For his services in the war Captain Laurie was mentioned in despatches, and received the Queen's medal with clasps. A step in rank came in 1904, and in 1911 Major Laurie had the honour of commanding the detachment of the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles which was sent from Dover to London to attend the Coronation of King George. On October 28th, 1912, Major Laurie was promoted to the command of the 1st Battalion, then at Kamptee, Lieutenant-Colonel O'Leary's term having expired. He brought the regiment from India to Aden, and last October it was moved to England prior to going to France in the following month. ("_Belfast Newsletter_," _March 20th, 1915._) FROM NEUVE CHAPELLE. BELFAST REGIMENT'S PART. HEROISM OF COLONEL LAURIE. Interesting particulars of the part played by the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in the attack on Neuve Chapelle are given by Sergeant-Major Miller, who is now in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, with a severe wound in the eye received on that occasion. The Rifles formed part of the Fourth Army Corps, which, with the Indian Corps, as reported by Field-Marshal French, carried out the assault on the German lines. Prior to the action General Sir Henry Rawlinson inspired his troops with an address, in which he said:-- "The attack which we are about to undertake is of the first importance to the Allied cause. The army and the nation are watching the result, and Sir John French is confident that every individual in the Fourth Army Corps will do his duty and inflict a crushing defeat on the German Seventh Corps, which is arrayed against us." This, says the sergeant-major, was the only intimation of the enemy's strength. Had it been otherwise, the result would have been the same. On the first day of the attack their Commanding Officer, Colonel Laurie, seemed to have a charmed life. He deliberately walked up and down, giving orders and cheering the men on amid a flood of fire. He seemed unconscious of the fact that a great bombardment was taking place. It was a wonderful sight to see him there, his big military figure standing out boldly in presence of his soldiers. Colonel Laurie and his adjutant were killed the next day, in spite of the charm which seemed to surround his life on the previous day. The sergeant-major is unable to state how many men the Rifles lost. He is getting on favourably, and comrades from the 3rd Battalion at Wellington Barracks are permitted to visit him.