V L B B U ^J-Rardi

V L b b u ^ J -ra rd i THE JOURNAL OF THE MIDDLESEX REGIMENT (

VOL. IX. No. 5 MARCH, 1950 PRICE V-

THE MIDDLESEX REGIMENT ( D U K E O F CAMBRIDGE'S OWN) (57) The Plume of the Prince of Wales. In each of the four comers the late Duke of Cambridge's Cypher and Coronet. " Mysore,” ” 8*ringapatam,” “ Albuhera,” ” Ciudad Rodrigo,” “ Badajoz,” “ Vittoria,” “ Pyrenees,” “ Nivelle,” “ Nlve,” “ Peninsular," “ Alma,” " Inkerman,” “ Sevastopol,” “ New Zealand,” “ 8outh Africa, 1879,” "Relief of Ladysmith,” “ 8outh Africa, 1900-02.” The Great War— 46 Battalions— “ Mons,” " Le Cateau," " Retreat from Mons,” “ Marne, 1914,” “ Aisne, 1914, ’18," " La Bassée, 1914,” " Messines, 1914, ’17, ’i8," " Armentières, 1914,” “ Neuve Chapelle,” “ Ypres, 1915, ’ 17, ’ 18,” " Gravenstafel,” “ St. Julien,” ” Frezenberg.” " Belle waarde,” " Aubers,” " Hooge, 1915." " Loos,” "Somme, 1916, '18,” “ Albert, 1916, ’18,” ” Bazentin,” " Del ville Wood.’ ” Pozières," " Ginchy,” “ Flers-Courcelette," " Morval,” " Thiepval,” " Le Translov,” “ Ancre Heights,” “ Ancre, 1916, ’18,” " Bapaume, 1917, ’18,” "An-as, 1917, ’18," “ Vimy, 1917,” " Scarpe, 1917, ’18,” " Arleux,” ” Pilckem,” " Langemarck, 1917,” " Menin Road," "Polygon Wood," " Broodseinde,” " Poelcappelle,” " Passchendaele,” “ Cambrai, 1917, ’ 18,” “ St. Quentin," "Rosières," " Avre," " Villers Bretonneux," “ Lys,” " Estaires,” " Hazebrouck,” " Bailleul,” " Kemmel,” “ Scherpenberg,” “ Hlndenburg Line," " Canal du Nord," “St. Quentin Canal," “ Courtrai,” "Selle," "Valenciennes,” " Sambre,” "France and Flanders, 1914-18," "Italy, 1917-18," "Struma,” " Doiran, 1918,” "Macedonia, 1915-18,” “ 8uvla,” "Landing at Suvla,” "Scimitar Hill,” "Gallipoli, 1915,” " Rumani,” "Egypt, 1915-17,” "Gaza,” “ El Mughar," "Jerusalem,” "Jericho," "Jordan," "Tell ’Asur," "Palestine, 1017-18.' “ Mesopotamia, 1917-18, " Murman, 1919,” "' Dukhovskaya,” " Siberia, 1918-19."

Regular and Militia Battalions. Dominion Alliances of Canada 1st Bn. (57th Foot). 2nd Bn. (77th Foot). 31st Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, Ontario. 5th Bn. (Royal Elthome Militia). 21st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery'. 6th Bn. (Royal East Middlesex Militia). 50th H.A.A. Regiment. Royal Canadian Artillery'. ’ Depot—Mill Hill. Records Office, Infantry Records, Warwick.- 102nd (Wentworth) Field Artillery, Royal Canadian Art’Uery. Pay Office—Old Infantry Barracks, Canterbury. The Royal Rifles of Canada. Allied Battalion of Australian Infantry. 57th Bn...... Presto«. Territorial Army Battalions i/7th Bn. 2/7th Bn. 8th Bn. 30th Bn. Allied Regiment of New Zealand Military Forces 9th Bn. 595 L.A.A., R.A., T.A. The Wellington Coast and Taranaki Regiment 1st and 2nd Bns. Princess Louise’s Kensington Regiment. Toku, Taranaka, New Zealand. Colonel 0/ the Regiment : Colonel M. Browne, M.C., D.L., J.P. Affiliated A/A Units of the Territorial Army (7th City of London) Searchlight Regiment R.A. Officer Commanding Depot : (St. Pancras) Searchlight Regiment R.A. Major R. C. H. Bellers. Agents—Lloyds Bank Limited, 127 The Broadway, Mill Hill, X.W.7.

CONTENTS

Editorial 134 n th Battalion Notes Obituaries 134 5 9 5 L.A.A. Regiment R.A. (Middlesex) Notes . . Engagements 134 2 10th O.C.A. Notes ...... Officer’s Club Notes 135 Middlesex Army Cadet Force Tour of Hong Kong Battlefields 135 A Journey Through Africa (Conclusion) 1st Battalion Notes 137 Parachuting into Mid-China Depot Notes 147 Reminiscences of the South African War of 1899-1902 Spion Kop Reunion 148 Some Amusing Incidents Recruiting Boys 149 O.C.A. Reunion Museum Notes 150 Reminiscences of 50 Years Ago 7th Battalion Notes 151 The Die-Hards of Middlesex

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS. “ The Die-Hards ” is published in March, Ju n e , September and December, and copies may be obtained by application to the Editor. A ll Contributions intended tor publication should reach the Editor not later than the 1 st of the month previmis to that of issue. C O N T R IB U T IO N S SHOULD BE TYPED IN TRIPLICATE, AND BE ON ONE SIDE OF THE PAPER ONL \ , and signed, stating unether it is desired to publish the contributor's name or not. Rejected manuscripts, etc., w ill o ily be returned if accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope. 7 In- Editor w ill thankfully receive Contributions from past or present members of the Regiment or others interested, but necessarily reserves to himself the right of publication. A ll communications concerning the paper, including Advertisements, should be addressed to the Editor, The Die-Hards Journal, The Middlesex Regiment, Inglis Barracks, M ill Hill, London, N.W.7. Subscriptions should be forwarded to the Editor, " The Die-Hards ” Jou rn al. Cheques and Postal Orders should be made payable to Secretary Regimental Association and crossed “ — & Co." ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION 5/- (Post Free) l a 'art O L Sbu-JJari) ______

THE TOUR OF THE HONG KONG BATTLE- i j o l it z d el o urt and iss E . u b b in New Isleworth Cemetery. A wreath was sent by the .-C . S . F -W . M . C M G F I E L D S O F 1941. CARRIED OUT BY THE Regimental Association and a representative of the The engagement is announced of Lt.-Col. OFFICERS OF THE ist BATTALION THE Depot attended the funeral. M r. Pasby enlisted for the S Fitz-W. M. del Court, M.C., only son of the late MIDDLESEX REGIMENT (D.C.O.) ON Middlesex Regiment on June 14, 1890, and was dis­ W. del Court van Krimpen (Knight of Mary of the NOVEMBER 28, 1949 charged to pension on July 31, 1900. He was wounded Teutonic Order') and of the late Mrs. del Court, and Written by Rev. M. Malone, R.A.C.R.D., who has been at Spion Kop on January 24, 1900, and as a result of his flizabeth, only daughter of the late Dr. John Gaspard Chaplain to the Battalion since leaving Mill Hill on wound his right foot was amputated. Mr. Pasby was Gubbins, LL.D ., honoris causa (Witwatersrand), M.A. J u n e 15, 1949 E d ito r: Major A. W. Clark, O.B.E. one of the first occupants of the Cottage Homes built Cantab), and Mrs. Gubbins, of Malmani, Ottoshoop, after the South African War, and had to voluntarily Transvaal. W hen the ist Battalion returned to Hong Kong in vacate it in May, 1947, when he was first admitted to lulv 1949, it was at once their duty and privilege to EDITORIAL hospital. visit’those places on the Island which the recent war OFFICERS’ CLUB After all the doubts and delays which occurred in had made a proud part of the regimental tradition. 1 producing the December number, it is a great relief to We regret to record, also, the death, on December 29 Forthcoming E v e n ts was very glad to be able to accompany them. It was a know that, for the M arch issue, we have all the material last, of Lt.-Col. P. H. Graves, D.S.O. H.C. B .T .C . G o lf M e e t in g return visit for some, and the officers of the Battalion in to time. April 23. Richmond Golf Club. set out on the tour of inspection of the ground fought over in December, I 94U tmder the very experienced We feel that an apology is due to some of our contri­ We also have to record the death of ex-C.S.M. Golf S p r in g M e e t in g butors as it was found necessary to omit some items in Haines, of 137 Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, whose April 27 and 28, 1950. Hendon Golf Club. directorship of Major Henry Marsh, who had already December owing to lack of space. However, this is, in given us an entertaining and analytical lecture of the funeral took place on February 4, and was attended Cricket Week fall of Hong Kong. A little of it was off the r« °rd’ point of fact, an advantage to the Editor, as we badly by C.S.M. Maloney of the Depot. The Regimental Commencing June 18, 195°- H ill. some of it undoubtedly controversial, but it was all the need a reserve of articles if we are to be able to vary the Association sent a wreath. Ju n e 18— v . Hampstead Heathens product of first-hand experience and very genuine readers’ diet. „ 19— v . C ry p tics thought. He stressed the evil of that peace-time Talking of diet, we must remark that we were thankful „ 20— v. Incogniti mentality which had existed pnor to the Japanese that our own Christmas season had been quiet and DEATH 5 21— v. Free Foresters attack—“ The First World War had by-passed the frugal, otherwise we might have neen nauseated by the C h a llis.—On November 17, at 8 Lowick Road, „ 22— v . I. Zingan Colony and so would this.” Hong Kong was a pri­ task of sorting the material for this number. Every Harrow, in his 90th year after a very short illness, „ 25— v . R o m an y item seemed to contain references to food or drink, and George Challis, widower, a resident of Hampstead for vileged isle of the best good living, a secure shangnla Officers’ C l u b D in n e r if one was not reading of happily jammy and replete years. Laid to rest in the family grave at Highgate in a hard world. He was, however, generous enough to 85 Junior United Service Club. June 23. children one was faced by photos and yet more photos Cemetery on November 22, an ideal husband, a fond admit that this unfortunate mentality was not confined Dress dinner jackets or blue uniform. of men and glasses. Fortunately, cost of reproducing parent and a good friend. R.I.P. only to the civilians. If there was lack of civil co­ saves our readers getting the same surfeit of evidence Officers’ C l u b “ A t H ome ” „ operation in defence preparations, there was also military Volunteer of the ’70s Date and venue to be confirmed at the next Com­ that the festive season was indeed well and truly kept. neglect. Anti-malarial precautions, not properly en­ Member of the Hampstead Companies of the old We congratulate Lt.-Cols. A. E. Green, D.S.O., mittee M eetin g . . , ■ r iOTT forced, seriously affected one battalion, while internal 3rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteers, the ist Volunteer Bat­ WUl any member of the Club who is desirous of play- O.B.E., and S. F. W. M. del Court, M.C., on their security was bad. About the defence plan itself he had talion and, later, the 7th Battalion Middlesex Regiment, mg in the above cricket matches, and has not received engagements, and to the former on the award of the some asides, but it is not felt to be within the scope of M r. George Challis died last Thursday in his 90th year. m invitation to play, kindly communicate with Major O.B.E. in the New Year Honours List. this small essay to comment upon them. The ist Bat­ Bom in Hampstead, and resident in the district for C. M. M. Man, M.C., 23 Rosary Gardens, London, Many of our readers will also have noticed with talion were in pill-boxes around the island. all but the last five years of his life, he served for nearly pleasure the award of the C.B.E. to Col. W. H. V. To quote the Second-in-Command, “ We were in 35 years, retiring in 1911 with the rank of sergeant. His Two M .C.C. tickets will be available at the Secretary s Jones, whose work for trooping has thus been the picture ” when we moved off in a jeep convoy from wife, who died in 1929, was a daughter of the late Office, Inglis Barracks, for the benefit of members of acknowledged. the Mess promptly at the scheduled hour of 0800 his. Sergeant-Instructor Nightingale, ex-Grenadier Guards­ the Club for the current cricket season. If required at on November 28. It is about an hour’s run to the man and instructor to the Middlesex Militia at the Well short n o tice th e tick ets can b e se n t im m ed iately u p o n Ferry. The constant chirping of the Assistant Director, OBITUARIES Walk barracks. receipt of a telephone call, but must be returned to the Lt. B. K. Clayden, on the control set (with an occasional Mr. Challis leaves four married daughters, one of office immediately after use. Telephone . Finchley croak from the Director himself) did not quite harmonise It is with regret that we have to record the death of an whom is in Canada. It was at the Harrow home of his with the glory of the morning, which might have been old comrade, Mr. Doel, at his home in Slough. He 2611, ex tension 79. eldest daughter, Mrs. W. C. Le Blond, that he died. in Apriled England, or the scenic beauty of the hills was embodied in July, 1914, his number being 14784. As we go to print, news comes of the sudden death of Funeral was at Highgate Cemetery on Tuesday. and inlets which might have been in Highland Scotland. He was in France from the following October till Mr. J. W . Greenshields, on February 6,1950. Through­ We are grateful to Mr. Walter Smith, ex-Sergeant, However, we were interested to know that the Com­ July, 1915, and fought at Hill 60 and the Battle of the out his 22 years as Secretary of the Hendon Golf Club, 7th M iddlesex, for this notice. manding Officer (according to the commentary) was Somme, where he was wounded and sent home to ht was, from its inception, a firm friend of the Regiment F rom “ Hampstead and Highgate Express,” November 25, missing, but were glad to see him in the car in front Netley Hospital, Southampton. He returned to France and its golf meetings. All the golfing members of the 1949 We learned from the Director in one of his intermittent and was again wounded and, after treatment in Northern Regiment and many others who knew him willjoin interventions that the house we were approaching tad Hospital, London, returned to France in January, 1916. with us in expressing our deepest sympathy with his a tennis court and the owner offered its full use to the He fought at Salonika and was again wounded and his widow an d w ith th e H e n d o n G o lf C lu b o n his su d d en ENGAGEMENTS officers. We enjoyed the burst of songs of a certain leg was amputated in a hospital in Malta in February, The following announcements appeared in The Times death. _ 2 Lieutenant, until it was cut short by the Assistant 1916. After a long period in hospital he was finally dis­ He was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium on January 26, 1950:— Director, who was obviously jealous of his privileged charged in 1918, after which, despite his artificial leg, m Thursday, February 9. I 95°> at>d ™ l ° r K c . Derch We learned that three infantry battalions in he worked as an auxiliary postman, and later as a night L t .-C o l. A . E . G r een an d M iss R . F isher-R owe Bellers a tte n d e d th e sen d ee o n b e h a lf o f th e M id d lesex die new territories had formed the line of defence telephonist, until his retirement through ill-health in The engagement is announced between Lt.-Col. Regiment Golfing Society and Officers’ Club. against the Japs on the border, and of the gallant February, 1949. His funeral was attended by Mr. Arthur Green, D.S.O., O.B.E., The Middlesex Regi­ actions and rearguards fought by those troops in these E. Paris, who represented the Association. ment, only son of M r. and M rs. A. Green, 24 Radinden SHORT SERVICE COMMISSIONS new territories. We skirted the main reservoir rnd Manor Road, Hove, and Ruth Fisher-Rowe, of 17 A dditions just below, to the left on the edge of Kowloon, a flight Avenue, Hove, younger daughter of the late Major C. V. The late Mr. E. W. Pasby died December 14, 1949» of Spitfires circled the colony’s solitary aerodrome, ^ e Fisher-Rowe, M .C., Grenadier Guards, and of the late > " s ïï« TCD K“ daU‘ R.A.F. Station, Nuncham Courtney, Nr aged 77 years, whilst an in-patient at Isleworth Hospital, Oxford. and was buried on Wednesday, December 21, 1949» at Mrs. Fisher-Rowe. 13 6 1~Jhe «2)/e -^Jia rds V L S u J J a r l ______/37

