FRONTIER FIGHTING.
— ■—, » ;;;;:''. —— , • - Information recently came to hand by cable of the death of Lieut. Young, who was dangerously wounded in the operations against the Khoda Khel stronghold. Captain Churchill, an exchange officer, who served with the 18th Punjabis in frontier fighting in India, recently lectured before the United Service Institution in Melbourne. According to The Argus, the captain graphically put his hearers in possession of the key to frontier fighting in the North-west when he held up a mountain-studded map before his audience.1 " That is where the fighting takes place," he said. " That is where General Willcocks is fighting now. That is the battle-ground of the armies in India—Boo miles of bare, steep, declivitous, precipitous mountains, some of the ranges 3000 ft high, and often as high as 8000 ft. No food to be picked up—all to be carried. Water often scarce, the enemy hardly ever in sight, and communica-: tion with your base along a track wide enough for two mules closely abreast. Guns, men, and waggons must be hauled along these perilous passages, the enemy overhead, and probable disaster at every turn." The citizen at his ease reads that a tribe across the frontier is sheltering a Pathan (the last syllable is the long one1) who has murdered a tribesman on the Indian side, or has stolen his goods, or has refused to pay his taxes. He reads that a force has been sent to demand the return of the offender. Several days elapse, and the first news of a scuffle in the mountains comes through. Impatiently he awaits a •successful termination of the punitive expedition. In the meantime the priests or Mullahs, on the other side, jealous of the British power, anxious to exert their own, have justified on religious grounds a feud with\ the attackers. The citizen reads that more men have been sent from Peshawar, Rawal »Pindi, and Lahore. In wonderment he follows in a desultory fashion the fortunes of the relieved and the relievers. Why does such a small thing grow so big and momentous? In any case, why is it not through and done with in * a moment ?. An hour with ■ Captain Churchill convinces. "Kopjes in the Transvaal must be molehills compared with the rocky fortresses of the Pathan on the frontier, and he must .be punished. It would en- . danger the prestige of the British were an offender to go ( scotfree. So one offender will make a war. When . the citizen reads that a holy war is raging against his countrymen, he knows and understands readily—as he did in 1897 when, the bravery arid endurance of the Malakand force excited his admiration. What he hesitates over is the failure to stop for all time a fresh outbreak by stepping across the frontier and garrisoning the whole 800 miles. For good or ill that is iiot the British Government's policy. Captain Churchill's knowledge of the Pathans (of whom the Mohmands form a tribe) comes of actual contact. It is strange to be told that there are ! always about 9000 of them in British
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uniform. As these men complete their time—they are excellent soldiers while in uniform—they return to the mountains, join their fellows, quickly renew , their bitter hatred of the enemy, and go forth to fight him, having learned the art at his expense. Guns and ammunition they have from ships successfully reaching the Persian Gulf. In individual cases they steal into garrisons and camps, and appropriate the weapons. Not one of tha fighters but has a modern rifle. Ammunition is their only trouble. It is difficult to carry abotrt in the mountains. So needs must to make every shot tell—a. sufficient reason why'tho Pathan is such an effective sniper. Out of sight, perhaps 100 ft over the heads of a British force lumbering Along in a valley or defile, he can make *?very shot tell a tale. Trained to the "use of arms, burning with a hatred of the foe, glorying in the prospect of taking life, consoled by the belief \ that to perish will win paradise and peace, hardened by life in. the mountains, and brutally-spar-ing of every cartridge in his possession, he follows the white man doggedly and patiently every step of the journey. No Pathan force has ever been known to surrender. The Pathan fights every inch of the way. The British soldier is hardy enough; he will face a position that a Pathan would shudder at, he can shoot, he can fight, but he is in a trap—he cannot know what is ah,ead, and his tracks are filled with crowding ammunition and food waggons. It is his proud boast that he will not leave a wounded man to perish. And when his party goes to the rescue it is there, a first-class target to a Pathan 800 yards away. Half-a-dozen boulders roiled over a cliff on to a path, being traversed by the Britisher will halve the force, and disorganise it. The sniper is always at his work overhead — single-handed* perhaps, but deadly with every shot. The odds are always against the Britisher. Captain Churchill clearly showed this. And he had nothing to offer as a solution so long as the present conditions exist. Apparently, not until the 800 miles of death-trap frontier has been garrisoned will these '** shows" with the Pathan cease, and .the troops at Peshawar, Rawal Pindi, and Lahore be no longer standing, with .^uns primed and belts tautened, awaiting the call to the front.
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Bibliographic details
Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 138, 12 June 1908, Page 6
Word Count
910FRONTIER FIGHTING. Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 138, 12 June 1908, Page 6
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