E-text prepared by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Canada Team (http://www.pgdpcanada.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/americana) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 34115-h.htm or 34115-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/34115/pg34115-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34115/34115-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive/American Libraries. See http://www.archive.org/details/ourbattalionbein00rave OUR BATTALION [Illustration] by L. RAVEN-HILL. "Punch" Office 10, Bouverie Street London E.C. OUR BATTALION. [Illustration] [Illustration: The Whitefriars Press.] Bradbury, Agnew & Co., Ltd., Printers, London and Tonbridge. [Illustration: 3 a.m. _Sentry_: "Sunrises are all bloomin' fine in their way, but I'd rather be in bed."] OUR BATTALION Being some slight impressions of His Majesty's Auxiliary Forces, in Camp and Elsewhere. by L. RAVEN-HILL. _"An' you're sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it."_ RUDYARD KIPLING. London: "Punch" Office, 10, Bouverie St., E.C. 1902. [_All Rights Reserved._] Contents. PAGE Recruits 9 On Instructin' 14 The System 19 On the G.O.C. 28 The Seven Ages of the Volunteer 32 What Might Happen 34 The Lost Patrol 47 Camp Diaries: No. 1. Lt.-Col. Sir Digby Sandilands, M.P. 59 No. 2. Capt. and Adjt. "Jerry" Benson 66 No. 3. 2nd Lieutenant Fitzgerald Lawless 78 No. 4. Pte. Timothy Simmons 93 Blank Cartridges 102 Illustrations. PAGE 3 a.m. _Frontispiece._ The "Manual" 13 Not to be Trifled with 17 Flag-wagging 18 Our First Puttie Parade 24-25 Field Training 27 The Firing Exercise 35 Our Review 40-41 Army Orders 43 Patrols 46 A Fair Samaritan 51 Our N.C.O.'s (No. 1) 52 Our N.C.O.'s (No. 2) 53