The movements and duties of the 57th Rifles and 129th Baluchis, during their detachment from their own Brigade, read strangely to any one who was not in the area at the time. Here were two Indian battalions, suddenly dumped down in a maelstrom, depending for guidance entirely on their few British officers, split up into half companies, attached to various British corps in turn, cavalry, infantry, guns; hurried from one trench to another, from one front to another, hardly realising the meaning or object of it all; and then comes the hardest trial; their gallant leaders are everywhere, encouraging and guiding with a spirit of unselfish bravery that will live for all time, when the hand of death strikes them down; others fall sorely wounded; Indian officers share their fate; the sepoys bewildered but faithful still fight on. They may be driven (they were driven) time after time from their trenches but such a retreat is glory, and they shared it to the full with their newly found British comrades in those few but stormy days of Ypres. The difficulty of recording these events may be gathered from the Commanding Officer’s report on the actions round Wytschaete and Messines, which he begins with the remark: “It is not possible to submit a detailed report or make special mention of individuals, owing to the fact that six out of seven British officers employed with my companies were killed or wounded.” With the help of the Indian officers later on, all that could be discovered was noted, and as many rewards were given by the Commander-in-Chief as there was evidence to prove had been earned. As a record of the kaleidoscopic movements of the 57th Rifles the following orders are interesting: On the evening of 28th October the Commanding Officer was directed to place one company at the disposal of the G.O.C. 4th Cavalry Brigade, and another at that of the G.O.C. 5th Cavalry Brigade; these two companies relieved portions of their British comrades in the trenches. Later the same evening he was ordered to send his two remaining companies to report to 3rd Cavalry Brigade at Messines by 5 A.M. next morning. Headquarters of the battalion were ordered to remain at Wytschaete; and to complete the break up, the machine-gun section was sent to the 4th Cavalry Brigade. Of course the situation was such as to render even such extraordinary orders necessary, but my object in quoting them is to show the immense difficulties the battalions had to face under most abnormal conditions, and the fact that notwithstanding the shortage of British officers, and hence the absence of any one who could speak their language, these gallant men of the 57th and 129th put up and sustained so good a fight as to earn the high encomium and thanks of leaders as distinguished as Generals Hugh Gough and Allenby, no mean judges of human nature.