The first Indians to receive their baptism of fire in this war were the 57th Rifles and the 129th Baluchis of the Lahore Division, which came up to the front minus one brigade left behind in Egypt. These two battalions were sent into action at Hollebeke about October 22 in the initial stages of the first battle of Ypres, and acquitted themselves very well. In the meantime the rest of the two brigades of which the Lahore Division was composed were assisting the Second Corps southward, where the fighting was desperate and bloody. On October 27 the Germans captured Neuve Chapelle, and to the 47th Sikhs, the 9th Bhopals, and the 20th and 21st Companies of Sappers and Miners, was allotted the task of retaking the village. The 47th Sikhs, and the two Sappers and Miners’ companies, were specially mentioned in despatches for their fine work here. Captain Nosworthy, of the Sappers, leading a forlorn hope of a dozen Indians, managed to get into the village at the price of no less than seven wounds, but we failed to regain possession of the place, which remained in German hands until March. The arrival of the Meerut Division at the end of the month practically completed the Indian Corps, which was placed under the command of Sir James Willcocks. Against it some 60,000 to 70,000 Germans were arrayed--the whole of the crack VIIth Corps from Münster, tough Westphalian fighters, part of the XIVth Corps, and part of the 48th Reserve Division. Sir James Willcocks was told that he must hold out at all costs, and that no reinforcements could be promised him. On November 2 the Germans managed to pierce our lines west of Neuve Chapelle, where the 2nd Gurkhas held the trenches. A fine charge, led by Colonel Norie, their battalion commander, prevented the situation from becoming serious, and all that the Germans achieved was that our line was slightly bent back. For several months to come Rouges Bancs to Givenchy was to be the Indians’ line. Autumn crept by with drenching rain, and then, on November 4, a spell of hard frost set in and lasted until the 25th. On November 23 the 112th Regiment of the XIVth German Corps managed to sap its way close up to the trenches held by the 34th Sikh Pioneers and the 9th Bhopals. A determined attack put the enemy in possession of these trenches over a front of several hundred yards. That evening, however, a series of counter-attacks on our part drove the Germans back with great slaughter. The 39th Garhwalis, stout little hillmen resembling the Gurkhas in features, but of rather heavier build, played a very fine part, and one of their number, Darwan Singh Negi, won the Victoria Cross.