HLI Chronicle 1917 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

found lightly held. A party of men collected
by C.S.-1\1. M'Menemy bombed down the
trench to the left and held it until relieved,
when they rejoined the Battalion in Reserve
trenches.
The Brigade remained in the same trenches
all the 16th until 11 p.m., when they moved
out into position for attack, and dug in.
The Brigade proceeded to the attack at 7-15
a.m. on April 17th. An Indian Regiment, who
had orders to move up to within 200 yards of
the enemy's trenches before the artillery
bombardment ceased, found so little opposition
at the time that they went right into
the enemy's trenches. The H.L.I., moved
forward as units in front, went out to captured
trenches, and spent the day in trenches
occupied by the Indians before the attack.
At 6-30 p.m. the Turks commenced to
bombard the new line, and shortly afterwards
the Battalion was ordered up to reinforce
the front line, which was about 1000 yards
distant. They arrived there to find our line
being pressed back, and were compelled to fall
back too, during which time they lost 3 officers
wounded and 3 missing. The front line of the
Battalion made a stand in a trench some
distance in rear, and from this a counterattack
was attempted, which, however, failed.
The Battalion then reformed as far as was
possible in two parties, moved down to the
left, and reinforced the trench occupied by
an Indian Regiment. At 3 a.m. on the 18th
the Battalion was relieved, and went back to
the trenches dug the previous night. At 2 p:m.
they moved back to Reserve with the
remainder of the Brigade to dug-outs
about 3000 yards behind the trenches.
From 19th to 2.4th April the Battalion remained
in reserve at Beit Aieessa. There was a good
deal of sickness among the men, but not many
went to hospital.
Late on the 23rd April orders were received
to attack a position about 3000 yards southwest
of Beit Aieessa. The Battalion paraded
at 1-45 a.m. on the 24th, and arrived at the
point of assembly at 2-30 a.m. From here the
Brigade moved in single file down a nullah
for about one mile due south. On arrival at
the position of deployment the Brigade had
to turn west. The H.L. I. and another
Battalion were in the front line, two Companies
of each forming a second line 100
yards in rear. At 4-15 a.m. the advance
commenced, the objective being supposed
to be 800 yards ahead. First shots were
fired after moving about 400 yards. After
aIGHLAND LIGHt INFANTRY CHRONIdLE.
ad\Tancing 1300 yards and no definite line
baving been met with, it was decided to
dig in:- along a nullah, which was accordingly
done. During the morning the front line was
enfiladed by an enemy mounted battery which
appeared on the left flank. On t,he arrival of
the Staff it was found that the force had
advanced 500 yards further than where the
enemy were supposed to be Patrols were
pushed forward to reconnoitre the enemy's
trench 1000 vards in front. which was found
unoccupied.. Order" were· received at 11-30
a.m. to occupy this trench, but these were
cancelled a quarter of an hour later, and the
rest of the day was spent in digging in.
During the remaind('r of the month nothing of
importance occurred. There was an outbreak
of cholera, and on the .30th six cases were
reported from hospital, with three deaths.
Some Notes.
A CAREFUL and deeply interested perusal
of the issues of the "H.L.I. Chronicles"
latterly must, I feel sure, leave many of the
older enthusiasts of the Battalion wondering
ing, like I, at the lesser degree of prominence
held in that journal by the affairs of the
Battalion than was the case previous to this
war, when each quarter's issue brought us
well into the limelight.
One must make allowances, certainly, for
the number of Battalions which now go to
make up our Regiment; but I cannot help
experiencing a feeling akin to fear that our
old comrades everywhere are not being
sufficiently informed of how their successors
are endeavouring to uphold the honour,
traditions, powers of endurance, and, in brief,
to sustain the wonderful name of our grand
Regiment, of which we now have more reason
than ever to be proud.
We have been" through the mill." :Many
of our old hands have departed-some to
return, some also not to. Our casualties
have, of course, been consistent with the
prominent part we have always been proud to
take in the strenuous operations in which we
have been engaged. Sickness and disease
have taken their toll. Many familiar faces
are now replaced by faces less well known.
Our Officers and senior N.-C.O.'s have changed
and changed again. But we are here in
Mesopotamia, and we are in the fighting line.
During the Mesopotamian summer, however
(June to September), operations both on the
part of the Turks and British might be termed