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[Page 24]
not normal features of officers messes and he observed strictly himself the "customs of the service" on parade., in the mess and elsewhere. Indeed he loved the customs and ceremonies of the Army and its symbolism. Any disposition he may have had originally for these observances would have been greatly strenthened by the years he spent as Adjutant at Duntroon. There he had to be seen to set standards and to be an example in drill and in general behaviour on and off parade. The R..S.M. takes his tone from the Adjutant. So indirectly through the R.S.M. the observant and imitative staff cadets usually adopted the standards of the Adjutant, in later years too Tristram James liked to see good work by his officers. His rank, and the Honours he gained, he bore without either assumption or conceit. If my memory is reliable., he was of medium height with light brown hair and his clean-shaven face showed a ruddy comlexion. When I knew him towards the end of this career he had lost that lean field artillery figure of earlier years, when field artillery was horse drawn.
With a firm belief in the regimental motto Quo fas et gloria ducunt and a brisk and pruposeful gait, he walked through life uncomplainingly.
For additional information on Ceremonies, Customs, and Symbolism of the Army see Stephen Graham, A Private in the Guards. Macmillan and Co., London, 1919, Chapter 3.