I was once in a country where the mountain troops on their frontier
were said to be of a wonderfully efficient kind, but nobody knew much
about their organisation or equipment or their methods of working, so
I was sent to see if I could find out anything about them, I got in
amongst the mountains at the time when their annual manoeuvres were
going on, and I found numbers of troops quartered in the valleys
and billeted in all the villages. But these all appeared to be the
ordinary type of troops, infantry, artillery of the line, etc. The
artillery were provided with sledges by which the men could pull the
guns up the mountain sides with ropes, and the infantry were supplied
with alpenstocks to help them in getting over the bad ground. For
some days I watched the manoeuvres, but saw nothing very striking to
report.
Then one evening in passing through a village where they were billeted
I saw a new kind of soldier coming along with three pack mules. He
evidently belonged to those mountain forces of which, so far, I had
seen nothing. I got into conversation with him, and found that he
had come down from the higher ranges in order to get supplies for his
company which was high up among the snow peaks, and entirely out of
reach of the troops manoeuvring on the lower slopes.
He incidentally told me that the force to which he belonged was a
very large one, composed of artillery and infantry, and that they
were searching amongst the glaciers and the snows for another force
which was coming as an enemy against them, and they hoped to come
into contact with them probably the very next day. He then roughly
indicated to me the position in which his own force was bivouacking
that night, on the side of a high peak called the "Wolf's Tooth."
By condoling with him on the difficult job he would have to get
through, and suggesting impossible roads by which he could climb, he
eventually let out to me exactly the line which the path took, and I
recognised that it would be possible to arrive there during the night
without being seen.
So after dark, when the innkeeper thought I was safely in bed, I
quietly made my way up the mountain side to where the "Wolf's Tooth"
stood up against the starry sky as a splendid landmark to guide me.
There was no difficulty in passing through the village with its groups
of soldiers strolling about off duty, but on the roads leading out of
it many sentries were posted, and I feared that they would scarcely
let me pass without inquiring as to who I was and where I was going.
So I spent a considerable time in trying to evade these, and was at
last fortunate in discovering a storm drain leading between high walls
up a steep bank into an orchard, through which I was able to slip away
unseen by the sentries guarding the front of the village. I climbed up
by such paths and goat tracks as I could find leading in the direction
desired. I failed to strike the mule path indicated by my friend
the driver, but with the peak of the Wolf's Tooth outlined above me
against the stars, I felt that I could not go far wrong--and so it
proved in the event.
It was a long and arduous climb, but just as dawn began to light up
the eastern sky I found myself safely on the crest, and the twinkling
of the numerous camp fires showed me where the force was bivouacked
which I had come to see.
As the daylight came on the troops began to get on the move, and,
after early coffee, were beginning to spread themselves about the
mountain side, taking up positions ready for attack or defence, so
as it grew lighter I hastened to find for myself a comfortable little
knoll, from which I hoped to be able to see all that went on without
myself being seen; and for a time all went particularly well.
Troops deployed themselves in every direction. Look-out men with
telescopes were posted to spy on the neighbouring hills, and I could
see where the headquarters staff were gathered together to discuss
the situation. Gradually they came nearer to the position I myself was
occupying, and divided themselves into two parties; the one with the
general remained standing where they were, while the other came in the
direction of the mound on which I was lying.
Then to my horror some of them began to ascend my stronghold.
I at once stood up and made no further efforts at concealment, but got
out my sketch book and started to make a drawing of "Dawn Among the
Mountains." I was very soon noticed, and one or two officers walked
over to me and entered into conversation, evidently anxious to find
out who I was and what was my business there.
My motto is that a smile and a stick will carry you through any
difficulty; the stick was obviously not politic on this occasion; I
therefore put on a double extra smile and showed them my sketch book,
explaining that the one ambition of my life was to make a drawing of
the Wolf's Tooth by sunrise.
They expressed a respectful interest, and then explained that their
object in being there was to make an attack from the Wolf's Tooth on
the neighbouring mountain, provided that the enemy were actually in
possession of it. I on my part showed a mild but tactful interest in
their proceedings.
The less interest I showed, the more keen they seemed to be to explain
matters to me, until eventually I had the whole of their scheme
exposed before me, illustrated by their own sketch maps of the
district, which were far more detailed and complete than anything of
the kind I had seen before.
In a short time we were on the best of terms; they had coffee going
which they shared with me, while I distributed my cigarettes and
chocolates amongst them. They expressed surprise at my having climbed
up there at that early hour, but were quite satisfied when I explained
that I came from Wales, and at once jumped to the conclusion that I
was a Highlander, and asked whether I wore a kilt when I was at home.
In the middle of our exchange of civilities the alarm was given that
the enemy was in sight, and presently we saw through our glasses long
strings of men coming from all directions towards us over the snows.
Between us and the enemy lay a vast and deep ravine with almost
perpendicular sides, traversed here and there by zig-zagging goat
tracks.
Officers were called together, the tactics of the fight were described
to them, and in a few minutes the battalion and company commanders
were scattered about studying with their glasses the opposite
mountain, each, as they explained to me at the time, picking out for
himself and for his men a line for ascending to the attack.
Then the word was given for the advance, and the infantry went off in
long strings of men armed with alpenstocks and ropes. Ropes were used
for lowering each other down bad places, and for stringing the men
together when they got on to the snows to save them from falling
into crevasses, etc. But the exciting point of the day was when the
artillery proceeded to move down into the ravine; the guns were all
carried in sections on the backs of mules, as well as their ammunition
and spare parts.
In a few minutes tripods were erected, the mules were put into slings,
guns and animals were then lowered one by one into the depths below
until landed on practicable ground. Here they were loaded up again and
got into their strings for climbing up the opposite mountains, and in
an incredibly short space of time both mules and infantry were to be
seen, like little lines of ants, climbing by all the available tracks
which could be found leading towards the ice fields above.
The actual results of the field day no longer interested me; I had
seen what I had come for--the special troops, their guns, their supply
and hospital arrangements, their methods of moving in this apparently
impassable country, and their maps and ways of signalling.
All was novel, all was practical. For example, on looking at one of
the maps shown to me, I remarked that I should have rather expected to
find on it every goat track marked, but the officer replied that there
was no need for that; every one of his men was born in this valley,
and knew every goat track over the mountain. Also a goat track did not
remain for more than a few weeks, or at most a few months, owing to
landslips and washouts; they are continually being altered, and to
mark them on a map would lead to confusion.