J. D.

'I liked your son immensely. He and I were always the best of friends, and I feel his loss very much indeed. He had done so well as Adjutant of the Battalion, and I know that no one will ever forget the part he played on the night of the 15th of June, when he took command of the Battalion at a critical moment and brought them out of action, and for which he was most justly rewarded.

'It seems too sad to think that now he has gone, but it may be some slight consolation to you in your sorrow to know that your son died like a gallant Scottish gentleman, fighting for his country in what is surely a righteous cause.'

F. G. W. D.

'As an old comrade of your very gallant son, I write to express my heartfelt sympathy with you in the loss of your dear boy, and our devoted Adjutant.

'Nothing happens but by the permission of our Heavenly Father, so all is well with him gone Home.... It is given to few men even in this dreadful war to accomplish so much, and to perform their appointed tasks so worthily as has Captain Lusk, and it will surely help you to know how bravely and nobly he has kept his word, and in passing carried his sword pure and spotless beyond the Veil.

'To us of the 6th S.R. he has given a grand example of devotion to duty, and his influence has permeated the whole Corps. We could ill spare him, and probably from a regimental standpoint no greater loss could have befallen us. I had a letter from my son, who is with the Battalion, saying that Captain Lusk had passed him but a few minutes before he was hit. The grief in the regiment is deep, but his example will live and inspire all.'

W. D. L.

'You probably know already what a tremendous lot James meant to the 6th—both officers and men—especially in the difficult times, and how unflinchingly courageous he was in facing their trials. He once showed written on a piece of paper the words, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee"; and very truly He was with him always....

'I shall never forget his calm fearlessness and his constant cheerfulness at the Front.'

A. G. E. H.

'It came as a blow to me when I saw him lying wounded in the trench, and I can hardly realize that he has left us; and we all feel here that in addition to having lost an Officer whose place can never be filled, we have lost a friend, who had endeared himself to all ranks by the high Christian principles which he lived up to, and his constant unselfishness and kindness to everyone. His influence has always been for good in the Battalion.

'I regret that my duties prevent me from being present at the funeral to-morrow.'

J. B.

'I have known Captain Lusk since the time he joined the 6th Battalion, and I would find it difficult to express with what love and admiration we all regarded him. He was a gentleman amongst gentlemen, and the fine, noble, generous and selfless qualities which ever dominated him, made it a pleasure and a privilege to have known and associated with him. One can never forget the great self-sacrifice and devotion to duty which he displayed after our attack at Festubert, in going over that bullet-swept area and safely withdrawing our men, and thereafter gallantly seeking to attempt the rescue of our brave wounded on the field. Well did he deserve the Decoration bestowed on him by the French Government, and his noble and gallant conduct will ever be proudly remembered by the Battalion.'

J. C. McL.

'We of the 6th, The Cameronians, are under a cloud, a very dark and heavy cloud. We have lost a few good fellows since coming out here, but never one who was so universally loved and respected and whose loss will be so keenly felt. James Lusk was indeed a true Christian gentleman. We of inferior clay stood aghast and marvelled at his unfailing good-humour, his inexhaustible patience, his unshaken integrity and his continued self-effacement. He gave way to everybody, even the most junior of Subalterns, and yet there was not one of us but knew that he stood head and shoulders above us as a man. If ever a man followed hard in the Footsteps of Jesus Christ, that man was James Lusk. I am proud to have been counted one of his friends.

'By his death, the 6th have sustained an irreparable loss. We have lost a great friend with a great heart, and we have lost a soldier who was the backbone of the regiment and who added to its reputation.

'May I tell you, that everywhere, not only in the Battalion but in the Brigade and Division, the news of his death was the cause of universal sorrow.'

D. L. G.

'I had the honour to know your son in the regiment for a long time, but since mobilization he and I had been brought close together by our work, and I can say with pride that never did I meet a finer man. He was universally loved by us all, and by all he came in contact with. His death is a very heavy loss to you, but may I assure you that no death could have been nobler—he died, as he lived, a true hero. His memory will ever be cherished and honoured by the regiment he served so faithfully—his loss will leave a blank in the lives of his fellow Officers for many a long day.'

J. C. E. H.

'Believe me, we share in your great sorrow, and the regiment he loved so well will miss him greatly, for everyone loved and respected him—not alone for his great talents as a soldier, or for his bravery, but for his lovableness, and great striving after the Right. I personally feel as if I had lost a brother that can never be replaced, but it is some consolation to you and all of us, to know that he died, as he had lived—a very perfect Knight—for his Country and in the cause of Righteousness and Truth.'

J. H.

'The greatest privilege of my Chaplaincy, and one of the greatest privileges of my life, has been to live with your gallant son. His influence on the Battalion is incalculable.... I have never met any one who so consistently submerged all thought of self in the pursuit of duty and the consideration of others. One dare not even speak of his death in the ordinary terms as an unspeakable loss, for such lives cannot be lost, and seem to gain even greater power when they have passed "to where beyond these voices there is peace."'

* * * *

'Many instances of his quiet resolute devotion and of his invariable chivalry have come to my recollection during the past weeks....

'Nothing was a trouble to Captain Lusk if it lay in the way of what he considered duty, and I need not tell you that his ideal was very high.