A E. D. Michell and P. Newman, together with Capt. knew the grave disaster their loss had been in the Jap graves. Middlesex men are buried here, too. Here is nt BATTALION THE MIDDLESEX REGIMENT P. Smyth, are due to wave us farewell from the decks onslaught. Aboard the vehicular ferry we crossed the the grave of Col. L. A. Newham, G.C., M.C., who won (D.C.O.) o f H .M .T . Lancashire or our old finend, H.M .l. few hundred yards of sea which separates the island the George Cross for his bravery. When he was dis­ EDITORIAL D unera. We shah also be very sorry to lose R.S.M. from the mainland. A very eminent Swedish news covered organising the escape of P.O.W.s he was P T. McLoughlin, who is going home in the Lancashire correspondent, who recently visited the Battalion, was tortured and starved by the Japanese and, eventually, Another strenuous quarter has passed and we can to complete his last six months before his well-earned [eel with quiet satisfaction that we have achieved much asked what the average man in the street in Sweden died under them. retirement after 23 years’ service. thought of Hong Kong, and he said immediately that it W e followed the coast road to Repulse Bay, where we ad that time has been well spent. We welcome 2/Lts. B. H. M araancffiP. H. Denning, As before, the emphasis has been on training and it had a magnificent harbour, and that we took it from the stopped at a garage just below the hotel. Here some of the Regiment, and 2/Lts. G. A. White, E. G. C. Chinese in an opium war ! The average man was Japs were taken prisoner by a party of Middlesex men ¡an be said that, although there is still much to leam, Sobey and J. M. Lock, R.A.O.C., all of whom have under 2/Lt. Grounds. It is claimed that these were re have gained invaluable experience and the Battalion right, at any rate, about the harbour. It is naturally recently arrived. magnificent, although ships m ust still put out to sea to possibly the first and only prisoners taken in the cam­ IS a whole is extremely fit, both physically and mentally. ride a typhoon. But tribute must be paid to the in­ paign. 2/Lt. Grounds was later killed in action. Further Work has been most interesting and instructive and “ H.Q.” COMPANY genuity and the enterprise which makes this modem along the road to Brickhill and Pillbox 14. Brickhill is this, combined with inter-unit and inter-company The cooler days of autumn have been most welcome, sport, w elfare p a rties, co n cert p arties, trip s to places o f harbour work. A commentator has said that if God a small promontory slightly off the road, and Pillbox 14 both to ourselves and to the staff, who have kept us oterest, and good weather have made life quite pleasant turns His face away, if what we stand for and are is was built into it so that it had a commanding position well occupied with numerous exerases, m which the ever blotted out by violence from Europe, and the over the road and sea. For days Sgt. Rich and seven in the new territories. greater part of the company have taken part. At first, The various notable achievements in the sporting student asks what we once did and what manner of m en made it highly dangerous and costly for Jap convoys hfe was a little difficult, but it did not take long for some world have been dealt with in detail later in this issue people we were, he might be shown Hong Kong. moving along the road. They held the pill-box in of us to remember old lessons, and for the younger ones and, therefore, are not repeated here, with the exception We were going to see today places where men of the spite of repeated assaults and casualties. Finally, with to leam for the first time. Even the Q.M. and B of the 27th Infantry Brigade individual boxing cham­ Regiment had fought bravely and many had given their no water, they still held out. Attempts to get water echelon, with all their impedimenta of war, have been pionships. We entered 12 boxers in the seven weights, lives in the defence of that way of life. It was opportune through failed. They died together and their story has levered out of their nooks and crannies. that our first stop should have been at Wanchai and become almost a legend in Hong Kong. You will hear had finalists in six weights and won five. Our boxers So many changes take place, so quickly, that it is not fought extremely well and fully upheld the traditions the O’Brien Street line, for it is fairly typical of the it from a variety of people, but their tribute is always possible to mention everyone, but the following old hardy adaptability of that way of life which is ours. the same. It is told, too, that, after the fall, two Jap of the Regiment. soldiers of the Regiment should not be allowed to fade A most interesting tour of the 1941 Hong Kong It was manned by the inscrutable “ Z ” Company. The officers were taking a party along that road and they away unnoticed ; they are Major Marsh, who is now battlefields was organised and conducted by Ma)or Japs were mystified by this unknown force. It fought halted opposite Pill-box 14, saluted and said : “ Brave P.R.I. C.S.M. Fuller, who has gone to the Divisional bravely and well. Its members were the cooks, the men died gallantly there.” H. M arsh and is reported in this issue. Battle School and Rest Camp, and C.Q.M.S. Ure, who A “ Die-Hards ” reunion party was held in camp on orderlies and the runners of the Battalion. Through After we had been very hospitably entertained to tea has gone to G.H.Q. at Singapore. Then places have December 7, 1949. at which many ex-members and Lyemun Barracks, where the Battalion had first been and refreshments by Mr. EmU Landau at the Parisian been taken by Major Doyle, C.S.M. Jennings, and friends of. the Regiment were present, and it proved quartered on its return to the colony in July last, we Grill Farm, we started the concluding stage of our tour. C.Q.M .S. Budden. moved to Sai Wan Hill. Here we received a most We set out for the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force ■ most successful. . In spite of hard training there has been suffiaent Christmas and New Year festivities went with a swing interesting talk from Mr. L. Goldman. He had been Headquarters, passing on the way another Middlesex time for plenty of sport. In the inter-company soccer, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and made in charge of an A.A. Battery in this area and we learned defence point—Bennett’s Hill. It was about 1900 hrs. cross-country, basket-ball and seven-a-side rugger we the most of the holiday period. The Christmas dinner much from him about the Jap crossing of Lyemun when we reached Headquarters. The Director gave us have done quite weU but, unfortunately, have not man­ was a truly magnificent spread and great credit is due Gap from Devil’s Peak on to the island. Nearer the a brief “ recap ” of details and then we had a general aged to win any of the shields which hang m the men s 10 the A.C.C. and regimental cooks. It was served in hill is the new cemetery in San Wai. Perfectly laid out, discussion on the situation as it had existed in I 941» dining-hall. Individuals have had their successes. Pte. the customary manner by the members of the Sergeants beautifully cared for, the cemetery is a noble and touch­ causes of the collapse, possible remedies which might Saunders and Pte. Jelly fought extremely well in the Mess, whilst the officers doled out apparently unlimited ing tribute to the dead. There were many Middlesex have been taken, and lessons to be learned. The Com­ Brigade inter-unit boxing competition, held m me manding Officer finally thanked the Director for a day supplies of beer. . _ middle of December, and won the bantam and heavy­ graves, set restfully in ordered rows along the grassy The inter-Mess football Competition on Boxing Day that was not only absorbingly interesting but deeply weight events. Cpl. Hilkene, L/Cpl. Simmons, L/Cpl. hillside, each crowned with a small white cross. Slightly was won by the privates, after extra time, m a grand apart was a group of eight and the last on the left bore inspiring. Later we met the officers of the Hong Kong Hyland, Bdsm. Forsythe and Pte. Jones (39) have all Defence Force in their Mess. Many of them had served game ag ain st th e co rp o rals b y 2 1. played for the Battalion tst XI. C.S.M. Jennings has the sign of David. This was the grave of Sgt. Rich who, The corporals and privates put on an extremely good with his seven comrades, had held to the death their with the Volunteers in the campaign. They knew the b een selected to p lay ru g g e r fo r th e A rm y in H o n g K o n g . concert party, organised entirely by themselves, on Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of cricket pill-box on Brick Hill. Battalion well. Before we left for home we had e n jo y e d with them good talk, some drinks, and an excellent December 28, 1949, and it was very well received by the played this season, mainly because of the shortage of To Stanley Prison then, where now are held some remainder of the Battalion and numerous spectators Jap war criminals, who were paraded for us. We were d in n er. . grounds and the long journeys to get to the few that are We had crowded much into the day, but obviously from n eig h b o u rin g u n its. available. Pte. Cullen has, however, been most en­ glad to leave them and have lunch in the pleasant setting On New Year’s Eve the Sergeants’ Mess put over could not see everything. Nor has it been possible, thusiastic and has played for the Brigade XI. of the Prison Governor’s beach. After lunch Mr. their own Crazy Gang Show for the Battalion. Again, now, to mention all we did see, and learn. If cer\a“[ It is hoped that the members of the new draft posted Norman, Prison Superintendent, and two other prison the players received a great ovation for a first-class people and places are mentioned here it is not intended to the Company will have a happy and enjoyable stay, officials took us to Stanley cross-roads. A volunteer i Show. Drum-M ajor Holdford was actor, manager and to particularise or to exclude any. We name them to and will fill in the gaps that will be left by the large run- company of prison officials and warders had made a producer and he, together with his cast, are to be con­ embrace all. The honour of the Regiment is high in down in the New Year. stand. From Repulse Bay a section of Middlesex, 15 gratulated on giving a very fine performance. Hong Kong and it was not achieved by a few only. We strong, under Sgt. M anning, moved by night in slippered The face of the Battalion is changing as inroads are salute all, the officers and men of the 1st Battalion w 0, SIGNAL PLATOON feet and took their position on a small mount just at the made by release, Python, restriction, and demands in the fighting in 1941 in Hong Kong, so well lived up Up to date the Signal Platoon has lost comparatively prong of the cross-road. They were well placed, they from other Commands. Major T. W. Chattej-has left few men but, with me advent of Group 134 30(1 UP" were good soldiers, they were brave men. The Japs to the traditions of their Regiment. » join H.Q., Far East Land Forces ; Major E. C. K. wards, me trickle is rapidly developing into a flood. suffered great casualties before they were finally over­ TO OUR READERS Kendall-Sadler, T.D., has left on Python ; Capt- This has been counteracted to some extent by the come. The prison officers told this story with genuine Considerable inconvenience is caused to both R. St. McG. Young has left on reurement ; and Lt. arrival of a new draft, of which some 20 are now on a warmth and appreciation. We all listened with pride. the Editor and to the Reader owing to the I. S. C Flavell has been posted to H.Q., 27th Infantry classification cadre. By the time this is finished, our A little up the hill from the cross-roads, at Stanley, is the fact that changes of addresses are not n o tifie d Brigade, as Intelligence Officer. We have worse to Platoon wifi consist solely of 12 regular soldiers, with old cemetery. It is like an old English churchyard— at once. If you change your address please rome in Ja n u ary , 195°, when M a>or 9 ’ one or two high N.S. group men. grey and solemn, great trees with spreading branches, let us know and so be sure of receiving your^ Battalion Second-in-Command, Majors H. MarsH, sombre tombstones with odd inscriptions, family Journal regularly C OLe SbuJJarM '39 138 U le 2)ie-^JJarJi

We were extremely sorry to lose Major T . W. Chattey O.B.E., in the arrangements, we have no doubt that a Very much the same tempo of training has been kept sorties in connection with training schemes and other to F.A.R.E.L.F. and Capt. R. St. G. McYoung to i3ppy time will be had by all. up and the signallers are still to be found mountaineering du ties. retirement, and to both we wish the best of luck. We Remembrance Day Sunday was a day to place on In a recent O.P. competition run by 40th Division, the welcome Capt. D. B. Rendell, M .B.E., M.C., and Capt. with a drum of cable on their backs. ^cord fo r the Battalion. Out o f all the units o f th e We have, of course, no civilian telephone lines in Battalion was represented by Cpl. Walden and Pte. P. G. V. Bellers as our new Commander and Second-in- Senior Service, the A rm y and the R.A.F. in Hong Kong, Command respectively. Beas.Camp and, consequently, there is an exchange to Jones and, although the results have not yet been ¿e Battalion was selected to perform the ceremony, The Company spent a very enjoyable week at Lamma be manned, with all the ensuing brickbats. Up to date, announced, Cpl. Walden assures us that the Battalion aith the Commanding Officer as Parade Commander Island in October. The island was ideal for training and however, we can praise ourselves in the fact that there has w on. •or all Services. Our 12 best buglers rendered “ Last Sgt. Kenrick is, unfortunately for us, Python pro­ much useful work was carried out. It was really first- have been few disruptions of camp communications. Post ” and “ Reveille,” for which the Commanding class to be on our own for those few days, away from Our congratulations to Pte. Williams on his pro­ tected and is due to go home very shortly. His place is Officer received many bouquets. The G.O.C., in his the arduous duties of camp. It is rumoured that Cpl. motion to L/Corporal, after having passed out well on being taken by Sgt. McGowan. We have also lost Pte. letter, gave th e B attalio n his full praise. I t w as, in d eed , Jones and his troop are still searching for the cut-throat an N.C.O.s’ cadre. King to 27th Brigade, where he is with the Brigade a moving sight in memory of our fallen comrades Cpl. Whitely and L Cpl. Caswell sailed for home last Intelligence Section. In his place we have Pte. Butler, pirate gang, consisting of C.S.M. Tarrant, Sgt. in I941- m onth en route to Catterick—certainly no rest cure. a fairly recent arrival in the Battalion. Pte. Lye has Apart from the normal activities of the Corps of Cranfield and Pte. Craze. . The Company obtained second place in the Brigade Finally, to all our friends and relations, greetings for been found painting everything from a wall-chart of Drums, we have acquired the title of Battalion H.Q. W T. competition, which was a good achievement the New Year and our heartfelt wishes for a speedy the Chinese Civil War to the Intelligence Officer’s Defence Platoon. Although this is a far cry from the considering we had spent the last 12 months on public motor-cycle, and Pte. Luckhurst has more than earned Drum and Fife, we have reached a good standard in duties. In the Brigade patrol competition we again his keep as the chef de cuisine on training. In fact, as these new duties and are prepared for any emergency. obtained second place, with a patrol led by 2/Lt. M.T. PLATOON some wit remarked the other day, all the Intelligence Drum-Major Holdford and eight drummers were Section has not m astered yet is Cantonese and Mandarin. H. J. Evans. The tempo of life in the Platoon is more hectic and selected for a day patrol in the new territories a short And we have even made an attempt, not terribly suc­ W'e congratulate L.Cpl. Smailman and Cpl. Eastap interesting than ever before. while ago. The route to be taken necessitated the use cessfully it must be admitted, at that. on their excellent results in the N.C.O.s’ cadre and, Exercises and outside commitments are still frequent, of a police launch to take us along the coast but, on also, Cpl. Eastap on his promotion. irrival at the pier, we were told that the launch, owing giving little rest to men and vehicles alike. A new draft joined the Company on November 22 to its size, could only take us part of the way as the In the last month we have lost five vehicles to work­ BAND NOTES and we extend to them our hearty greetings and hope sand and mud-banks were too treacherous. This shops through the erratic and dangerous driving of the The last three months have been difficult ones for they will soon settle down to our own ways. change of plan resulted in our having to foot-slog local inhabitants, rendering life a little more difficult the Band. There are now so many bands in the Colony In the realm of sport our greatest success has been almost 15 miles over exceedingly rough ground, and very and worrying. that engagements are hard to get. our win in the inter-company seven-a-side. In the yarm work it turned out to be. On reaching the main Lt. B. K. Clayden and Cpl. Wright have now taken The reduction in strength on the overseas establish­ final we beat “ D ” Company 3—o in a most exciting road we had the good fortune to chance upon an ice­ over from Capt. P. J. Livemore, M .C., and Sgt. Preston. ment has made the running of the Band no easy matter, game. C.S.M. Tarrant’s first game of rugger for 17 cream vendor. Did those ices taste good ! The Platoon congratulate Cpl. W right on his promotion as every instrumentalist is vital and there are no reserves. years proved that he had lost none of his speed or In the world of sport we were' unfortunate to be and appointment to M .T. Sergeant. Sgt. Morris and Sickness has taken its toll but, despite this and all the cunning, and he helped a great deal in our final victory. knocked out of the inter-platoon football knock-out his R.E.M .E. fitters are working harder than ever, and other difficulties, the Band has maintained its high We finished third in the inter-company cross-country competition by the Regimental Band after a very keen to him we must give our gratitude for a grand job well musical standard. run with, once more, our C.S.M. being a tower of game, en d in g w ith th e score o f 3 goals to 1. C pl. done under the difficult conditions. An increase in establishment has now been sanctioned strength. Basket-ball found us again strong and we are, Purdon and L/Cpl. Leat are both members of the Bat­ In the near future, the M.T. is entering an M.T. and it is hoped that reinforcements will soon be forth­ at present, top of the league. No. 2 Platoon did well to talion football team and have assisted in raising up the competition organised by H.Q., 27th Infantry Brigade. com ing. reach the semi-finals of the inter-platoon soccer com­ “ goals for ” column. Cpl. Brown and Dmrs. Jones, Our feelings are mixed concerning the final outcome. Successful engagements have been fulfilled at Hong petition, but were beaten by a very strong side from However, we are all determined to win the competition, Kong race meetings and the Band made its first broad­ Newman and Kelly were selected as representatives of the Company cross-country team and all four made a No. 7 Platoon. . . and much hard work is being put in by all members cast in the Colony in the feature, “ Services Spotlight. In the Brigade individual boxing competition Pte. of the Platoon. Another successful engagement during November was very com m en d ab le effort. Craze won his weight and Pte. Hamson reached the Dmr. Rudd, the “ voice,” has just finished an educa­ In January we lose many of our more experienced at the big football match between the Colony and a semi-finals. A very good performance. tion course and is back with us again. Who knows but drivers ; this is causing no little worry to those con­ Swedish team. At present the Band is busy rehearsing The Company finished second to “ S ” Company what we might have a budding professor in our midst . cerned. However, with cardres and drivers from the fo r th e 4 0 th D iv isio n m assed b a n d co n cert w hich takes in the inter-company swimming and the team are to be Well done, Rudd. Dmr. Bennett has just commenced new draft, we will be able to surmount our difficulties. place early in February. congratulated on their fine efforts. Boy Christopher was rushed off into hospital during a similar course and we wish him luck. In all, we have done well, both in work and play, Drum-Major Holdford and Dmr. Matthews have INTELLIGENCE SECTION November and operated on for acute appendicitis, but during the last quarter, but we look forward to even he made a rapid recovery and is now back in his place recently been informed by telegram that It s a gir . bigger and better successes in the coming year. We Since the arrival on the border, early in October, of in the band. Congratulations, fathers. are, however, going to feel keenly the loss of many of Communist elements, the work of the Intelligence The Band reached the semi-final in the inter-platoon The Corps, at present, are getting down to a pro­ our champions, due to release in the near future. To Section has become even more interesting. football competition, but were beaten by the Carner gramme which will be recorded over Radio Hong Kong ah we wish the very best of luck in their civilian occupa­ Sgt. Kenrick, who came to us from the W .T. staff Platoon after a very exciting game. on Christmas morning, so we hope to be hearing our­ tions. In conclusion wre send, to all our friends, the to be Intelligence Sergeant, assisted by Pte. Lye, runs W e take this opportunity to wish all our old members selves v ery soon. compliments of the season and the very best of luck the work of the Intelligence Section in camp. This of the Band a happy and prosperous New Year. Our very best wishes to all old comrades, wherever fo r 1950. entails many late evenings, dealing with sitreps, and they may be, and, in particular, to all old members of the copious reading of the Chinese daily Press for details “ B ” COMPANY CORPS OF DRUMS Corps of Drums. of the civil war, which are marked on the Battalion’s These notes are being written on Boxing Day and, By the time these notes appear in print Christinas and w a r m ap. “A” COMPANY therefore, may be lacking in clarity and conciseness. If The Intelligence Section continues to operate in New Year festivities will be just a memory, but at e there are many grammatical howlers it will only go to tim e of writing, with just a few days before we all indulge many diverse roles. Sgt. Kenrick accompanied the Our last notes found us well settled in Beas Camp, prove what an excellent and successful Christmas was in the usual orgy, the Battalion is preparing to give one Drum-Major and 12 drummers on a recent training Fanling, and training hard. Since then we have spent enjoyed by the Company in our stable home in the new and all the Christmas spirit. Regardless of our Poslt?^j our time training harder then ever, both by day and patrol, which involved a trip in a local police patrol territories. boat, and a very much longer trip on their flat feet. on the map, preparations for concert, cinema and musi aiglit, and in passing have climbed more young moun­ In the last few months the Company has earned out The Intelligence Officer, in common with Sgt. Kenrick, programmes are forging ahead. W ith the great *nt^res tains th a n we care to remember. and on one occasion Pte. Lye, has flown various air shown by our Commanding Officer, Lt.-Col. A. M. M®“» 140 3 le 2 )I UL 2 w -Marl 141

