"The high state of efficiency to which the British Brigade was brought is, I consider, in a large measure due to the untiring energy and devotion to duty of Major-General Gatacre and the loyal support rendered him by the commanding officers of his battalions, all of whom he has brought to favourable notice. During the engagement on the 8th inst. General Gatacre showed a fine example of gallant leading. The {207} cordiality and good feeling existing between the British and Egyptian troops, who have fought shoulder to shoulder, is to a great extent due to the hearty co-operation of General Gatacre, and I cannot speak too highly of the services rendered by him and the troops under his command in the recent operations."[4] [4] _The Times_, Wednesday, May 25, 1898. All through May, June, and July the time hung heavily for the British Brigade. They were quartered in the villages of Darmali and El Sillem, the General's headquarters being at the former. The temperature ran up to 106° and 108° in the shade, but he makes light of the heat and says, "One does not feel it as one does in India." One little incident of these weary days has survived, and is recorded by an officer in his recollections. "When the General was inspecting the Ordnance workshops at our camp on the Nile, a non-commissioned officer was brought to his notice as having done very good work. Gatacre complimented him highly, and said: "'Now, what can I do for you? I'll tell you what, you shall carry my flag when we advance to Omdurman.' "I believe the man's face was a picture, and he did not see it at all in the same light."[5] [5] _With the 72nd Highlanders in the Sudan Campaign_, by Colonel Granville Egerton. For, as all the Brigade knew, the General's flag had been carried at the battle of the Atbara by Staff-Sergeant Wyeth, who had been shot through the knee and had subsequently died of his {208} wound, so that the non-commissioned officer had good cause to look on it as an undesirable honour. This matter of carrying a flag into action has also aroused comment, but it is recorded that the Sirdar was always accompanied by the red Egyptian Flag, and it is probable that, in flying a little Union Jack behind him, the General had merely adopted this practice to flatter the nationality of his troops.