TCD MS 3414 folio 2 recto
[November 1914]
eventually fell either to Lieut F.M. Davenport or myself, then a Lieutenant. Our Commanding Officer Lt Colonel Lethbridge D.S.O. allowed us to draw lots for who remained;I lost. On Nov 17th the old 43rd marched out 843 strong + 15 officers all seasoned men who had served on an average 7 years in India; not a youngster in the ranks. I accompanied them to the railway station & saw them off, feeling very disappointed that I was not going with them. I rode home to my bungalow at 3 a.m. the following morning & slept. Next morning I examined my command, it consisted only of a few sick men, the staff, Col Sgt G Green, Sgt Hardy, Sgt Shepperd & a pile of books constituting the regimental Institute accounts. For several months I had practically nothing to do, <un> til January 1915 when sundry batches of recruits & reservists began to arrive from all parts of India & Burma. Fitting these men out & training them made life more interesting for me . <The 2/4 Dorset regt was now occupying the East Ridge Barracks which we had just vacated, with the exception of a few buildings which were allotted to our Depot. Nearly all the officers played polo, & I was lucky in selling to them many ponies left behind by the 43rd. I was fortunate also to get my polo regularly 3 times a week. This regiment found all guards for the large German concentration camp then existing at Ahmednagar which I established & commanded until I went on service to Mesopotamia. 1,400 Prisoners> . Our married families went home in [ ], this was a duty that I shall never forget; the long train journey & the difficulties on arrival at Bombay seemed to me at first sight, unsurmountable; but I managed to negotiate them in the end, & off they sailed bound for England. I afterwards heard that they had been met at Avonmonth by a Society of Ladies who undertook to look after their comfort.