British troops at Haig Picquet, 1920 circa (b/w photo)

British troops at Haig Picquet, 1920 circa. Photograph by Randolph Bezzant Holmes (1888-1973), India, North West Frontier, 1920 circa. British troops man a picquet in the barren wilderness of Waziristan. Such positions were usually oval in shape with dry-stone walls of four feet six inches in height that allowed a soldier to stand and fire over them. There were also loopholes at ground level to counter the tribal tactic of employing snipers to pin down the heads of the defenders while swordsmen crept up close and scaled the wall. At the end of each picquet was a machine-gun nest and in the centre an area for supplies and ammunition. Ground sheets would be stretched inwards to provide some relief from the sun. One of 26 photographs taken by R B Holmes, relating to operations in Waziristan, 1919-1924.