With a Highland Regiment in Mesopotamia | Page 3

the stubborn fighting in the battle of
Loos by the 2nd Battalion, the Cross of the Legion of Honour was
conferred on the Commanding Officer, Colonel A. G. Wauchope,
D.S.O. Never was an honour more richly deserved, never was the
conferring of one more popular. No one who has not served in the
Regiment can possibly be aware of what the Colonel has done to make
his Battalion one of the most efficient in Mesopotamia. I was very
interested in listening to a story told me by a brother officer who was
standing alone in a traverse of a trench. Two Staff Officers were talking
in the next traverse and he heard one remark: "Of course, out here at
the present the Regiment is Wauchope, and Wauchope is the
Regiment." It is a name most closely connected with the fortunes of the
---- Regiment.
[Illustration: At The Base. Scene on a creek below Basrah.]
[Illustration: Colonel A. G. WAUCHOPE, C.M.G., D.S.O.,
Commanding The 2nd Battalion ----.]
The journey was a pleasant one; the wonderful change from the damp
depressing dug-out to a comfortable cabin was appreciated by the
officers, and a dry and comfortable place to sleep in, instead of trying
to sleep in the mud of a fire trench was welcomed by the men.
The usual stay at Port Said after successfully evading the submarines,
where the wily Arab fleeces the unsuspecting Tommy, was not without

interest. The Padre tells an interesting story about how, when he was
returning from home leave to the Regiment in India in 1913, he had his
fortune told by one of the many fantastic liars that fatten on the stories
they weave in this Eastern cesspool. The Fortune-teller told him that
within a year he would be returning to Europe by the same canal. In
those piping days of peace he never suspected that it would be with the
regiment on Active Service but when almost to the day and within the
year, he passed through Port Said on his way to France, this one saying
at least of the Fortune-teller was forcibly brought home to his mind.
Egypt in December is delightful, and more than one expressed the wish
that for a time at all events they could be stationed in this most
wonderful country. The Canal displayed enormous activity, there had
been no such activity since the days when it was made. Thousands of
Arabs and others toiled and died in making this great work. To-day the
Canal is guarded by thousands of troops. Enormous camps have been
established at different places, and Posts are in existence all along the
waterway. It being so narrow, 3-worded conversations take place
between the troops on the banks and the men on the Trooper. 'Who are
you?' asked the men on the bank. When the reply is returned, shouts of
'Good Old Scotland' are raised ashore. Some asked, 'Where are you
going!' 'Mesop' they say. 'Poor Devils', is the encouraging reply. Then
some lonely soul asks if any of his Regiment are on board, and so it
goes on all day. Some swim out from the shore and shout and talk, but
one is chiefly impressed by the great number of men guarding this
important waterway.
[Illustration: Scenes On The Creeks Below Basrah.]
[Illustration: G. J. ANDERSON. H. W. BRUCE, CAPT. A. M.
GRIEVE, S. F. G. ALEXANDER, D. H. ANDERSON.]
[Illustration: C. J. McCONAGHY.]
[Illustration: C. J. McCONAGHY, Capt. A. M. GRIEVE, S. F. G.
ALEXANDER, H. W. BRUCE.]
At Suez a short stay is made. The water is a wonderful opal colour; the

great Desert on our left, the barren rocks, sunburnt and bare on our
right, help to make a fascinating picture. One remembers the first time
one had passed through the Canal, years before in time of peace, and
how one had been filled with admiration for the Medical Officer who
came out to the Mail Boat to give it a clean bill of health to pass
through the Canal, because she was a woman, and standing month after
month of Suez summer weather, which proves too much for many men,
leave alone women. But the stay is short and so as the Sun sets, making
wonderful colouring over the Desert and sea, the journey down the Red
Sea is commenced. The Red Sea in December is shorn of its terrors and
can be quite enjoyable. Aden is passed, two or three days steaming
along the inhospitable coast of Southern Arabia and the entrance of the
Persian Gulf is reached. The Straits of Ormuz have the reputation of
being one of the hottest places on earth. The rocky, and wild Arabian
coast looks very beautiful in the sunshine with its innumerable islands,
and the sea is a dead calm. For some hours