Highland Light Infantry

“ Then we all stood ready, rifles loaded and bayonets fixed, denied cigarettes or conversation, lest our positions be given away to an approaching enemy, who would not naturally be familiar with them as he would in trench warfare, while the horizon in front of us grew lighter, till at last the desolate world revealed itself, empty as ever and, to the jaundiced eye of a fasting man, utterly abominable. ”

“ Next day the light infantry were sent out to dislodge a party of the enemy from a wood opposite the British left. A smart action ensued, and, the enemy pushing forward reinforcements, the Highlanders were sent to support the light infantry. The Americans were then driven back to their entrenchments; but they renewed the attack with an increased force, and were again repulsed with considerable loss. The British had 14 men killed, and 5 officers and 70 men wounded. The 42d had 1 sergeant and 5 privates killed ”

“ But we forgot the war, as too often in our ideal outlook we did.
"'Fall out ... the 17th Highland Light Infantry....' That was at No. 6 Camp, Calais, in the chill dusk of 6th February, 1918. Back from Blighty leave, as the news spread, we took it philosophically—the old Battalion had been disbanded, and scattered to various sister battalions. Here we were, practically all the originals to the number of about 50, the sole remnants of 26 months of war, welcomed back to France for the second time, but not to the Seventeenth; orphans to be adopted by strange parents. ”

“ Training was over. Few will forget the brave skirl of the pipes as the Battalion swung home in the morning from Yarnbury Castle, file after file silhouetted against the orange and gold of the rising sun. Always, when the wind blows fresh and sweet in the morning, those who are left of those happy times will think of Codford, the "jumping off place" of the Seventeenth for France.
The following message of God-speed and goodwill was received by the Battalion as part of the 32nd Division before setting out:—
"17th Service Battalion Highland Light Infantry. ”

“ Reinforcements were now reaching the Modder River force, which made it more formidable than when it had started. A very essential addition was that of the 12th Lancers and of G battery of Horse Artillery, which would increase the mobility of the force and make it possible for the General to follow up a blow after he had struck it. The magnificent regiments which formed the Highland Brigade—the 2nd Black Watch, the 1st Gordons, the 2nd Seaforths, and the 1st Highland Light Infantry had arrived under the gallant and ill-fated Wauchope. ”

“ For twenty hours those men, in their tropical kit, endured the enemy's sniping and machine-gun firing, and the bitter cold and hunger and misery, hearing in the early morning the wind-borne chimes of the chapel bell in Kubeibeh calling the brothers to matins, until dawn found many of them unable to speak. During the night a squadron patrol of Hyderabad Lancers rode across the hills from the 75th Division into our lines, a truly wonderful feat across unknown country held by the enemy. ”

“ MOUTH OF WADI EL ARISH.
But in Brigade night operations platoon commanders and even company commanders and greater men still abandon themselves with the rest to an appalling nightmare of moving in sudden jerks through a gloom full of whispered oaths and the creaking of rifles and of ill-fitting equipment. There are long chilly halts, when the men rub their bare knees to keep them warm or drop into an uneasy doze—then sudden orders passed along in a hoarse undertone, and a frenzied effort to change formation and keep touch with the swaying line. ”

“ The enemy having now exhausted all its efforts, the British, in their turn, advanced. The Seventy-first, in the first instance, suffered much from the fire of some guns that enfiladed its front; these were soon silenced, and the battalion was afterwards left unmolested. In this advance the light brigade captured several guns. Night closed in fast, and the corps rested after this lengthened and sanguinary encounter, the pursuit of the discomfited enemy being committed to the Prussians, under Marshal Blücher, who had arrived on the field of battle in time to decide the defeat of the French. ”

“ General Howard's, or the first brigade, formed the third column, composed of the 50th regiment, the 71st Highland Light Infantry, and the Gordon Highlanders, together with some artillery. These marched by the mountains; the priest acting as their guide to the forts at the bridge of Almarez, which they were ordered to "take at the point of the bayonet." Sir Rowland Hill accompanied them, riding beside the grey padre, who had been accommodated with a mule, with a dozen bells jangling at its bridle. ”

