BY LIEUT.-COLONEL SIR JOHN ROSS OF BLADENSBURG, K.C.B., K.C.V.O.
(_late Coldstream Guards_).
Colonel George Laurie came from a military family. His father a
distinguished General, and his uncle both served in the Crimea and
elsewhere, and many of his near relations joined the army, and were
well-known zealous soldiers of their Sovereign. His elder brother fell
in the Boer War in the beginning of this century, and he himself saw
active service in the Sudan and in South Africa, before he landed in
France to take his share in the great World War. On being promoted to
the command of his battalion, he joined it at Kamptee in India, and
this obliged him to leave his wife and family at home, for young
children are not able to live in that tropical, very hot and unhealthy
district. From that station, with scarcely any opportunity of seeing
them again, he was launched into the severities of a cold and wet
winter in a water-logged part of Flanders. His experiences are
graphically told in his letters, and they will show how much our
gallant troops had to endure when engaged in the terrible conflict
which the ambition of Prussia had provoked, and with what fortitude
and courage they defended the country from the serious dangers that
then menaced it.
All who have read these interesting letters will, I think, perceive
that one dominant feature in Colonel Laurie's character was a keen and
all-pervading sense of duty, and an earnest determination to discharge
it in every circumstance as thoroughly and as completely as possible.
Never did he spare himself. What he had to exact from others, that he
sternly imposed upon himself; and he fully shared with his men all the
dangers and all the hardships of the war, with serene good temper and
with a cheerful spirit. This fine disposition, which he himself had
trained by self-discipline, ensured the prompt and willing obedience
of his subordinates, and endeared him to all who were committed to his
charge; it also secured for him the respect and the confidence of his
superiors, who were well aware that every order they gave him would be
carried out to the letter with prudence and with strict fidelity.
As he had married a beloved niece, I had many opportunities of
observing his character, and I did not fail to recognize how devoted
he was to his regiment and to the military career he had embraced and
how thoroughly he was imbued with this great sense of duty. He had,
moreover, considerable literary ability, and wrote a very excellent
History of the Royal Irish Rifles; he also translated from the French
an interesting account of the conquest of Algiers. In short, he took
pains to learn the many details of his noble profession, and to make
himself an efficient officer. Had he survived, my belief is that he
would have advanced far as a soldier; for he combined with a studious
earnest mind, much activity of body, and a sincere love for outdoor
sport and manly exercise.
His letters show his affectionate nature; his care for his family and
for his officers and men; and his solicitude for all with whom he was
brought in contact. His sympathies were quick and real; and he felt
the responsibilities of his position, and what he owed to those who
belonged to him, or who were placed under his command. And last, but
by no means least, there are many short expressions in the letters to
show the deep and all-absorbing feeling he entertained for Religion,
and how his whole life was guided by the Faith that was in him. May
his memory prove to be an incentive to his young family, so early and
so cruelly deprived of the care of a loving father, to imitate his
sterling qualities of head and heart!