'A Grandfather's Tale: Memoirs being mainly concerned with service in the Indian Army and the Indian Political Service in India and the Persian Gulf from 1932-1947' [‎11v] (22/118)

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loads of ice on their backs, about 60 - 80 lbs. each. They would climb
up one day and come down the next and so on until the cold weather
arrived.
In July - August '34 there were a good many B.Os. away on leave
and there were only three or four of us in the Mess. On the normal Wednesday
Band night there would be the full brass band outside the Mess plus
bagpipes, drums and bugles, perhaps ninety men in all, and I can remember
thinking that it was a bit much for just the four of- us. It was different,
of course, when there was the monthly guestnight, when all officers,
married as well as single, had by King's Regulations to dine in Mess, and
there were usually, visiting guests as well.
In Dharmsala it rained a good deal, but particularly during the
latter half of June and in July and August. For much of these months we
almost lived in the cloud, and it was damp and sticky, and mildew and
mosquitoes abounded. By the end of August '34 I was very ready to go on
leave to Kashmir and stayed up there until the second week in October.
On November 7th, a year to the day from the previous year, we
started our march down to the Plains, and carried out much the same
programme as in 1933* This time, however, I was due to go on long leave
to England in late February '33i direct from Juilundur, and so had to take
with me everything that I needed to take to England, in addition to what
was required for the 3^ months before that. It was a most difficult "pack"
but I managed to keep within the 400 lbs. allowed, including my tent.
On the line oi march we had a special drill in the Bn. for pitching
and striking camp. It was reauced to a fine art, all orders being by
whistle, and the whole camp could be pitched or struck within less than
15 minutes. This amazed outsiders, particularly British Bns. who seemed
to take a month of Sundays to get the same thing done. All our baggage
was carried by camel, each carrying a load of five maunds (400 lbs.) and
to see a small uurkha aeaiing with the loading of a large camel when the
beast was not being unduly co-operative was a sight to be remembered,
me camels were organized in silladar companies i.e. each man supnlied
h^s own small spring of camels, and they were mobilised as and when required,
iheir discipline was extremely loose but nevertheless they functioned verv
well.
Many of the mdian Cavalry Regiments had originally been raised on
the Silladar system, particularly those which started off as Irregular
Horse (Skinner's, Hudson's, Jacob's etc.) but Kitchener's re-organization
of the Indian Army, before the 1914-18 war, gradually put an end to that. I
I spent the Christmas of 1934 in Ferozepore with the Craigh McFeelys
where the 2nd Bn. the Border Regiment had moved from Rawalpindi . 0 He had,
1 °r a time i beeri ^7 company commander during my first year's attachment to