“ A guide would accompany each party and an officer of the Divisional Staff would be with the first party. We must move in absolute silence; no lights or smoking. We would be exposed to shell-fire whenever we passed the crest of the rise from the beach, where we ought to adopt an extended formation. At our destination we would find some trenches, but not sufficient to accommodate the whole Battalion, and it was up to us to lose no time in digging ourselves in.
The C.O. was hustled off with two platoons of "A" Company before these were properly landed. ”

“ Many particularly dislike this impersonal manner of attack; they like their enemy to have his shot at him over his sights—hit or miss, trusting him to miss—and object to a blind bullet fired at someone else—and a very bad shot at that—finding them out in the decent obscurity of reserve lines. But in warfare you cannot even choose how you will be killed.
Darkness fell and we received orders to move up to the southern slope of Lees Hill in support of the 7th and Argylls, who had now definitely taken over from the 155th. ”

“ Company in camp. The other garrisons got into tents which they pitched in the ground behind the redoubts, so that the majority of the men could have shelter by day. At night the trenches were manned, and all was ready for an attack at dawn. But with the exception of some bomb-dropping raids by their planes, the enemy remained passive. The Australian Light Horse reported that he was busy digging in on a line through Oghratina, some miles east of Katia, and we began to think that he intended to put the onus of attacking on to us. ”

“ Just after midnight a general attack of no great weight commenced, but the enemy did not push it home, although the steepness of the sides of the valley prevented the full effect of our artillery fire, and the machine-guns posted in Tahta and firing up the valley made little impression. Soon after 02.00 the enemy attack forced back the right of the line and Colonel Morrison had to throw in the Brigade Reserve Company of the Argylls which the Brigadier had authorised him to use. They recovered the crest of the ridge without opposition or casualty. ”

“ On the 7th the Battalion took over a section of the outpost line and the fatigues slackened off, but most men were still employed for a shift by day in addition to their outpost duties. The covering parties were now pushed further out to protect reconnaissances by senior officers, while in the darkness long camel convoys went out to fill with water the old cisterns which dotted the hills beyond the wadi. The enemy outposts moved forwards at night, and going out at dawn one often saw them withdrawing or watched the distant figures of Turkish cavalry on the sky line towards Mansura. ”

“ Before we left rest camp all ranks underwent two inoculations against cholera.
Early in August we learned that the Brigade would shortly take over the extreme left sector at Fusilier Bluff. After a reconnaissance of the position by Colonel Morrison and the Adjutant, a party of eight officers and sixteen N.C.O.'s went forward on August 6th to spend a night in the new firing line. On the way up, as they were passing along the westmost sector of the Eski line, one of our most promising young N.C.O.'s—Corpl. W. Wood, "D" Company—was killed by a stray bullet. ”

“ The wire prevented a man from sinking into the sand and was comfortable enough to walk on, if one was careful not to catch one's toes. Unfortunately these roads followed and did not precede the force, and the 52nd Division usually formed the leading infantry, with the result that the Battalion never had the advantage of them for a "mobile" until after el Arish was passed, and then only for a few miles.
On December 20th we moved to Kilo 129 and took over a bit of the outpost line from the 6th Manchesters and that evening we occupied the trenches in orderly silence as usual. ”

“ The light company of the Seventy-first was the only part of the regiment engaged, the remainder being employed in manœuvring on the right flank of the French. The light company suffered a trifling loss, having but one man killed and a few wounded. ”

“ It was bitterly cold for bare knees and drill shorts. Several times the curious high-pitched cries with which the Turkish outpost keeps up his courage or reports his whereabouts issued from the darkness in front, but there were no developments, and about 11.30 p.m. unmistakable sounds from the rear announced the fact that the Brigade had arrived. How it was that the Turk did not also hear the inevitable disturbance caused by the arrival of some thousands of men, tool limbers, mules and camels, in utter darkness over unfamiliar and very rough country, will always be a mystery. ”

