From MacDonald to MacArthur

The skirling of the pipers has led Scotsmen into many a battle in many a faraway land. Last week kilted pipers led Scotsmen and Englishmen toward a new battlefield. From Hong Kong 1,500 men of the ist Battalion of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and the ist Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment boarded a British carrier for Korea in answer to General MacArthur's request for immediate ground reinforcements for his forces in Korea (TIME, Aug. 28).

Down to see the contingent's main body off at Hong Kong's pier was Malcolm MacDonald, British Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia, who sometimes wears the kilt himself. Said MacDonald to the departing soldiers: "Remember that when you are fighting North Koreans you are really fighting Russian Communism . . . Every time you hit the North Koreans you will be striking a blow, for freedom. In Korea you will be fighting just as if you were defending your beloved homeland and its people." Early this week, the British battalions landed in Kore'a.