"More khaki," sniffed a bored but charming lady, as she glanced at a
picture of the poor Yeomanry at Lindley, and then hastily turned away to
something of greater interest. I overheard the foregoing at the Royal
Academy, soon after my return from South Africa, last May, and thanked
the Fates that I was in mufti. It was to a certain extent indicative of
the jaded interest with which the War is now being followed by a large
proportion of the public at home, the majority of whom, I presume, have
no near or dear ones concerned in the affair; a public which cheered
itself hoarse and generally made "a hass" of itself many months ago in
welcoming certain warriors whose period of active service had been
somewhat short. I wonder how the veterans of the Natal campaign, the
gallant Irish Brigade, and others, will be received when they return?
"Come back from the War! What War?"
And yet in spite of this apathy, "War Books" keep appearing, and here is
a simple Yeoman thrusting yet another on the British Public. Still
'twere worse than folly to apologise, for _qui s'excuse, s'accuse_.
The present unpretentious volume is composed of letters written to a
friend from South Africa, during the past twelve months, with a few
necessary omissions and additions; the illustrations which have been
introduced, are reproductions in pen and ink of pencil sketches done on
the veldt or in hospital. The sole aim throughout has been to represent
a true picture of the every-day life of a trooper in the Imperial
Yeomanry. In many cases the "grousing" of the ranker may strike the
reader as objectionable, and had this record been penned in a
comfortable study, arm-chair philosophy might have caused many a passage
to be omitted. But the true campaigning atmosphere would have been
sacrificed.
As the Sussex Squadron of Imperial Yeomanry was, in popular parlance,
"on its own" till the end of May, the letters dealing with that period
have been excluded. However, a brief account of the doings of the
Squadron up to that time is necessary to give continuity to the story,
so here it is: