During the Afghan operations I was resting my company on the side of
the road at the Afghan entrance to the Khyber Pass. It was mid-day
and the heat was terrific, when along that heat-stricken road came a
British battalion. They had marched 15 miles that morning from Ali
Musfd. Their destination was Landi Kana, five miles below us on the
plain.
As they came round the bend a cheer went up, for they spotted specks of
white canvas in the distance. Most of the battalion seemed to be on the
verge of collapse from the heat, but one Tommy, a Cockney, broke from
the ranks and had a look at the camp in the distance, and exclaimed:
"Coo! If I 'ad me running pumps I could sprint it!"--_Capt. A. G. A.
Barton, M.C., Indian Army, "The Beeches," The Beeches Road, Perry Bar,
Birmingham._