to Capt. P. F. Smyth, who joined the Company as a lot of hard but interesting training and we flatter of “ A ” Company, and C.S.M. Jennings and Sgt. his first middleweight fight by a k.o., and his second ourselves that we are now an efficient rifle company. Budden have been transferred to “ H.Q.” Company. opponent was saved by the gong; he was, however, 2 i/c in October. We also welcome 2/Lt. G. A. White, R.A.O.C., who W e a g ree th a t w e s till h av e a lo t to le a rn b u t, all th e sam e, W e congratulate C/Sgt. Budden on his recent promotion beaten on points in his last fight. L/Cpl. Rutty was has already proved an asset to our football and basket we think we are quite good. and Cpl. Stimson on becoming a proud father of twins. beaten in a close fight on his first appearance in the ball teams, and to 2 Lt. P. H. Denning, who has joined The chief difficulty in building up an efficient com­ Cpl. Pascoe and Pte. Wallis, our football stars, went ring- us for a comparatively short stay before going on pany is that Age and Service Groups come and go and home on release on November 26, 1949, on H.M.T. We were unlucky in the cross-country in that two of valuable specialists and trained soldiers disappear in Devonshire. Lt. G. Sander rejoined the Company in our best runners, Ptes. Webb and Woodman, were re­ release. We congratulate L Cpls. Lloyd, Wells and Clavdon on homeward-bound troopers, with depressing regularity. October. C.S.M. Burrell was unfortunate in injuring covering from illness; we did, however, achieve fifth their promotion to that rank. W e hope, however, that all our draffs from U.K. will be his ankle whilst playing for the Company in a seven-a- place. Team:—2/Lt. J. C. Bucknall, C.S.M. Jennings, Owing to the comparatively high cost of entertain­ as keen and hard-working as the one which arrived side Rugby match; we wish him speedy recovery and Cpls. Conroy, Pentony, McHenry, Ptes. Webb, Wood­ m e n t a n d th e d istan ces in v o lv ed , w e v isit th e b rig h t lights some five weeks ago. They arrived and started their hope that he will be with us again in the very near man and Cheeseman. Cpl. Conroy and 2/Lt. J. C. but occasionally, although several of our members have new life with a will and a smile, and they can be satisfied future. In November we received our first reinforce­ Bucknall were first of the Company team, being 18th enjoyed dances organised by civilian services, also visits that they are doing a worthwhile job well. At times ment from the U.K., all of whom have settled down in and 19th respectively. to the ancient city of Macao have proved popular. one is tempted to say that So-and-so is indispensable, Hong Kong. During the months of November and W e w o n several g am es o f basket b all b y a large m arg in , We are at present settling down after an excellent yet, with unfailing regularity, the gap is filled most December the Company was busily occupied with C.S.M. Jennings, Cpl. Small and L Cpl. Wells being Christmas break of four days, when everybody enjoyed adequately and work proceeds. training and various schemes. prominent, but play has been held up recently owing to themselves in the traditional fashion. Our performance on the field of sport has been patchy. Even though we could not spend Christmas at home the destruction of the posts by bad weather. We did very badly, indeed, in the Company swimming, with our relatives and friends, we made the best of it The Company team, however, is well able to take on finishing a poor last. This disaster was due more to and all had a very enjoyable time. all comers. We gained third place in the swimming “ S ” COMPANY faulty selection than anything else. At the beginning of the season the Company was competition, and the achievements of the Company The last three months have been very hectic, cul­ O ur stock rose with a jump when Pte. Paget, since left fortunate in being able to produce one of the best soccer Commander, Major A. E. D. Michell, Cpl. Smalland minating in the Christmas festivities. We are now on a on release, won the cross-country by the proverbial mile, teams in the Battalion, which maintained an unbeatable and Pte. Crooks did much to put us in this favourable new establishment, the net result of which is that we and the team put up a magnificent show to finish second record until two of the mainstays, Cpl. Pascoe and Pte. position. Team:—Major A. E. D. Michell, Sgt. have lost three anti-tank guns and the Carrier Platoon in the team event. It was a first-class effort by all Wallis, left for home on November 26. The team, in Bartholomew, Cpls. Small and Conroy, L Cpls. Wells has been much reduced in numbers. Release is taking co n cern ed . addition to these two, consisted of L Cpl. Hyland, Ptes. and Heavans, Ptes. Kirkbride, Brady, Schafer, Gent, a heavy toll of specialists and it is a difficult task finding We entered a team of veterans, aggregate 210 years, Cheeseman, Crocks and Hills, Cpl. Stimson, C.S.M. Phillip s Levoir and Crooks. replacements for our losses. The Company easily for the inter-company seven-a-side rugger competition Jennings, Ptes. Summers, Watson, Bonner, Longhurst won the inter-Company swimming competition and and Buckle. and, though defeated by “A” Company, the ultimate “ D ” COMPANY thus gained valuable points in the competition for the winners, we thrashed “ S ” Company and confounded No. 7 Platoon, which contained six of the Company Albuhera Shield. Perhaps the most interesting feature Our last edition of these notes left us settling down in the critics by beating “ H.Q.” Company, a team of players, secured both the Company and Battalion inter- of training was the five-day stay at Lamma Island. our stables at Beas Camp, where we have succeeded in Battalion talent, by 3—o. Our team played with great Platoon soccier shields in a series of matches whose Despite typhoon weather for the first two days everyone making ourselves very comfortable in comparison to our fire and dash and made up for lack of knowledge of the scores left very little doubt as to the final result. enjoyed themselves, and some useful training was less fortunate neighbours, who are still under canvas. game by their boundless enthusiasm. Team:—Ptes. Drane, Cheeseman, Hills, Reeves. achieved with no interference except from the weather. The advent of the cooler weather also helped to make We offer our deepest sympathy to Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Wallis, Holloway and Crooks, Cpl. McHenry, There were several requests for an extension but un­ Cox over the tragic loss of their son, Pte. Cox (52), due C.S.M . Jennings and C.Q.M .S. Griffiths. life m o re p leasan t. fortunately rbis was not possible. Our time since arrival in Beas Camp has been spent to an accident. He was buried with full military honours The Company team is augmented by several players The Company has sustained a great loss in C.S.M. on intensive training from which we have derived great at the Military Cemetery at Happy Valley, Hong Kong. from the new draft who already show promise, and White. He has returned to his parent Regiment, the benefit, and we have much enjoyed co-operating with our We are delighted to welcome back Capt. J. N. things augur well for the future. C.S.M. Jennings s Buffs. We were all extremely sorry to lose him and friends the “ Gunners ” and “ Tanks.” Shipster, D.S.O., who has been attending a course at departure to “ H.Q.” Company was a great loss to the wish him luck in the future. Pte. Young is still on a We congratulate our cross-country team, consisting Singapore and carrying out a staff attachment. soccer team. clerk’s course at Singapore, but returns shortly. Ptes. of Cpls. Sharp, Weller and Slocombe, Ptes. Baring, W e say hail and farewell to Sgt. McGowan, who has Rugby has been difficult, even on a Battalion scale, Jorgensen, Nelson and Franklin proceed on release in Rogers, Willis, Gadd, Hayes, Vodden and Shethelt, on only spent a month with us and has now taken over the owing to lack of grounds, and Company Rugby has been the near future and we wish them the best of luck in winning the Battalion cross-country run in November, duties of Battalion Intelligence Sergeant. He made his limited to a seven-a-side competition on a home-ma e civilian life. with special reference to Cpl. Sharp who came second. name in the Company by the way in which he drove his pitch near the camp; this was played off on the after­ At soccer we remain unbeaten in friendly games and 41 years round the rugger field, leaving destruction in noon of W ednesday, December 21, and provided sterling Mortar Platoon are looking forward to the inter-Company competition his wake. Sgt. Sharp has just arrived from “ S ” entertainment for all participants and spectators, 6 Since the last issue there have been one or two Company to replace Sgt. McGowan, and we hope he preparations for this competition gave much publicity to in F eb ru ary . changes within the Platoon. Primarily, we regret very In December our seven-a-side rugger team were will be happy with us. a game which has lately been in eclipse. The Company much to have lost Capt. P. G. V. Bellers, who has left runners-up to “ A ” Company after a very dose and Cpls. Steward and Crowther are off very shortly on a team, consisting of two experienced players and fave us to assume the duties of 2 i c “ A ” Company. We year’s tour to the Home Counties Brigade Training learners, was lucky to gain third place, winning by ont bard gam e. wish him every success in this new capacity. Secondly, We have also taken darts and table tennis in our Centre as instructors. We look forward to having them tryr against “ S ” Company and losing 11—o to - we welcome Capt. P. J. Livemore, M .C., to take com­ stride and won the inter-Company dart competition. Company, the winners. Team:—2 Lt. J. C. Buckn • mand of the Platoon. We are confident that his stay back again with us. In November we said good-bye to all those in re- The greatest loss of all will be C.S.M. E. Pike, who Sgt. Bartholomew, Pte. Harrison, Cpl. Conroy, - with us will be as happy as that of his predecessor. We ' lease g ro u p s 129-132. T h e y w ere g iven a go o d send departs in January on Python leave. He has always Watson and Fleming; reserve, Pte. El com be. A gtea have also the addition of Sgt. Sharpe, who has come to | off by the Regimental Band, and we wish them every been a tower of strength and he will be greatly missed. loss was sustained when C.S.M. Burrell, a play61 ^ us from the Carrier Platoon. success in their civilian jobs. • We wish Him the very best of luck. Our loss will be the great fire and experience, broke his ankle in a praend­ There was a very enjoyable and interesting break from We were very pleased to receive a draft of 22 from game against “ H.Q.” Company. . the normal routine when we went with the remainder of gain of M rs. Pike and E. Pike, junior. I England the same month, and extend a hearty welcome Up to now there has been no inter-Company do • the Company to Lamma, a very sparsely-inhabited but three members of the Company have ac 6 I to them . _ island an hour's journey by landing craft from the With much regret we said good-bye to our Company “ C ” COMPANY success in the Brigade boxing competition. ^ Kowloon Ferry. We arrived at approximately 10 o'clock j Commander, Major E. C.fc K. Kendall-Sadler, T.D., Since our last notes appeared in the journal many Woodman won two fights and thus fought his in the morning, slightly in advance of a typhoon, the S on his compassionate posting home in November, and changes have occurred in the Company. Our 2 i/c, the Divisional Championships as a bantamweight ^ full force of which we were due to receive the same wish him every success in the future. He handed over Capt. D. B. Rendell, M.B.E., M .C., took over command Gatland, a boxer of promise from the new draft, 143 ¡42 ÎJhe 2)ie-^JJarcL ÎJhe <2)ie-^MarcL

