ers were leading, and
passed through the ancient ruins and the several lines of enemy
trenches; those trenches held so stubbornly by the Turk, empty now,
save for groups of dead bodies and a few of unhappy wounded who had
not been moved during the night. Surely the world offers no scene more
pitiful than that of a battlefield after action. I know, by personal
experience, the suffering entailed in lying day and night untended
with broken limbs, the utter weariness from wounds, and the exhaustion
after conflict, the tragedy of all surroundings, the cries of those
who cry for help that never comes, a passionate longing for death
alternating with a craven fear of foe and wandering marauder, and
above all, the horror of the great vultures swinging round and round
in ever closer circles. Little of the pomp or ceremony of war was seen
by the Highlanders as they marched that morning through the Turkish
entrenchments at the head of the British troops, the first regiment to
enter Samarrah as they had marched some six weeks earlier the first to
enter Baghdad.

Such is the story of the part played by the Highland Regiment in this
hard-fought battle, but though I have told the tale from the point of
view of a Regimental Officer, I am not forgetful of the deeds of
others. My endeavour has been to give a picture of events as one man
meets them in a course of a day's fighting, not to give a narrative of
deeds of which I know little and saw nothing. But of the gallant help
given by the Gurkhas I have spoken and, after some experience of war
both in France and in Mesopotamia, I add my testimony to the value of
the loyal services rendered by so many of our Indian Regiments; it
will stand to their honour for all time that they have fought
throughout these years so bravely and so faithfully. War is a noble
comradeship, and the ties that now bind the Indian and British troops
will not easily be severed.

The relationship between British and Indian officers is invariably
happy; difficulties of language, however, sometimes give a little
humour to a long campaign. When I was first given command of a Brigade
formed of both British and Indian Battalions I made a point of
speaking to each Indian officer, and saying something in appreciation
of his services. To this the senior Indian officer replied with the
usual Eastern compliments, and then added:--

"Many Generals have come to see us, but each usually spares us but a
couple of minutes; you,