HLI Chronicle 1914 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY CHRONICLl!:. 157Then the 3rd and 4th Battalions came in forfinal equipment, and out again to their warstations-the 3rd at Cosham and the 4th atExeter. Next the nucleus of the lOth Battalionwas formed and despatched to Bordon,and since then the 11th and 12th and the 1st,2nd, and 3rd (Glasgow) Battalions have. beenraised and the 13th and 14th authorised.Whilst setting out .in chronological orderthe events of the last three months, the intentionof this article is more to give expressionto impressions of the men and things whichhave gone to make up these stirring times.Recruiting offices were opened in the largeindustrial towns, in Glasgow, and later,through the co-operation of the PoliticalAgencies, in every town and village in thecountry, and here inspiring sights were to beseen of great crowds of men eager, pressing,clamouring for enrolment. Soon they arrivedat the Depot in such numbers that the largestaffs, housed for the time being in the oldGuard-Room at the Almada Street Gate(for the H.L.I.) and in No. 0 Hut (for theScottish Rifles), were utterly unable to copewith the rush. Hundred after hundred were"finally approved" and passed on to theQuartermaster for equipment, and to theworried-to-death Colour-Sergeants for attentionto the "inner man," payment, anddespatch. Under the abnormal pressure itwas no surprise to see stores running short;and so the men began to appear in uniformminus glengarries; then the uniforms, too,ran out, and the underclothing, then the smallkits; and soon men were passed on in theclothing in which they came. And yet thecry is " Still they come," and ever and anonthe gate swings open, and squads of 20, 50,100, and 200 march in from Glasgow, Coatbridge,Caml;mslang, etc.Ordinarily a monotonous job, the task ofthe Approving Officer is relieved by the desperateappeals of men for "a chance" toshow what good soldiers they will make whendiscovered to be. mi.nus a finger, 9r barely..capable of reaching the standard .of height;\.or to be of alien birth-for there were Russiansand Poles anxious to be our allies here as wellas at the front. There a man with a familyof nine, and yet his age is stated to be 35­heavens I-and after he gets his pass he meetshis son at the pay table! "Give us a chance,give us a chance." "But you're t'oo short,too young, too old." "Give us a chance,give us a chance. Let us get at these German_.-." Old familiar faces, old memoriesrevived. "There's old Facie ; there'sold Buster --; hallo, old man." Thenthe yarning of the Du Lala, the old adventures,raked up. "You remember-- Ach, come andhave a drink. ." It's grand, it's glorious;the old firm's" no' deid yet." There'shistory being made, and the old Corps is init. There'll be things to tell to posterity.It's up to the Highland Light Infantry tokeep in mind the glorious records of the past,and they'll do it.J. M. B.FALKIRK SOLDIER'S BfPRESSION OF MONS. PIUVATE ROBERT STOBBIE, of the 2nd BattalionHighland Light Infantry, who hasreturned to his home at Falkirk, gave anaccount of his experiences on the Continent."Our Battalion," he related, "was veryfortunate at Mons. In spite of the terrificshell fire we only lost twelve men, whilethere were fifty wounded. Those who werewounded, however, had a bad time of it.They were taken to the hospital at Mons,and as we were retreating from the placethe Germans shelled the hospital. Everyon~who was able left the place, though ther~was little hope for those who were woundedin such a way that they were not able to walk.One of the wounded who succeeded in gettingaway told me .that when the Germans shelledthe hospital there was one soldier underchloroform who was about to be operatedupon, and he had to be abandoned to his fate.