To our late President, R.S.M . P. J. McLoughlin, who duties. These keen and enthusiastic volunteers have We congratulate C.S.M. A. Burrell, C.Q.M.S. R. evening. However, we managed to accomplish the has left us to return to civilian life, we say good luck and landing without mishap, complete with all our stores spent a week camping with us. Thus we are helping to Budden and Sgt. Wright on their recent promotions. re-establish the close liaison started by our predecessors We welcome the return of Sgt. McGowan from a happy landings. , . and equipment, apart from L/Cpl. Faint who received Demobilisation seems to be depleting our membership before the war. “cushy” job at H.Q. Land Forces. Congratulations a ducking when the landing craft decided to drift slightly rather alarmingly, and to all who have left us we extend Sgt. Corner has left us to take up the duties of to D /M Holdford, Sgts. Spenceley and Preston on their seawards as he stepped from the ramp. The week our best wishes for their happiness in their future life. Officers’ Mess Sergeant. Cpl. Foster has been posted passed quite successfully with one or two m inor schemes recent family increases. To all our new members we extend a hearty welcome back to the Home Counties Training Centre as an in­ by day and night, finishing up the last afternoon by C.S.M. T. McMillan, who in the past could not find and the hope that their stay with us Will be a long and taking part in some potted sports. We were joined in structor, and many more are due to leave on release his place in a Platoon X I at football, has sprung to the enjoyable one. these by members of the Royal Artillery and the crew shortly. To all these we wish good luck and success fore and is ably leading the Battalion 1st XI. C Sgt. of a Naval Patrol Launch. Special mention must be in their new tasks. We hope that they will keep in L. Shrubb, M.M., played for the Army 2nd XI at RUGBY FOOTBALL made of Cpl. Briggs and Ptes. Campbell (A.C.C.), touch with us and that at future reunions we shall soccer. C.S.M. H. Jennings played rugger for the Swindells and Johnson, who took care of the cooking meet again. Army XV. C.S.M. R. Tarrant and O.R.Q.M.S. A. The 1949 Rugby season has been greatly hampered arrangements. They turned out some really magnificent Waldron have played in the Army hockey trials. We by the difficulty encountered in obtaining grounds^ food for us under some very trying conditions, especially Assault Pioneer PI-toon have a very good water polo team which represented the The fluctuation of teams owing to National Service and the very poor quality of referees has not eased the the first two days, when it rained continuously. Frying Since our last issue the Platoon has had a very busy \rmv against the Navy; three of our members in that eggs and chips with the rain pouring down their necks time Training on field works and using explosives, not to team' were C.S.M. R. Tarrant, C/Sgt. Ure and D M situ atio n . We had played one 1st XV and two “ A " XV games was one of their minor triumphs. mention numerous exercises. This gave very valuable Holdford, the last-named also dived for the Army. The Early in December we took part in the first battle practice to those who had had no previous experience success of the Battalion sports is due mainly to the very up to December 31. Tbe te t match °CCT“red ° a November 5, when the “ A ” XV lost gallantly to the inoculation scheme, of which there are many more to in this type of work. These parties, loaded with able training of our quietest Mess member—C.S.M.I. Hong Kong Football Club 2nd XV by a goal to one come, the “ guinea pigs ” in this case being “ D ” sufficient explosives to delight ’the keenest anarchist, Tim pany. try and a goal. Capt. Livemore scored the only try, Company, the idea being to cause our mortar bombs sally forth every morning and return at dusk to argue We wish God-speed to R.S.M. P. J. M cLoughlin; he which 2 Lt. E. B. Thomas converted. Our next fixture to fall as closely as possible to our own troops whilst the merits of gun cotton and electrical fuses with the has done a good job of work under trying conditions. was against the 3rd R.T.R., on November 17, when the they were advancing. This was earned out with ex­ casual air of experts. Crazy Gang certainly surpassed our wildest hopes; “ a ” XV went down in a hard-fought game, losing y cellent results. We welcome Pte. Cook to the Platoon and hope he their endeavours were fully appreciated by all members a drop goal and a penalty, both kicked by2.Lt. E B. We say au revoir to Cpl. Seymour and Pte. M urphy, enjovs the change of employment from the Company on Christmas night. Boxing Day saw the Mess worthily Thomas, to two tries and a penalty. The 1st A who have left us to return to civilian life. They will S to res. I represented at soccer against the officers, and a good appeared for its opening game on November 27, when soon be closely followed by L Cpls. M arstin and Burt, Civilian life has finally claimed Pte. Colebrook, who time was had by all in real honest to goodness fun. the 3rd R.T.R. were again challenged and beaten by Ptes. Ranee, Randlesome, Foster and Mears. We wish sailed for home on the Devonshire. H e is soon to be We exchanged the season’s greetings in both Messes in three tries and a goal to two tries; the team lacked them good luck and prosperity in civilian life and hope followed by Ptes. Smith and Wells, who sail in January. the usual way. cohesion through lack of practice together and lack ot to meet them again at our reunions in time to come. We shall also miss the administration of Sgt. Bignell, It was with a feeling of regret that we said good-bye training, both of which we hope to remedy by our next who is proceeding home on Python in January. to C.S.M. H . W hite, C.S.M . E. Fullar and C, Sgt. W. B. fixture against the 23rd Field Regiment R.A., on Janmny Anti-Tank Detachment I Ure. W e know our loss is a gain to their new formations 4 Capt P. J. Livemore, M.C., scored twice and Pte. During the last quarter the Platoon has diminished SERGEANTS’ MESS NOTES and we wish them good luck in their new appointments. Wenden once. C.S.M. Jennings converted on«. from over 20 to a detachment of five. The new estab­ It is a Venetian moon, romance is in the air and ■ S Shats in adoration for all The competition was hotly contested at every stage and Regulars; two of them, L Cpl. Bunce and Pte. Page, Band Sgt. Street. Tombola is a popular Friday mgW that is past, and take off our coats in anticipation for no match was won without a hard fight. The standard joined us just before we left M ill Hill. The detachment fare. Darts are rumoured to be coming to the fore an the future. of plav was surprisingly high. The fin^ order was wish all ex-members of the Platoon the best of luck we anticipate admission to a league in the near future. “ A ” Company, “ D ” Company, “ C Company, wherever they may be, in the Army or Civvy Street. M ah Jong ivories have provided many hours of enjoy­ CORPORALS’ CLUB “ B ” Company, “ H.Q.” Company and “ S ” Company. ment to some members and R.Q.M.S. G. Bla > All Companies, and particularly “ B ” Company, who Two social evenings have been held in the last O.R.Q.M .S. A. W aldron, Sgts. Bignell and Redpath are played three outstanding games, are to be congratulated Carrier Platoon quarter and the united voices of the Club members fast becoming accomplished psychologists. The Carrier Platoon is still organised with two Vickers ringing out over the countryside proved their success. on a first-class show. Crazy Gang, our popular concert party under Sections and one “ Wasp ” Section. During the last A cabaret was organised by Cpl. Butters and his Enter­ The Regiment has been lucky enough to secure two able leadership of D M C. Holdford, have denied some quarter the Platoon has been commanded by Sgt. tainments Committee and proved a huge success. plaving and one reserve place in the Army Rugbyside m members of their tranquillity. Their sufferings, we the Colony. These are 2 Lts. H. J. Evans and J. C. Cooper. We have taken part in all Battalion exercises We congratulate Cpl. W right on his promotion to the assured, will be untold joy to the rest of the Battau Bucknall and C.S.M. Jennings. At one point in the and given several demonstrations. We assisted the higher realms of the Sergeants’ Mess and wish him good Carrier Platoon of the Royal Leicester Regiment in th is festive season. _ irree four trial games held to pick the Army side the Regiment A special word of praise to the Messing C om m i; hick in his employment as M .T . Sergeant. giving a “ Wasp ” demonstration for all the troops in the provided six forwards and three outsides for the 27th with C.S.M. E. Pike at the helm, for doing a very' ^ It is with much regret that we have had to say good­ Colony. Sgt. Palmer and Cpl. Baker succeeded in Brigade XV. These were the above-mentioned three job under difficult circumstances; a peer into ^ bye to the Battalion 2 i c, Major G. Lerwill, M.C., and producing flame at such a great pressure and range that and Sgt. Waterfield, L Cpls. Knight and Isaacs, Ptes- ancestry reveals no light in accounting for his we ^ ^ the Officer i c P.R.I., Major H. Marsh. Our best even the “ Wasp ” enthusiasts of our Division were sur­ Sharp and E. Wenden, of whom all but Sgt. Waterfield in serving so many dishes from the labours of tno wishes accompany them wherever their future service prised. We have been training the Carrier Platoon of the and L.Cpl. Knight have now been demobilised. may take th em . Hong Kong Defence Force in addition to our normal plough the seas. 145 ZJke fbie-A dardi ^Jle Ilbie-^JJarclö began in earnest. The numbers attending this training »'S, '.J were most encouraging and consequently produced a high standard of running in the mter-Company Championship which took place on Wednesday, November 9. The championship was for the Cross- Country Shield with points counting towards the Albuhera Shield. Companies were each represented by ten runners, who ran over a difficult course of approxi­ mately 5i miles. The C.O. started the race and from that moment it was a keen, hard-fought contest. After many changes in positions during the race the final platings were:—“ D ” Company, “ B ” Company, “ A ” Company, “ H.Q.” Company, “ C Company and “ S ” Company. Great keenness was shown by the remainder of the Battalion, who turned out in force to cheer on their respective teams, and showed only too clearly the keen Company spirit in the Battalion. Pte Paget ran a magnificent race to win easily from the rest of the field, and we were very sorry to lose him shortly afterwards on demobilisation. The “ old Back row (left to right) : Pte. White, L]Cpl. Noble, Pte. stagers,” C.S.M. Tarrant and C.S.M. Jentlings, ran Jelly, L/Cpl. Rutty, Pte. Craze well for their respective Companies and finished well up in the field The C.O. presented the medals and the Centre row (left to right) : C-S-yl l J imf any'I'U f'° ^ L ' Pte. Rogers, Pte. Gatland, Pte. Hamson, Pte. Streeter, Cross-Country Shield, and so ended a very pleasant C pl. H ilkene. m eetin g . Front row (ileft to right) : Pte. ^riders, RS-M . P. J- Since then the best 20 runners have been training McLoughlin, Lt.-Col. A. M . Man, O.B.E., Lt. b. C. daily with their eyes on the forthcoming Brigade Osborne, Pte. Woodman championships. These take place on January II, 195° . and we look forward to them with high hopes. Pte. Craze (a southpaw) punched much too hard for “ B ” COMPANY SEVEN-A-SIDE RUGBY TEAM Sgt Coleman (ist Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders), BATTALION ENTERTAINMENTS D efeated “ 5 ” C om pany 16— o, “ H.Q.” Company 3— o. and it was only Sgt. Coleman’s experience that kept him Since moving to Beas Camp our entertainments pro­ L o st to “ A ” C om pany o— 9 on his feet, leaving Craze the winner. gramme has generally followed the same pattern week Pte. Gatland, a new arrival in the Battalion, won his Standing Sgt. McGowan , C.S.AI. Pike, CpI. Steward Ptes. Craze and Gatland in action by week. On Mondays Miss Stevens of the W.V.S. Sitting : CISgt. Shubb, Major A. S. J. de S. Clayton, preliminaries very convincingly, but against Pte. visits us, bringing a feminine touch, and assists with Sgt. Cooper Warmel (1st Royal Leicesters) he disappointed. He is the men’s many problems. Tuesdays are normally Front : Cpl. Crowther, Pte. Bradshaw a very good boxer and will do well when he has more given over to competitions, table tennis, darts and, on experience of southpaw boxers. Pte. Warmel s un­ occasions, some very good quiz competitions are held. orthodox stance unsettled him and he did not give of Wednesday is generally recognised as band night. BOXING his b est. „ _ „ j ▼ Bandmaster Barnett has been able to petsuade the bands The only competition held to date since the season The heavyweight fight between Pte. Jelley and L . of the ist Battalion The Buffs and the ist Battalion began was the Brigade Individual Championships, Fairrie (ist Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) started Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to come and play which was held in the Battalion lines on December 7, off very quietly but soon livened up when Jelley, a for us. Thursdays and Saturdays are very popular as it novice, got accustomed to the ring and proceeded to 1949. is on these days that the A.K.C. film unit show films on L/Cpls. Noble and Rutty, Ptes. Jelley, Webster, box very well. He won his fight and with more ex­ a portable screen. Friday night is normally whist drive Gatland, Craze, Argent, Streeter, Rogers, W hite, Griffiths, perience and training should do well. . , _ night and many valuable prizes have been won in the The Battalion finished the competition with five Saunders and W oodman entered for the championships, last few months. winners in seven weights, and we are all confident that and with so large a number it was inevitable that some Over the Christmas period two excellent shows were the boxers will do well in the Division and Land were drawn together in the preliminaries. given, one by the Corporals and Privates, the other by Forces’ championships. the W.O.s and Sergeants. The former show was pro­ On the final day we had seven boxers still in the com­ The boxers were presented with their prizes by B g. duced by L Cpl. Pillar. It was extremely well done and petition—L, Cpl. Noble, Ptes. W hite, Saunders, Wood­ B. A. Coad, D.S.O., who commented on the fitness 01 well deserved the praise received. The latter show was man, Craze, Gatland and Jelley. the winners’and the high standard of boxing. This was produced by D M Holdford and was an unqualified The first fights of the afternoon were the lightweight due in no small measure to all the hard work put in by success. There is plenty of first-class theatrical talent semi-finals, and the fight between L/Cpl. Noble and C.S.M.I. Timpany (A.P.T.C.) and the keenness of the within the Battalion. It is hoped that in the New Year Pte. White was, according to many, the best of the boxers themselves. bigger and better shows will be produced. afternoon. Pte. White won a very hard fight and went on to win the finals. CROSS-COUNTRY SOCCER Pte. Saunders proved too strong for Pte. Elliot (ist Since our arrival in Hong Kong there has been much Since the last issue of T he D ie-H ard Journal a Royal Leicesters) and won the bantamweight division Ptes. Craze and Gatland in the ring keenness shown in Companies towards cross-country great deal has taken place in the soccer world of the without much trouble. running; consequently as soon as the cooler weather set B attalion. Pte. Woodman put up a very good show in beating in, towards the end of September, cross-country training his opponent in trouble and he came out a worth} Pte. Busby (ist Royal Leicesters) in the featherweights. His superior speed and punching power constantly had w in n er. ZJL - ^ rLI t a r aJ, i ______/4 7 146 Z)Le U bie-^/Jards now goes forward to the European championships at produced some very keen rivalry between Companies, the second match our team was depleted, Capts. P. J. It has already been mentioned that in the new Oslo, various exhibitions in Europe, and finally, we and was finally won by No. 7 Platoon “ C ” Company Ijvemore, M.C., and K. J. Carter, our most thrustful territories space for football grounds is almost non­ hope, to the world championships at Wembley in Apnl. after a hotly-contested battle with the Carrier Platoon forwards, and 2,/Lt. J. C. Bucknall were away on existent. However, by dint of a little hard picking and On December n a Parents’ Sunday School Service of “ S ” Company. This result was something in the exercises. The 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland shovelling and help, gratefully received from the 410th was held by Padre Naylor in the Garrison Church, nature of a personal triumph for C/Sgt. Griffiths of Highlanders opened the score with a fine goal ten Independent Plant Troop R.E., we have now an ex­ where parents saw how these services are conducted, “ C ” Company, who has done a great deal to encourage minutes after the bully off, and try as hard as we did we cellent and almost full-sized football field. In this and various hymns were sung by the children. a keen spirit within his Company and who has taken in were unable to draw level until five minutes before the connection a vote of thanks is due to C.S.M .I. Timpany, On December 17 the Children’s Christmas Tree very good part much good natured leg-pulling over the hnal whistle. Only a matter of a few seconds before who has worked unsparingly in the background both in Party was held, described in detail elsewhere, and on the number of “ C ” Company footballers put forward for foil time the Argyll’s scored again through a misunder­ the building of the field and the organisation of soccer 23rd Christmas dinners were enjoyed by the rather the Battalion teams. standing between a back and the goalkeeper. A fast, small number of men present ; served in the traditional within the Battalion. The culmination of the half-season’s football has robust game we lost by seconds. Of the play^, To date the Battalion has had quite a successful halt- manner by the officers and sergeants. On the 31st the been the inter-Mess knock-out on Boxing Day, which 0 R Q M S. Waldron and CpL Hilkene in the half­ season, though unfortunately we have lost a number of gymnasium was filled to overcrowding by all ranks, past was won by the Privates’ Mess after a ding-dong battle back line played brilliantly, Pte. Jenkins in goal played very good footballers with demob and the teams have and present, and their friends for the New Year s Eve with the Corporals’ Mess. The result, 2—1 in favour a courageous game, stopping shots with all parts of his not really had a good chance of settling down. The Dance. We were particularly glad to welcome Bng^ of the Privates, was only decided by extra time in a and Mrs. Rackham, Lt.-Col. and Mrs. Cubitt, and games and results to date are as follows:— game which produced some very fine football on both Capts. Livemore, M .C., and Bellers are still as fast M ajor and Mrs. Weller at this dance and they met many Result Goals and tricky as they were in England, whilst C LM . Ttom Versus P lace sides. old friends. Won 5 — 4 1st 1st A. & S.H. Home The highlight of the competition was the comic Tarrant appears never to be more happy at right halt Home Won 4 — 2 On January 18 we had, for an all-too-short visit, our 1st 4th Hussars 4 —o than when upsetting the equilibrium of speedy wingers. 2nd 25th Field Regt. Away Won match between the Officers’ Mess and the Sergeants latest-joined officers from the R.M .A., Sandhurst, 2/Lts 1st 25th Field Regt. Home Won 3 — 2 Mess, a thoroughly enjoyable game. Of those taking Capts. P. T. Livemore, M .C., K. J. Carter and P. G. V. Away Lost 1— 3 Lawrence, Wollocombe and Fothergill. They had 1st 1st A. & S.H. 4 — 0 part, Lt. B. K. Clayden, the All-American full back, Bellers, Lt. B. K. Clayden, O.R.Q.M.S. Waldron and 2nd 1st A. & S.H. Away Won time to look round the Depot and to visit the 7th Bat­ 1st 25th Field Regt. Away Lost 3— 7 and Capt. P. Smyth, whose blank-faced brilliant goal- C.S.M. Tarrant have all had trials for the Army. Lt. Home Lost 2 — 3 talion at Hornsey before going off to Hythe on a small 2nd 27th H.Q., Inf- Bde. Draw 2—2 keeping saved the day for the Officers’ Mess, stole the B. K. Claydon was chosen to play left wing but he was 1st 1st R. Leics. Home arms course prior to embarking for Hong Kong to join Away Won 2— I show. As most of the game was played amidst a pall of injured before the match and since then the Army 1st 1st R. Leics. Draw 4 — 4 the 1st Battalion. We are also having, for a short time, 1st 1st Buffs • ■ • ■ Away appears to have lost interest. W ith good luck and con- 2nd 27th (Stranges A/Tk. Bty., smoke and detonations, the final result was somewhat 2/Lt Harrop, who has just obtained a National Service Home Won 5 — 2 in doubt. The stout decision of the referee, L/Cpl. stmctive play we should enter into the finals of the Away Lost 2 — 5 C o m m issio n a n d is to go to th e 1 st B attalio n shortly. 1st 23rd Field Regt., A.A. 6— I Burbage, that the match was a draw was hotly contested tournament which we look forward to with confidence. 2nd 410th Ind. Plant T p., R- I. .. Home Won We were glad to welcome Col. S. F. Hedgecoe here ; Lost 4 ; Goals for, 4 7 ;; Goals by both Messes, and L/Cpl. Burbage was consigned to Results : Won 8 ; Drawn 2 ju st b efore C h ristm as, a n d h e is retirin g e arly in F e b ru a p ’ against, 36. the nearest river. DEPOT NOTES after being in charge of our Record Office at Warwick. The teams this year have been as follows: Since our last notes several meetings have taken place M ajor A. G. Hewitt has also called during his leave from 1 st XI —L/Cpl. Simmonds (“ Cpl. Pascoe BASKET BALL NOTES West Africa, whence he returns shortly for a second to decide on the future occupants of the mam part of (“ C L/Cpl. Larkin (“ S ”), Pte. Cheeseman (“ C ”), Since the issue of our last notes events have moved the barracks. It now seems likely that the Home Postal to u r o f 18 m o n th s. C/Sgt. Shrubb, M.M. (“ B ”), Cpl. Hilkene, (‘ H.Q. , slowly but steadily in the basket ball world. Under the Depot R.E., will come here, the date being dependent The Depot football team turns out on Wednesdays, Pte. Lingwood (“ A ”), Pte. Paget ( B ), L/Cpl. careful guidance of C.S.M .I. Timpany the standard ot on certain engineer work to be carried out in minor im­ when possible, for a friendly game with a local unit, and Heritage (“ B ”), L/Cpl. Hinshelwood (“ H.Q. ), Pte. basket ball has improved. provements and alterations. The Depot will continue our shooting on the range on Thursdays continues. Anderson (“ S ”), C.S.M. McMillan (“ D ), Pte. The inter-Company knock-out competition is being to function as it does now, but the larger unit will no R S M. Weller left us in December to replace R.S.M. Wallis (“ C ”), Pte. Jones 39 (“ H.Q.”)- held in early January, and this competition will help to doubt be of great assistance in improving the appearance McLoughlin, with the 1st Battalion. We were very 2nd X I—L/Cpl. Hyland (“ H.Q.”), Pte. Moore solve the problem of selecting a Battalion team. of the buildings and surroundings, which suffer in­ sorry to lose him and wish him luck in Hong Kong. He S ”), Pte. Scopes (“ D ”), Pte. Amos ( B ), Pte. After the Company competition we shall start mter- evitably from neglect, with only our small maintenance went with C.S.M. WUd and Sgt. Markham, and we Gadd (“ D ”), L/Cpl. Leat (“ H.Q.”), Pte. Longhurst Battalion games in which, we feel sure, we shall meet party to keep the place tidy. , have heard he soon organised his draft of some 30 (“ C ”), Cpl. Purden (“ H.Q.”), Sgt. Cranfield ( A ), with considerable success. On the 19th and 20th the Middlesex County Cadet National Servicemen and arranged a good training.and Pte. Coleman (“ B ”), Pte. Dew (“ D ’’) Pte. MMoney Committee held a useful and instructive conference of recreational programme on board ship. Sgt. Markham, (“ C ”), Pte. Gariin (“ C ”), Pte. Buckle ( C ), Bdsm. HOCKEY NOTES Company Commanders in the School and Officers Mess, very well known for his boxing prowess some years ago, Forsyth (“ H.Q.”), Pte. Reeves (“ C ” ). W e a re still u n a b le to p lay as m u c h h ockey as we would some 24 attending. On the 22nd the Colonel of the soon had the gloves on them and they have no doubt Referees.—Sgt. Burgess (“ B ) and Pte. Leaney like, mainly due to lack of grounds and comnutments. Regiment and O.C. Depot attended a service at the benefited from his keenness. (“ D ” ). We have, however, a very bumpy airstrip which me Garrison Church at Shomcliffe, when the 6th Battalion On January 23 the Colonel of the Regiment and O.C. Linesman.—L/Cpl. Burbage. Companies use for a knockabout, but where it is quite Colours were placed there on loan for safe tap in g , o Depot, accompanied by Lt.-Col. W. L. Roberts were Of those mentioned above, Cpl. Pascoe, L/Cpl. impossible to play a competitive game. the 26th they attended the Old Comrades’ Reunion1 at entertained to luncheon by the Secretary of the Vicwry Hinshelwood, Ptes. Willis and Paget have returned to The Battalion has entered a team for the Land ho Slater’s Restaurant at Kensington ; and on the 28th a C lu b 73-9 Seymour Street, near Marble Arch. Ihey the U.K. for demob. In addition, Pte. Leaney, a very hockey tournament, and out of the two games p aye w meeting at Hendon Town Hall, where the .Hendon were shown round the Club and were much impressed keen and enthusiastic referee, has been posted to the 1st have lost one and drawn the other. cheaue for £1,300 was handed to the Lord-Lieutenant with the amenities provided, at very reasonable prices, Buffs. We are sorry to lose them but take this °PP?r' In the first game we played the 1st Battalion R 5 of the County, Lord Latham, for the Middlesex Regi­ for ah ranks of ex-Service men and women. Some 60 tunity of wishing them good luck and good footballing Leicesters. The Battalion fielded a strong XI, ™ ment Cottage Homes Appeal Fund. ex-members of the Regiment had joined the Club to in the future wherever they are. mainly due to lack of practice we were three goals down During December another course of instruction for date, and it was hoped more would do so. Football within the Battalion has progressed quite at half-time. In the second half the team playe Middlesex Army Cadets Force N.C.O.s was held fo On January 24 a most successful reunion of the sur­ satisfactorily despite heavy training commitments which old, and in a matter of 15 minutes of the restart some 30 boys over a week-end. From e 13 vivors of the Battle of Spion Kop was held, no less than have made it difficult to organise competitions. How­ P . f . Livemore, M .C., and C.S.M . McMillan scored the a company of the Grenadier Guards w a s accommodated 21 of them gathering in the Sergeants Mess for the ever, to date a number of friendly games have been necessary goals to draw level. After Bus we in the barracks during the power strike, while they 50th anniversary of the action. The reunion was played between Companies and their- corresponding game very much our own way, the R °^ L“ fiddj helped to maintain a local power station at Enfield. On attended by the Colonel of the Regiment, Col. W. A numbers in the 1st Argyll and Sutherland ICghlanders, seldom being able to encroach in our haff of t _ December 9 Pte. Nicks, who had recently returned from Stewart, O.B.E., and the Depot officers, and is described and have fostered a spirit of friendly rivalry between and so to full time with six goals shared and a Hong Kong, won, with his sister, the pair ice-ska g in detail elsewhere. championship o f Great Britain at the Empress Hall- He our two units. . . fought game enjoyed by spectators and players am«:. The Battalion inter-Platoon knock-out competition 148 T)he V i e S i- - M a r i , 1 4 9

to be everywhere at once, and by midday Saturday the tree was in position, chairs ready for the cinema, loud­ speaker and lights prepared by our helpful R.E.M.E. friends, specially-built fireplace in position, presents laid out, and M r. Ash and the faithful N.A.A.F.I. staff completing the laying of 200 teas. The late arrival of the Father Christmas kit caused a temporary panic, and hurriedly improvised arrangements (fortunately not needed) caused some amusement. By 3.15 a good crowd of guests had arrived and the cinema started with a Jack and the Beanstalk cartoon, and went on with an excellent show, much enjoyed by the children, till 4 o’clock. Tea then started, and the 1st Battalion cable, received that morning from Hong Kong, was loudly applauded. It said : “ Happy Christmas and lots of fun to all children and their mothers, and thank you to all helpers from 1st Battalion fathers.” Cakes, sandwiches, jellies coupled with those who had since passed away and and ice-cream disappeared with a remarkable speed, those who could not be present. and by 5 o’clock everyone settled down to welcome Capt. G. Johnson then replied on behalf of the others Father Christmas (O.R.Q.M.S. Cook). Called up by present, recalling some most interesting anecdotes of telephone, his spectacular arrival through the fireplace, the Battalion at the time. All would remember the heralded by suitable noises, proved an exciting and : fine beards they grew there (here Col. Stewart disagreed loudly-acclaimed event. After a few well-chosen words —he said h e c o u ld n o t g ro w one !) a n d th e p o o r ratio n s ; on the loudspeaker names began to be called and each usually bully and biscuits, which caused a lot of stomach child went up to receive a present from Father Christmas trouble. It was recalled how, one day, when radons and and a packet of sweets and a balloon from the helpers. water were short, a voice was heard to cry out : “ M ine * By 5.30 this was over and Father Christmas, with a a mild and bitter, Miss.” On hearing this the Colonel cheerful “ good-bye,” disappeared through the fireplace. halted the Battalion, and ordered up the water cart. After a short time with their new toys, mothers started This was greeted with cheers by the men, at which the to collect and dress their offspring, happy and tired talion had changed the colour of their helmets from blue SPION KOP REUNION Colonel immediately called out : “ If you can shout after an excellent party. On January 24, 1950, a reunion of no less than 21 ex- to khaki, and dyed their white belts from a dye made of I you don’t need it. March on ! , Our thanks go to the organisers and helpers mentioned members of the 2nd Battalion who took part in the Battle mimosa bark. Thanks were proposed to the Colonel of the Regiment earlier in this account, and to Mr. Ash and his of Spion Kop was held in the Sergeants’ Mess to com­ Our men were no match at the start with the Boer \ for the excellent evening, and to the members of the N-A.A.F.I. staff for their excellent tea. memorate the 50th anniversary of the action. fighting skill, but soon learned from their mistakes. Sergeants’ Mess for their hospitality. Some group The party was made possible by the opening gift of W ith an average age of 78 years these veterans pre­ Orders for the battle had been very sketchy and few photographs were taken and the company then enl°y“ £15 from the Cambridge Club, followed by £ $ 0 fro m sented an impressive and bemedalled array and a fine men knew what the plan was ; when they first came the generous buffet supper provided and discussed old th e 1st B attalion, a v ote o f £ 2 0 from the Depot Sergeants’ example of the old “ Die-Hard ” spirit. The survivors under long-range small arms fire they even thought it times together until a late hour. Beds were provided Mess, and smaller amounts from the Depot Officers was the noise of dragon flies, of which there were of the battle present were : ! by the Depot for six of the party whose homes were too Mess and P.R.I. funds, and the Depot R.C. Padre. Col. W. A. Stewart, O.B.E., Capt. F. Skinner, M.C., m y riad s. far aw ay to reach th a t n ig h t. The climb up the hill, in single file, had sometimes Bandmaster J. Kerwin, Sgt. H. Wells, Dmr. W. H. King, RECRUITING Pte. P. G. Jennings, Pte. A. F. Page, Pte. H. E. Crump, to be on all fours, and they were hindered by wounded and panic-stricken troops coming down. The arrival CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PARTY, 1949 Pte. C. Buckman, Sgt. W. T. E. Pead, Pte. F. Hurst, W e are badly in need of boys for training as Bandsmen of the Battalion had steadied everyone on top of the hill As usual, arrangements for the party started in good Capt. G. Johnson, Q.M.S. R. E. Evans, D.C.M., with the 1st Battalion Band. and here they found themselves exposed to heavy fire time A committee was formed, consisting of <->.C. R.S.M. F. J. Trezona, M.C., C/Sgt-. J. Ryan, Pte. If anyone reading this note knows of any likely lad from front and flanks. At the critical moment, when a Depot, Major Heywood, Mrs. Farrow and Mrs. Dennis, G. E. Ford, Pte. G. E. Edwards, Pte. W. Bailey, Pte. he is asked to let the O.C. Depot know. bold rush forward would have probably been successful, and after a m ee tin g o n O cto b er 10 a n aftern o o n s J. A. Knight, Pte. H. J. Ormiston, Sgt. H. Wright. Experience is not essential but a knowledge of piano the order to retire was received. ■ shopping expedition was arranged the same week. Mrs. Those unable to attend were : Lt.-Col. H. P. or a wind or string instrument should be a great help. Near the bottom of the hill he had met a young Bellers, Mrs. Dennis, Mrs. Farrow, Mrs. Newman and Osborne, D.S.O., Sgt. T. G. Moore, Pte. R. F. Varney, O.C. Depot is in touch with all Cadet Units, Recruit­ reporter, asking for details of the action, a M r. Winston Mrs. Smith set forth with long lists of names and ages of Sgt. J. Dunstone, C Sgt. C. Smith. ing Authorities and Youth Employment Officers in the Churchill ; and a little further on their Brigade Com­ children, and they spent the afternoon selecting a fine Col. M. Browne, M.C., D.L., J.P., Colonel of the county, and advertisements are appearing in the local mander, Gen. Talbot Coke. The General was suffering array of presents for all, at wholesale prices, bearing in Regiment, opened proceedings by proposing the Loyal evening papers, but so far the results are disappointing. from gout and could not climb the hill, and two men blind not only what the children had received last year Toast to the King, and then went on to welcome the were left with him, to assist him back. Here Mr. P. G. but w h a t it w as th o u g h t th e y w o u ld like th is year. W ith the offer of a career full of opportunity for pro­ guests and to introduce Col. Stewart. Jennings, one of those present, said he well remembere In due course vans arrived full of parcels and then motion, and free musical training, it is an attractive life Col. Stewart gave a most interesting and amusing the incident as he was one of the men, the other being the real work of sorting, wrapping and tying up imd fo r a boy. address on his early experiences in the Regiment and labelling started, which took several evenings, working Past members of,the Regiment are particularly asked on incidents at Spion Kop. He recalled how he had Pte. O. G. Smith. f Col. Stewart said he had always been conscious 0 till late at night, in one of the offices. to broadcast our requirements and to do their best to joined at the age of 18 at Woolwich, and when marched the magnificent comradeship and fellowship that By Friday evening, December 18, the Christmas tree send some boys along. in by Capt. Muriel the Adjutant, Col. Hill, a most awe­ exists in our Regiment and was, indeed, proud and happy bad been decorated, with a beautiful doU dressed by They themselves know how very well many of our inspiring officer, said he thought he must be aged 15. to be at the reunion that evening. Mrs. Newman on top, and a lot of blowing expended in boys have done in the past, and they can be our best He had arrived in South Africa the youngest man in the i Oflating balloons, Cpl. Gould displaying unexpected The Colonel of the Regiment then proposed the sa recruiters. Battalion, and with no training for field operations, Powers and speed in this fine. C.S.M. Maloney seemed beyond bayonet drills, and remembered how the Bat­ and solemn toast to those who had fallen at Spion Kop, dJLe 2)ie -^Jdards 150 dJhe <2)ie-^Jfardi

