THE INDIAN CONTINGENT.

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13178, 6 October 1914, Page 7

THE INDIAN CONTINGENT.

-* ><A > ill .; <. > v'i, , X t JHOKOF<THEApY. <« -v snm& [Br "A SoMler," V to IMtmnt ''Al«,"] ' » * '" 'V , ,\ V More than a>century and a half/hM passed since Indian troops, under3ritish offlcefs, f acedia' European enemy"ln ,tbe field, and India has'seen many* chants sin6e Chve drove 'out, the wi}h an armv largely composed of native sol dierM,, -,„■,, ,<-.-,, W.,>W~~ J-, gone' ; many,' reorganisations,- as "the Em-; pire • extended'- ifs' bpnndarieß, - but o the llst; ! nitode^n^GUe^flria : llyVeUni}nt^dMi; .thatithe'lndianie^ Of {tfesej ; flj|ttri irig; race i in whosei^ninie; means ] tf-spns '.'of J princes,'' oaid v : ; whose:; chiefs: claim "descent"; probably'. preß4nt;war/as:the;hdt : cllnwte ; they*'HveA would'. in)the'snpw. :^d f >wt:of[a K vQerman\tiriii;--ts£ .TheWmema^be^aidof^th.eMaraihas',' Jats,,'and conclude.',th,at- the: ■; expeditionary ~>f of c"i ; :will r consist; mairilv of [ Sikhs, {■ knd; Gurkhas;; v Of. these ; : j.the j-Pflthani aid ' Gurkhas' ; are", ana . Sikh's inhabit the Punjab, where the wjntiirs are , atjeastaacoldasin;FraicborSo'uthern Germany,;. :- ..'...;'",: ~-',: ■ ~„.'.'' •;-''; *

• ■':. i j '■■/;■' V ~v T He-. Sikhs,, who/'number; about 3,000,000, were originally'; a -religious sect, under 'strict military discipliiid, which'afose;in,the- fifteenth; arid by the end' of the eighteenth cenuty had -becWe a powerful nitibri; ,ud - der the famous,'' Lion 6Uhe .Punjab,-V Bajit Singh; ; Tall) powerful inon,-living chiefly on the land, they are, good'horsemen arid'.. : make" magnificent infantry, They fought two'wiirs against the Bri-tishr-in 1848, and finally subdued by Lord Gough after many desperate battles, Gough was much:; censured tKe.time for his love 6f close--quarter fighting and the bayonetj which led to very heavy lossos, but since then the Sikhs have, always'said that we beit them fairly, man to man,,with the cold steel, and'that they, would stick to us while the sun shone in the heavens, : The Sikh soldior/is one of the finest men to be seon on earth. Fully. 6 -feet high, broad-shouldered,- docp-chc'sted, arid with a most stately bearing, he looks the ideal of a fighting man. His huge black beard is parted on the chin and carrlod back in two rolls, fastened behind his oars, and surmounted -by an immense pagri,(usually miscalled "puggaree') or turban, into which is folded a thin, flat, sharp steel ring, the "throwing quoit," an ancient weapon, with which an expert can kill a man at 50 yards. Nowadays it iß.no longer used for lighting, but is good to ward off a cut from the head. The Sikh is an excellent bayonet fighter,. and loves ; a I hand-to-hand combat. Thosewho saw the Indian contingent which visited Australia in 1900, when the . present King came out as Prince of Wales, will ! not forget the martial bearing of '.be Sikh soldiers ivho formed part of ir. :

THE PATfIANS. .;■-•'. The Patiians are of a different type, Tall, spare, and wiry, inured to hard living, cold and fatigue, in a country so poor that it hardly supports its population, they can stand extremes of hardship and privation. They are not as a rule fond of hand to hand fighting! but when worked up'to a pitch of excitement they will charge home with the. most desperate courage, and will take as much killing.as a wild beast. Fanatical Mohammedans to a man, their solo thought whon fighting against "unbelievers" is to kill as manias possible before they ge down, secure in tbc belief that this gives them, ft direct, passport to heaven, They live habitually in a state of war, in the 800 milts of rugged mountain range which forms the north-west frontier of'lndia. EvCry tribe is at war with every other, often village with 1 village, arid blood feuds are as common and as bitter as the vendetta in Corsica, Every man carries a rifle, and his reaching the ago of manhood is proof that he can iise it. The Pathans are without doubt the finest rifle shots in the world, arid tile man who exposes himself within 400 yards of a Pathan has a small chanco of life. v

Many of them aro also born horsemon, and, although the sword is less used than in the daya before rifles were known, they make light cavalry second to none. Their eyesight. is very keen, and the training of their whole lifo has raado them perfect in scouting and in every trick and artifice of war, ambushes and. night attacks being perhaps their favourite mode of fightirig. THEGUEKHA. ■ The Gurkha again differs widely from Sikh or Pathan. He is of mixed Hindu and Mongol stock, small, dark, and' very muscular, He loves sport, whore sport consists in the killing'of any wild animal, and looks on fighting' nsl the highest form of. sport.' He-iji.a' fair rifle shot, but as a, rule botter f at game or at an enemy than on the rifle range. Each man carries, in addition to rifle and bayonet,,the kukri; or kookree, the national weapon, a curved knife with a blade about 18in long, a very heavy back and convex cutting edge. This weapon he "much prefers to rifle and bayonet, and a Gurkha charge driven home is a terrible thing, for the Gurkha fairly revels in a.handr to-hand scrimmage, and the kukri will lop off'ia head or* an arm with the greatest ease. Indeed, armed with > his; beloved ikurki, the Gurkha fears nothing living/ and . will cheerfully, attack a woundod tiger or a hostile battery. '. He is, by nature a most bloodthirsty little man, and his great festival, the feMt of Durga, goddess of dekth, is a wild orgy of blood. In a Gurkha regiment all the British officers who.can take leave during this festival, and those who are left keep well away from the men's lines while the slaughter is going on. INDIAN CAVALRY. The Indian cavalry art the pick of the Indian nriny,.and arc perhaps the tiiost aristocratic service in the world, every trooper being a gentleman, of land-owning stock. • Bach man !on join-, iugpays a considerable sum of money to purchase his horse and arms, and receives more than three times the,'pay of an iufanfry soldier, out of which.he !bfts ; to keephis horse. Direct conimisisioiis are often.given-to,men of good rnnoily, especially those >ho can bring la number .of their tenants or retainer* !w recruits. Otherwise all promotion is tbrotigb the ranks. The moral effect on the Germans of being faced in the field by such troops as these will/be great. In pa*t years various Germans have expressed to me their horror and dismay at the idea of France using her African troops, Algerians and Senegalese, against Germany if war should break out between; the two countries. The "Indian troops are ■far.better tban.anv Africans, ahd-wlll j without doubt strike terror' into the ;enemy. • ;,'.,. ■'■■[■ '. In; the coalition war in Chinl in in 1900-1601. the Indian-; soldiers develr : oped a profound -contempt.for the Gj'i> mans, .who were then acting as their allies, and now these 1 same soldiers, led by. British 'officers,', to whom .they : : are devoted,>and* whom' they.' love .and ad-, mire'-beyond measure,'; will face ?with, the:greatest: confidence and an iunlimitedßense of^BUperiority."the':be.st.troops' been '■'■ madly;koen'to-join with' British comrades i in \ a.;great;,lmperial ; war, and now their Ichance has /come, : }&