THE INDIAN FRONTIER FIGHTING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2289, 13 January 1898, Page 55

THE INDIAN FRONTIER FIGHTING.

THE TIRAH VALLEY.

TAKING THE LAST PASS.

The special correspondent of the Calcutta Englishman, in a long despatch dated 'November 2, gives a lengtby account of the capture of the Arhanga, the last pass which separated the Indian frontier force from Tirah Maidan. He . also gives a descriptic n of the interesting valley. The pass ia a low kclat connect'ng higher ridges. Half-way between the village on the knoll and the pass stood a square blockhouse. General Westmacotfc's brigade took up position in the centre village, while the guns massed on the ridge below, one battery following the King's Own Scottish Borderers up into the knoll. The battery then trained into the blockhouse and the persistent riflemen evacuated, and it was shortly in flames. A few men could be seen on the summit of the hills, and the pe&ka were shelled.

Then General Gaselee's brigade was detached to make a flank attack on the right, General Kempster'e on the k-f t. It was a stiff climb, but the enemy did r,ot mean stajing, and at 10 minutes to 10 the Yorkshires and Gurkbas were simultaneously on the top of the heights oa the right, and half an hour later G-.-neral Westmacott's brigade had made the main point of tho day and the last partition before Tirah w»s broken down. At 11 a.m. Sir WillUm Lrckhart and staff were on the summit a* well.

il.i 1 . cm the top of the Arhanga Pass down into Tirah is a rapid drop of nearly 1000 ft. The heights being crowned by General Gaselee'a brigade, General Westroacott's led into the valley, amile down a ruugb, ungrateful f;atb, wii h a, small hill running at right angles to ihe path. On the summit were a couple of blockhouse buildings ; ihe southern elope was bare, but the north side, facing the valley, was thickly covered with fir and walnut The B irderora »nd brigtde frtaff climbed to the top of this, *nd then b*fore them lay the full pan.-ravna of the promised land — the Valley of Tirah Maidan, the spot which the Afridi wai wont to boast no infidel had e*er gazed japon, and the val'ey which no kirg or army had ever invaded. It was a magniiiccit view ; from the foot of the fir- grown slope stretched aw^y a valley, to the west as far »s the eye could reach, to the et>st for miles, at least an area of ICO square miles ; broken here and there by undulations, ravines," nullah* 1 , and waterways, stretching upwards towards the lower slopes cf the Safed Koh. Every inch of it seemsd cultivated, and on either hand it was one expanse of terraced lie'dc, sprinkled with groves and coppices, and dotted with ccuntless habitations, The valley appears to be about 18 miles by six, with tw"o distinct stream beds intersecting it. Tbe effect which most t,t ikei the newcomer is the number of houses in the valley ; it is hard to find a hundred square yards which bas not its fort fied blockhouse, the reason for this being that the Afridi teraperameiit will not allovr of several families living in one fortified village. Thus each family builds a homestead for itself, and fortifies it » gainst all comers. The houses are all two-storeyed, the foundation storey being soundly built of boulders and plaster, the upper storeys generally being wicker frameworks plastered heavily with mud, fo as to be riflf-bnllet proof. Inside the Loueeis appeir dtrk, stuffy, and dirty, and being generally «molf« V grimed present an unwholesome appearance.

Xhe vaJley at present is brown, as thfre are no crops in the ground, but the autumn tint s upon the trees are beautiful, and carry one back to the mother country at once. But one cm well imagine, when the spring crops are in »nd the valley in green from end (o end, that it is the beautiful spot which has so inspired 'tho Patban pce 4 ;?. It is autumn row, and tihe walnut leaves are falling, the sign which, we are told, warns the Tir>h Afridi to flit to the lower plateaux. It is hardly as wooded ss one would have expected from reports, but groveß are numerous, and it i 3 a beautiful valley. One can hardly think that the dwellera in Tirah expected the force as soon as it h*d arrived, for the valley is stocked with Bupplies.

Tbe leading brigade found tbe Talley almost deserted ; a few moving figures could bs seen from the first hill, and the Borderers tried long shots. Then the brigade marched dowr, and the camping ground was chosen.

Bagh is the tribal centre and Afridi Parliament ground. It is a mesque eituared about four miles further up the valley than our present position. It was from this spot that the orders issued to make war upon the British Government, and it wrs here that Said Akbar Mullah preached his Jthad.

The reconuaissaance then proceeded to cross the main nullah of the valley and presently found Bsgh. It is an insignificant looking mosque, juj»t an oblorg blockhouse lying at the junction of three rivulets. It is shaded by a dozen to 20 trees, and lies under the lee of a bare hiil. A few men were on this hill, and fired afc the company of the Borderers told off to clear it, wounding Captain Maclaren. It wa« thought ,it first the tribesmen had thrown up *he sponge and that practically th 9 object of the campaign had been attained. But the trib'smeu soon commenced their guerilla ■warfare, and they made a serious attack on a foraging party. They afterwards attempted to rneh outlying pickets, but though they inflicted losses thfy were repulted. Eventually, as the cable ha^ informed us, they accepted General ..JLorkhartr'fl terms.

An int« resting discovery was made in the Ma«tura Vsiley by a party of Gordons. They found a regular arsenal containing forges, anvils, and ali the appliances for moulding bullets s.nd refill ing cartridges, also 150 dynamite cart ridgea (Nobel's) and innumerable ting of Curti'/,s and Harvey's powder. They also found a Urge store of the old nickel Lee-Met-ford envelopment, from which the lead had been carefully extracted tor bullet use. 200 TRIBESMEN KILLED IN A CHARGE

A Simla despatch say? that despatches from the front show that the fighting which Kemo-

ster's brigade had to do on the return march to the Maidan from the Waran was severe and prolonged, and that we sustained deplorable losses in officera and men killed and wounded. The march was commenced in tbe morning, and fighting proceeded more or lees during the whole day. It was not of a serious character, however, and we Lad comparatively few casualties. The main body reached the Maidan safely late in the afternooD, bufc by that time the rearguard, composed of the 15th Sikhs (Bengal Infantry), had dropped far behind, and ifc became necessary to send assistance to them.

Brigadier-general Kempster selected for this purpose two companies of the Ist Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment and the 36 h Sikhs, and these men, although already wearied by the long march, cheerfully started back along the route which they had juefc traversed. Night was falling when the Dorsetshire men somehow got entangled in a ravine, in, around, and above which the tribesmen swarmed. Here_ our men were very roughly handled by the tribtsmen, who poured in a heavy fire. In tbe midst of a fierce fight the 36bh Sikhs opportunely came up, and, thus strengthened, the Dorsetshire men foictd the passage of the ravine, but not without serious loss, including two officers.

Ou reaching the rearguard it was found that the gal'ant 15fch Sikhs had been fighting heavily for hours against overwhelming cumbers of the enemy, who swarmed ou the Saran Sar Ridge. Their position was perilous, but the arrival of the Dorsets and tbe 36th Sikhs enabltd a more effectual s f and ta be made. But the tribesmen did not budge from their poaitims on the ridg?, ansS fighting continued without intermission throughout the entire night. Finally the Sikhs and tbe Dorset men gained their hearts' desire by getting to close quarters with the enemy, who summed up confidence enough to charge our line and enabled our men to get in some splendid bayonet work. During that (remencLu; melee over 200 tribesmen were killed by the cold eteel — the firot experience of the kind since the Tira expedition moved forward. This work decided the isaue, and tLe rearguard and their relievers got back to the Maidan wuh little further trouble. Our losses were, naturally, severe.

THE BATTLE OF DARGAI.