'What and when he ate, and where he should sleep—very important items to most soldiers—were matters of least importance to him. We used to beseech him to have more regard for himself, and he only responded with a smile.

Yet when the comfort of others was concerned he would make a resolute fight. After a long march we arrived at our appointed billet, a small farm, to find that the Officers of another regiment had usurped our farmhouse. The Brigade Officer came upon the scene. Captain Lusk tackled him, and would not let him go, until he had turned out the intruders and given us our right.

'None was more touched than he by the death of any of our men. He made a point of being present at the burial, and on such occasions I have noticed the unconsciously upward glance of his eyes.

'To myself your brother's consideration and courtesy was unsurpassed. He must have seen my faults, yet he was always most forbearing. I used to say to him, "You are the real Padre of the regiment," as indeed he was. Still he always honoured me as the Chaplain and gave me every opportunity in my work.

'I visited the Battalion recently. Our talk was chiefly about your dear brother. Major Graham and Quartermaster Hamilton, who were more closely associated with him than I was, agreed with me that our fellowship with Captain Lusk was a privilege never to be forgotten. None of us can hope to meet with a more truly Christian gentleman.'

* * * *

'Among the many casualties which have befallen the 6th Scottish Rifles, none can be more deeply or widely felt by Officers and men than the death of Captain Lusk. We learned that he had been wounded on Christmas Day, but the message did not say that the wound was dangerous. We did not expect to hear that on the fourth day after the injury he succumbed.

'We have reason to be proud of the Battalion. Major A. J. Graham, Captain J. Lusk, Captain D. L. Gray, Captain J. C. E. Hay, Private J. R. Brown, Private J. Craig, Private W. Hannah and Private J. Williamson have been mentioned in Despatches. Of those eight, seven will admit that there was none worthier of the distinction than he who is taken from them, nor any who better deserved the additional recognition given to him only among them, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

'To those who did not know him, any attempt to estimate the worth of Captain James Lusk, must seem exaggeration. His were not mere surface qualities. Indeed, a stranger on first meeting him might not discover any brilliancy. Those who lived with him learned what he was. He was a man of many accomplishments. A graduate of Cambridge, he had the culture of a great University. He was a highly skilled engineer and showed a rare capacity for business. He had also acquired the art of managing men. He was a splendid horseman; it was good to observe his firm seat and to watch his determined mastery of a refractory steed. He was an accomplished musician who could charm with the music he drew from the piano or the pipe organ. He was a soldier of the finest type, master of the details of military duty, scrupulously careful and exact, faithful and fearless to a degree. One could not find a more unselfish man than he was. Anything good which he happened to have was generously at the disposal of others. If there was any hardship or privation, Lusk would take the worst place.

'When the billet of one of our companies was shelled and burned and the Officers lost all their kit, the rest of us contributed such articles as we could spare for their supply. It was not much to give a razor or a shirt, or a pair of socks, but Lusk gave up his Wolseley valise—a fact which was revealed only by seeing his things lying in a heap in the corner of the room. He would sleep without murmur on the hard earth of an unsavoury field because he considered it his duty to be with the transport. When he had secured a fairly comfortable billet for four of us in which there were three beds, we knew that Lusk would certainly choose to be the man who should lie on the floor, unless we found a fourth bed in some adjoining house. If the way to and from Headquarters of the trenches lay, as it generally did, through an "unhealthy" field or wood, Lusk would certainly accompany one who disliked solitude in such places, deaf to any protest, or the consideration that he himself would have to return alone. His quiet strength and indomitable courage banished every sign of fear.

'In the memorable charge of Festubert, which the Battalion accomplished at such awful cost, Captain Lusk was disappointed that he could not be one of the leaders in the attack. As Transport Officer his duties kept him in the rear, but he brought his supplies to the scene of action, and even lingered there quietly writing a letter in a "dug-out," though shells were bursting about him. It was he who gathered together what was left of the Battalion when the attack was over, and brought them out of danger; he also who inspired a band of volunteers to make a long night march back to the place of slaughter, in the hope of recovering the wounded or burying the dead.

'It seemed to one afterwards as though Lusk could hardly forgive himself for being among the survivors of that night when so many were wounded and killed. And now when he has met his death, not in the glory and excitement of an advance, but in the routine of holding the trenches, one might dare to say that he had attained his wish. He not only "bore without abuse the grand old name of gentleman"; on his shield of faith was blazoned the noblest and simplest device—the Cross—with the motto "To me to live is Christ and to die is gain." I may not write for print the name by which he passed among some of the men in the ranks; it would look irreverent; yet it showed a keen unscornful appreciation of their Officer's character and of his loyalty to the Master Whom he served. Yet his piety was never a parade or an intrusion.

"He never found fault with you, never implied
Your wrong by his right, only men by his side
Grew purer."

'In the privilege of these months' experience among the bravest and best of men who are fighting and have fought the good fight, I know nothing which has made more grateful and lasting impression than my intercourse with Captain Lusk. Because I know that my appreciation is not singular, but must be universally shared by all who knew him, because I am sure they wish our acknowledgement of the debt we owe to him to be not only admitted but proclaimed, I have ventured to pay this tribute to the Galahad among the Knights of the Cameronians.'

J. MAC G.

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