Part 14

"Officers and men of both Units were always together and better feeling between them could not exist. It was a great honour to know the 17th and we gloried in being the Battery to cover them at the P. of E. in a raid." [The P. of E. is the Point of Entry, necessitating very accurate gunlaying, timing, and strict adherence to the barrage programme.]

"THE OUTPOST."

One of the most outstanding activities of the Battalion was the production of a periodical which combined a considerable high level of artistic and literary excellence with a racy narrative of Battalion news and personalia. This regimental magazine of the 17th H.L.I. was conceived in 1914, though actually founded early in 1915, and from that time, throughout all the rigours of work at home--and the extraordinary difficulties of operations in the Field, The Outpost was produced, and well produced. Perhaps more than anything, the standard and record of this production, and its acceptance and success, both within the unit and with an ever growing general public, reflects the intellectual level of those who composed the Battalion. In an appreciation which appeared in The Glasgow News in June, 1919, on the occasion of the completion of the seventh volume, it is remarked--"Nursed in its early youth by an editorial staff that was not without experience, it proved a lusty infant, and as the years went on it gained in strength.

"In a sort of valedictory--for the magazine will still be published annually by the Seventeen Club--the editor sings its praises. He has every right to pitch them on a high key. He points out that the paper has always been welcomed and appreciated in many homes (yes, even in Buckingham Palace), and in training camps, hospitals, rest camps, lonely dug-outs, and soaking trenches, as well as in the scorching East and amid Arctic snows. Wherever old members have gone at duty's call, their magazine has followed, and has interested and cheered with its articles and illustrations of the lighter side of Army life.

"Lately a noted writer on military topics, an English officer of high rank, in giving a most appreciative criticism of The Outpost, said--'It is only your dour, determined Scotsmen who could manage to 'carry-on' such a paper under the tremendous handicaps of active service, and the result has been unquestionably the finest literary and artistic venture in battalion magazines that the war has produced.'"

In a note concerning those who originated and inspired this war publication--unique in its continued success--Mr. J. M'Kechnie, whose name is intimately associated with its success, says--"The credit of the original idea of publishing a Battalion Magazine belongs to Lieut. J. Kelly--our first R.S.M. Early in January, 1915, he called a meeting at which the journalistic machinery was set in motion. The appointment of the late Mr. Steven D. Reith as Editor assured the success of the venture, for under his able and enthusiastic direction, The Outpost from the first number reached a standard hitherto unapproached in British military publications. From month to month it supplied a bright literary and artistic reflection of the chief events in the life of the Battalion, and the editorial aimed at giving a lead to the more serious thought of its readers.

"Throughout its active service career The Outpost was edited by the following:--The late Mr. Steven D. Reith, Mr. J.L. Hardie, Mr. J. M'Kechnie, and Mr. W. Glennie. Mr. W. J.F. Hutcheson performed the duties of Home Editor until November, 1917, when he handed on the torch to Mr. Frank K. Pickles, who acted as Editor during the last year."

Copies and Volumes of The Outpost will remain among the most cherished keepsakes of all members of the Battalion, and a complete set of all numbers of the production is being carefully and jealously preserved in the archives of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. There its pages will rank with the greatest achievements of industrial and commercial affairs as evidence of the judgment, humour, poetry, and doggedness of a Battalion so intimately bound up in the traditions of a great house, and indeed, also reflective of the traditions of Scottish industrialism, whose eminence is the manifestation of those very elements of balanced judgment and perseverance, coupled with that saving humour and imagination which has marked alike its progress in the markets of the world no less than in the fields of war.

SPORT OF THE BATTALION.

The achievements of the Seventeenth in the field of fire cannot be dissociated from their experiences in the field of sport. The exploits of the Battalion in Football, Cross-country Running, and Boxing--revealing as they did the elements of challenge, perseverance, cheerfulness in defeat, and also the power to win honours to their name--have their grand reflex in the more grim and arduous experiences through which the Battalion was called to pass.

In October, 1915, the Battalion won Divisional honours in Cross-country Running. The winning of the Cup and medals in an event in which a thousand runners took part was no small feat.

In the world of "Rugger" the Battalion's career was one triumphal march, but the end accomplished cannot be summed up in figures, adverse or the reverse. As for "Soccer" the successive achievements of the Battalion are recorded in every number of The Outpost. Minor struggles and conquests are recalled and rejoiced in, but the glory of carrying off another Divisional Cup will never be forgotten by those who witnessed the fray. Progress to the final of the event was not easy, and the final was a particularly hard fought game, and though the Battalion won, it was felt that equal honours were due to the vanquished for their good play and sportsmanship.

In the Boxing World, the name of Corporal George Barrie, will be ever green in the memory of all Seventeenth men; and the honour brought to the Battalion by his pupil, Pte. Cushley, in winning two Divisional Cups for Boxing, can be looked upon as a fitting tribute to Barrie, the man who played the game even unto death.

Altogether the Seventeenth has much to be proud of in its athletic record, and in future days when those of the Battalion sit round and tell of the things which are theirs, which they won also at great cost, their prowess in the field will not be among the least; for it played no insignificant part in the making of the Battalion which, although disbanded, has remained, both in name and in comradeship, still the Seventeenth.

THE R.S.M.

Any history of the "Seventeenth" would be incomplete without a passing reference to James Kelly.

Chosen at the inception of the Battalion out of a large number of applicants, and appointed Regimental Sergeant Major, his selection was amply justified by results. He had seen much service in The Royal Scots, and active service in South Africa, where he was Colour-Sergeant of his Company and where he gained the D.C.M.

A man of commanding appearance, always very smartly turned out, he set a fine example to all ranks and speedily infused the real military spirit into the rank and file. During training at home and on service in France he did splendid work, and to him is due in no small measure the high standard of efficiency and discipline maintained in the Battalion. In manner somewhat brusque, but of a tender heart withal, he was the friend and confidant of nearly all the Officers, N.C.O.s and men, and when off parade the best of good fellows.

DAVID S. MORTON, Lieut.-Colonel.

A REMEMBRANCE.

Do you hear it, all of you, and remember. Listen!

"Markers outwards turn. Quick march."

"Up, number four. Look sharp. That'll do."

"Markers, steadi-i-i-i-i----."

"Right turn."

"Fall in." And then the final great roar of--

"Stop all that yammering." And how quickly it stopped, too.

Do you remember it, and who said it? Of course you do, just as clearly as I myself do. You remember those early mornings, too. The sleepy chatter stilled in an instant to silence. And all those other days, too, when custom had made it imperative on all parades, it was part of us and our ceremonial.