FACING PAGE Country adjoining Indian Corps Front 75 Dispositions of Meerut Division near Givenchy _Page_ 165 Neuve Chapelle, March 10–13, 1915 234 Movements of Lahore Division before and after Attacks of April 26–27, 1915 267 Trenches of Indian Corps, August 27, 1915 319 Mauquissart _Page_ 343 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Facsimile of “Summary of News” in Persian and Hindi character 317 INTRODUCTION I have not attempted to write a Military History of the Indian Army Corps in France. I lay no claim to describing the course of events on the British Front, as a whole, during 1914–15, except in as far as they concern the Corps. The excellent account written by Lieut.-Colonel Merewether, C.I.E., Indian Army, and Sir Frederick Smith, Bart. (_The Indian Corps in France_, published by John Murray), both of whom served on my Staff as Recording Officers on behalf of the India and War Offices, and who have had at their disposal all the official records, furnishes ample details of the movements and the doings of the Corps as forming an integral part of the British Army in Flanders. I have not had the advantages of papers of reference, nor have I seen all the diaries of the various Commanders and others, and have had the handicap of writing most of my story far removed from England; but it must be borne in mind that a great part of their information was naturally derived from my own reports and correspondence, and of nearly all such I kept copies, and have used them. If, therefore, in some cases our descriptions of military events appear somewhat similar the reason will be readily understood. Also I kept a very careful Diary from day to day which has enabled me to write with certainty of the events recorded. My object has been to deal with the Corps alone, only bringing in outside movements sufficiently to describe the operations it took part in. I have tried to bring before the public, and more especially my numerous friends in India, the inside of the story as opposed to its general aspect. Books on the war are already numerous, and will increase in large numbers, and to attempt to enter into competition with many brilliant writers would be foolish. I therefore only deal with the small portion of the war as it appeared to me, and as few if any have a better knowledge of the brave Indian soldiers and the deeds they performed than I have, I hope I may succeed in bringing before my readers a true statement of facts.