_2nd Division, 23d Infantry, 1st Battalion._
On June 6, 1918, near Château-Thierry, he voluntarily and outside of
his regular duty rushed in front of the firing line and reorganized
his men, leading toward the proper objective in the face of a barrage,
changing a small reverse into a success.]
The great bravery of the English officers of the Indian Army, and the
enormous casualties among them—Captain Paris, Lieutenant Hayes-Saddler,
Major Graham White, good English names innumerable—is part of the story
of the Indian Army. It is said that their white skins among the dark
faces of their men rendered them an easy mark to the German gunners.
And their loss was graver for their troops than that of most officers,
for each Englishman in command is obliged to know several of the
innumerable dialects of India, and as there remained fewer and fewer
men in command who could speak both English and the native tongues, the
Indian troops became at times almost isolated.
And there were men from tribes less well known: the Gurhwals, a
comparatively new regiment, who proved their mettle at “the Indian
Neuve Chapelle.” This was an engagement in November, not to be confused
with the later battle of Neuve Chapelle, where the Indian troops
actually gained the town, but were obliged to fall back, because of
the lack of adequate support. Then there were the Pathans, who shoot
like the Leatherstockings, and look, it is said, not unlike him, with
their blue eyes and brown hair and their muscular frames. They are the
fairest of the native Indians. Then there were the Rajputs, who have
been the great gentlemen of the hills for many hundreds of years. Some
of them were not subjects of the King of England at all, but citizens
of the Feudatory States of India, who came down from their mud huts and
mountain fastnesses to make the grand tour, as it were, and fight with
the cunning implements of the white man.