HLI Chronicle 1914 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLE.------------ --------------~~---- ---------------'­half. Both sides started off badly, but theTerrors soon began to press, and brought theball into the opposing circle. Several wideshots were made at goal, and eventuallyH.L.I. cleared. _The game became faster, andboth _sides played harder. The Terrors'forward line defeated the H.L.I. forwardswith th~ir tactios and combination; thus itbecame a defensive game for the H.L.I.However, the H.L.I. obtained an opening,and the inside left scored the first goal of thematch with a well-placed shot. Half-timewas called, and the game commenced againwith the score 1-0 in favour of the H.L.I.The Terrors pressed continually, and hadnumerous shots at the opposing goal, butfailed to score. Corners were frequent, butwere always saved. As time drew near thegame became very exciting, but the previousscore was not altered, and the H.L.I. won thematch by 1-0 goals. I think the better side lost,as their experience of the game was fargreater than the winning team, and theircombination better. The Terrors had wonthis tournament every year previously. Asregards the winners, they played one of thebest games as a side since their coming toAmbala. I might particularly mention Sergt.M'Menemy, Pte. Marshall, and Sergt. Scevity.The latter, unfortunately, hurt his foot afterhalf-time.THE WING, AMBALA.OWING to the four Companies and the Headquartersof the Battalion being at Solon forthe sum;mer months the monthly games forthe Stockwell Shield cannot take place, itbeing decided that the competition for thismuch-coveted trophy should take place afterthe return of the Headquarters to Ambala,about next October.In order to keep the athletes of the Wingin training, and to discover new talent, aseries of games are being held monthly.There is no trophy up for oompetition, butmoney prizes are awarded for each event.Besides these monthly games, various footballand ot,her Leagues are being held from time totime, so that the Wing is not behind theHeadquarters in the way of sport, wherethey have a Platoon Cup up for competition.The first of these monthly games was heldon 7th May in glorious weather, all events,. with . the exception of the bicycle race, beingkeenly contested. The pipers of the 27thPunjabis from Tank, at present attaohed tothe Battalion for instruction, provided themnsic, so that on the whole a pleasant afternoonwas spent. ­The following events' were d~cided :­LAND-BOAT RACE.-Ist, Pte. Brooks's Crew (" C") ;2nd, Pte. Biggar's Crew (" B ").This event cs-used good fun, two boats becomingwrecked near "the port," the crews having rather arough time of it. ' - ­HIGH JUMl'.-lst, Sergt. Mackie and L.-Sergt. Sim,5 ft. 1 in.; 3rd, Pte. Smith and Pte. Bridge, 4 ft. 10 in.POTATO RACE.-Ist, Pte. Biggar, "B"; 2nd, Pte.Stewart, "B"; 3rd, Pte. Jackson, "C."RELAY BICYCLE RAcE.-lst, Pte. Sayers's Team(" C ").Only two teams entered, and -as the machine ofone team repeatedly came to a standstill through somedefect the winners had practically a walk-over,lOO YARDS HANDICAl'.-lst, CorpI. Champion, "B,"scratch; 2nd, L.-Corpl. Armstrong, "C," 9 yards;3rd, L.-Sergt. Sim, 6 yards.This proved to be a splendid race, as it was thoughtby many that CorpL Champion could hardly give somuch away; but he won by about 2 yards. About50 competitors entered, the heats being run on the twoprevious nights.ONE MILE.-Ist, Pte. Penman, "B"; 2nd, Pte.1vI'Ewing. "C"; 3rd, L. -Corpl. Quiun, "B.". An interesting race, little distance separating thefirst three.WHEELBARlIOW RAcE.-Ist, Pte. Js,ckaon, "C";2nd, Pte. Brooks, "C"; 3rd, Pte. Sayers, "C."As usual, this event was highly amusing, many of thebarrows occasionally standing on their heads or topplingclean over.An Inter-Platoon Tug-of-War League is being held,the following being the pulls at the above Sports:­No. 7 beat No, 6, No, 11 beat No. 9, No. 8 beat No. 10,No. 5 beat No. 12.The conditions are a change from the usual pulls,it now being a 12-feet pull, and the best of three pulls.For the benefit of our comrades who are now incivilian life, or serving at home, it would be as well tomention that with the advent of the new double Companysystem the Companies have changed their lettersi.e.,HA Hand" B H are now" A,H "D" and" F "are ,. B,'" "G Hand" H" are "C/" and" I" a.nd" K " are " D."No. 1 Platoon is the right half of old" A " Company.No. 2 Platoon is the left half of old" A " Company.No, 3 Platoon is the right half of old" B " Company.No. 4 Platoon is the left half of old" B" Company.And so on right through the eight old Companies.From the above old comrades will be able to tell inwhat platoon their old section is.The tug-of-war concluded the evening's sport, andthe prizes were then distributed by Major C. E. Noyes,our Wing Commander.INTER-PLATOON FOOTBALL LEAGUE.AFTER the departure of the Headquarters to.Solon an Inter-Platoon Football League wasarranged for the Wing. This is really the sameas the old Half-Co;mpany Leagues. The twohalves of old " F" Company did exceedingly