MUSEUM NOTES then in safe custody at the Depot, to be loaned to the On December 10, 1949, the Colonel of the Regiment church, and they were taken down by the O.C. Depot, received from the Military Historical Society at the with Sgt. Fawcett, the day before, and handed over to Imperial War M useum a sampler of the Colours of the the 1 st Battalion the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent 3rd Battalion The Middlesex Regiment. It was given Regiment. As seen in the photograph, the 6th Battalion Regimental Colour has a white background with red St. to the Society by an anonymous donor. The sampler is in a wooden frame with glass front and George’s Cross and the figure VI in the top left comer. embroidered in coloured silk on a black background. Our regimental representatives at the service were Above the Colours is a wreath of laurel containing the Col. M. Browne, Colonel of the Regiment, Major Prince of Wales’s Feathers and inscription “Albuhera,” R. C. H. Bellers, O.C. Depot, and M rs. Bellers, Capt. V. A. Thomas and R.S.M. Weller, and they formed and on either side are the Regimental Battle Honours up part of a large and distinguished congregation repre­ to South Africa, 1902. senting all regiments of the group and many recruits. The history of the sampler is not known, but it may The service opened with the singing of the hymn, have been made in South Africa after the presentation “ Through the night of doubt and sorrow, onward goes of Colours to the 3rd Battalion. These Colours were the pilgrim band,” during which the officiating clergy presented by H.E. The Right Honourable Viscount Milner, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., High Commissioner of and His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury took up South Africa, at M iddleburg, Transvaal, on February 3, their positions at the altar. 1904, just before the retirement of the Battalion’s first The four sets of Colours of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regi­ Commanding Officer, Lt.-Col. E. V. Bellers. The original Colours are laid up in the Guildhall, ment), the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment and ours were then brought slowly to the centre of the where they can now be seen. The sampler shows the church, making a magnificent and deeply-moving dis­ Roman figure III in the centre of the King’s Colour, play. Each set of Colours had its own Colour Party, and the red St. George’s Cross on white background on our own under Lt. J. O. D. French carrying the King’s the Regimental Colour. In the top left comer of the Colour, and 2/Lt. L. C. Sharpe the Regimental Colour, Regimental Colour is the Roman figure II, which with Sgts. G. Whitfield, L. Crittenden and S. Bartle appears to be in error. forming the escort. The Colour Parties then slow- Col. T. South very kindly presented to the Museum marched, one by one, to the altar, where the Colours three muskets. These three firearms were captured were handed to the Archbishop and placed in pairs on by the 2/8th Battalion, in the W estern Desert in 1916, being taken from three Arabs who were attempting to either side. get past the outlying pickets of that Battalion. After the service the Colonel of the Regiment joined Sgt. L. F. Garrett (No. 12214) sent an article from other Colonels of Regiments at the District Com­ th e Sunday Pictorial, showing a group of “ Die-Hards ” manders’ Mess and lunched with Maj.-Gen. P. G. S. of “ B ” Company of the 1st Battalion, at Mons in 1914. Gregson-Ellis and the Archbishop of Canterbury. success in making the unit more well known, locally, as This article is now in the Museum. The Colonel of the 7th BATTALION THE MIDDLESEX REGIMENT Regiment has written and thanked Sgt. Garrett. part of Hornsey. (D.C.O.) Several officers, including Col. Johnson and Major Two South African Medals, awarded to the late WAR MEMORIAL FUND Hughes, attended the B.E.F. Club dinner on Novem­ Sgt. T. A. Fleckney (No. 6492), who served with the The Battalion held a recruiting drive during Novem­ ber 11, at the Trocadero, the annual dinner where past 4th Battalion, have been presented to the Museum. List of donations from November 4, i 949j t0 ber, 1949, which took the form of producing a social and present officers of the 7th Battalion indulged in Sgt. Fleckney enlisted in September, 1900, and was dis­ ruary 1, 1950, inclusive :— function each night of the week (November 7 to 12 reminiscences, and all present spent a very emoyable charged in October, 1912. This veteran of the Boer £ s. d. inclusive). The week started on Armistice Sunday (November 6), evening together. War passed away in November, I 949> aged 66 years. Borough of Hendon (further donation) .. 1,300 0 0 when over 50 members of the Battalion and 50 Old Com­ Lt. Lloyd has left us for a time whilst in South Africa, The medals were presented to the Regiment by his 12 6 Legionaire Club, Willesden, Ltd. 34 rades were present on church parade and marched to where his civilian work has taken him. Best wishes go w idow . Enfield District “ 100 ” Luncheon Club ' St. Mary’s Church, Hornsey, headed by the Corps of with him from all ranks and the hope that he will 0 (further donation) 26 5 Drums. Wreaths were laid at the Battalion Memorial rejoin us on his return to U.K. after two or three years. .a the church on behalf of all ranks, ex-officers and Old HANDING OVER OF COLOURS TO GARRISON Col. A. M. O. A. Passingham (sale of Christmas in the T.A. is somewhat different to that 0 0 stamp collecting cards) ...... 8 ; Comrades of the 7th Middlesex. The Battalion Coiours in a regular battalion, in that Christmas festivities are CHURCH, SHORNCLIFFE : were carried on parade by Lts. Garbett and Bird, and 9th Battalion O.C.A. Raffle at O.C.A. organised on a personal or family basis, compared with On November 22, 1949, a service was held, at 0 '< advantage was taken of our Freedom of Hornsey R eu n io n 2 7 the Battalion Christmas dinner and activities of the 11.45 a.m., in the Garrison Church of St. M ark, Shorn- ; Borough in letting the Colours “ fly ” during the re.um Regular Army. However, the New Year’s dance and Mr. R. E. Evans, D.C.M. (further dona­ ! march from the church. A short film of the parade was cliffe, for the dedication of the organ, by His Grace the 2 2 0 the children’s party are very similar, and this year some Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. tio n ) taken by Lt. E. G. Daniels and shown to all ranks later 2 0 0 500 people celebrated the arrival of the New Year m Part of the service consisted of the ceremony of Mrs. P. Lindley S m ith ...... during the week. A copy of this film is being included the customary way, and over 90 children of serving handing over four pairs of Colours of Regiments of the Maggs Pokey Die Fiends (further dona­ : in the Middlesex County T.A. recruiting film which is members and Old Comrades enjoyed themselves at the 1 6 0 Home Counties Brigade for temporary lodgment in tio n ) ! being compiled at present. Event!t during £]he we,=k in­ children’s party on January 7 at Hornsey T.A. Centre. 1 0 cluded a band concert given by the R.A.O.C. Staff Band the church. The church is a new and fine one, and these Mr. I. G. Peacock 1 The success of the children’s party was mainly due to Colours will enhance the beauty of interior, and form I from Portsm outh and a darts exhibition given by^well- A.M.M.S. (per Major H. K. Hardcastle, the hard work by Mrs. A. K. Johnson and Lt. D am *, a valuable symbol of the Regiments whose recruits known News of the World darts champions, including ]. T.D.), Mr. J. Hart, Mr. R. Leapman who organised the arrival of Father Christmas, Charles undergo their early training at Shomcliffe. 0 0 Boss, S. H e a d a n d S. O u tten . Although the increase of re­ (stamp collecting card) Denton, and C.S.M. Perry, who arranged all the The Colonel of the Regiment had given permission cruit; was not very great, it is felt that the week was a 5 0 for the 6th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment Colour, Mr. A. F. M cD erm ott ...... iJle 2)ie-~-JJardi D L -^JJards administrative details of the party, and to Drum-M ajor during his period of service as an officer and Command­ Poulter and his family, for the excellent tea provided. ing Officer of the Battalion and, also, as Hon. Colonel On December 19 the officers and ex-officers of the of the Battalion during the latter years. Battalion gave Charles Denton a dinner in the Officers’ The Battalion organised a dance at the Homsev Mess on the occasion of his retirement, after 41 years’ Town Hall on January 26— this will probably become an service, and it was a very enjoyable occasion. We were annual social event in future years. A very enjoyable very pleased to have present Brig. Murray, the Hon. evening ensued but, unfortunately, the numbers were Colonel of the Battalion, and several ex-officers, in­ few, owing to the bad weather. Despite this, “ C ” cluding Col Pringle, Col. Mirams, Majors Bartram and Company has almost 100 per cent, attendance. Well Cunliffe, and Lt. Gliksten. During January we have done, “ C ” Company ! also said good-bye to Capt. Trestain as Q.M ., who has been posted to the 1st Battalion in Hong Kong. We welcome Capt. Honeybun as his temporary successor until the arrival of Major Newman from the 1st Bat­ talion in a few months’ rime. The Corps of Drums, under Drum-Major Poulter, which is now 25 strong, gave an excellent display at the Ritz Cinema, Harringay, on December 30. The display was received with great enthusiasm by the local populace and it is hoped to give further displays of this nature in the local area in the near future for recruiting nth PARACHUTE BATTALION (MIDDLESEX) to be allocated a household unit, permission has been p u rp o se s. T.A. given to recruit men for administrative duties who are Rumours are now very strong about the return of the unable, on account of their medical category, to under­ A period of relaxation followed the end of camp and T.A. Centres at Enfield and Tottenham. It is fairly take parachute duties. Any old “ Die-hards who are the training year, in which time our harassed permanent certain that we shall be installed in Enfield before interested should call and see us. Similar conditions staff had a well-earned rest. This was quickly followed Easter and we hope that Tottenham will be returned to apply to our Band and Drums, who have now been bv a first-class week-end arranged by 4th Parachute us soon after annual camp this year. formed under Bandmaster Dean and Drum-Major Brigade at the Isle of Wight. The exercise, arranged The officers and ex-officers organised a presentation Wales respectively, the larter being well known in the presumably for officers and N.C.O.S, was a theoretical to Col. Sir Edwin J. King of a very ornate and valuable 2 8th and 1st Battalions. clock on January 22, 1950, at Hornsey, in the Officers' drop to capture a certain valuable prisoner, with a with­ Mess, on his relinquishment of the appointment of -jth BATTALIO N OFFICERS’ (B.E.F.) CLUB drawal to the sea across country and evacuation by Staff List Hon. Colonel of the Battalion after nearly 25 years. TROCADERO, NOVEMBER 11, 1949 landing craft. This took place during the night of C.O. - - - ■ Lt.-CoL S. Terrell, T D . Lt.-Col. J. K. Maitland presented the clock and gave Lt.-Col. Kenneth Johnson, Commander, nth Battalion. October 29 and at dawn the Royal Marines embarked 2 i c Major C P. B. Moggridge, M.C tribute to the tremendous work by Col. King, both Brig. Basil Rackham and Lt.-Col. Roberts the Brigade, together with some vehicles, in L.C.M. Adjt. Capt. P. G. T. Bates and L.C.T. from the N.-E. coast of the island, taking us R.S.M...... G . D. Miller, M.M. lack to Cowes, where we were stationed. In the after­ noon they again kindly shipped us over to Southampton “ H .Q .” and “ S ” Com panies and we caught an evening train up to London. Our CO. Major W. D. Ellis thanks are due to Brigade H.Q. and the Royal Marines P.S.I ...... C S -M - G ra y for such an enjoyable and instructive week-end. “ B ” C om pany Again we have come to the front in the Divisional .22 CO. Capt. P. McG. Bulwer Rifle Competition, with the Battalion winning the “A” P.S.I ...... Sgt. Corboy Team Cup and “ H.Q.” and “ C ” Companies tying for “ C ” C om pany first place in the “ B ” Team Cup. CO. - • Major R. A . C o rb y Boxing has come to the forefront of our sporting P.S.I ...... C.S-M. Roberts activities and great keenness was shown in the inter­ company competition, which was held at Hounslow on “ D ” Company' Thursday. January 12. “ H.Q.” Company were the C.O. . . Major J. W. P. Baxter winners, and the cup and prizes were presented by the P.S.I ...... Sgt. Q u in n Brigade Commander, Brig. J. M . K. Spurling. D.S.O. This was closely followed by a match, which we won, against the 10th Parchute Battalion, and for which a 595th U A JL SL. REGIMENT R.A. (MIDDLESEX) cup had been presented by the Hounslow Boxing Club. Affiliation Parade Some excellent fights were put up and we must con­ The affiliation parade, on Sunday, January 29, I 95°> gratulate all contestants on the excellent evening s at 1100 hrs., of 33 3rd Cadet Regiment, R~A., to 595^ entertainment. T h e prizes were again presented by our L.A-A- S.L. Regiment, R.A. C9th Battalion The M iddle­ Brigade Commander, and amongst our guests were our sex Regiment, D .C O .' T A , was symbolised by chang­ Honorary Colonel, Brig. E. E. F. Baker, C-B-E., D.S.O., ing the Escort for the King's and Regimental Colours M .C , T D ., senior officers from Division and Brigade before they were marched off at the end of the ceremony. and members of the Committee of the Hounslow The senior cadet N.CO.s who were granted the Boxing Club. * . h o n o u r o f providing the escort were Cadet Sgts. Breretoo We understand that camp this year is to be Held jih MIDDLESEX OFFICERS’ (B.E.F .) CLUB 22nd ANNUAL DINNER and Newstead and Cadet Bdr. Rose. Dear the Devonshire coast and, since we are no longer Held <11 the Trocadero, N ovem ber II, 1949. Chairman : Col. Sir Edrciv King f)L Zbu-JLM DL 2)ie-J4arl « 5

J.P., Chairman, Wembley Recruting Committee, and 2/l0th BATTALION BRANCH, MIDDLESEX Lt.-Col. E. T. Morgan, O.C. 3rd Cadet Regiment, R.A. REGIMENT, O.C.A. Christmas activities, 1949, at the T.A. Centre of Service o f Remembrance 595th L.A.A./S.L. Regiment, R.A. (9th Battalion The On Sunday, November 6 last, the Old Comrades of Middlesex Regiment, D.C.O.), T.A., were again pre­ the above branch mustered at Chiswick Parish Church sented against the background of coloured lights and for their annual Service of Remembrance. decorations, that transformed the hall into a children’s The service was attended by the Mayor of Chiswick fairy delight. and about 100 members of the l/ioth and 2/loth The regimental Christmas party was again the high­ Battalions. light, and the 160 children, who arrived at 2 p.m. and Through the kind co-operation of the Vicar, the Rev. left at 6 p.m., had every minute catered for, with musical A. H. Rees, who arranged the service and preached a games, films, Punch and Judy, conjuror, the biggest tea very inspiring sermon, the occasion was very fitting and, ever, and, finally, Father Christmas coming down a also, pleasing to the congregation of old soldiers. chimney and arriving on stage without a trace of soot, The Act of Remembrance took place after the sermon, which was too much for the certain boy who was heard when, after the placing of the wreaths on the memorials to say : “ It can’t be a real chimney.” of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions, the Last Post was To all the ladies who worked under Mrs. Avis, wife sounded, followed by the Reveille, which brought this of the R.S.M ., many thanks were expressed, and, best ceremony to an impressive close. of all, was the remark of one little girl, clutching a toy in After the service, a brief reunion took place in the one hand, orange, apple, sweets and balloon in the Church Hall, kindly lent by the Vicar, when, once other, while mummy was trying hard to put a coat on again, the refreshments were by the good friends of the to take her home : “ Mummy, I’m so happy I could 2/loth, Mrs. P. E. Cumming, Mrs. W. A. Lovegrove bu st.” and Mr. R. de Pass. A collection made in the Hall to The all ranks’ party, on Friday, December 23, was cover the expenses of this amounted to about £5 and attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Wembley, was handed to the Vicar. Brig. B. B.. Rackham, C.B.E., M.C., and the Hon. The name of the Secretary of the 2/loth Branch is Colonel, Col. G. Beach, C.B., O.B.E., T.D :, D.L., J.P., Mr. A. H. Cumming, who would be glad to hear from and we were only too sorry that the Colonel of the Regi­ any 2/roth men who are not already on his register. ment was unable to be with us. His address is 21 Hounslow Road, Feltham, Middlesex. Over 500 attended, and included wives, girl friends A.H.C. and members of our Regiment and 6th A.A. Workshop MARCH OFF OF KING’S AND REGIMENTAL COLOURS AFTER CHANGE FROM ESCORT OF T.A. Battalion, R.E.M.E. (T.A.), with whom we share our REGIMENT TO ESCORT OF NEWLY AFFILIATED CADET BATTERY premises, 9th Battalion Middlesex Regiment O.C.A., MIDDLESEX ARMY CADET FORCE Colour Officers : Capt. G. W. Hill and Capt. D. H. Spratt senior cadets from 33rd Battery and ex-cadets now Rebadging Ceremony at H.M. Tower of London serving in National Service. Colour Escort : Cadet/Sgt. D. Brereton, Cadet¡Sgt. G. Newstead and Cadet Bdr. N. G. Rose On Sunday, January 22, 1950, a most moving and The dancing, stage show, and good luck rifle shoot interesting ceremony was carried out at H.M . Tower of helped to get the evening going, and everybody was London. It was the formal affiliation and rebadging of ready to tackle at 9.30 p.m. the buffet tables laden down b ad g e, to p re se n t to th e C a d e t B attery to fly a t th eir m ast­ members of Nos. 93 and 94 Batteries, 9th County of The parade, under Major H. M. L. Price, was drawn with a spread of food that reminded us of pre-war days. head. Middlesex Cadet Regiment, who have recently become up on the parade ground at the T.A. Centre, Kingsbury, This was the first of the annual all ranks’ Christmas Capt. F. P. Smith, O.C. 33rd Batter,', came forward affiliated to 604th (M.) L.A.A./S.L. Regiment, R-A. as two guards facing each other with the Colours in parties, and will be long remembered, as it brought to­ to receive the pennant on behalf of his Battery and, the midway between the two guards, and promptly at gether many wives and girl friends and members of the (R.F.), T.A. as he marched back to his position, so the youngest For the benefit of readers it is considered that a little ii a.m. Col. Maurice Browne, M.C., D.L., Colonel of Regiment who were just names but, at the finish, were the Middlesex Regiment (D.C.O.), arrived at the saluting Cadet left his position at the flag mast and marched of the background history leading up to this ceremony towards his officer to receive the pennant, and then firm friends. will be of interest. In accordance with War Office base, accompanied by Lt.-Col. H. W. W. Gray, M.B.E., These were two only of many functions which took returned to fly it at the flag mast. This cadet, height policy the County of Middlesex Cadet Committee have T.D., Commanding Officer, 595th L.A.A./S.L. Regi­ place over 16 days, others including sergeants’ ball, 4 ft. 6 in. and I ii years of age, with white belt, is the recently carried out a complete reorganisation of the ment, R.A. (9th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve regimental dances. D.C.O.), T.A., and the Mayor and Mayoress of son of the T.A. Unit's R.S.M . and is specially enlisted Army Cadet Force units in the county. This has meant as O.C.’s runner, and his drill already shows he is going that, in many cases, sub-units who were formerly W em bley. The general salute was sounded. After an inspection to follow his father’s footsteps. Presentation of Colours affiliated to the Middlesex Regiment have now been Col. Maurice Browne, in addressing the parade, said A very fine programme of music for the ceremony was An impressive ceremony will take place at the T.A. affiliated to their local Territorial Army units. By this it is hoped that closer liaison will lead to assistance on the affiliation had two objects : provided by the T.A .’s own Military Band, under Band­ Centre, Honeypot Lane, Kingsbury, N.W.9, on Satur­ day, May 13, 1950, when Lt.-Gen. Sir Brian Horrocks, a mutual basis and, so far as the cadets are concerned, (1) The T.A. to provide instructors, equipment, master J. R. Turner. Quite a large number of wives, parents and menus K.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O., M.C., will, on behalf of His assistance on an “ elder brother, younger brother ” accommodation and social facilities. Majesty The King, present new Colours to' 595* basis. It also means that what is now becoming a (2) That it was hoped that as he passed from Cadet gathered to see this impressive ceremony. Special guests included Col. G. Beach, C.B., O.B. ■, L.A.A./S.L. Regiment, R.A. (9th Battalion The Middle­ natural circle will be closed, i.e. from Cadet to National to National Serviceman, and then to T.A., the Cadet T.D., D.L., J.P., Honorary Colonel of 595 sex Regiment, D.C.O.), T.A. Service man to Territorial Army soldier. would want to come back to the parent unit, and L.A.A./S.L. Regiment, R.A. (9th Battalion The Middle­ All cadet units continue to be affiliated through their volunteer for four years as a Territorial. Gen. Horrocks has long associations with this Bat­ sex Regiment, D.C.O.), T.A., Brig. B. B. Ra am, unit headquarters to the County Regiment. Sub-units He also stressed the importance of the Regimental talion, having been Adjutant from 1926 to 1930. C.B.E., M.C., Secretary, Middlesex Territorial are affiliated to various Arms of the Service, such as Colour and urged the Cadets to be loyal to their Regi­ The existing Colours were presented to the Regiment Auxiliary Forces’ Association, Lt.-Col- ’ the R.A., Royal Signals, R.A.S.C., R.E.M .E., Parachute ment and their new badge. by H.R.H. Princess Henry of Battenburg at the Regi­ representing Col. R. D. Sherbrooke-Walker, 1 J-»-> Regiment, etc. Col. Gray then handed Col. M. Browne an R.A. ment’s former Headquarters in Pound Lane, Willesden, D.L., Commandant, Cadets, Mr. R. M. J. Pendr , The morning of the ceremony was cold and misty. pennant embossed with the R.A. badge and Middlesex N.W.10, on June 28, 1913- D . I j b u

