounded, and missing, including sixteen officers out of the twenty with which the Battalion went into battle, and of these five were killed, viz. Captain Denison, a young officer of quite exceptional promise; Lieutenants Sotheby, Henderson, Balfour-Melville, and MacLeod.

The halo of the 2nd Battalion had also encircled its sister Battalion of the Brigade, viz. the 4th Black Watch—Territorials to start with, but veterans in September 1915. I can see the C.O., Lieut.-Colonel Walker, leading on his men, for this he literally did. Major Tosh was near him and fell; a sergeant quickly tried to save him, but in vain. The bayonet avenged his and many other losses, and the 4th Black Watch, like the 2nd Battalion, looking only forward, pushed on regardless of all but the Mill before them. Dearly they paid, but the glory they won will assuredly live when the Moulin du Piètre will remain only a spot marked on old maps of the Great War. The Commander, Lieut.-Colonel Walker, his Second in Command, and a young officer, 2nd Lieut. Anderson, were killed, seventeen other officers were reported as wounded or missing, or a total of twenty out of twenty-one officers present that day; and 420 other ranks completed the casualty roll.

Like the Highlanders, the 69th Punjabis never stayed their rush till the prize, the Moulin, was almost within their grasp, but they too were to earn renown alone. When the fate of war overtook the others, the 69th also retired fighting. The Commander, Major Stansfeld (attached from the 74th Punjabis), was killed, and Captain Nelson, Lieutenants Moberly and Fraser also gave their lives; whilst three Indian officers and seventy others were killed or missing. Amongst the wounded were four British and six Indian officers and 260 others, or a total of over 50 per cent of strength present.

Captain Nelson was attached from the 3rd Brahmins. We had spent three very good days together shooting and fishing on the Ganges Canal eighteen months previously, and I had been much struck by his keenness and zeal in whatever he put his hand to. Major Bingham behaved with great coolness throughout this day, but I could find no record of rewards for the officers.

Of my good friend, Colonel Davidson-Houston, 58th Rifles (Frontier Force), I have written elsewhere. His battalion, in support of the Black Watch, cared for naught, like its comrades, save the fatal Moulin. On that all eyes were bent, and it must be won at any cost. The oft-repeated injunctions of the First Army to push on regardless of side issues had burnt into the souls of men who had for a whole year tasted the fruits of success and failure in varying degrees.

The 58th pushed on, and a part found themselves close up to the Mill; the remainder met with the same counter-attacks as the rest of the advance; they held on to their gains and consolidated as much as possible, but eventually were forced to retire to our own original line. Amongst the killed or missing were Colonel Davidson-Houston, Captains Flagg, Harcourt, McKenzie, and Lieutenants Nicolls, Deane-Spread (Indian Army Reserve of Officers, attached), and Milligan. Captain C. G. Wardell (21st Punjabis, attached) was severely wounded. Five Indian officers and 240 other ranks completed the roll of casualties.

As an example of the inferno through which the troops went on this day, I will instance the doings of Captain Wardell above mentioned. At the very start he was knocked over by the explosion of a shell close by; almost immediately a bullet smashed his water-bottle and a second one cut away the straps. In moving up to form a defensive flank in the second German line captured trenches he lost a good many men getting through uncut wire. Units in the front line were by this time indescribably mixed up; there were too many men, and very few officers left. An hour later a bullet cut the strap of his field-glasses and another smashed the glasses in his hand. A third passed through his lung, injuring several ribs and emerging through his coat pocket, but such was the situation that each and every British officer must perforce fight on, so a fresh pair of glasses was got, and whilst he was observing as best he could another bullet passed through his shoulder. Bleeding and sorely hurt as he was, I have been told on good authority that this brave officer remained with his command until sent back on a stretcher by his Colonel.

I looked for any rewards to British officers of this battalion, but I could find none.

