Chapter 5: BACK TO SCHOOL

School is some respect was a comedown, now that I was an ex-soldier. I took a course for qualifying for a commission as Second Lieutenant, called a "Certificate A." However when it was time for our exams - to meet Boer War Standards - they were discontinued. We began to hone up our skills on the rifle range. By 1916 there was a great demand for snipers who were dead shots. The two boys from my class who had already reached this standard were snapped up and sent to front line service. They lasted about two weeks with the "Black Watch" before being killed. Of the thirty-two classmates I had in 1915-1916, ten were killed and fifteen were wounded, including myself.

Our riding and light carriage horse, Rufus, a red chestnut, had been impounded into the local Yoemanry Regiment, "The Lothians and Border Horse." He went with them to the Near East and was killed at Gaza. When I reached the age of eighteen and applied for a commission, I applied for acceptance in the Royal Horse Artillery.