Since making their reputation in Gallipoli, the 1/5th Bedfordshire Regiment have been on a sort of garrison duty in Egypt. It was a welcome change from the unequal fighting on the rocky peninsular, but it is a most monotonous existence.

The terrific heat, the dreary wastes of sand, the continual strain of keeping fit by a routine instruction, days and nights of careful watching for any attempt by the enemy, with all these things to put up with the slightest excitement must come as a relief.

And it came last month in the shape of a skirmish which is described by Lieut-Col Edgar Brighten, the popular commanding officer (pictured right), as "a pretty little scrap". This term is contained in a letter sent to the Secretary of the Beds Territorial Comforts Fund, and in his cheery way he said the men went toppingly.

We are able to give a more extensive account of this return to serious business, and it will prove interesting reading, for however much Col Brighten admires his men, it is not likely that he has time to give a full and graphic account of the fighting. In a letter to his wife, however, he relates the facts almost as stated above, but with the addition that he quotes from the 'Order of the Day' on (September 18th) Brigadier-General A. Mudge's fine tribute to the smartness with which the manoeuvres were carried out. This is as follows:

"I wish to express to all in the column my warm approval of the way in which the operation successfully concluded today has been carried out. The hardships of a desert march have been cheerfully borne, and the attack at dawn this morning was an excellent piece of combined work, and pushed over every difficulty, precipitous ground in a most spirited way which never gave the enemy a chance of rallying, and to this our slight casualties are largely due.

The position captured had often been reconnoitred, but the enemy had hitherto always held his ground. In being driven from it pell-mell with the loss of all his supplies he has suffered a blow which will not soon be forgotten in this part."

From the order above, Col Brighten's letter and other material available, we are able to reconstruct the operations with a considerable degree of accuracy.

The scene was laid in a locality famous for its holy associations, a mountainous region within distance of a sea which has equally sacred connections. This region has been a favourite haunt of the Turks for the harrassing of our troops, and, although no serious attempts have been made to dislodge them until last month, it has been the object of the vigilance of the troops with whom the Yellow Devils are now incorporated as a garrison force.

The position has been under constant surveillance, and apparently the enemy were getting too presumptuous, so it was determined to give them a lesson. Accordingly a strong force comprising representatives from most of the regiments under his command, and including many of the 1/5th, set off on this punitive expedition.

The character of the country necessitated what might be called guerilla tactics, a phase of warfare which is most acceptable to the Turks. Among these mountains are a number of water-holes in the bed of a water course. They are nearly dry, and mountains varying from 1,000 to 2,300 feet rear steeply from this spot.

The enemy held the mountain tops and so secure was this natural stronghold that the Turks had withstood any attempt of our troops to get a footing there.

Says one account of the journey: "We started this morning and carried out the march all right, but it was nervy work. In one place a gun mule and a stretcher mule lost their footing and fell about 50 feet, over and over, but fortunately no damage was done. It delayed us a little, but things of that sort had been allowed for and we arrived at the objective just before dawn.

"You ought to have seen the men go up the mountain. They simply slipped up like goats and were on the enemy before he was awake. There was a bit of fire to put the fear of battle into him, and he just went. He stayed in another position but was driven from that. It was really good work.

"I think troops have never attacked over more difficult or mountainous country, and they never gave the enemy a chance to think. He saw we meant getting there, consequently he cleared out and we only got one casualty at this stage. That man was killed very unluckily, being quite a stray shot in the night."

The scheme of operation was evidently cleverly conceived, for the letter says: "We have just chased them into the Camel Corps who had also got round, but it was very difficult to take any of them. We got quite a lot of loot - cooking utensils, ammunition, clothing and food.

"I got a coffee cup which had only just been used, so I guess they left their breakfast and generally got well shaken up, which is just what we wanted. You never saw anything like the ammunition - great big bullets, although we knew they were using Mausers."

Having driven the enemy from their positions and thoroughly reconnoitred the locality, the force returned to camp, but there was a little incident to enliven the proceedings, and this is described in a letter sent home by Col Brighten to his wife [Mrs Brighten lived in Lansdowne Road, Luton].

He says: "I had ridden up the flank to the Brigadier to ask him something we wanted to know when we heard firing behind us, and it looked as though our rearguard was in action. So I galloped back and held a company in readiness to support if necessary, and went back farther to see what had happened, and we found that two of our men had been hit."

The remainder of the journey was accomplished without incident, and the excellence of the achievement is described in the order of the day quoted.

It is good to know that the Yellow Devils are in such fine fettle and spirits.

[Beds & Herts Saturday Telegraph: October 14th, 1916]