In September, 1892, the 1st Battalion took part in the Isazai Expedition. In March, 1895, it again took the field under Lieutenant-Colonel H. B. MacCall,[62] and formed part of the Chitral Relief Force, serving with the leading brigade under Brigadier-General A. A. Kinloch.[63] The Battalion highly distinguished itself in the battle of the Malakand on the 3rd of April, and again in the action at Khar on the following day, thereby adding CHITRAL to the honours of the Regiment. [Sidenote: Jan. 14th, 1897, WRECK OF THE “WARREN HASTINGS.”] At the end of 1896 the 1st Battalion, under command of Lieut.-Colonel M. C. B. Forestier-Walker, left India, and embarked on the Royal Indian Marine Troopship, _Warren Hastings_. Leaving four companies at Cape Town, the headquarters of the battalion and the remaining four companies proceeded to the Mauritius, when the ship steaming at full speed on a very dark night, struck upon the rocks off the Island of Reunion at 2.20 a.m. on the 14th January, 1897, and became a total wreck.[64] The troops on board, in addition to the Headquarters and four companies of the Rifles, consisted of four companies of the York and Lancaster Regiment, and a small detachment of the Middlesex Regiment, which, with women and children, numbered in all 995. They “at once fell in on the main deck in perfect order until 4 a.m., when the (Naval) Commander ordered their disembarkation to commence by rope ladders from the bows.... At 4.20 a.m. the position of the vessel appeared so critical that he at once ordered the disembarkation of the men to cease, and the women, children, and sick to be passed out. This order was promptly carried out; the men clung to the side as they stood (the ship lurching and bumping heavily), and passed out the women and children through; no man murmuring or moving from his post.”[65] At 4.35 a.m., as the ship was in imminent danger of heeling over and sinking, it became necessary to expedite the landing. Owing to the “remarkable courage and exemplary discipline” displayed, the whole ship’s company, except two natives, were safely passed on to the rocks and saved. “Lieutenant-Colonel Forestier-Walker,[66] who was in command, was the last soldier to leave the ship.” “The Commander-in-Chief,”[67] ends the Special Army Order of March the 13th, 1897, by declaring that he “is proud of the behaviour of the troops during this trying time. He regards it as a good example of the advantages of subordination and strict discipline, for it was by that alone, under God’s Providence, that heavy loss of life was prevented.” The Regiment will always cherish the honoured memory of Colonel Forestier-Walker and of their comrades, who were thus given the opportunity of supplying one of the finest examples of high discipline, which the annals of the British Army can show. ----- Footnote 59: Afterwards C.B. Footnote 60: Now Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. Keith Turnour-Fetherstonhaugh, of Up Park, Petersfield. Footnote 61: