With the Indians in France

FACING PAGE Country adjoining Indian Corps Front 75 Dispositions of Meerut Division near Givenchy _Page_ 165 Neuve Chapelle, March 10–13, 1915 234 Movements of Lahore Division b...

On the 5th September 1914 I was quartered at Murree in the Punjab, and within a few days of finishing my four years’ tenure of command of the Northern Army in India, when the go...

The decision to send Indian troops to France was at first limited to sending two Divisions with their artillery and other arms, and it was not till these had actually begun to l...

From General Headquarters I proceeded to my billet at Merville for the night, and was met by the Frenchman, his wife and children, in whose house I was quartered. The room had o...

Before describing the events in which the Lahore Division, the first to arrive on the scene of action, took part, north of La Bassée, it is well to take a look at some of the Co...

The doings of the Ferozepore Brigade only have so far been narrated, and it is time to describe the actions of the Lahore Division farther south. At the time I write of General...

I have told the story of the Indian Corps up to the date of the arrival of the Meerut Division on the British Front. This Division began its experiences in the trenches on the 2...

October had ended with some exciting episodes in the Indian Corps; November had been ushered in with a fresh attack, and all classes of the troops, British and Indian, were dest...

On the 9th November 1914 the right of the Indian Corps was still just north of Givenchy and in touch with the French. On this day our Allies projected some move, and I was asked...

The Army Corps was now on the eve of its first considerable fight. Signs were not wanting that the Germans meant to break into, or through, a portion of our line, and the fighti...

The fighting east of Festubert had been full of incidents which furnished us with useful material for future operations. The German strength directly opposite the Corps at this...

Before beginning the story of the Lahore Division’s share in this fighting, it is well to state that the Indian Corps had received meantime two notable additions to its strength...

The narrative of the Lahore Division brought us to after mid-day of the 20th December, at which hour the 129th Baluchis, on the left of the Ferozepore Brigade covering Givenchy,...

When I look back on those winter days of 1914–15 I recall the names of many of our great Indian soldiers, and it comes home vividly how much they had done for our power in the E...

On the 27th February 1915 I arrived in England on ten days’ leave, my first from France, and as I had not been home for over two years it was a pleasant prospect. I did not, how...

At the end of February 1915 Sir John French had come to a happy decision and that was to attack the enemy at some selected point. I cannot enter here into the reasons, or discus...

The attack of the Dehra Dun Brigade was to have been renewed at 7 A.M. on the 11th March and all orders had been issued. By 6.30 A.M. the Jalandar Brigade had commenced to arriv...

Neuve Chapelle will always remain a great name with Indians, for they fought right gallantly; they fought as a Corps, with a definite objective, and they gained a decided victor...

On the 22nd April 1915 I visited the town of Ypres, as a guest of General Alderson, commanding the Canadian Division. From his Headquarters I went on to Potijze, and from a towe...

At 9.30 A.M., 27th April, a copy of the French Operation Orders was received from Second Army. From these it became apparent that the French were to continue the offensive both...

On every occasion the Corps had so far been called on to take part in any definite operation, I had felt sure it would acquit itself well, and had cause for satisfaction. But by...

If for no other reason than for the sake of being alive to read the monumental history of Armageddon, I wish I were young again. How atomic appears one’s own humble share in the...

From the finish of the battle of Festubert until the Indian Corps took part in the subsidiary attack in front of Mauquissart on the opening day of the battle of Loos in Septembe...

During July very few interesting events had occurred in the Corps, and although there is nothing spectacular to record, it was just such incidents that kept up the spirits of th...

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 d...