“ On 3rd May the Battalion relieved the 7th H.L.I. in the front trenches on Lees Hill. Each company held a part of the front line and furnished its own support. The period in the line until relieved by the 7th H.L.I. on 10th May was uneventful. A considerable amount of time was spent in improving the trenches and the occasional light shelling which took place did not do much damage and inflicted no casualties. The Turk it was observed was spending his time in much the same way and at first exposed good targets for our machine-gun fire ”

“ Major Findlay and Captain Townsend were dead on the top of the hill. Major Brand and eight other officers were out of action; 190 men were dead or wounded. The remaining officers decided that it was useless to make any further attack and withdrew to Battalion Headquarters with the remainder of the men. The Argylls and the 6th H.L.I. continued to hold a line farther south on the ridge, but out of immediate touch with the enemy. The Turks still continued their heavy rifle and machine-gun fire but made no attempt to advance. ”

“ At Cannanore their casualties amounted to 67 killed and wounded, including 4 officers. At Dindigul they had lost 23 men, and they had borne their fair share of the hardships and loss at the Siege of Pondicherry, as well as at the capture of the Island of Ceylon.
71st (Highland Light Infantry) .—On January 20, 1837, the 71st and 72nd Regiments were authorized to add this battle honour to those already emblazoned on their colours. No regiment had better earned it than the old Highland Light Infantry. ”

“ This left an unprotected flank to them, as the nearest troops on that flank were the Canadians near Cherisy. Our leading companies ("B" and "C") keeping on our original line of advance came under heavy fire as they crossed the valley of the Sensee river. Captain Fyfe was in command and at once decided to attack the enemy, who were entrenched on the slope facing him behind the Fontaine Crosilles—Crosilles road. Between the road and the river was a line of wire entanglements, and in addition a field-gun was in action against us at point blank range. ”

“ That night the 21st and 23rd London of the 60th Division arrived to take over, and the Battalion moved back through Biddu and Kubeibeh to a rest area below Beit Anan, where No. 1 company had spent such a terrible night on the 20th. Rumours of rest and reserve, of letters and cigarettes, were current. A liberal rum ration added cheerfulness and the Battalion settled down to await relief by a brigade of the 74th Division. Then a long march back and a month of rest and food and sleep would make the men fit for anything. ”

“ On the 18th of October General the Earl Cornwallis with the whole army, made a movement towards Nundydroog, and in the evening of that day the troops were told off for an assault upon the two breaches, which had been pronounced practicable. The attacks commenced at eleven o’clock at night, the grenadiers assaulting the right breach and the light companies the left. The forlorn hope of the right attack consisted of twenty grenadiers, volunteers from the Thirty-sixth and Seventy-first, led by Lieutenant Hugh Mackenzie of the Seventy-first, afterwards for a long time paymaster of the regiment. ”

“ He had trained us in Scotland before and after the outbreak of war; he had commanded us in Gallipoli and in the desert. His love of his Battalion had kept him from going on home leave, and now, after having brought us through the never to be forgotten advance from Gaza to the Auja, and having been in the last engagement of any consequence we had in Palestine, the rigours of the campaign had killed him. One lost many friends and gallant soldiers in the course of the campaign, but the blank left by the death of our honoured Colonel seemed different to all others. ”

“ Night work in this sort of country is always difficult because there are so few landmarks. A Brigade can be moved on a compass bearing with every chance of success if the mover has the necessary elementary knowledge. But the commander of a smaller unit, say a platoon, going to or returning from a certain place in the dark, rarely has any knowledge of the right bearing to work on, and if the night is cloudy, he is surrounded by a Stygian darkness in which he soon feels a little doubtful of his uncharted way. ”