THE "SPECTATOR" EXPERIMENTAL COMPANY.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR." j Sin,—Since my last letter, published a fortnight ago, the chief event here has been the inspection of the Company by Lord Methnen which took place on Friday, the 20th inst., at 7 a.m. Hounslow is included in Lord Methuen's command, and it was in his capacity of Commander-in-Chief that he inspected us, not on behalf of the War Office. The final inspection is yet to come, and will, I believe, be made while the Company is at Aldershot, about the end of August or beginning of September.
We paraded on the 20th at 6.43 a.m., and a few minutes before 7 o'clock Lord Methuen arrived on the ground. After the ranks had been inspected, the non-commissioned officers and several of the privates were carefully catechised, with, I think, satis- factory results. Some of those examined were very naturally nervous, and therefore failed to acquit themselves to the best advantage, but the majority answered the questions put to them correctly and intelligently. These preliminaries having been disposed of, the Company proceeded to attack a position by the rifle butts, held by the sergeant-instructors and fatigue men. The sections were commanded by recruit non-commissioned officers, who handled them creditably. When the operations had been completed Lord Methuen desired to see the men return, at the double, to the camp, a distance of about nine hundred yards, in a single rush. The line accordingly advanced at a steady run for about five hundred yards, and then every man finished, at his best pace, as if charging a position. The result appeared to meet with his Lordship's approval.
I am reminded by this run home of the rather fast mile race run by twenty-four of our men at the athletic sports of the 21st Lancers about three weeks ago. The race was in "drill order,"—i.e., with rifles, bayonets, and one pouch. The winner's time was five minutes fifty-five seconds, and the last man finished in six minutes thirty-five seconds. Obviously there was consider- able "tailing off," yet even the time of the last man was quite respectable. . Yesterday we went by train to Sunninidale, and performed a little field-day on Chobham Common. The " enemy " was a skeleton rearguard commanded by Lance-Corporal Moller, who had previously visited the scene of action with his ten men in order to select positions and make his plans. Number three section under Lance-Corporal Vigor made a long detour of about three miles in order to turn the enemy's left flank, and, arriving in the nick of time, completely surprised the bulk of the rearguard when it was already being closely pressed by two other sections advancing against its front. Creeping through the broken ground, the flanking party escaped detection until within a dozen yards. It was cleverly done. On the other hand, I observed elsewhere a less pleasing performance, the sight of which fairly staggered me,—it was so entirely unex- pected. Two scouts, having, as I thought, shown considerable skill while gaining the crest of a hill, then proceeded to stand erect on the very skyline itself in order to signal back "No enemy in sight." So much does the British soldier, Regular or citizen, love a skyline that it seems hopeless to attempt his conversion. The evil is a species of "original sin." To-day we have had a visit from the Duke of Bedford, who was accompanied by his Adjutant. The Duke arrived at 11 a.m., when the right half-company was engaged in constructing, for the first time, a full-sized bridge, under the direction of its own lance- corporals ; and the left half, similarly commanded, had its two sections opposed to one another in bush-fighting. On Friday next (27th inst.) the written examination of candidates for the ranks of sergeant and corporal will take place, and within the next fortnight I hope to be able to report that the efficiency of our men in signalling and gymnastics has been tested by inspecting officers and found reasonably satisfactory. I have good hopes that not less than thirty men will pass the test in Morse signalling, and that nearly all the Company will be found qualified in semaphore.
—I am, Sir, &c., A. W. A. POLLOCK, Lieut.-Colonel.
Hounslow, July 25th.
Previous page
