A detachment
of Ayrshire and Inverness Horse Artillery were keeping pace with our
column and occasionally they opened fire, obviously upon fleeting
targets of retreating Turks. A thick wood of date palms in the distance
indicated Katia, and all men gazed upon this as the Mecca in which water
was to be found. Some eight hundred yards from this, however, was
another hod which had to be traversed by the 127th Brigade, and as we
were leading, it devolved upon us to make quite sure that it was not
occupied. The 6th and 7th therefore extended and assumed attack
formation to pass through the hod. This was a difficult moment and
tested the fibre of men and the battalion as a whole to the utmost. The
extra physical exertion and the loss of companionship which one gets in
the close formation served almost as a breaking point to endurance.
Perhaps the best summary of the psychology of this period is found in
the words from the diary of one of the officers:--
"Then it was that my energy gave out. I moved about along the line
shouting at the men to preserve their dressing and correct
intervals. Much had to be done. We inclined first to the left and
then to the right and it was very trying. Men began to drop and I
could not help them now that I had lost touch with them. Then I
began to lose all interest. I had become purely self-centred--if
the whole platoon had collapsed I am afraid I should not have been
concerned.
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