14 
LAND & WATER 
May 25, 1916 
transports carried troops from India to fight in France 
for the hberties of Europe. And that it was possible 
to carry them four thousand miles across the ocean was 
a fine tangible proof of the value of sea-power. The troops 
were welcomed with enthusiasm by the people of France. 
They were a living symbol that France was not standing 
alone in the death struggle with her implacable foe. 
In the very Nick of Time 
And the Indian contingent arrived in the very nick 
of time. General Joffre had indeed thrown back the 
Germans from the walls of Paris, and our gallant little 
army had taken a noble part in this great feat. But the 
Germans were gathering themselves in huge momentum 
for another terrific push ; this time to reach Calais, there 
to prepare for an invasion of England. 
Foreseeing this movement, Sir John French had 
skilfully withdrawn the British forces from their position 
on the Aisne and extended them across Belgium. The 
delicate operation of withdrawal was completed by 
October 19th and on the same date the Lahore Division 
arrived in its concentration area near the Belgian border. 
Already the great battle for Ypres had commenced. As 
early as October nth British and German cavalry had 
been engaged. From then onward there was desperate 
fighting against the ever increasing numbers of the 
enemy. The Second Corps by October 24th was becom- 
ing exhausted owing to the constant reinforcements of 
the enemy, the length of line it had to defend and the 
enormous losses which it had suffered. And the Lahore 
Division was on that date sent to the neighbourhood of 
Lacon to support it. It is a far cry from Lahore to 
Lacon. But these troops from India arrived at the 
moment of greatest stress. Sir John French knew that 
to extend his front across Belgium to the sea was exceed- 
ingly risky. But he resolved to take that risk rather 
than .suffer the disastrous consequences of letting his 
flank be turned and the Channel ports laid open. No 
more arduous task has ever been assigned to British 
soldiers. And it was to aid in frustrating the desperate 
attempts of our powerful enemy to break through om: 
line that the call was now made on the Indian Corps. 
On October 22nd the 7th Indian Brigade was fighting 
in support of the Cavalry and the remainder of the Lahore 
Division from the 25th October onwards was heavily 
engaged in assisting the Second Corps in the fighting round 
Neuve Chapelle. On the 28th October especially the 
47th Sikhs and the Sappers and Miners distinguished 
themselves by their gallant conduct in the attack on 
Neuve Chapelle. When the Meerut Division had arrived 
the Indian Army Corps took over the line previously 
held by the Second Corps. 
This hne was subjected to constant bombardment by 
the enemy's heavy artillery, followed by infantry attacks, 
and two of these attacks were very severe. The 8th 
Gurkha Rifles were driven from their trenches and on 
November 2nd west of Neuve Chapelle the line was to 
some extent pierced and slightly bent back. 
On December 19th the Indian Corps attacked the 
German position and gained two lines of trenches, but 
they were unable to maintain their position and had to 
fall back. The following day the enemy attacked in 
force, drove back the Sirhind Brigade and captured a 
considerable portion of Givenchy. 
The winter months of trench warfare in wet and cold 
and mud were especially trjdng to Indian troops and 
they suffered much. But they still retained their spirit , 
and when Sir John French inspected them in January hi 
reported that their appearance fully confirmed his first 
opinion, that they only required rest and a little accHma- 
tising to bring out all their fine inherent quahties. 
On the loth, nth and 12th March, 1915, was fought 
the battle of Neuve Chapelle, and the success attained 
was due, the Commander-in-Chief said, to the magnificent 
bravery and indomitable courage displayed by the troops 
of the 4th and Indian Corps. The Garhwal Brigade and 
the 25th Brigade carried the enemy trenches, and, sweep- 
ing eastward, gained a footing in the village itself. The 
Jullandur and Dehra Dun Brigades attacked the Bois 
Du Biez, but were held up by a river and had to maintain 
themselves in the position gained. 
Again in April the Germans in great force made vigor- 
ous and sustained attacks against the town and district 
of Ypres and again they were repulsed. And here also 
Indian troops fought with their British comrades. On 
April 22nd the Lahore Division was moved up to the 
Ypres area. The Germans had for the first time made 
use of poisonous gas, the effect of which was so virulent as 
to render the whole hne held by the French Division 
untenable. The left flank of the Canadian Division was 
then left dangerously exposed and it was only the con- 
duct of these splendid troops that averted a disaster 
which might have had most serious consequences. 
Throughout the summer of 1915 Indian troops took 
their part in holding the trenches in Flanders. And in 
another part of Europe also were Indians fighting along- 
side the British and French. From the beginning of May 
they were fighting in Gallipoli. On the night of the lOth 
May the 6th Gurkhas distinguished themselves by crawling 
hands and knees up the precipitous face of a cliff which 
was always after called the Gurkha Bluff. The story 
of the gallantry of the 14th Sikhs, whose officers both 
British and Indian were nearly all lost, and of those 
Indian troops who, after the Suvla Bay landing, did for 
one moment reach the summit of the ridge and looked 
down on to the waters of the Dardanelles, is interwoven 
with the story of the immortal 29th Division and the 
glorious men of Anzac in one of the most tragically heroic 
pages in all history. 
Kut 
And in another tragic failure, made sublime by the 
superb deeds of soldiers, Indian troops also took their 
part — in the defence and in the attempted relief of Kut. 
We do not yet know the full history of that ill-fated 
adventure, but we do know tliis much, that the Indian 
troops, like their British comrades, shrank not from 
attacking entrenched positions across perfectly open 
plains where no shelter whatever from the most deadly 
fire was to be found. And we know too that with the 
British they cheerfully suffered all the terrible privations 
of lack of provisions, lack of water, lack of adequate 
medical aid. 
In East Africa also ; in the Cameroons, and at Tsingtau 
Indian troops have taken their share of the Empire's 
work. And, when we think of these deeds of the Indian 
Army and remember that at the critical moment and 
at the critical point India was able to send all her best 
troops — and what is more significant still, nearly the 
whole of her artillery and immense quantities of arms 
and ammunition, then we may surely feel that India 
may in future be regarded as a true and trusty partner in 
the Empire. 
The Crown Colonies, etc. 
THE war had 
not been in pro- 
gress many 
weeks before the 
truth was realised that 
it was a great crusade. 
Prom the outset this 
conception was manifest 
in those outer parts of 
the Empire, where fami- 
liarity with the German 
;is he really is, had 
taught Britons that the 
Teuton philosophy of 
life was in direct op- 
position to their own. 
They had not to wait 
for the horrors of Bel- 
gium in order to realise 
it was to be a war 
against Huns, a death struggle between a higher and 
a lower civilisation. And so Britons came instantly 
trooping to the aid of the Mother Country, in little 
companies, from all parts of the Empire. Presently 
there was not a Colony or Settlement which was not 
organising assistance on an unprecedented scale. It is 
marvellous how resources have been strained to the 
uttermost in both men and money, even in the smallest 
of Britain's possessions. But the time has not come when 
it is possible to obtain a complete or exact record. 
Malay SUUa Vollmteera 
