HERO OF DARGAI RETIRES.
GORDON HIGHLANDERS- I'AMOL'S CHARGE. Loudon, May 22. Colonel Mathias, the famous leader of the assault of the Cordon Highlanders on the heights of Dargai in the autumn Of 1897, will retire from the Army under th« age regulation this week. It was a critical moment in a fight with the Afridis when Colonel Mathias said: "Highlanders, the General says the position must be taken at all costs: The Gordons will tike It." And thev did. The regiment, to use the words of Sir William Lockhart's official despatch, dashed through a murderous fire, and in forty minutes had won the heights, leaving three officer* and thirty men killed or wounded on the wav.
Among the wounded was Piper Findlater, who, shot in both ankles, propped himself up against a boulder and piped -The Cock o' the North'' until the Gordons had won the heights, and he had won the Victoria Cross.
Sir William Lockhart recommended Colonel Mathias for the Victoria Cross, but he never got it. A good story is told of a steep climb which the charge entailed. "Stiff climb, eh, Mackie!" said Colonel Mathias. who was breathless, to the color-sergeant by his side. "I'm not so young as I was, you know."
"Xever mind, sir.'' the sergeant replied; *-ye're goun verra strong for an mild mon."
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 16 July 1907, Page 4
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221HERO OF DARGAI RETIRES. Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 16 July 1907, Page 4
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