HLI Chronicle 1914 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

HIGHLAND LIGHT INFA.."IIlTRY CHRONICLE.of Glasgow Police sergeants, all of whomhave rendered most valuable Rerviees in thediscipline and training of recruits.At this time there was an idea among someof us that as soon as we could get thingssettled up, after the inevitable confusion ofthe past five days, we were going to have acomparatively easy time. Such a feeling was,h0wever, quickly dispelled, for on the 11thwe were informed that 500,000 more menwere to be raised, and that out of the firstcontingent of 100,OOn the Hegiment wasto raise two battalions of lOOO each (su bsequentlyincreased to 1100). The War Officebelief in the popularity of the Regiment wasHhown by this order, for, besides the RoyalScots, we were the only Hegiment allottedf;wo battalions, the other regiments in Scotlandhaving one battalion each to raise ,inthe same lime. To help us the 2nd Battalionsent us Captain Stuart, Reserve of Officer8,late H.L.L; 2nd Lieut. Dixon, 1st H.L.I. ;and 16 N.-C.O.'i'!. With their help a verygood start was made, and by the 16th the firstnew battalion was assuming some shape.At this date, in order possibly to speed uprecruiting, the various political agencies inthe country were allowed to enlist men. Froma soldier's point of view their co-operationat this time was productive of many complicationsand much confusion for the moment.Here were these politicians, ignorant ofsoldiers and their ways, many of them alsoignorant of the distribution of units, and of theregulations governing recruiting physicalqualifications, terms of service, necessit,y ofcharacters on enlistment-let loose to recruitan armv! The result was for us four days ofchaos. ~ Hundreds of men were sent toHamilton Barracks for every corps in theBritish Army, regardless of the fact that itis the Depot of two line' regiments only.They came without previous notice, and itwas only by the st.renuous exertions of thesmall staff of the two depots, a.bly assisted byMessrs. Keith, contractors, of Hamilton, thatthey were fed and given blankets. Housedthey could not be, and many slept out onthe grass. In the writer's opinion, one ofthe most. serious evils was the removal of anvvestige of "character on enlist.ment." To acertain extent this was perhaps unpreventable,but many would-be recruits would havebeen reje~ted at first sight by an experiencedrecruiter. The following from the diary ofan officer written at the time may be ofinterest" AUGUST l7.-A howling rabble came downfrom Glasgow to enlist--sent down by thepolitical associations-with no documents orinstructions. In the evening we had to feedsome 500 men."AUGUST 18.-A repetition of yesterday,only worse. Got away 200 of our new Regimentin spite of it." AUGUST 19.--Another desperate day, butmob more subdued." AUGUST 20.-Things a little better. Thepolitical aBsociations have been switched offfor the time, and there is a little order. Fortunatelyt,here were some amusing incidentsconnected with it. Two would-be recruitswere seen with only one leg apiece! Anotherwho was sent to our doctor was reported, blind in the right eye, and defective visionin t,he left.' CaseR of undersize were common,as well as of wooden feet, glass eyes, loss offingers, etc., etc."About this time Captain Singleton, D.S.O.,from the 1st Battalion, and Captain Forbesand Lieut. Anderson from the 2nd Battalion,joined for duty with the new units, and werevery welcome. Somewhat later CaptainFleming, late of the 7th Battalion, volunteeredfor Depot duty, and did excellent serviee.The" new units were numbered the 10th and11th Battalions, following in sequence theTerritorial Battalions. Major Grahame,D.S.O., late commanding the Depot, wasappointed C.O. of the lOth, and Major Fergusson,late H.Id., C.O. of the llth.From August 21st onwards recruiting pr9­ceeded very briskly. Orders were received tocomplete the Reserve Battalions (3rd and4th) to 2000 each, and recruiting was carriedon for them simultaneously with the newunits. On August 29th the 10th Battalionwas completed to 1100 strong (18 days afterthe ordeT to form them was received), andon September 4th the 11th Battalion wasalso completed. On the next day; September5th, the 3rd Battalion was completed to 2000,having left Hamilton a month before withabout 850, including Army Heservists. Meantimeorders had been received to recruitanother Service Battalion to form part of thesecond 100,000. The first draft for themwas sent on September 8th, and on September15th (a week later) this battalion was alsocompleted to llOO men, and numbered the12th Battalion. Finallv the 4th Battalionwas completed to 2000' on September 22nd.