s made with
little support on either left flank or right, the losses had been so
severe that the two battalions were afterwards amalgamated into one
under the command of Colonel Wauchope. These two battalions, in
conjunction with another Highland Regiment under Colonel Thompson,
despite several attacks and four mines being blown up within our
first line, held Givenchy Hill throughout October. Then, when the
Germans quieted down in this neighbourhood, we returned to our old
line near the Rue de Bois. There rumour had it that the Indian Corps
was soon to be sent to Mesopotamia. Some welcomed the idea of change,
no one looked forward to another four months of the mud of Flanders.
Almost everyone who did not know imagined that they would be giving up
every discomfort which the winter brought for a pic-nic in the East,
and a quick, successful and enjoyable march to Baghdad, and so when
the rumours were confirmed, the whole battalion was in great spirits.
Some obtained short leave to say 'Good-Bye' to their friends across
the channel before leaving for the East, where there would be no short
visits home, no getting letters and parcels daily, but the Regiment
had gained great honour beneath foreign skies, so probably it was
going to add to them even if it was only establishing marching records
along the Tigris to their goal at Baghdad. Besides, was not Townshend
and his gallant force in danger in Kut? And the idea of forming part
of the relieving column appealed to every man.

So at the end of November the Regiment entrained behind that long
Western Front where they had fought for so many months against such
terrific odds, and where so many gallant comrades lay buried, and
everyone was happy, and no one thought that within a few short weeks
the battalion would practically cease to exist. Before they arrived in
France, many had never left the shores of Great Britain, and now they
were embarking on an Expedition that would reveal to them some of the
wonders of the East. Is it any wonder, under those circumstances, that
no one was downhearted?

The train journey through the heart of France from the mud of the
trenches, leaving the cold and cheerless days behind for the sunny
south was full of interest, and of looking forward to what was in
store. Marseilles, that busy Mediterranean Port which has seen such
wonderful scenes of troops arriving from all parts of the world, and
of all colours, naturally turned out to see the Regime