I am proud of that Cross, and proud to wear its scarlet ribbon on my jacket, but there are honours greater far than that, and to these I have not attained. I have not made the great sacrifice, nor have I even suffered wounds in this fight, and these need no marks of man's approval.
Colonel Kay wrote to Mrs. Lusk under date November 6th as follows:—
'I am asking James to enclose this with his to-day's letter to you just to say how charmed and delighted we all are that he has been selected to have the Légion d'Honneur conferred upon him. The award brings great honour on him and on the Regiment, and the fact that he has been chosen as, I believe, the only Officer in the Brigade[[6]] to receive the Cross, shows that those in high places know and recognize what splendid service he has done not only at Festubert, but before and since. In his own good modest way he insists that it is a recognition to the Regiment, but I want specially to say that that is nonsense. It is an absolutely personal award for gallant and strenuous service.... I can never thank him sufficiently for all he has done and is doing, and my earnest prayer is that God may restore him to you and all who love him in due time, and that he may be long spared to enjoy the honours he is so worthily earning.'
[[6]] In Routine Order No. 375 by G.O.C. 51st (Highland) Division, dated Thursday, 11th November, 1915, under 'Honours and Rewards,' the name of Captain Lusk appears as the only officer in the Division decorated then.
IV
THE LAST WEEKS
November & December, 1915
IV
THE LAST WEEKS
November and December, 1915
One of the last weeks of Captain Lusk's life was a specially busy one. He was summoned to take the place of the Brigade Major, while the latter was absent on leave. Before the letters which describe this work there are two or three others which are of special interest:—