thanksgiving and dedication- Following the service, Conclusion of trhich was most impressively conducted by the Rev. A JOURNEY THROUGH AFRICA R. M . La Porte-Payne, S.C.F., all filed out and officers, By L t.-C ol. S. F. W. M. del C oubt, M.C. »■arrant officers and other ranks, including the cadets, I left White River in the morning and in about an each went to their respective Messes, where all were hour arrived at the entrance to the Kruger National entertained in regimental fashion. Park. The area of the park is the size of Wales. It is a Later, by permission of the Resident Governor, completely natural reserve. It is not fenced. There is everyone was privileged to see the Crown Jewels. W hat nothing to prevent the animals leaving or entering the a magnificent sight they were 1 All the adjectives in park. Lately, owing to shortage of water, many have the English language are exhausted in attempting to moved out and fell victims to poachers. There is a describe these symbols of British history and royal plan at the moment to try and raise a fund so as to majesty. improve the water by boring. So ended what, to many of these young soldiers, will I paid my entrance fee and confirmed my reservations ! undoubtedly be a red letter day and, it is hoped, an at the various rest camps. The W arden suggested to me inspiration for their future lives and service, whether it that on my way to the camp at Pretorius Kop I should be as soldier or civilian. make a detour of some miles, as lions had been reported there that morning. I took his advice and after driving HORNSEY “ DIE-HARDS ” CLUB for an hour saw some cars drawn up at the side of the road. I talked to one of the occupants and they pointed By the time these notes have appeared in print, we out to me a pride of about nine lions who were sunning should have held our fourth annual general meeting and th em selv es on som e ro ck s o n a k o p je to o y ard s o r so fro m be in our fifth year of existence. It is, therefore, fitting the road. It was lucky I went out of my way, for they perhaps to review the activities of the Club over the last were the only lions I saw during the four days I spent four years and see whether we have accomplished that in the reserve. which we set out to do. You must keep to the roads and stay in your car, Our object in the first instance was two-fold. First, and you must be in camp at sunset. The camps are to have a rendezvous where old members of the Bat­ surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and at the gates you talion could m eet and talk over old times, and, secondly, can see at what time the gates are opened and closed. to help to keep the members together so that those I was not aware that the park was dry, so I had not eligible for rejoining could be kept up to date with the brought anything with me and had, perforce, to be on situation as to the reformation of the Battalion. It was the “ water cart” whilst I was there. There are then suggested that the O.C.A. should become local excellent restaurants where you can get meals, or you members of the Regimental Association and that all r - .n bring your own food and cook it on the camp fires. members of the Regiment should become eligible to There are" showers and baths and constant hot water. join We fell in line and became the Hornsey “ Die- I slept each night in a rondavel, a small circular hut con­ Hards ” Club, and, as the Drill Hall was not open, we taining two beds, but the season had only just opened ! established our headquarters at the “ Nightingale,” and a n d I d id n o t h av e to sh are it. T h e p a rk is o n ly o p e n fo r and the grey towers of this most ancient fortress lent a Chairman, County of London Cadet Committee, Col. R. our old friend, Percy Shorten, put a room at our disposal five months in the year. The remainder it is closed to solemn background to the ceremony. D. Sherbrooke-Walker, T.D., D.L., Commandant, I every W ednesday evening. the public on account of the mosquitoes and in the rarny H.M . Tower of London is the birthplace of the Royal County of Middlesex Army Cadet Force, and Lt.-Col. S. In the first year 161 members joined. This dropped season the roads become impassable. Fusiliers. This famous regiment was bom from the Mirams, M.C., T.D., D.L., Honorary Colonel, 9th to 117 the next year, went up to 127 in the next, and I made a list of the animals I saw: lions, giraffe, ancient Ordnance Companies (gunners) who were County of Middlesex Cadet Regiment, proceeded to the dropped to 81 in 1949- L is hoped I*131 ^ hippo, zebra, warthogs, water-buck, impala, wildebeest, stationed there in the 17th century. Their badge, the saluting dais. will go up again in the coming year and the “ stalwarts kudu, sable antelope, buffalo and monkeys. The buds bursting fusil with the double rose enclosed in the After inspecting the parade Maj.-Gen. Harter spoke. can considerably help in this by making their pals come He referred to the long and close association that one sees most frequently are the hombills, or toucans garter, can still be seen on some of the old cannon in along a n d join. . existed between the Royal Fusiliers and the Middlesex as they are sometimes incorrectly called. th e T o w er. The Club has subscribed approximately ¿7 5 to th e My most interesting experience was when turning a It was, therefore, right and proper that this ceremony Regiment and of how they had fought together and both Regimental W ar M emorial Cottage Homes, as the result still celebrated the famous battle of Albuhera. He comer I came face to face with a giraffe which was only should be held in such a place. of a dance, sale of “ cottage stamps,” and collecting 6 ft. high. I do not know who was the more surprised, The ceremony commenced with the two Cadet Bat­ welcomed these young soldiers to the birthplace of the Regiment they were about to join through their affiliation the youngster or myself. I looked around, but saw teries, on the right (the place of honour), together with Many cases of hardship have been investigated by the to 604th (M.) L.A.A. S.L. Regiment, R.A., who, he re­ nothing until with a leap the young giraffe joined its detachments of the male and female members of 604th Secretary and recommended to the Regimental Associa­ mother, who was standing motionless under a tree. (M.) L.A.A. S.L. Regiment, R.A. (R.F.), T.A., forming minded them, were formerly Royal Fusiliers and who, tion for assistance, which has been forthcoming. by permission of His Majesty, continued to wear the They are so beautifully marked and camouflaged it is up on the parade ground in front of the White Tower. We were fortunate to have the Club Room at the difficult to spot them unless they are on the move. I The parade received the Colonel of the Royal Fusiliers, badge of the Regiment, although they were now gunners. Drill Hall put at our disposal on Wednesay evenings by Now followed what, to many, was the most moving also saw some ostriches or secretary birds and numerous Maj.-Gen. J. F. Harter, D.S.O., M.C., with a general the C.O. of the 7th Battalion when they re-formed, and Franklins, very similar to the English partridge. As one salute. Other distinguished guests present, among part of the ceremony, the exchange of badges. After some very good functions have been held there through- removing the cap badge of the Middlesex Regiment, approaches Letaba one comes across notices which read: whom were included Group-Captain A. S. W. Dore, out the period. , , , which many had worn proudly for a long time, cadets “ Beware! You are now in elephant country and you C.B., D.S.O., T.D., D.L., Chairman, Middlesex From the foregoing, it is considered that we have should on no account approach to within 50 yards of came up to the dais in single file to receive their new Territorial and Auxiliary Forces Association, Brig. I accomplished that which we set out to do, and our these animals, as they are highly dangerous.” I saw E. E. F. Baker, C.B.E., D.S.O., M.C., T.D., D.L., badge of the Royal Fusiliers. I thanks are due to all those who have helped to keep the Having regained their ranks and inserted their ne* some crossing the river near Letaba. They were a A.D.C., J.P., Chairman, Middlesex County Cadet Com­ I Club going. There is still much that could be done. badge, the whole parade marched past the saluting more brown colour than those I have seen in the zoos mittee, Brig. B. B. Rackham, C.B.E., M .C., D.L., Sec­ I Are you doing your bit ? TTtm » and they have very large ears, unlike the Indian base, M aj.-Gen. Harter taking the salute, and f r o m there retary, Middlesex Territorial and Auxiliary Forces H o rn sey D ie -H a r d . into the Church of St. Peter Ad Vincula for a service 0 Association and Cadet Committee, Col. Giles, C.B.E., DL Sbie-JJarJs <59 158 . 2 )/ fa rad

lake and the fish have dispersed and gone elsewhere to sugar estates, of which there are many near Durban and villages are entirely Indian- The colour problem here elephants. In their wild state they are uncertain- on a tree and he slipped silently backwards into the Cape MacClear and were going to with his tusks and did not capsize the car, but I could of the water trying to shake the hook out. I caught 1 Salisbury for one night and flying to Nairobi next day p la in ly see where the paint had been scraped off the four the week I was there; the biggest was 6 lb. tad going on a m onth’s safari. side of the car and the front wing smashed. I returned to Bulawayo, passing the Wamkie coalfield ‘ After staying at Salisbury for some time I moved on on my way, the largest coal mine in the world. The ' to Fort Victoria. Nearly the whole of Rhodesia is very I spent the last night at the most northern camp at difficulty is to get the coal away, for the railway is a i high; Salisbury is about 5,000 ft., but Fort Victoria is Punda Maria and next day went to the M ountain Inn at single-track line and the nearest port is Beira, in Portu­ : is much lower and it was much warmer, to m y delight. Louis Trichard, a very fine hotel about 4,500 ft. up guese East Africa, several hundred miles away. 1 I took a drive to the Zimbabwe ruins, an age-old riddle of with magnificent views over the surrounding country. W hen I was at Bulawayo I went to the Matopos and Rhodesia, for no archaeologist has ever been able to say I arrived just before lunch and thoroughly appreciated saw Cecil Rhodes’s grave. A path has been cut to the ' who built them or what tribes inhabited them. a gin and tonic after my enforced abstinence. summit and when you reach the top you see the I left Fort Victoria one morning at 6 o’clock, for I I spent two nights there and then moved on to “ W orld’s View ” stretching away for 50 miles. At your 1 tnew the day would be very hot. I had breakfast at Rhodesia, crossing the frontier at Beit Bridge. The feet is Rhodes’s grave. ; S o’clock at an hotel at Lundi. Between there and Beit roads in Rhodesia are strip roads; that is to say, there It is not surprising that in South Africa, and especially Bridge I saw quite a lot of game, including giraffe and are two strips of tarmac the width of a car. It requires a in Rhodesia, you find statues and memorials to that great tebra, and narrowly missed hitting a duiker, which leapt certain amount of concentration to drive exactly on the man. He left South Africa to return to Oriel College, axoss the road in front of the car. They are a sm all strips. If you meet an oncoming car you give him the Oxford, at the age of eighteen and would interrupt his bur very graceful antelope. right strip. The rest of the road is gravel. In many studies of Roman history to buy a pumping machine and I staved two nights at the Mountain Inn at Louis ways they are better than the corrugated gravel roads send it out to the diamond mines. He was a millionaire Trichard, where I had stayed on my way up, and firom in the Union. I stayed at Bulawayo. The streets are long before he was thirty and died before he was fifty. there went on to Pretoria on a shocking road. They are very wide and it is a well-planned modern town. The He died at a cottage near M uizenberg on the False Bay a work on the road and there are many diversions. reason the streets are so wide is that when they were first coast, which is preserved as a national monument. ; Pretoria is a beautiful town. Upon the northern height built it was necessary for the roads to be wide enough I left Bulawayo for Salisbury and stayed a few nights j is th e g rea t b u ild in g e re c ted to sy m b o lise th e u n io n o f th e to turn a team of oxen in. en route at Gwelo, where I played some golf and visited ; four provinces and to house the administration. It has Next day I drove to the Victoria Falls. I wondered Saluwki, where there are some gold mines, and watched been said that Cecil Rhodes never made a better invest- if I should be disappointed. I had been when I had a native soccer match. Salisbury is a fine city, with : ment than when he sent Herbert Baker, the architect, first seen the Pyramids, for it is, unfortunately, true splendid avenues and impressive Government buildings. . to Greece and Italy. more often than we care to admit that great natural The streets are lined with trees and when the jacaranda I went to President Kruger’s house, which is one of phenomena are more impressive in books than in reality. trees are in flower it must be a marvellous sight. I the most interesting museums in the country. The I thought it simply terrific. It is fascinating and visited the municipal gardens, which had a gay display : house is a long white one-storied building. The stoep appalling. The width of the Zambesi at the Falls is of flowers, and I played golf at a very good course and is covered and here the President used to sit and talk to 1,900 yd. The mean height of the main fall is 353 ft. also went to the Country Club, where there are facilities ill and sundry who liked to visit him. The stoep is The roar of the water and the height of the spray thrown for every game, polo grounds, rugger grounds, tennis tanked bv two marble lions given him by Barney up must make it one of the wonders of the world. There courts, squash, even badminton not being forgotten. ! Bamato. Evem hing is just as it was half a century ago. is a never-ending rainbow over the Falls caused by the From Salisbury I went north through Portuguese That I found so agreeable was that there are no for- .V a rfrc villages o r kraals in the Transket spray. W hat appealed to me is that, although within a East Africa to Nyasaland. The roads were very bad and ■ inclines or guides, no entrance fee. You just walk into stone’s throw is the most luxurious hotel in Africa, it is dusty and we had an interminable wait at Tete before i this small house and in the hall is a visitors book and a remain in the country. Being astute and tar better at we could cross the Zambesi in a very primitive ferry- 1 notice asking one to put one's name down in the book. not commercialised or artificial. In the rain forest close business than the natives, they have prospered, own shops The luncheon at the hotel was a farce and, except for I There were onlv two other visitors when I was there, to the falls themselves are small summer houses where and stores and are in many cases men of substance. the soup and some fig jelly, quite unsuitable to our ' md the only official in the place was a gardener tending one can sit and watch the falls without getting drenched, They have been accused of being unscrupulous and palates, as all the food was saturated in garlic. - a flower bed in the small garden at the back of the bouse. but there are no railings to prevent one falling or over-charging, and these have lead to riots. They say Some way beyond Tete we had to stop at a tsetse try I went over to Johannesburg and stayed one night throwing oneself over the edge, no notices warning one. that if it was not for the white man the natives would post and an official came and sprayed the inside of tne there on my way south. It is a very busy business town W hat makes it so impressive is, I think, that, until it murder and liquidate the lot. The vast majority of the i with manv skyscrapers and you have the feeling that falls into space, the river is quite tranquil, though the car with DDT. j Indians have been bom there and have never set foot in current above the falls must be very strong. I took the After a short while we arrived at the Customs an 1 everyone is in a hurry. It is 6,000 ft. and at that height I I sleep badlv. Perhaps I am not alone in that respect, In d ia . opportunity to fly over them one morning in a moth eventually reached Blantyre. a pleasant pi®*- ‘ _ I returned to the Cape via Ladysmith and the \ an intention had been to go to Cape MacClear and nsn i for the town is awake the most of the night and there is a and received a * “ raspberry ” from the A.O.C. at Reenen Pass to Harrismith. The road over the pass was Bulawayo on my returning there and lunching with him. the Lake Nyasa and also do some duck shooting. H o - ] treat deal of night life going on. very bad, but after Bethlehem it improved. I went It is fascinating to drive along the Rand and see the The country is so covered with shrub that if you have a ever, instead of catching fish I caught a chill and ” , back by easv stages. I lunched at Bloemfontein, bul j aine dumps. The Rand is a gold-mining entity just as forced landing you have had it. There had been a bad to bed with double pneumonia and pleurisy. My m could not gel a room at any hotel as the Supreme Court went on to MacClear with a district commissioner, o the Rhondda Valley, in South Tales, is a coal-mining accident a month previously and I was told it was fool­ J was sirring It is the judicial capital of the Union. hardy in a single-engined plane over that country. the fishing was no good. It usually is first class- ! toe. I spent the night at Colesberg and the following night I returned to Durban from Johannesburg, staying at I made a launch excursion to Kandahar Island and rivers feeding the lake bring food down and you at Beaufort Test. It is very uninteresting country, the the fish at the mouths of the rivers, but, owing to j Pietermaritzburg. On this visit I went to look at some saw numerous hippo and crocodiles sunning themselves prolonged drought, no water or food has flowed in on sandbanks or tree trunks. We went very close to one 1 6 0 ^ D h e « Z )i fardi VL 2 ).-JJ o h L 161

