Myself, a pair of Captains, and my RSM were in London to follow up on a missing battalion of recruits. Horse Guards was getting us nowhere. [ in point of fact, horse guards had tried to get them killed. ]

But we knew recruiting parties were still marching, so we stowed our uniforms and took the shilling all over again. How else were we to find our missing men?

[ a gutsy move, for old snotties like them. who'd already survived their training. who knew what they were going into once again. ]