To Ham, where the
Indian regiment I was to visit had been retired for rest, was almost
twenty miles. "Ham!" I said. "What a place to send Mohammedans to!"
In his long dispatch of February seventeenth Sir John French said of
the Indian troops:
"The Indian troops have fought with the utmost steadfastness and
gallantry whenever they have been called upon."
This is the answer to many varying statements as to the efficacy of
the assistance furnished by her Indian subjects to the British Empire
at this time. For Sir John French is a soldier, not a diplomat. No
question of the union of the Empire influences his reports. The
Indians have been valuable, or he would not say so. He is chary of
praise, is the Field Marshal of the British Army.
But there is another answer--that everywhere along the British front
one sees the Ghurkas, slant-eyed and Mongolian, with their
broad-brimmed, khaki-coloured hats, filling posts of responsibility.
They are little men, smaller than the Sikhs, rather reminiscent of the
Japanese in build and alertness.
When I was at the English front some of the Sikhs had been retired to
rest. But even in the small villages on billet, relaxed and resting,
they were a fine and soldierly looking body of men, showing race and
their ancient civilisation.
Pages:
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304