'Memoirs and Recollections of An Officer of the Indian Political Service' [‎9r] (17/156)

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it culminating in a considerable peak which dominated the whole compound but which
lay outside the perimeter. It was these heights beyond our control which rendered
our compound extremely vulnerable, if ever, in the event of local disturbances, they
fell into the hands of the mob.
I found that the Sikhs of the Cavalry Escort of my regiment were somewhat disgruntled
by their long enforced absence from their families and the strangeness of life in an
alien atmosphere. Like all members of this martial race, they make excellent and
courageous soldiers when kept really busy and under strict discipline. Up till now
their duties with the escort had been largely ceremonial, and often somewhat menial.
Being trained horsemen they were much in demand as riding instructors. The result was
that the Sikhs had started to quarrel and intrigue amongst themselves, and even, in
some cases, to partake immoderately of the local "tej" and beer. Furthermore, there
was no-one on the staff to whom they could talk in their own language or who under
stood their customs and their culture. They were delighted to find that they were now
to take orders from me, an officer of their own regiment. In no time at all I was
able to restore their discipline; I organised and supervised daily parades, mounted
and dismounted, and smartened them and their living quarters up just as they were
accustomed to in India. Thereafter they gave no further trouble, and the Minister was
duly grateful. I became very proud of them.
Within a day of my arrival, Sir Sidney took me aside to explain the direction in which
he most wanted my advice. He was concerned that, if war between Ethiopia and the
Italians were to break out (and this now seemed inevitable) and if - as he expected -
the Emperor's armies were to be defeated on the southern and northern fronts by an
enemy who deployed trained European troops equipped with the most modern and lethal
armaments on land and in the air, there was bound to be serious anti-white rioting
in the city which might continue for as long as it took the victorious Italian troops
to advance through hundreds of miles of mountainous and hostile country before they
could occupy the capital. What, therefore, he wished me to report on was whether and
how the Legation and its extensive compound could be put into a state of defence, and
what would be needed to accommodate the large number of British subjects (estimated
by the Consul at between two and three thousand people) who would be compelled to
take refuge. I have already explained that Addis Ababa was five hundred miles from
the sea, that there was no possibility of an air lift and that the only route for
evacuation was the single line railway to Djibouti.
It might seem odd to the reader that the British Minister should turn to me, a lieutenant
of the Indian Army with only about five and half year's service, for this sort of