POLLOCK'S PETS
SIR,—Your circular letter has brought back many memories of the so-called " Pollock's Pets," who were at one time so closely con- nected with your paper. I was, in fact, a member of that body.
The Spectator Experimental Corps was formed in 1906, and was, I believe, sponsored entirely by the Spectator at a cost of 0.000. , A Lt.-Col. Adrian Pollock of the Somerset Light Infantry suggested the scheme with a view to proving his Belief that completely un- trained men could be fit for warfare in six months, and this he verified with the one hundred men comprising the Experimental Corps.
Towards the end of the six months we were pitted against one of the Guards Regiments; we also drilled with them, and at long range musketry we were the masters. We marched from Hounslow, our training centre, to Windsor in full marching order, were inspected by King Edward VII, showed our paces on the parade ground and then marched back to Hounslow. Not one man fell out, and this, in my opinion, was no mean effort. Our pay was 5s. per week, and our uniform a suit of khaki with black buttons. The food, I might add, was not good in those days. The result of this venture was the end of the Militia and
the beginning of the Territorials. I wonder how many of those hundred men are still living ?
In closing, may I say that you have gained another regular reader.—Yours faithfully,
G. A. RAYNOR
39 Patina! Ash Drive, Harrogate
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