HLI Chronicle 1914 - The Royal Highland Fusiliers

HIGltLAND LlltHf INFANTRY CHRONICLE.the capture of Lucknow, the campa~gn in Oudh,and the capture of Bareilly, from which placehe was invalided home sick with fever. Hereceived .the medal with two clasps' and a.brevet majority. Promoted Lieutenant in1851 and Oaptain on the 9th of January,1857, he subsequently transferred to the"98th Regiment, from which he retired withthe rank of Major in 1858. Sir David didnot yet, however, sever all connection with801diering, as he took a keen interest in theVolunteer movement, then in its infancy, andfrom 1865 served as a Major in the LondonScottish.He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1852,being the third Sir David to hold the title,and a grand-nephew of that illustrious soldierthe first Sir David Baird, whose early soldiering-career was so closely connected with the71st, who subsequently commanded the Regiment,and who also commanded at theassault of Seringapatam, in which the 14thbore such a stirring part.':On his retirement he devoted himse. tothe care of his estates in East Lothian, wherehe was universally admired and looked up to.He took little part in public affairs, thoughmore than once invited-to stand for Parliamentfor his county, but took a share in localadministration as a Justice of the Peace andDeputy-Lieutenant of the Oounty. Always akeen sportsman, he was for some time MasterQf the East Lothian Foxhounds.The funeral, which took place on the 17th{If October at Whitekirk, was attended by adetachment of N.O.O.'s and men with pipers,to represent tll;e Regiment, from HamiltonBarracks, under command of Major J. O.Grahame. D.S.O. 001. Wolfe-Murray, commandingthe 2nd Battalion H.L.I., was alsopresent at the funeral, whilst amongst thevery large number of wreaths was one sentby the officers of the 2nd Battalion "as amark of tribute and respect to the memory oftheir oldest officer."The late baronet is succeeded in the titleby his eldest son, Oaptain David Baird, whoserved for many years in the Black Watch,and to whom we are indebted for the photographwhich we reproduce in this number.OAPTAIN PEROY BRAMWELL DAVIS. BORN, 19TH MARCH, 1880; DIED 27TH DEC;, 1913. IT is with the deepest regret that we announce the death of Oaptain P. BramweIl Davis at Orookham House, Newbury-the residence ofhis father-in-law.He was gazetted to the Regiment on 18thApril, 1900, and joined the 2nd Battalion, thenat Aldershot .In April, 1909, he was appointed to theAdjutancy of the Battalion, which he held till1912. At the time of his death he held theStaff Appointment of Brigade-Major of theTerritorial Brigade, the Black Watch.He had not been in a good state of health forsome considerable time, but it was onlyrecently that he became very much worse, andhis death was a great and sudden shock to hismany friends.His qualities and abilities as a soldier, andmore especially his work as Adjutant, arerealised most fully by those of us who haveserved with him.His esprit de corps, his extraordinary keen·ness and boundless energy, and his staunchobservance of the best traditions of theRegiment, were among the many qualitieswhich stamped him as a fine soldier.As an all-round athletic " Pip" Davis wasone of the best we have ever had; and hisperformance in winning the Army RacquetsOup (with the late Oaptain BfWfour Brya!lt,M.V. 0., as his partner) for six consecutive yearswill always be remembered in the annals of hisRegiment.He was a member of the team which wonthe Army Golf Oup in 1904, and he also playedfor the Regiment on two other occasions.On the Swinton Medal chains his name isrecorded as winning the officers' flat race(100 yards handicap) in 1904, 1910, and 1912.In 1906 and 1909 he won the RegimentalGolf Tournament, and in 1909 he held thebest batting average in Regimental cricketmatches.His early death, with the best years of hislife still before him, is a grief and a loss to thewhole Regiment, and all ranks will ;oin inoffering their sympathy to his widow and hislittle son.He was buried on the last day of the oldyear, in the military cemetery at Aldershot.Nearly every officer who was on leave, as wellas several seconded, and officers from theDepot, returned to Aldershot for the funeral,which was attended by the whole Battalion,a firing party of 100 rank and file being underOaptain J. R. Siruson. There were alsoseveral old officers of the Battalion present,besides some from the Black Watch and fromoth~r corps in the Oommand. The following