27th October 1915 the Belfast News-Letter informed its readers that North Irish Horse Lieutenant James Robert. B. Armstrong had transferred to the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars.
Armstrong revealed the main reason for his move in a letter to his father – that he was finding it hard to afford the lavish messing being insisted on by the squadron’s senior officers! He wrote:
“… any mess I have been to out here has been a good deal cheaper than ours. … The only reason really why the N.I.H. mess here is more expensive than others is because Cole & Herdman are bent on doing themselves better than anybody else also the idea of being permanently at G.H.Q. has led them to lay out capital in the way of table linen, napkins, sheets, putting in a new range in the house. He also proposes buying curtains for the winter months”.
James would later be seconded to the Tank Corps as a Captain.
