Lord Kitchener had asked the Territorials to push on with their training, and General Douglas had assured him that all ranks were animated by a keen desire to fit themselves for whatever service might be required of them. Training had now begun in earnest, and before long a new stimulus, a fresh incentive, to efficiency appeared, and the prospect of the Division’s participation in actual warfare became less remote. During October the suspicion that Turkey might take the plunge and declare herself on the side of the enemy had become a probability. An attempt to incite Egypt to revolt, and, indeed, to persuade Mohammedans throughout the world that the day had dawned when a swift blow should destroy British supremacy for ever, might confidently be looked for; and an attack upon the Suez Canal would surely follow. To Mohammedans—with the exception of the comparatively feeble Shiah sect—the Sultan of Turkey was the Defender of the Faith, the representative of the Prophet. Who could say what religious fanaticism might not accomplish if he should proclaim _Jehad_ against the infidels? The situation was grave; it might become critical, for the Khedive’s good faith was distrusted, and with reason. The Regular Army of Occupation had left Egypt for France and Flanders, and Lancashire civilians—clerks, warehousemen, artisans, mill-hands, merchants, professional men—were responsible for law and order in the ancient land of the Pharaohs, for its defence and for the safe-guarding of the Suez Canal and the communications between West and East. They kept their charge inviolate, and during eight months, amid strange surroundings and under trying conditions of climate, the East Lancashire Division gained the confidence of the Administration and the respect and esteem of British colony and native population alike, by their efficiency, their grit, and their exemplary conduct. As soldiers under fire they had yet to be tested; as men they were proved and approved. Lancashire, and, indeed, the whole Territorial Force, have reason to be proud of the first civilian army that was placed in a position of grave responsibility.