from Wenchow, our Signals Officer, one of our Convoy recent conference of Dominion Prime Ministers in lad it that the Japanese had occupied all the bay, Officers, five instructors from the school and the officer London, when it was decided that a Dominion could deluding Kanchow, so it was decided to head for Chang who ran our workshop. The Americans included a sever its link with the Crown and become a republic, was Ting where there was an airstrip of sorts. Pacific air ace, an Intelligence Officer from our area and welcomed here. There is no anti-British feeling in this Having given our vehicle a day for repairs we left for two infantry officers. The crew consisted of a pUot country, but undoubtedly a wish to be independent, the airstrip. The road was a minor one, narrow and and co-pilot, with a wireless operator and a crew chief. and whether they become a republic in the future or not, tough with very bad hill sections, and that area har­ There were also a Chinese officer and two Chinese responsible opinion here realises that neither South boured over 200 active local bandits. By that evening Africa nor England can do without each other and that we got to Jai Chin, but the last 40 kilometres were over secretaries (sisters). The town was about half a mile from the end of the they are more firmly tied together in their own interest a mountain range with a pass at about 4,500 feet. This strip, and we just cleared it. We had no trouble crossing than before the war. stretch was a military road with grades up to I in 5 the Japanese lines or from their airfields near Henyang, surfaced in mud, and most of the bridges were gone. as the weather was too bad for their planes. Owing to We went through one culvert but got out without PARACHUTING INTO MID-CHINA a strong headwind we did not get to Chia Chiang till damage, assisted by a lorry load of U.S. Navy. There B y M a jo r G . C . D aw son late in the evening, about 9 o’clock. Here we were was snow on the pass, but we made it with a lot of Ever since Pearl Harbour, a small body of British offered accommodation, but as we only had another pushing and arrived at about five in the morning. 450 miles to go the pilot decided to gas up and go on. officers worked in the interior of china, running training Chang Ting is in a winding valley between high schools for the Chinese armies in the forward areas. The two American infantry officers and the Chinese English church in Ladysmith mountains, with an airstrip that had once been used for At the beginning of 1944 the schools were at Pihu in some fighters. The U.S. staff from Kanchow had officer left us. , , Chekiang, but owing to Japanese activity that summer The take-off from here was rather rough as the plane nigh veld or karoo as it is called. The road was mar­ just arrived and was getting the place organised. The still had a lot of ice on it and the field was all mud and vellous. You could see for stretches for nearly 10 miles they had to move back to Pucheng in North Fukien. weather was cold and wet, inclined to snow with a slush. As soon as we got going we ran into snow and and no traific. I left Beaufort W est at 8.30 one morning The line of supply to these schools was, first by air ceiling well below the local mountains. climbed to between 19,000 and 20,000 feet to get above wondering if I could get to Worcester for luncheon. over “ the Hump ” to Kunming, then by road via During our wait we had a short banditry interlude. it. At this altitude it got bitterly cold in the plane m It was 222 miles. I was there by 12 o’clock. I cruised Kweyang to the railhead at Tu Yun, followed by rail A U.S. officer going down the road we had just traversed spite of the heating, while ice being thrown off the most of the way at 80 m.p.h. and had an occasional shock via Kwelin and Henyany to Liugang or Kukong, and was held up and his interpreter was shot. We joined in propelle-s made a teriffic racket. when I glanced at the speedometer and saw I was doing lastly by road to the schools. This trip took a fortnight the rescue column in a jeep we had acquired. Later we After about five hours some coffee was brewed up o v er 90. to three weeks, depending on luck and the weather. found out that as the officer, his interpreter and driver and we opened the odd K ration, which was very The scenery beyond Worcester i3 amongst the finest In 1944 the Japanese push from Changsha down the had been slowly driving up a very steep gradient about acceptable. At 4-20 a.m., after some seven hours in South Africa. I went over du Toit’s Kloof Pass, railway almost reached Kweyang, and left us with an 40 kilometres out of town, a shot had ning, out and a flying, the crew chief came into our compartment and which was opened this year. There are innumerable extremely awkward air hop over the Japanese lines to the bullet went through the windscreen hitting the in­ said, “ Put your chutes on.” The sole reaction to this hair-pin bends and a tunnel through one mountain. U.S. air bases in Kiangsi. As a result a few personnel terpreter in the face. This shot was probably intended was annoyance at having to move a few feet, collect the The mountains are snow capped and the sky a deep blue. came and went, but no supplies of any description for the driver. After the shot about 40 men armed with chute and struggle into the harness. The shortage of I came to Paarl. M any say it is the most beautiful town reached us. rifles came out on to the road all round the jeep. These oxygen and cold had a very noticeable effect, some in the Union. It is the great wine town of the Cape, In January, 1945, the Japanese sent columns to were bandits who stripped the jeep and the U.S. officer p eo p le c o u ld n o t m anage th e e ffo rt a n d h a d to be assiste d. and if you have ever drunk South African sherry or destroy these air bases at Nam Yung, Sui Chuan and of all valuables, including half his clothing. He managed A few minutes later the crew chief came back from brandy it most probably came from Paarl. It means Kanchow. Without supplies to maintain Chinese to talk them out of shooting him, and after a while they the crew compartment saying “ Out we go.” He pearl. There is a lovely whitewashed Dutch church interest our schools could not function, and on January went back into the mountains. The officer turned his pulled the emergency door inwards on to the floor and with a thatched roof and a superb modem town hall, a 28 we received orders to evacuate, leaving only skeleton jeep round and brought the interpreter back for treat­ we queued up, getting out as quickly as possible. The beautiful little building with a Spanish-looking atrium staffs. The only vehicle at the school in working order ment as he was seriously wounded. His trailer had to curved ice-coated door on the floor did not assist, as under an archway. was sent to collect our personnel from the forward be abandoned as it was too heavy to turn round single- Chinese units. All our transport was cheap U.S. civilian it is essential to dive out and down to avoid the stabiliser. Next day I drove into Cape Town and arrived at the handed. f The crew chief stood by the door to ensure that no one Mount Nelson Hotel. I had a very successful trip vehicles, assembled in Rangoon, with Burmese bodies. Luckily for us the bandits had moved on, as a tew We brought them up the Burma Road with us in hesitated, giving a push when necessary. As each body without one involuntary stop and had struck excellent jeeps on one single appalling mountain road would have left the plane it made an uncanny noise like pulling hotels throughout my travels. January, 1942, and had managed to keep them going been just too easy to ambush. We found the jeep o n e’s leg o u t o f a bog. Anyone leaving the Service and contemplating emi­ ever since, in spite of a complete lack of spares. trailer, which was still full of wireless equipment; we We were extremely lucky in having a man of great There must have been a five- to ten-minute lapse grating out here might like to have a few of my personal also m et one of our own lorries coming the other way. between putting on parachutes and going out. Owing impressions. Firstly, there is not the shadow of doubt mechanical ingenuity to run our workshop. He was a A, tree had been felled across the road and it had taken missionary who walked out of Japanese internment in to lack of oxygen my brain was just not functioning, so that both South Africa and Rhodesia have a great and them over four hours to clear it. As they were carrying I did not experience that tenseness of a few minutes to Shanghai in 1942 and joined us. Starting with one small prosperous future ahead of them. Rhodesia has untold four million dollars the bandits were probably laying go. Nor did it even occur to me to open my pack and lathe from H.M .S. Sa n dpiper he set up a workshop with mineral wealth, the copper belt near Lusaka in Northern for th a t. „ . . _ - remove money, valuables and records. No one took local personnel and, by 1945, had a reboring machine of Rhodesia, vast coal fields and gold, as well as other By February 9 the “ Homing ’ (a form of radar for anything other than what happened to be in their his own making, was smelting railway steel and even minerals in Southern Rhodesia. Since the shortage of guiding a plane to an airstrip over strange country), was pockets. The crew had escape kits and emergency dollars tobacco farmers in Rhodesia are reaping a rich casting aluminium pistons, besides producing sue working and the weather had cleared a little, so two minor things as gears and pieces of jeep transmission rations, but none were taken. harvest. Farms have increased in value enormously. Dakotas were sent over and landed successfully. Luckily On leaving the plane I was struck by the slip-stream, for us and the Americans in our area. The devaluation of the pound will attract capital to the they had arranged for parachutes for us because there which tore my hat off, breaking my chinstrap. This The day we received our move orders he had the Union. South Africa is a young country and is awaken­ were strict orders that each passenger must have a distinctly annoyed me, as I had expended a lot of energy remains of two vehicles, and within 24 hours he pro­ ing to the fact that she is a nation. They suffer in some parachute. As they had lost eight out of the last ten fixing it. I did not count but pulled the ripcord just as duced one that worked. At midnight on January 29 ways from an inferiority complex and resent criticism. planes to Kanchow it was a reasonable preraunon. soon as I considered myself clear of the plane. After a we left Pucheng, but were back within an hour or M r. Havenga, in trying to get a dollar loan in the States, We were put in the second plane and were only slight pause the chute opened, wrenching me upnght. further engineering. W e left again at six in the morning, emphasised that it had to be one with no strings allowed a pack each as there were two 200 gallon petrol I saw stars and took a few seconds to recover. This jar and by driving for 27 hours we made our neighbouring attached. They require no advice or interference in tanks inside the plane. The plane took 23 passengers must have broken my watch strap as I could not find their affairs and are now about to stop relaying the 6 depot at Ning Tu, 400 kilometres away. At Ning lu We had the officer-in-charge of our supply line and a there was no official information, but this was quite a my watch when I landed. o’clock news from London, as the news has on occasions D.A.Q.M.G. from Chungking, two doctors, one As we baled out between 19,000 and 20,000 feet it had a political commentary on South Africa. The normal state of affairs. Local rumour and the American RA M C. and one Czech refugee we had collected i J l i e 2bie--JJar

some very lucky landings, as the country was as moun­ took about a quarter of an hour to come down. At tainous as the Indian North-West Frontier. T toe list the sky was clear and full of stars, but as I descended were huge gorges with sheer rock faces and a great deal I soon came into the clouds and snow was coming up of rock outcrop rather similar to dragons teeth. One oast me. One has the most incredibly lonely sensation of OUT party landed on a bit of sand in a boulder-strewn lith only the wind whistling in the rigging, no stars river bed, another up to his neck m ice, m ud and water ibove, no lights below, only the snow coming up­ in a paddy field. One was 20 feet up a tree and nearly wards. About this time I started to swing; I pulled broke a rib when he cut himself down. Two passed the rigging first on one side, then on the other, and within feet of each other, nearly colliding in mid-air. wriggled about in the harness, but was unable to stop Both Chinese girls landed all right, one just alongside our youngest member. She lost her hat, scarf, bag, gffives All the time I was peering down hoping to see lights and shoes; on the other hand her sister came down or any sign of the ground. Suddenly I saw some trees with all these essentials. •o past and I hit a steep mountain side with my chute For 20 persons, 19 of whom had never even con­ catching in some trees above me. After checking up templated parachuting before, to bale out at night over that nothing was broken I tried to stand up, but the this country and get away without a major mtury was slope was too steep and slippery. I could not get out nothing short of a miracle. ^ of the harness as my fingers were frozen and wouldnot The air routes over the interior of China are far from work, so I just had to hang and thaw them out. When safe at the best of times. Although we had not lost I got free from the harness I climbed up the nggmg to anv of our own personnel, quite a few m the plane had the trees above me, unhitched the parachute and, as it alreadv had unusual experiences. In a Liberator over was still dark, I wrapped myself up in it and went to - the Hump ” one had dropped 14,000 feet down a sleep, not waking till well after dawn. valley and just pulled out at the bottom w ilhthc I had landed near the top of a high pine and snow- white hot. T w o had crashed on landing. °nehadbeen m vered valley, w ith som e cu ltiv atio n a n d a few b u d d in g s on fire in the air but the fire went our before they biled below. Making my way down I engaged a local farmer out. One nearly landed on an enemy aerodrome, bat a conversation—not that I understood his dialect, but luckily some Japanese fired at the plane using tracer he was quite friendly and may have understood some of w h en h was 20 feet off the ground with its wheds nine After about 20 minutes two of our party turned down. Strangely enough we only had two spare an, the crew chief and one of our Chinese-speaking parachutes in the plane, in spite of leaving three officers, who sorted things out easily. I had contacted passengers at Chia Chiang. . the head tnan of the village, who sent out instructions From Shih Chien we moved in two parties, as 20 that any of our party were to be brought to his house. was too many to feed en route. On our first day's I went out with guides and collected five more myself. move we went 20 miles to a town on a river, where we Within two hours we had a party of 12, including one found an airfield, bat no plane had ever landed on it of the girls. ,- and it was very boggy. The officer in charge put m At about middav we decided to move to a township up, which was lucky as it was now the Chinese New mme 15 miles away, but the paths over the mountains Year and everything was dosed down. were so rough and slippery that we offiy w r i e jt o c x a From here we went downstream m a boat through are miles, stopping for the night at a farm where deep gorges and incredible rapids, arriving at Sze Nan, fined off rice and pickled turnips, sleeping on the floor another country town; the local magistrate here m our parachutes under a lot of straw. looked after us very well indeed. We received in­ Next morning we found the other girl and moved on formation as to the whereabouts of the wreckage of our to the town of Shih Chien, where we were officially plane, and as we were carrying all forms of security received. The magistrate was away, so his secretary mail, British and U.S., induding consular mail, 1 o r­ did the honours, We also contacted some German ganised a partv of three to go and check it over. It was Catholic Fathers who had a mission there, hor tare 4s to 50 miles away over the mountains, and we made reasons we had to be looked after by the Chinese, but this quite comfortably in two days. In places the there is all the difference in the world betwKnavffised going was very slippery as the snow was thawing at rompanv in a foreign-built house with good food, beds the lower levels, but it was still freezing up top. md bedding, and an official Chinese A amen, a cross The plane had broken up into small pieces which between a bam and a summer-house, with paper were scattered over 400 yards of scrubby mountainside. windows if vou are lucky, no beds, ur It had been looted by the locals for five days, so there trestles, with a verminous quilt requisitioned ^ m some was nothing of value left. I did manage to retrieve a iocal, and verv third-rate Chinese food at odd times, number of documents scatiered about and buned m no washing fecilities. and a crowd of guards, coches the snow. Some of these were very interesting— a map and hangers-on, gazing in at all times. So we arranged of the latest searchlight positions on Formosa together tor a few of us to stay with the Fathers, taking turn with their organisation; there were U.S. intelligence ' tor a small number to have meals with them. T h reports from Japanese-crashed aircraft, and an applica­ Fathers could not do enough for us and we were all tion from the British Consul at Foochow for a pension ereatlv indebted to them for their hospitality- for one of his gardeners as he had completed the reqm- Bv the evening of the second day all P“ ^ site number ofvears with the consul on service; and last, assembled in Shih Chien. The only casualty had been but not least. I retrieved my hat from a Chinese soldier. the pilot, who had sprained his ankle. There had been VL 2),■ e - SLI ' t a r dJ. i 163 164 T)lie 2)ie-^JJardi 50, with the Sergeant in front to give the lecture, etc. smartness and efficiency of C/Sgt. Evans of “ E ” On returning to Sze Nan two of our trucks had arrived command of Gen. Talbot-Coke, was composed of the He started off as usual telling why it was needed. It Company ; of Capt. Havillaqd, who was familiarly with some much-needed stores. The Americans and 2nd Middlesex Regiment, the 2nd Dorsets and the is found that the eye of men from the town moves more named “ Alphonse,” and his subaltern, Lt. Stewart, ourselves had sent 17 messages to our various head­ Royal Dublin Fusiliers. slowly than the brain, while in men from the co™“ ? whose congenial company I so much enjoyed on quarters by runner, wire and radio. The local com­ Incidentally, in the frontal attack on a kopje com­ the brain is slower than the eye of the townsman. A several occasions ; the gallant Captain was somewhat of munications were so inefficient that only two got manding the pass through Alleman’s Nek I was nearly voice from the rear intetrupted with “ Did you come a gourmet being especially fond of a brand of tinned a casualty as after the battle I discovered a neat hole in from the country, Sergeant ? ” Of course no one knew th ro u g h . peas that won the grand prize in Paris, and those peas From Sze Nan to Tsun Yi on the main Chunking- each side of m y “ gippy ” helmet made by a Boer bullet. who had spoken, the mirth ended the talk and we got certainly were delicious. After our daily rations of After occupying Alleman’s Nek the Regiment moved Kweyang Road was 240 kilometres; this we covered in Machonochie’s rations, bully beef and the “ khaki on with practical work. to Volksrust. Space does not enable me to recount the a day. Here the party split, the Americans going wafer,” so named by Thomas Atkins, famous for his further movements of the Regiment into the Transvaal W e e k -E n d to U.K. south to Kweyang while we went north to Chunking. humour. I remember the funny man in each of the and the Orange River Colony climaxing with the good In Hong Kong a man put in for a pass which was We had a very reasonable farewell party at Tsun Yi, eight Companies of the Battalion. Whilst marching news that Gen. Louis Botha had surrendered uncon­ about to be signed when the R.S.M . noticed it was made but I missed it as I had a relapse of malaria, and the over the South African veldt in heavy marching order ditionally to Field Marshal Lord Roberts, V.C., at out for England. The man was called to give an explana­ following two days’ journey to Chunking were a bit of the funny man would strike up a popular song or some Vereeniging. tion for such a thing, and explained that he had had a a nightmare. humourous joke that would infuse fresh energy into In Chunking we were well received by our head­ During the war I served as the Transport Officer of letter to say that his wife had got a baby and he could the Regiment. My conductor, MacKenzie by name, our tired bodies. not understand it as he was away, so he wanted to go quarters, who had given us up as lost. We were all In conclusion, even with the hardships endured under who could speak fluently both the Zulu tongue and the and find out how it had happened ! granted 28 days’ leave in India to recover and re-equip the exigencies of active service I look back on the ourselves. I had to spend five days in Chunking to Dutch Taal, had also served under my father in the small part I took in the South African War as one of P a m p h iix io n Zulu W ar of 1879 in the same capacity. recover from my malaria before I went on leave. the happiest and momentous periods of my life where At Aldershot we had a man named Pamphilhon. For I have a vivid recollection of taking part with my The journey by air via Chengtu to Kunming was I made so many good friends, several of whom laid pay parade we lined up in alphabetical order and the uneventful, as was the trip over “ the Hump ” to Company, “ E,” in escorting a large convoy of supplies down their lives in gallantly fighting for their King C.S.M. called us in from the roll. When he came to Din j an and Calcutta. After my leave, instead of flying to Gen. French’s flying column, at that time sweeping and country in the last two Great Wars in which Great this name he hesitated, then said “ And now I m the Eastern Transvaal. The force escorting the convoy back to Kunming I was just told to bring a few trucks Britain and her Empire have been involved, and further b d ,” to w h ic h th e m an an sw ered “ T h a t’s m e, s ir . was composed of half the Battalion of the Middlesex in from the M anipur Road, but that is another story. in the honour of having served in a famous British Regiment together with the units from the Dublin Loud laughter in which the S.M. joined. Regiment which has so magnificently upheld the noble Fusiliers, York and Lancs., and with cavalry and traditions of the British Army from 1787 when the 77th V odka REMINISCENCES OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN artillery under the command of Gen. Bum-Murdoch of Middlesex Regiment was embodied to the present date. W hen in Vladivostock one evening we were sitting W A R O F 1899-1902 the 9th Lancers. From a climatic standpoint it was one L io n el B en gough about at cards, etc., as usual when suddenly there was I gained my commission on December 12, 1899, of the worst experiences of the South African War as a clatter and a fellow came running in, jumping over being gazetted to the 2nd Battalion The Middlesex for three weeks it rained incessantly, the men’s clothing beds until he reached his own where he sat down and Regiment. The Depot of the Regiment at that time being soaked by the rain night and day so that progress SOME AMUSING INCIDENTS roared with laughter. When he quietened down and being at Hounslow. was very slow. The river was unfordable on account of There often occur incidents which are amusing in we could get some sense out of him he explained that I have a vivid recollection when first buckling on my the rain, so supplies for Gen. French’s progress had to all walks of life, and I remember a number of such he had had some vodka (a very potent dnnk) which “ W ilkinson ” sword at Cambridge Barracks, Hounslow, be conveyed across the river by means of rafts. For­ incidents during my service in the army. They are had caused him to see double ; each post was m o, as of the pride that permeated my being in following the tunately the Boer Commandos spirits must have been noted as I think of them and not in any order. were men and other things in his path. F°r safely he footsteps of my father, godfather (Gen. Kent), and as damp as ours as they did not attempt to attack the had come back at the run and made for the middle many other distinguished members of the famous large convoy, although the Boers were continually T aken fo r a R id e between each two objects, and so had got safely back. “ pot hookers,” holding such a long and brilliant record sniping as we advanced. In Singapore we were a half battalion commanded in a Regiment second to none. Another instance worth recording was a message the by a M ajo r. A t o ne p a ra d e th e A d ju ta n t c o u ld n o t c o n tro l P a k lez vous ? In April, 1900, I was ordered to proceed with a draft C.O., Col. Hill, C.B., received from the Boer com­ his horse and pranced around the parade ground for Another man was asked by an officer if he had been of 140 Section “ D ” men, commanded by Lt. P. M. mander a few days before Christmas Day, I 9°°> promis­ some minutes. W hen at last he had got back to his place to France (of course meaning in the army, as some ot Large, from Hounslow to reinforce a regiment at ing that we would be unmolested throughout Christmas at the Major’s side he was greeted with Hullo, you our men had been wounded earlier and transferred to Elandslaagte in Natal, and on arrival was assigned to if a quantity of flour, whisky and coffee is sent to him ' galloping Major.’ Where have you been ? Surely us). He replied “ Oh yes.” “ When ? In 191° “ E ” Company, commanded by Major Saville, D.S.O. to Long Piet Uys Farm close to Utrecht, otherwise he you know better than to go for a joy nde when you are was the reply, to the amusement of all and to the I was indeed fortunate in being the subaltern of such a would certainly attack. Needless to say the supplies on d u ty .” annoyance of the officer. distinguished and gallant soldier, and living with him requested were not sent. The Boers earned out their P u l l -T h rough on many an isolated outpost in South Africa I gained threat and attacked Utrecht with a strong force on T ongue T w ist in g One man was prone to be mal-a-prop on speech. A W e had an officer who was tall and thin and we an intimate knowledge of the Major’s sterling qualities, Christmas Eve but were repulsed with heavy losses, the broom was wanted and he said “ There is one down m dubbed him “ Pull-through ” which, when he found being a bom leader of men whom we all looked up to Boer commander himself being mortally wounded an the ‘ tureens ’ ” (meaning latnnes). Another tune he out, caused him to remark that “ A ” Company were and admired, and of whom, on account of his capability was buried at Pudding Kop close by. The Battalion said that “ he is out on the ‘ revander (meaning very nasty and rude, but it happened to be u and likeable personality, we would follow anywhere, even suffered no casualties. I recollect playing in a Regimental cricket match at verandah). Company who were the culprits. ____ to the very jaws of death. This officer was in charge of the fort at Sm ppore The Regiment did not stay long at Elandslaagte as Newcastle in the Eastern Transvaal when, on receiving Sig h ts D own for a time, and Standing Orders included one that no the Battalion made a reconnaissance towards De W et’s the sad news of Queen Victoria’s death, we immediate > At one exercise we had Uve ammo., and while £ “ “ £8 vehicle was to be allowed to enter after to pan. without farm, a distance of ten miles. This was the commence­ drew stumps in our late Majesty’s revered memory- mourned by the great nation and Empire over which to cover with rifles at “ high port ” one went off. 1 he a special pass. One night this officer came into the ment of a movement which was to turn Laing’s Nek, chap said “ Good job the sights were down or some­ Guard Room in a temper and standing before the she ruled. . strongly held by the enemy, and thereby clearing the body may have got hit.” Why, he could not say, but Corporal of the Guard, tapping his leg with his ome, Boers from Natal, culminating in a victory over the Before closing my fleeting memories of the bou he stuck to his point. exclaimed “ Corporal ! What do they mean by it . enemy at Alleman’s Nek, who were in possession of African War I have a vivid recollection of my loyar “ By what sir?” “ Why! T h e y wont let me m l and faithful batman, Pte. Plan, who looked a f t e r me heavy artillery and pom poms. The 2nd, 10th and n th A T a l k in t h e B r ea k _ , like a hen looks after her chicks ; of our C.O.’s (Col- “ Wont let you in sir ” (in a surprised tone). ira, Brigades were all engaged ; the whole force subse­ We had had visual training until we knew it off by Hill, C.B.) hirsute appendage that he grew during the they wont let me in.” This went on, to our amusement, quently advancing into the Orange Free State. heart and were all feeling fed up, in a group of about The “ Fighting Tenth ” (10th Brigade), under the war which was the pride of the Regiment ; 0 t e 167 1 6 6 V L 2 ie-^-JJards

