So long as we remained an Army Corps under the Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French, he frequently saw the men and spoke to them in words of warm praise, and even after the Armies were formed he still came more than once and inspected the Brigades on parade; but as a part of the First Army the rank and file never saw their Army Commander, except in company with the Commander-in-Chief, and on more than one occasion the Army Corps was omitted from any share in the credit it had earned in hard-fought actions. Indians are very quick to grasp such facts, and many of their British officers strongly resented but loyally accepted the situation. As this story proceeds, it will be seen that what I have stated above is the simple truth, and it will be readily understood that under such conditions service in the field loses much of the glamour which all soldiers associate with it, and which even the muddy trenches of Flanders could not obliterate; and men naturally keen to do their utmost become by degrees less zealous in the cause. On 6th January I was informed that Lord Kitchener hoped to be able to send us three fresh battalions from Egypt, but this he was unable to carry out until much later. On 7th January Sir John French inspected two of our Brigades; it was a stormy day with heavy rain, but the Field-Marshal said a few words to each battalion, which I translated to the men, and their pleasure was manifest. Lord French is a very eloquent speaker to soldiers; he knows what to say and how to say it, and it is easy to translate it into the language of the East. It is a special pleasure to tell of the intense interest taken by Lord Kitchener in the Indian Corps; from start to finish as Secretary of State it is not too much to say that without his guiding hand and his determination we could never have been kept going so long in France. Nothing was too small for him personally to look into; nothing we wanted and which he considered necessary was overlooked. His one great idea, as far as the Indians were concerned, was that as he had initiated their employment in Europe, so he would see it through. As I shall tell in this book, at different times he brought his great personality into play, and insisted on the Indian Corps being recognised and kept up. Notwithstanding any opinions that may already have been or may in the future be formed as to his keeping the reins of office in his own hands, I maintain in our case, no other man could have conducted the business as he did, and no other man could have more staunchly upheld the name of India and its Army.