The ordinary reader must consider the conditions under which the work of this unit was carried out—often under a burning sun and again in bitter cold, mud and torrential rain—conditions which might well appal the stoutest heart, but here I note that the gallant author, as I expected, makes light of the many hardships and vicissitudes that he and his comrades were called upon to endure. Again, when we consider how these heroes first entered the lists as cavalry, were then called upon to serve as dismounted cavalry, and finally as infantrymen, it surely speaks highly for that “will to win” that they had not long before the cessation of hostilities died of a broken heart! Many a time during the two years that I had the honour to command the 74th (Yeomanry) Division both in Palestine and France, I noted—not without a feeling of intense pride—the cheery “never-say-die” spirit which pervaded all ranks of this splendid Battalion. No matter what task was set them—no matter what the difficulties and privations to be encountered—all was overcome by that unfaltering determination and unswerving loyalty which carried them triumphant wherever the fates called them. In conclusion of these few poor remarks of mine, let me congratulate the author on his story. If others read it with the same interest and enjoyment with which it has filled me, I can only think that the author’s labours have not been in vain. Further, may these remarks go forth, not only as a token to my old friends of the 14th Battalion The Royal Highlanders, of the admiration, affection, and gratitude of their old Commander, but to the whole of Scotland as a tribute to the memory of those good and gallant comrades of the “Broken Spur” whom we left behind in foreign lands. ERIC S. GIRDWOOD, _(late) Major-General, Commanding 74th (Yeomanry) Division._ PORTSMOUTH, _20th August 1921_. INTRODUCTION This short history, written by request, was started shortly after the Regiment was disbanded. For the delay in publishing it, I must plead the great mass of inaccuracies which had to be corrected and verified, entailing a considerable amount of correspondence and consequent lapse of time. It has been compiled from Official Diaries and Forms, and from a Diary kept by Lieut.-Colonel J. Younger, D.S.O., without whose assistance it would never have been completed. It will, however, recall to the reader’s mind the strenuous and eventful days we spent together in a regiment of whose history we are all so justly proud, and whose career now as a Yeomanry Regiment is ended, and it will recall the gallant fellows with whom we served and many a gallant deed. To the glorious memory of those whose graves lie in a foreign land, I humbly dedicate this book. D. DOUGLAS OGILVIE. _April 1920._ CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. AT HOME—1914–1915 1