1. The few remaining copies of "M & R, A Regimental History of the Sikh Ll 1941 - 1947" edited, by Hukm are available from Hector at £ 10 a copy [inc. p. and p],

2. Our Association has a copy of Dr. Daniel Marston's excellent book "Phoenix from the Ashes: The Indian Army in the Burma Campaign", which includes our 1st Battalion. This will be passed around to our members, but if you would like to purchase a copy, please first contact Hector who will collate numbers for Dr. Marston.

Major F. B. [Ben] Suter Hon. Sec. of the Sikh Brigade Association kindly sent us a report on their Reunion Lunch held at the Rose and Crown, Salisbury, on 27th October 2005. Sixteen attended, of whom six had served in the Regiment. Among the obits. reported he kindly included Hukm and wished us a "Deg Teg Fateh" which is appreciated; in return we send his Association a vigorous "Sat Sri Akal".

Lt. Col D. L. Mackay RE [Retd] has sent a splendid report on his visit to the Indian Memorial to the Missing near Neuve Chapelle, which was on display at the Reunion Lunch. It included a description of the area, an account of grenade manufacture, a history of the two battles of Festubert, even a map of the trench lines, An extract follows:-

THE INDIAN MEMORIAL

The Indian Memorial at Neuve Chapelle was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and formally opened on 7th October 1927 by Lord Birkenhead, one time Recording Officer of the Indian Corps. Present were Marshal Foch, Rudyard Kipling and representative contingent of all ranks of the Indian Army.

The Memorial to the honour of the Army of India which fought in France and Flanders, 1914-1918, is in perpetual remembrance of those who died and have no known grave. It was described in Hukm's Summer 2001 Newsletter. My wife and I visited it in September 2005. It is a magnificent memorial, bought at a dreadful cost to those who served, but beautifully cared for and well visited, as are all the memorials and war cemeteries in the Region. I enclose some photographs, which I took. The 15 meter high column, with the two carved tigers looking outwards towards Neuve Chapelle, dominates the Memorial. This column stands on a podium on which are carved the Battle Honours of the Indian Units on the Western Front.

LA BASSEE 1914 MESSINES 1914 ARMENTIERES 1914 YPRES 1914 15 GHELUVELT FESTUBERT 1914 15 GIVENCHY 1914 NEUVE CHAPELLE ST JULIEN AUBERS LOOS SOMME 1916 MORVAL CAMBRAI 1917

From the ends of the podium, a pierced stone wall extends half way round the Memorial and the ends of the semicircle are marked by two domed "chattris". Inside the entrance "chatris" is a bronze wall safe with a roll of the fallen and a book to record visits. Inside the far "chatris" a special bronze panel was added in 1964 to record the names of 210 servicemen who died during the 1914-18 War whose graves at Zehrensdorf Indian Cementry, East Germany, could not be maintained. The other semicircular wall carries 44 tablets on which are carved the names of over 4700 soldiers of the Indian Army. Also engraved on the Memorial is the following inscription:

TO THE HONOUR OF THE ARMY OF INDIA WHICH FOUGHT IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1914-18, AND IN PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHOSE NAMES ARE RECORDED AND WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

THE GREAT WAR

By the end of August the Indian corps was ready to set sail for France. Originally titled the 'Indian Expeditionary Force A' the Corps consisted of the Lahore Division, the Meerut Division and the Secunderabad Cavalry brigade. The 34th Sikh Pioneers were selected to be the pioneer battalion for the Lahore division. Like all Indian Army battalions, they were organised on an eight company basis, each company of about 80 men. Each pair of companies was supervised by a 'double company commander'. While on the high seas to France they were ordered to adopt the British four company system, so that double companies became companies. The 34th Sikh Pioneers had mobilized quickly and reached Bombay on the 17th August with 9 British officers, 19 Indian officers, 806 rank and file, 57 followers and the first line regimental animals (mules and officers' chargers). The Regimental motto 'Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam' translates as 'Either find a way or make one'. The Indian Corps had left India with winter scales of clothing, but it was for the winter of the Indian Plains, where the sun shines, humidity is down and pullover might be necessary in the evening. Uniforms were Khaki drill. This outfit was totally inadequate for the rain, wind, sleet and eventual snow of the French winter, but the thick serge Khaki uniform as issued to the British Army was not available till December. There was work to do before the Division could set sail. 30 ships had to be assembled and converted to carry the numbers and also the horses and mules. The Lahore Division did not reach Aden until the 15th September, still unsure of the final destination. The Meerut Division sailed almost a month later. The Lahore division sailed on, eventually disembarking on the 26th September at Marseilles. They had been armed with the short magazine Lee Enfield Mark II, but were now equipped with the Mark III. This weapon had different sights and fired higher velocity ammunition. This avoided the need to operate two systems of ammunition resupply. Orleans was the forward concentration area and supply base and the Division arrived on the 2nd October 1914.

When the order to mobilize had been given, little thought had been given to how the Indian Army regiments would be employed, or even where they might be used. The Indian Government's view was that to employ them as mere garrison troops to release British troops for the Front would be wasteful of trained troops and bad for morale in India. After considering employing them piecemeal at the Front, it was decided to use them as a unified Corps. Lieutenant General Sir James Willcocks was appointed Commander of the Indian Corps. (The Leinster Regiment), not Indian Army, he was a fluent Hindustani speaker and well known.