Chapter I: Preface

With the greatest diffidence I have at last made up my mind to write the story of my small campaign with the Sarhad Raiders in 1916.

This campaign sinks into utter insignificance when compared with the great deeds done in other theatres of war by men who said nothing about them. But, insignificant as it was, it forms part of the mosaic of the Great War, and for this reason may be of some general interest.

I take this opportunity of paying a tribute to all the officers who took part in this little campaign. Their untiring devotion to duty, and their efforts to do their utmost under conditions that were often more than trying, accounts for its success.

I would like, in particular, to mention Major Landon of the 35th Scinde Horse, whose great knowledge of the people and their country was invaluable; Major Sanders of the 36th Sikhs; Colonel Claridge of the 28th Light Cavalry; Captain Brownlow and Captain Hirst, both of the 28th Light Cavalry; Major Lang; Captain Moore-Lane; Lieutenant Bream of the Hazara Pioneers, and Captain English, R.A.

In addition I would mention how much, not only I, but the old country owes to Khan Bahadur, the Sarhad-dar, and to Idu, non-commissioned officer of the Chagai Levies.

The photographs are from snapshots taken by various officers during the campaign.

R.E.H.D.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

ORDERS FOR THE WEST
PAGE
I receive my orders--German agents and India--Their
routes--A deal in chauffeurs--Concerning an appetite
and sausages--Nushliki--The last of civilisation--Further
information--Sand-holes and digging--Petrol
in the desert 15

CHAPTER II

THE ROAD TO ROBAT

Mushki-chah--The native contractor--An evening
rencontre--Idu of the Chagai Levies--The native idea of an
airship--Idu the invaluable--Robat 30

CHAPTER III

A PLAN OF CAMPAIGN

An "intelligent" officer--Matters political--Three tribes
and a fourth--Their women and inter-tribal laws--Sarhad
conditions--A summons to the Chiefs--A bid
for rank--Telegraph wires and Sheitan--Two first-class
liars--A strategic scheme--An ungazetted
General--Lost kit--Swallows and flies--Forces available--
Communications freed--The Kacha levy and a shock--Mirjawa 37

CHAPTER IV

BLUFF AND ARMS

Ladis and its fort--A force without arms--First sight of
the enemy--Shah Sawar and more bluff--Battle--Bluff
succeeds--Casualties--Bad news from the North--Idu's
proposition--Jiand's stragglers--Jiand's white flag 55

CHAPTER V

KHWASH AND MORE BLUFF

Jiand's surrender--A political lecture--Jiand's
oath--Bluff for Khwash--The army moves forward--Khwash
and its fort--Mahommed-Hassan comes in--Beetles as
scavengers--Halil Khan comes in--Rifle prices, a
comparison--Idu's warning--News of Izzat--Order of
march--Bluff for Bampur--The meteor hole 69

CHAPTER VI

A FULL BAG OF PRISONERS

The march to Kacha--The food supply--Flowers in the
Wilderness--Galugan--Repeated strategy--Juma Khan comes
in--The bag is full--The throne of the dancing
maidens--Landon declines--Idu's doubts--Suspicions
aroused--Halil Khan closes up--Kacha, oaths, and
thumb-marks--The Chiefs depart--Bad news 87

CHAPTER VII

THE RACE FOR KHWASH

Plans and routes--Car versus legs--An equestrian
interlude--The trap in the gorge--More digging--Rendezvous--
Mrs Idu and gastronomy--A reinforcement--A message to
Landon--Izzat's men--Idu's romance--A "British
Bulldog"--The car abandoned 103

CHAPTER VIII

KHWASH AND THE SECOND SURRENDER

Doubts dispelled--Organisation for defence--Idu's
"Exiat"--And its result--Jiand arrives--Idu's second
visit--The Sarhad-dar arrives--Landon at last--Jiand's
visit of ceremony--The Gul-Bibi--Shah Sawar's
treachery--We call on the "Rose Lady"--A carpet and the
Sarhad-dar's advice--Another Durbar--Returned
loot--Temporary peace 122

CHAPTER IX

TREACHERY AND ITS SEQUEL

Further reinforcements--Entrenchments and gardens--
Government inquiries--Food supplies--An offer to
Jiand--Murad and straw--Shah Sawar again--Sentence--Idu's
suggestion--Re-enter the Rose Lady--News of Jiand's
intentions--A vital moment--A round-up--The Sarhad-dar's
advice--A Bhusa hunt--Distrustful wives 143

CHAPTER X

FAILURE AND FRESH PLANS

Slave buying--A diet discovery--Poetic justice--Disposition
of prisoners--Incredible news--The Sawar's story--Disposal
of forces--The march to Kamalabad--Jiand gains his
freedom--Retreat to Khwash 165

CHAPTER XI

SUCCESS IN MINIATURE

The night attack--The Hazaras arrive--Jiand retires--We
march on the Sar-i-drokan valley--Cavalry strategy--
"Gushti's" decision and opinion--"The Hole of
Judgment"--Attack and retirement--A lost and regained
water-supply--The Sarhadis as humorists--The mud
fort--Halil Khan's arrival--The fight at dawn--Exit
Halil Khan--A prophet--The Hazaras' request 181