The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry | Page 2

the admiration,
affection, and gratitude of their old Commander, but to the whole of
Scotland as a tribute to the memory of those good and gallant comrades
of the "Broken Spur" whom we left behind in foreign lands.
ERIC S. GIRDWOOD,
(late) Major-General, Commanding 74th (Yeomanry) Division.
PORTSMOUTH, 20th August 1921.

INTRODUCTION

This short history, written by request, was started shortly after the
Regiment was disbanded. For the delay in publishing it, I must plead
the great mass of inaccuracies which had to be corrected and verified,
entailing a considerable amount of correspondence and consequent
lapse of time. It has been compiled from Official Diaries and Forms,
and from a Diary kept by Lieut.-Colonel J. Younger, D.S.O., without
whose assistance it would never have been completed.
It will, however, recall to the reader's mind the strenuous and eventful
days we spent together in a regiment of whose history we are all so
justly proud, and whose career now as a Yeomanry Regiment is ended,
and it will recall the gallant fellows with whom we served and many a
gallant deed.
To the glorious memory of those whose graves lie in a foreign land, I
humbly dedicate this book.
D. DOUGLAS OGILVIE.
April 1920.

CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. AT HOME--1914-1915 1
II. ABROAD--1915 9
III. EGYPT--1916 30
LIST OF OFFICERS 40
IV. EGYPT AND PALESTINE--1917 41
V. PALESTINE--1918 107

VI. FRANCE--1918 119
VII. SOME PERSONALITIES 143
VIII. THE PREDECESSORS OF THE FIFE AND FORFAR
YEOMANRY 159
HONOURS AND AWARDS 165
LIST OF CASUALTIES 168
INDEX 204

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Face Page
Officers at Fakenham, 1915 Frontispiece
N.C.O.'s at Fakenham, 1915 2
H.M. The King, with Brigadier-General Lord Lovat and Major-General
Bruce Hamilton 4
The Regiment in Column of Troops at St Ives 4
Crossing the Bridge, St Ives 6
Lieut. R.G.O. Hutchison and Machine Gun Section, 1915 6
Guard Mounting, Fakenham 8
Entraining Horses, Fakenham 8
Gebel-el-Ghenneim, Khargeh Oasis 18
The Highland Barricade, Asmak Dere, Suvla 18

Captain Tuke on "Joseph" 34
In the Village of Khargeh 34
Sentry on Water Dump "A" 36
Camel Lines at Khargeh 36
Senussi Prisoners, Dakhla 40
The Sergeants' Reel, Moascar 40
The Battalion Mascot 42
Battalion Cookhouse, El Ferdan 42
Dug-outs in the Front Line, Sheikh Abbas 54
A Reserve Wadi, Sheikh Abbas 54
A Platoon Mess, Wadi Asher 58
"C" Company Officers' Mess, Wadi Asher 58
Turkish Trench, with dead Turks, Hill 1070, Beersheba 62
Bathing, Regent's Park 62
Battalion Bivouac near Suffa 110
The Irish Road crossing the Wadi Ain Arik 110
The Battalion Football Team 140
The Fife and Forfar Imperial Yeomanry at Annsmuir 158
Detachment at H.M. The King's Visit to Edinburgh 160
Regimental Drill at Annsmuir, with Skeleton Enemy 160

Group showing Six successive Commanding Officers 164
The Cadre on arrival at Kirkcaldy 164
MAPS
Our Trenches in the Front Line at Suvla 20
Battle of Sheria 68
Operations in Palestine, 1917-1918 106
Trench System on the Somme 134
The Lys Sector 142

THE FIFE AND FORFAR YEOMANRY
CHAPTER I
AT HOME--1914-1915
August 4th, 1914, marks the end and also the beginning of two great
epochs in the history of every Territorial Unit. It marked the close of
our peace training and the beginning of thirteen months' strenuous war
training for the thirty-seven months which we were to spend on active
service abroad.
The Fiery Cross which blazed across the entire Continent caught most
people unawares and unprepared--but not so our headquarters. Our
mobilization papers had already been made out and were despatched
immediately on the outbreak of war. Each one of us was bidden to
report forthwith to his Squadron Headquarters, and while we kicked our
heels there, officers were scouring the country for horses. Soon these
came in of every sort and shape, and in a week's time the Regiment was
concentrated at Blairgowrie.

The headquarters of the Regiment was at Kirkcaldy, the four Squadrons
A, B, C, and D having their headquarters respectively at Cupar,
Dunfermline, Dundee, and Forfar. The recruiting area comprised the
counties of Fife, Forfar, Kinross, and Clackmannan, and there was also
a troop in Stirlingshire within a few miles of Loch Lomond. The rest of
the Highland Mounted Brigade, to which the Regiment belonged, was
pure Highland, consisting of two regiments of Lovat's Scouts, the
Inverness Battery, R.H.A., and a T. and S. Column and Field
Ambulance hailing also from Inverness. On changing to War
Establishment, D Squadron dropped out and was divided amongst A, B,
and C, with the exception of Lieut.-Colonel King who went to
Remounts, and Captain Jackson who became Staff Captain on the
newly formed Brigade Staff.
The Regiment was fortunate in having about a week at Squadron
Mobilization Centres before uniting at Blairgowrie, and a pretty hectic
week it was for most of us. The most rapid bit