An tffiear of the field force, in a private letter, gives some interesting detai's of the battle of Dargai. General Palmer's casualties in taking the village of Dargai and fhe heights were only 11, but in retiring 22 were lost On the 19:b October the cfßcer writes.- •• It was reported that the enemy were on the heights again, and the Dorsefca and Gurkhas were ordered to storm them, with .the Gordons and 3d S.khs ia reserve with the guis, which shelled the heightH during the advance. The Dorsets and Gurkhas had to advance along a p'.th where at most two men could walkabre; sb. They lost very few iudeed until they c*me to a place up which you h*ve to tcrainble. The first section of Gurkhas- -20 men — formed up utvd'or covor ju«t below, aud ttitted to advance along a very narrow ridge, about 30>da long, to where thsre was more cover. ,The ridge is, as the bullet flies,' about 200 yds from the summit of the cliff 3 above, along which the etiemy had built a stone wsll roost paifectly lcopholet), and every loophole was, directed on the ridge, on which th*»y poured a tremendous ct\s*-fire. The 20 Gurkhas, who were ihe first men up, started to doub'o across ; but 18 were &hot down, and only twu got across, and for two hours the JDorsets au' 3 Gurkhas tried to cross, but never succeeded The only way up to the top of the cliffs wa<> along one path, and. you can scarcely btlieve it but the Gordons and 3rd Sikha were ordered t j aevs-ncs along the same path and take the cliff* j at any cost. They were terribly broken up oa the way, a* they had to pass all the vrom ded and dead who were being brought back; bub thfy were not much fired on, for the enemy wero simply waiting for them to appear on the ridge aforesaid. The Dorsets and Gurkhas had simply given it up as impossible, and wete waitipg tibcut under cover. By the time the head of the string of men of the Gordons and Sikhs had reached the cover closa below where they would have to scramble up, the pipers and all the officers were in front. Gordons an<? Sikhs were mixed up. Tb.py tried rushing acrcss singly, and whoaver succeeded k*sj>t uuder 'the edge of the cliff and shouted and cheered. Two pipars played their hardest, uatil in all 13 officers and 20 men had collected. Th»y then gave a devil j of a yell, and started to scramble up to the top j of the hollow of tie cliff. Much to fchair amaze- ' ment, not; a fhot was fired «t them. The enemy had b->lted, when if only about 20 of them had stood they could have kept back »;iy army. The ca.su dfcies were about 160, and all on account of b&vi&g to recapture a place rliey had taken the day before with a loss of 11, and then had left for the enemy to take again. The 3rd Sikhs belong to our biigade, and as they and the Gordons had had to stay up on the tops all night, and then were ordered to stay there all next day, I went up to see how they were gettiDg on. That is how I know all about it. I rode up bo the f oet of the slope, and then took my horse to the ruins of Dargai and lef oit with a picket. From there it took me 63 minutes to get to the top of the cliffy, having to use my bands constantly. Although all the df-ad and worn. did bad been carried away, the ridge wes a most disgusting sight, covered with great splashes and stains of blood, and strewn with bloody putties and bandages. A poor sergeant of the Dorsels had slipped down (after he had been shot dead) abcut 50ffc, and was lying in a place where he could not be got at to be buried. The position was the strongest you could possibly imagine, and h&d been fortified perfectly. The rocks at the edges of the cliff a were loeg Blabs, with crevices about 3f fc deep between each slab, in which the enemy lay and shot from, and were splendidly protected from the shells of the guns, which had knocked the rocks about. For about half an hour it was jusb touch and go whether it was to end in a terrible disaster or not, as the Gurkhas and Dorsets had got quite disheartened by seeing everyone who tried to get across the ridge shot, and they apparently got more or less under cover, and fired from a distance at the cliff and stones. Had the 3rd Sikhs and the Gordons not come up at the moment they did, goodness only knows what might have happened. It is simply damnable the way we are stuck here owing to the deficient transport."

THE PIPERS AT DAEGAI.

By a singular mistake the name of the piper who continued to play " The cock of the north " on his knees after being shot in both legs on the fire zone was given as Milne. The mistake arose in a simple way. When the names of the killed and wounded were received here a reporter took them to the headquarters depot, where the regimental records are kept, in order to obtain particulars of the men mentioned in the despatch. 3711 (Lance-corporal Milne's name) occurred twice early in the list, and on hearing it read out one of the depot staff exclaimed, '• By Jove, that's thu man who piped after ho was shot." The reporter took the exclamation too literally, hence all the newspaper story for Piper Milne instead of for

his comrade and fellow-Aberdonian, Piper Findlater.

Piper George Frederick Fiudl&ter is a, native of Turriff, Aberdeeoshire, where his father had a croft and was meal miller. The piper was born in 1872, and is one of a family of sis sons and daughters. He received his education at the village school, and, like most country children, left the schoolmaster's hands at an early age and entered farm service. He soon evinced a desire to become a soldier, but his parents objected, and for some time nothing further was heard of his martial desires. After a couple of years as a farm servant he enlisted at Aberdeen in 1888 in the second battalion Gordon Highlanders.