The last of the Indian battalions to join the Corps in France, and the last of which I shall write here, was the 33rd Punjabis. They had arrived the very day after I left, and were not long before, in their reconstituted form, they too had received their baptism of fire. The same goal was theirs, the same vicinity of the Moulin was to be the last resting-place of many of the men from the land of the Five Rivers, and as their comrades had fought, so now did they share in the glory and carnage of the strife.

As a Captain and Staff-Officer at Delhi I had been present when the old 33rd Regiment of “Bengal Infantry” was mustered out, and the “33rd Punjabi Mahomedans” took their place. I had again seen them at Delhi, when commanding the Northern Army, and I only missed them by a day in Flanders. They may rest content in the knowledge that although the last to join the Corps they were not the least in the share they took on 25th September 1915, before Mauquissart, and to this fact their long list of casualties attests. Killed and missing—Major Kelly, Captains Price and MacCall, Lieutenant Grasett (attached from 28th Punjabis). The Commanding Officer, Colonel Ridgway, and Captain Vincent were wounded. Five Indian officers were also killed or missing and three were wounded, a total of fourteen officers all told. Of other ranks eighty-seven were killed or missing and 160 wounded. The senior Indian officer, Subadar-Major Bahadur Khan, and the senior Jemadar, Akbar Ali, were among the killed.

General Jacob in his report on these operations made the following remarks, which explain some of the reasons for the failure of the Indian Corps to retain the ground it had won. He says:

It was unfortunate that the wind, changing at the last moment, blew the gas back on to our own trenches, ... men under the influence of gas seemed to lose all sense of direction, and some are said to have charged down between the German and our own front lines until stopped by the Duck’s Bill.

After highly praising the keenness, spirit, élan, and dash shown by all units, he adds:

The charge made by the 2/8th Gurkhas and the 2nd Leicesters of the Garhwal Brigade and by the 2nd Black Watch, 69th Punjabis, and 1/4th Black Watch of the Bareilly Brigade could not have been finer.

He explains how some of the attacking battalions in their eagerness to move on exceeded the limits of ordinary prudence and went too far, with the result that they were cut off and many valuable lives lost, and attributes the immediate success of the German counter-attack largely to their superiority in bombs and to our own supply entirely running out.

Regarding the action of the 58th Rifles; from the information now available, it would appear that the opinions formed by both the Divisional and Brigade Commanders at the time are quite open to explanation. These officers considered that the advance of the 58th was premature, but in The Indian Corps in France, on page 451 (second edition), is given Brigadier-General Wauchope’s (then a Major in the 2nd Black Watch) opinion, and I have no doubt that both Generals Jacob and Norie agree with it.

In any case, it is to all of us who knew Colonel Davidson-Houston, the Commander of the 58th Vaughan’s Rifles, a certainty, that in giving his orders for the battalion to advance, he acted either on some information which we shall never know, or because he considered it imperative he should do so, even if contrary to his instructions. Such faults, if faults they be, are a credit to those who will take the responsibility, and I can well imagine my friend as he took it on this day. He was a C.O. so devoted to the men he commanded and so absorbed in his regiment that more than once his actions were misunderstood whilst in France. On one occasion it was my good fortune to stand by him, when some very high personages differed from us both on a question of vital interest to the Indians. We went to, and left the stormy meeting together, and somehow I felt we had “learned them” something they did not know before. Davidson-Houston was indeed “a veray parfit gentil Knight.” His character partook of manly physical bravery, tempered with a fine discretion when he had to consider others. He never asked any man to do what he was not ready to do himself if necessary.

Both the Corps and Divisional Commanders mentioned in terms of high praise the work and devotion to duty of the Technical troops, the Pioneers, and Sappers and Miners. The medical branch of the Corps received the credit which all ranks had well earned, as did the Staff, each and every one of whom was known to me.

It was pleasant to read in the report on this battle mention made for the first time in France, by the Army Commander, of the “Indian Corps” by name.

Shortly after this battle, rumours were rife, that the Corps would not remain another winter in France, and before the end of November the entire Indian personnel had left this theatre of war.