The riflemen talked of their dead comrades, Howard, they said, was one of the best soldiers in the regiment. He had served his seven years with the Colours and had just signed on for another five years. Mahon haa not been with the Regiment long but he had been making his name at sport. O'Toole was to have left for Palestine service on December 9. The men said that they were on the eve of ending their service in the Far East. About the middle of next month the battalion was splitting up for Palestine and Indian service. It seemed hard, they said, to be losing men when they were just about to turn towards home.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.