h to save the cause of
civilisation, our men had more in common than with the Regulars. In
1914, however, we had inevitably a less thorough training in technique
than that which fell to their lot in the ensuing years. Only a few of
our officers had gone the round of "schools of instruction" and
"courses." We had fewer specialists, and our equipment was probably
inferior. During all our Eastern experiences we used the long rifle
only. It was, however, a real advantage to have had nearly sixty years'
record as a Volunteer unit behind us, with all sorts of Regimental
traditions, which lie at the roots of comradeship and ensure happy
relations between officers and men. Another distinctive virtue of the
Territorial system about Manchester was that all ranks, from
Brigadier-General to private, came from one neighbourhood, and viewed
life from much the same angle. They ran to type, and their interest in
soldiering, obviously spontaneous in the first instance, had been
fostered by common experiences in time of peace.

We saw Malta in the far distance on the evening of the 21st September,
and next day, in mid-afternoon, our convoy unexpectedly met an Indian
Division on its way from Bombay to Marseilles. Their transports, mainly
British Indian liners, passed ours and exchanged escorts with us,
thrilling the least imaginative with pride in the Empire and a sense of
the illimitable issues at stake in Europe. We had left England ringing
with the legendary passage of the Russians from Archangel, the snow
still clinging to their furs, just as the British Army in Spain, in
1812, had been cheered by a similar mirage of Russians streaming to
their aid through Corunna. The first paper that we read on reaching
Egypt announced in giant headlines the arrival of 250,000 no less
shadowy Japanese at Antwerp. But the Indians were real. Their appearance
was a true touch of the World War and they reached the firing line in
Flanders on the 19th October.

We eventually arrived at Alexandria on the 25th September 1914. B
Company, under Captain (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel) J.N. Brown, was
dropped here, half of it under Captain E. Townson going on to Cyprus,
which they garrisoned until the eve of its annexation. Eventually the
whole Company, then under Captain (afterwards Major) D. Nelson, was
reunited to the rest of the Battalion when it left for the Dardanelles.
The remaining part of the Division also disembarked at Alexandria, in
order to relie