THE INDIAN MULE CORPS
My work in the A.S.C. has brought me very much in touch with the Indian Mule Corps; and I don’t think “The Anzac Book†would be complete without some mention of that admirable body of men.
What should we at Anzac have done without “Johnnie†and his sturdy little mules? Horse or motor transport could not have faced the difficulties of Anzac. The mules are sometimes stubborn and unmanageable, but we knew that before. And the drivers are—most of them—hard workers, intelligent and anxious to please. I often marvel on a rough day, when the loaded carts, nearly up to their axles in mud or sand, are beached on that wild seashore, on the watery edge of which they are kept during the day; and wonder still more when, after standing there for a few hours, the mules draw them out when the convoy leaves at night. For the mules do not like the sea, and when the weather is rough it is very difficult to get the little beasts anywhere near it.
One thing, however, really does hang up work for a time, and that is “Beachy Bill†in action. Even then some of the “Johnnies,†who are less fearsome than the rest, go on with their work, and have from time to time been hit.
Therefore, all praise to the Indian Mule Corps.
B. R.