Republished by kind permission of the “ Hatfield and for some minutes, till at last he explained that the sentry welcoming the Old Comrades, some of whom had back ? The old women who used to sell great slabs of Potters Bar GazetteDecember 16, 1949- h a d c h allen g ed h im a n d h a d refu se d to allow th e rick sh aw travelled a long distance, and after a toast to Their cake from a baby’s pram at id. My first guard was at THE DIE-HARDS OF MIDDLESEX to enter the fort as per the Standing Order. The Majesties the King and Queen, and one to the Regi­ ! the top of the Keep, and how scared I was when I found Corporal had quietly to remind the officer of the Order ment, the party proceeded to the buffet and bar until I was locked in. Next came the disaster at Spion Kop “ A Regiment, a W ord and a Spirit which he had read out to us all. When the officer had the close of festivities. when the 77th lost, I think, some 120 killed and wounded t h e c o u n t y r e g i m e n t gone the m irth was uncontrolled for quite a while. He During the evening a ballot was taken as to the nature -considered a catastrophe in those days. When the was in the Guard Room saying he would not be let in ! of the reunion for 1950, and it was voted unanimously news was received Major R. O. Longe, the O.C. Depot, B y C a p t . C o lin D . E dw ards, M ilitary Observer that the reunion for 1950 should be held in the form of naraded the recruits on the square and asked those who P o liten ess a dinner, and it is hoped to hold this function in October. would be prepared to avenge our comrades and vol­ “ They are a proud Regiment,” he had said when I told him that I intended sitin g the M iddlesex Regim en Another man was on Quarter Guard. He challenged unteer for South Africa to take one pace forward. 1 ne one approaching his post about n p.m. “ Halt ! Who whole parade moved as one man. at their camp in the New Tem tones near Hong K o ^ goes there ? ” “ Orderly Officer.” Instead of turning REMINISCENCES OF 50 YEARS AGO Soon we were moved to Woolwich to join the ^etai s A hit regimental, too, but a very good bunch. Some out the guard he said “ Good evening Orderly Officer. Sitting at home one wet evening recently I suddenly of the 2nd Battalion, they having sailed for South of them were here before, you know The 1st was part of the garrison when the Colony was overrun n Been a nice day again aint it ? ” What followed need realised that October, 1949, marked the 50th anniversary Africa the previous November. Next were *irst 1941 Those that survived spent the rest of not be described. of my “ taking the shilling ” and joining the “ Die- wounded arriving home, Dick Phillips “ Masher These are some of the amusing incidents I remember Hards,” and my memory took me back to those days Morris and a host of others I forget, but how keen a prison camp down the road or in Japan. M ^ f° ^ and I hope they will amuse others. and the various incidents and characters I had met it made us youngsters to have a go. C d l o X W e h a d — F . W . M o r r is. with in the course of my 21 years with the Regiment, The formation of the 3rd and 4th Battalions, now, o v e r from ^ctoria, on Hong Kong Island, and were and I wondered how many of those still living recall to alas, like the 2nd Battalion, no more, was in March, OLD COMRADES’ REUNION mind those days and would wish, as I do, to live them ' 1900, when we were posted to one or the other battalion X remember next the funeral of Queen Victoria, our The above took place on November 26, I 949> at again. first big occasion, when we lined the street somewhere Slater’s Restaurant, Kensington High Street. Two Yes, the memory of those days. I joined just as the near Marble Arch, and the formation of a Mounted hundred and twenty-four Old Comrades attended this South African W ar commenced, and after the recruiting S ^ t S Infantry Com pany-w hat a tough riding course we had reunion. Among the senior officers present were Col. sergeant had filled me up with water to increase my C— b of an English at Woolwich—then our move to South Africa. M. Browne (Colonel of the Regiment), Gen. Bucknall, weight I was duly attested and sent to the 7/57^ Regimental District at Hounslow, where our Reserves Yes they were happy and exciting days for us. Brig. Tidbury, Cols. Beach and G. L. Brown, and Lt.- To get out to where the Middlesex camp lay m-ant a had just been called up. How many remember the 1st youngsters. We all took an intense pnde m our Cols. Roberts, Clowes and N. Moller. Gen. Horrocks t r i o one way or the other, around the circular route Royal Dragoons leaving for the front while we recruits Regiment, and strange though it may seem we old regretted that he was unable to be present, due to a encompassing the main section of the New Tem tones lined the route, their womenfolk and children hanging “ soldiers still carry that pride. An instance prior engagement. occurred just' recently worth relaung. I met another ar^m dw ffich at the fiirther side brought youmearffi The Colonel of the Regiment made a short speech, on to the stirrup leathers as they went by on horse­ old member in the British Legion here recently and we border and running for a while on a parallel track before stood chatting for some time on one subiect 1 he Regiment. A friend and ex-officer who was waiting for me said “ That was another old ‘ Die-Hard you were talMng to.” “ Yes" I said, “ but how did you know ? ” He replied, “ It’s just the same w^ er^ °“ see a Middlesex man either in uniform or noh they appear to always be so j clear cut, and how they al straight road stood warm-leafed birch trees,tn ,, ordef and, beyond them, for miles across to snMl ^So'm uchforthat11 And what about all those characters plain stretched the square, water-filled paddi hem , we m” and served with in the 2nd Battalion mosdy where Chinese farmers carved the mud with woo ploughs drawn by sleepy-eyed water buffalo. P I do not know Mill Hill myself but I Hackney, TYtmmy Adair, Bill Cox Joe Morgan, great deal different from this scene to 'which th.: nen Gussie Glass and others who crowd my memory^ the Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambndg What fine characters all these were and what ' crowc have been transplanted. of Drummers too, “ Boxer ” Barker, Charlie Smart Jim Dorling and Buxton, and whc, can recah when PRESENT CAMP Charlie Smart fought Seaman ^adbem ? Ml Their present camp is one of the more P«™ “ “ men and a host of others were all men who up telffie ones When they first arrived in Hong Kong e Y finest traditions of the Regiment, and wh« ever June, they were put under canvas on a site not now I pay my humble tribute to them .M .. Yes, they D ie te d . It was the time of the summer rMns> were great days and all these men and others were pelted down in massive drops hour after hour eve ^ great Sen too," men who were often to u ^ b j ^ d turning the valley in which they were situated into a basin of mud. Everything on the outside and the humidity sickened the inside m t damp To ward off the rain, one could wear a m ac­ — o f old intosh or ground-sheet, but then underneath the hea would be stifling and nearly unbearable " ^ “ onall^clote3»“^ Hill «*<»«« They were glad at heart when the Gurkhas vaca S ffie great pleasure it gives « " “ the Stables ” and allowed them to moveunto quarters time there is a reunion do try and m a k e n, espec^ly that were made of bricks and mortar and roofed witn those of you who Uve in town. H a r r y C / 6 8 ^ J h e < 2 )i +ard$ V L Ibic-Jlarl <69

The Regimental Depot at M ill Hill is the headquarters solid concrete. The weather changed to something like the^ road for a tour of the units. Most of the time the Territorial Army. Serving as an Infantry Battalion of the Colonel of the Regiment, Col. M . Browne, M.C., an English autumn and the rain stopped. however, the troops fall back on their own resources, in the First World War it won, among many other and of the Regimental Association, Officers’ Club and W e had left the main road and gone up a narrow track their humour and their capacity to keep their spirits decorations, 21 Distinguished Conduct Medals and 82 Old Comrades’ Association, and of the Regimental to find them. At a sentry-box beside the two gleaming up with a sing-song. They are now able to get a little Military Medals. As a Machine-Gun Battalion in the M ag azin e, T h e D ie -H ar d s. concrete pillars of the entrance gate was a number of musical support from a “ juke box ” which an American last war it fought in Belgium in 1940, throughout the Supported by subscriptions from all ranks of the the Regimental Police to check our passes. Set im­ restauranteur in Kowloon has loaned them. Half of operations in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Sicily, Italy and Regiment, the Army Benevolent Fund and grants from posingly above us and back awhile on the other side the profits go directly into the P.R.I. fund, which is in North-W est Europe. other Charitable Institutions, the Regimental Associa­ was the guardhouse, neatly white-washed and with a devoted to welfare and entertainment needs. tion helps hundreds of deserving cases of hardship of trim lawn and garden on the mound before it. I heard some of the grouses during my short stay THE 8th AND 9th BATTALIONS its old members every year. The Officers’ Club and The road wound up between landscaped banks— with the Middlesex. A renewed separation from wives The 8th Battalion dates back to 1797 to a Loyal O.C.A. keep in touch with old members of the Regi­ unless nature blessed its aspect so elegantly— and then and families was not exactly popular and the air-mail Association at Teddington in which the Duke of ment, and arrange periodical events such as cricket service from home was pretty poor. There was some­ Clarence, afterwards William IV, served as full private. we were upon the Regimental Offices and the Company week in June at the Depot, reunions and dinners, and thing, however, which impressed me through all this; After various changes it was given its title in 1907, and “ lines.” Beyond them, the ground dropped very gatherings on “Albuhera Day,” May 16, and Armistice steeply to a long air-strip and some playing fields. On something that over-shadowed personal consideration. was the second “ Imperial Service ” Battalion. It D ay. the former, the combined Bands of 27th Infantry It was an immense, if unspoken, pride in the Regiment. served with great distinction in the First W orld War, Brigade, to which the Middlesex now belong, were at It was shown in many little ways. Every man who and as a M achine-Gun Battalion in the last war fought PROVIDING COTTAGE HOMES practice of a “ beating the retreat ” parade. The Argyll wrote down his particulars for me included after the in Belgium in 1940, and in the victorious North-W est From money provided by contributions from past and Sutherland Pipers wore their traditional kilts and number of his Battalion and the name of the Regiment, Europe Campaign later. Formed into the n th Para­ and present members of the Regiment, and by generous the drummers had on their spotted leopard-skins, while the initials “ D.C.O.,” signifying “ Duke of Cam­ chute Battalion after the war, it carries on its regimental response to a public appeal, the Regiment are building the Die-Hard and the Royal Leicestershire Regiment bridge’s Own.” They were subtly conscious of a dis­ traditions and still has its Middlesex Regimental 20 War Memorial Cottage Homes at Enfield for dis­ bandsmen were marching up and down in their jungle tinction conferred on their predecessors nearly 70 ! Colours. abled, old comrades and their families. This excellent green shorts and without shirts. years ago. The 9th Battalion may fairly claim to be the lineal scheme, sponsored by the Lord-Lieutenant of the By now, almost all the troops have acquired a healthy Perhaps, it is from one word that most of their feel­ descendants of the old “ Marylebone Volunteers ” County, Lord Latham, has raised some £30,000, and tan from the strong sun. At the basket-ball nets ings take their course of loyalty, bravery and honour. raised in 1803, and, given their title in 1907, saw service building is to start shortly. glistening bodies swerved and strained in an enthusiastic That is “Albuhera,” a symbol of the spirit of sacrifice, in India during the First World War. In 1938 it was Branches of the Old Comrades’ Association are run game between company teams. Near the soccer field defiance and determination to which the Regiment still formed into a Searchlight Unit, in 1942 into Light Anti- by keen and devoted members, and help enormously to a section of the “ Support ” Company was listening holds and which it strives to perpetuate. Clinging yet Aircraft, becoming in 1947 595th Light Anti-Aircraft keep up the old “ Die-Hard ” spirit of past members of intently to a sergeant instructor going over the 3-in. to the proud nickname given them in 1811 after Col. Regiment, R.A. (Middlesex), T.A. Though a R.A. the Regiment. These are situated at Kingsbury, Mill mortar drill. Inglis’s exhortation—“ Die hard, my men, die hard Unit, it still wears the Middlesex badge. Hill, Hornsey, Staines, Uxbridge, Ealing and Romford, the modem Middlesex Infantryman promises well to Territorial Battalions not now forming part of the and form meeting places not too far distant for any Old AN OLD SOLDIER maintain the fine fighting tradition that is the very Regiment or disbanded, have also played a distinguished Comrade to attend. Around the camp were a lot of Chinese, working as life-blood of the British Army. part in the history of the Regiment. In the First World Mess boys, barbers, cobblers, tailors or coolies. Most War no less than 46 Battalions were formed and this WAR MEMORIAL of them were labourers on various kinds of construction THE “ DIE-HARDS ” REGIMENT account is too short to give the details. In the last war Proud of its great traditions developed over the last 194 years, the Regiment commemorates its fallen on its work. The sanitary coolies tackle almost any kind of Its History and Achievements the 2/7th Battalion served in Italy and Sicily ; the job under the guidance of their commander, an elderly 2/8th Battalion, renamed the 1st in 1942, after the loss War Memorial at Mill Hill. Its dead lie far scattered, RepiMished by kind permission of the “ Hatfield and Middlesex Corporal by name of Cpl. Mitchell Gears. of the old 1st Battalion in Hong Kong, in North-West in North America, West Indies, Spain, Portugal, Potters Bar Gazette ” He has spent almost a quarter of a century in the Army Europe. In 1938 The Princess Louise’s Own Ken­ France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, The Crimea, and has many years of experience with coolie labourers, Last week we published an account by Capt. Colin sington Regiment formed part of the Middlesex Regi­ India, Burma, Japan, China, South Africa, Malaya, who seem willing to work their hearts out for him— an Edwards of the 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment ment until after the war, and the 1st Battalion fought in Middle East, Sicily, Italy, Palestine, Australia, New unusual trait amongst Asiatics. He is an old soldier (D.C.O.) in Hong Kong. Sicily and Italy, and the 2nd served in Iceland Zealand and Aden. who knew the terrors of a Japanese prison camp, but This week Major R. C. H. Bellers, Commanding and in the North-W est Europe Campaign. At the Regimental M useum at Mill Hill are displayed whatever bitterness he feels seems to have been sub­ Officer of the Depot, contributes the following account historic colours, uniforms, medals and many other items limated beneath his quiet, conscientious endeavours to of the Territorial units of the famous County Regiment. 32 BATTALIONS OF HOME GUARD of interest which trace the Regiment’s activities in peace do his job well. The regular portions of our County Regiment are The regimental record would not be complete with­ and war, and the collection of trophies, pictures and Although the trouble which they came out prepared to the 1 st Battalion, now serving in the Far East, and the out including the 10th Home Service Battalion (later silver of the Officers’ and Sergeants’ Messes are rivalled face has not developed, the Middlesex are not idle. As Depot, at Inglis Barracks, M ill Hill. named the 30th), the 70th Young Soldiers’ Battalion, by few other regiments. my friend pointed out, they have a proud traditon to The Regiment is completed by its Territorial Army and three Independent Home Defence Companies, Despite many vicissitudes and changes of fortune, maintain and they are keeping on top line by strict train­ Battalions which are now the 7th Battalion The Middle­ which were formed in the last war. Thirty-two Bat­ and the recent introduction of the Group System, ing and imaginative exercises. Many of them are sex Regiment at Hornsey ; the n th Parachute Bat­ talions of the Home Guard wore the Cap Badge, and, British Infantry Regiments still form the backbone of the Army. Their traditions and esprit de corps, th o u g h youngsters on National Service but, as their sergeant- talion (Middlesex), T.A., at Hounslow ; the old 8th though not forming part of it, the Regiment were proud majors assured me, they are of the same “ stuff ” as the Battalion The Middlesex Regiment ; and the 595^“ to have so excellent and public-spirited a Force thus apparently threatened, remain as strong as ever, and Regular “ Die-Hards,” the name by which the Middle­ Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, R.A. (Middlesex), T.A., connected with it. Others wearing the badge are will continue to do so, so long as the British character sex have been known since the battle of Albuhera. the old 9th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment, at Middlesex Army Cadet Force Units affiliated to the remains unchanged ; and this may safely be said of the Middlesex, our County Regiment, the old “ Die-Hards.” Kingsbury. . Regiment, in which the Regiment takes a close interest. RECREATION The 7th Battalion dates back to 1798 to a Loyai Association formed at Hampstead, Highgate, Totten­ That evening I went over to the Naafi canteen and watched a table-tennis tournament. There was plenty ham and Enfield ; after various changes it became the 1 st Volunteer Battalion The Duke of Cambridge s of spectator support for the contestants, as the troops Own (Middlesex Regiment) in 1898, and holds the proua rarely get into the town. The Naafi is their social club, record of the whole unit volunteering for service m public house, tea-shop, grocery store and games room. South Africa. It was given its present designation in Once a week the Army Kinema Corporation brings 1907, and was the first “ Imperial Service ” Battalion 0 them a film show and, occasionally, a concert party takes B y A p p o i n t m e n t S ilversmiths T o H.M. t h b K in g Carrington & Co., Ltd. Qinuri Scun’lirra anil Srgimrnlai jyiltiersmiiijs 130 Regent Street, London, W . 1

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