Saturday 23rd Movember: India

Here we have some polo-playing swells stationed in India with the 3rd R.B. or Rifle Brigade. From left to right, Bell, Morris, Creed, Gosling and Bell. I have found a list of those who won medals with the 3rd Rifle Brigade on the Punjab Frontier in 1897-8 and four of our strapping young men are on the roll-call  - Lieutenant M G E Bell, Lieutenant Hon. G H Morris, Lieutenant G B Gosling, and Lieutenant E W Bell. There is no mention of Creed, however, the most handsome of our five men, staring off into the distance at the back.

So I do some more research and, lo and behold!, crikey!, Percy Redfern Creed has his own bloomin'  Wikipedia page. After serving in India with his polo-playing friends he had an astonishing career - from the House of Commons to the staff of The Times newspaper to Chief of Staff to Lords Cromer & Roberts; back to the Rifle Brigade for the First World War, becoming Kitchener's Personal Representative and consorting with the King and the Prime Minister, and then, war over, off to America to study 'methods of organisation' as a special consultant in Washington. Finally, rather dramatically, having written a book called How to get things done, he became a sportswriter, creating the Sportsmanship Brotherhood. It's creed is very apt for our photo today:

Keep the rules;
Keep faith with your comrades, play the game for your side;
Keep yourself fit;
Keep your temper;
Keep from hitting a man when he is down;
Keep down your pride in victory;
Keep a stout heart in defeat accepted with good grace;
Keep a sound soul and a clean mind in a healthy body.

I'm not really sure that these five are quite managing the keeping down of pride in victory part...

On the reverse of the photograph are, I presume, the entire 3rd Rifle Brigade, musicians and all. Click on the photos for a closer look.

Albumen photographs, India c. 1898.